Winston's Diamonds

Chapter 3: The Mosconi Codex

Winston-Winslow. Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Neal should have guessed that Henry's choice of the rock-music-themed huddle room for their meeting meant that he intended to rock their worlds.

He'd succeeded.

Henry eyed him expectantly. "So what do you think? Has the time come for Nick Halden to become a real person?"

Sara and Peter were waiting for his answer. "Yes, I believe it has," Neal confirmed after one more moment's reflection. "In reviewing the cons I ran as Nick, I can't find any that would come back to bite us. In any case, Tulane's bound to be impressed by how brazen I am to use it as an alias."

"How long has Nick been around?" Peter asked.

"Mozzie and I created the alias shortly before I went to work for Adler."

"I bet Mozzie loved Henry's idea," Sara said, smiling at the thought. "You two have already fleshed out many of the details of Nick's life. Now they're fabrications you invented when you turned the name into an alias." She turned to Henry. "How do you plan to leave an actual trail?"

"Initially notes from interviews. DNA evidence may surface. As to the delivery mechanism, I've already discussed that with Aidan." Henry chuckled as he tapped a hand drum on the table. "Man, am I glad Aidan's on our side. The supposed cracks in the false doors he created are a godsend."

"Aidan once admitted to me that he wondered if he'd ever be challenged by someone as abstruse as Rolf," Neal said. "Is he testing Tulane's hacker?"

"That's exactly what he's doing," Henry agreed. "He's convinced that the harder he makes the code, the more intrigued the hacker will be. Aidan expects that it will take a couple of months for them to breach the door. If they haven't succeeded by then, he could give them a break. Meanwhile, we'll have plenty of time to flesh out the evidence."

Peter nodded slowly. "I like it. We need to capture the entire crew. These days, the hacker is often the key player in a crew. If the hacker escapes, they could join another crew and cause just as much damage."

"Like Alice Langton," Neal said. She'd disappeared without a trace after helping them capture Penfold.

"You're not the only one thinking about her," Henry said. "Aidan gives high odds that she's the hacker working for Tulane. He'd studied the code Alice wrote during the time she ran the entertainment extortion ring called Pod2 and claims the similarities are too numerous to be a coincidence."

"Her partnership could cause us extra difficulties," Sara warned. "Alice worked with Rolf for an unknown number of years. She could have accessed his information on all of us."

"But I don't think it will help her," Neal said. "I never mentioned the Caffreys when I worked in Klaus's crew, and Nick Halden hadn't been created. There shouldn't be any hidden gotchas." He turned to Henry. "Did you make any modifications to Isaak Mosconi's bio?"

"I'd like to know that as well," Sara said. "Should we start promoting the Mosconi Diamond as another success for the Red Diamonds?"

"Not yet," Henry advised. "The mystery surrounding the gem has quadrupled in complexity. The breakthrough was provided by the link Mosconi has to Martin Winston."

"Our firm's co-founder?" Peter asked.

Henry nodded. "Mozzie connected Mosconi to Harry Winston by claiming he was an uncle from Russia who'd changed his name. It's a verifiable fact that Martin Winston's branch of the family didn't get along with Harry Winston and his father. Let's take that a step further. Suppose that Mosconi didn't just smuggle one diamond out of Russia but several pieces of the crown jewels. In the bio Mozzie created for him, Mosconi was fascinated by cryptography and puzzles. He also had an eccentric sense of humor. Now suppose he hid the jewels. Originally he may have done so because of the uncertainties of the war. The remaining members of the royal family were scattered and in no position to keep them safe."