The folder didn't contain much, so Alice immediately grabbed a Bluetooth printer and began printing.
Meanwhile, everyone finished dinner. Jack fetched a box, and the others took out their phones, turned them off, and placed them inside. This approach of guarding against the good guys instead of the bad guys meant it was time to get down to business.
"How's the investigation into the vehicle that was following us going?" Jack glanced at Clay and Aubrey.
Aubrey looked a little annoyed. "We rushed over as soon as we got your message, but they left just as we arrived. We tried to counter-track them, but it wasn't successful. They're very experienced and used fake license plates."
Jack and Reacher discovered they were being followed as they left Franz's house. It took them 20 minutes to get to Franz's office. This was partly due to traffic, but also partly to stall for Aubrey and Clay to arrive and counter-track them.
When they returned from the office, the black SUV had vanished.
Jack consoled them, "It's not your fault. I requested that no agency personnel be used. It's simply too difficult for you to keep up with the other team in downtown New York during rush hour with just one car."
Jubal was puzzled. "I have a question. You don't want to let anyone know about our involvement in this case, even keeping it a secret within the agency. Did you hear something?"
Jack smiled and shook his head. He couldn't say he simply assumed a case involving Reacher would be difficult. And there was an FBI mole in Margrave last time, so he was just being cautious this time.
He pointed at Reacher, introduced his former role to everyone, and then continued his analysis.
"There was no rumor. It was simply a hunch. The investigators in the Army's Special Investigations Unit 110 are no pushovers. So many CIA officers have died investigating cases like $10,000 toilet seats and $1,200 mugs.
Yet, Reacher's team managed to imprison over 200 Army personnel in three years and escape unscathed. You can imagine their capabilities."
"Ahem," Reacher touched his nose awkwardly, "We were forced to disband."
Jack waved his hand indifferently, "It's not important. What's important is that you didn't all die in a plane crash. According to the information I found, after the 110 Special Investigation Team was disbanded, only one person died in a car accident in these years. This is enough to prove something.
But it was such a dream team, and suddenly one day someone was murdered for protecting a secret, and there was no time to ask others for help. Is this reasonable? My intuition tells me that something is wrong, so I choose to act cautiously. In this way, even if someone wants to find out, they will only think that this case has been ignored by the NYPD and is being treated as an ordinary murder case."
In fact, Jack's words were a bit forced, but everyone was used to trusting him. After all, this guy rarely made alarmist remarks, but once he came up with some amazing ideas, they could always be confirmed. The newly added artificial pond in Central Park was the best proof.
Hannah picked up the printed A4 sheet on the table and asked, frowning, "Can anyone explain what this string of names means?
Andrew McBride, Alan Mason, Alejandro Mendes, Alexander Makepos."
"Pseudonyms," Jack and Reacher said in unison. Reacher raised his hand, motioning for him to continue.
"They're all abbreviated AM. It's very convenient for users to sign. No matter which name you use, just write an A followed by a wavy line."
Jack also learned this little-known fact from Emily. When she was serving in the multinational task force "JTF-12," she used the alias AJ.
"Okay, then what do these random numbers on these papers mean?" Aubrey flipped through the A4 sheets in his hand.
The USB folder contained only two documents. One contained eight different names, all of which were pseudonyms with the initials AM. The other contained seven pages, each containing over twenty different numbers.
Each group of numbers consisted of two different ten-digit numbers, one larger than the other, like "15/17" and "13/19." There was no discernible pattern.
These A4 sheets had been passed around almost everyone, yet no one could offer even a guess.
"It's probably not a code," Reacher muttered. "Franz used such meticulous methods to preserve this information; there's no reason to go through the trouble of encrypting it. This at least proves these numbers have meaning.
In any case, this information must be incredibly important, so important that Franz would risk his life to protect it."
Jack's biggest headache was math. If even Aubrey, a Wall Street veteran, and Alice, a computer expert—the two people who should theoretically be the most proficient in math—couldn't figure out the pattern, he didn't want to waste any more time on it.
"I'll find a friend who's good with numbers and reliable enough to help me take a look." He was referring, of course, to Chris and Red. If even they couldn't analyze it, then there were probably very few people in the world who could figure out the meaning of these numbers.
With limited clues at hand, no one wasted any time, and Jack soon sent everyone back to bed.
They all had their own missions tomorrow. Hannah and Jiejie were assigned to protect Franz's wife and son, though theoretically, if they were in danger, they would have been in trouble long ago.
Since the enemy was able to track Jack and Reacher, it meant they must have been lurking near Franz's home. For safety's sake, Jack planned to have Hannah and Jiejie secretly protect the mother and son for a few days, hoping to see if the enemy would resurface.
Jubal would take on a wanted case tomorrow and would visit the New York office to check in with Dana Moger, giving the impression that the Most Wanted Unit was currently busy with other matters.
Alice was responsible for investigating Franz's past online activity, primarily email and social media accounts. Although they hadn't found his phone or laptop, a little effort could yield some clues—it all depended on their importance.
Danny's job was somewhat similar to Jubal's. Although Jack had previously handed over the case to the NYPD, it was a verbal handover in Commissioner Reagan's office.
Officially, the case was still handled by the NYPD, so Danny played the role of an incompetent NYPD detective. Even if someone were to snoop, they would only find a few thin files on his desk.
As for Clay and Aubrey, they are naturally there as backup. Whether it is Jack and Reacher's side or Hannah and Jiejie's side, they must be ready to support at any time.
(End of this chapter)