Digital Fortress Chapter 16

A besiege? Susan find outed doubtful. Tankados missing a ring?Yes. Were g elderen David caught it. It was a real heads-up play.But youre after a pass- find, non jewelry.I know, Strathmore said, however I think they might be one and only(a) and the same.Susan looked lost.Its a long story.She motioned to the tracer on her screen. Im not going anywhere.Strathmore sighed intemperately and began pacing. Apparently, there were witnesses to Tankados death. According to the military policeman at the morgue, a Canadian holidaymaker called the Guardia this morning in a panic-he said a Nipponese military man was having a heart attack in the park. When the officer arrived, he anchor Tankado dead and the Canadian there with him, so he radioed the paramedics. While the paramedics took Tankados dust to the morgue, the officer tried to get the Canadian to tell him what happened. All the old guy did was babble about approximately ring Tankado had given remote right before he died.Susan eyed him skeptically. Tankado gave a carriage a ring?Yeah. Apparently he forced it in this old guys face-like he was implore him to take it. Sounds like the old guy got a close look at it. Strathmore stopped pacing and turned. He said the ring was engraved-with some sort of lettering.Lettering?Yes, and according to him, it wasnt English. Strathmore raised his eyebrows expectantly.Japanese?Strathmore shook his head. My initial conceit too. But get this-the Canadian complained that the letters didnt spell anything. Japanese characters could never be confused with our Roman lettering. He said the grave looked like a cat had gotten loose on a typewriter. Susan laughed. Commander, you dont really think-Strathmore cut her off. Susan, its crystal clear. Tankado engraved the Digital Fortress pass-key on his ring. favourable is durable. Whether hes sleeping, showering, eating-the pass-key would always be with him, ready at a moments notice for news bulletin publication.Susan looked dub ious. On his finger? In the open like that? wherefore not? Spain isnt exactly the encryption capital of the world. Nobody would have any base what the letters meant. Besides, if the key is a standard sixty-four-bit-even in broad daylight, nix could possibly read and memorize all sixty-four characters.Susan looked perplexed. And Tankado gave this ring to a total stranger moments before he died? Why?Strathmores gaze narrowed. Why do you think?It took Susan only a moment before it clicked. Her eyeball widened.Strathmore nodded. Tankado was trying to get rid of it. He thought wed killed him. He snarl himself dying and logically mistaken we were responsible. The timing was too coincidental. He figure wed gotten to him, poison or something, a slow-acting cardiac arrestor. He knew the only way wed dare kill him is if wed found North Dakota.Susan felt a chill. Of course, she whispered. Tankado thought that we neutralized his insurance policy so we could remove him too.It was all comi ng clear to Susan. The timing of the heart attack was so fortunate for the NSA that Tankado had assumed the NSA was responsible. His final instinct was revenge. Ensei gave away his ring as a ultimate effort to publish the pass-key. Now, incredibly, some unsuspecting Canadian tourist held the key to the most powerful encryption algorithm in history.Susan sucked in a deep breath and asked the inevitable question. So where is the Canadian now?Strathmore frowned. Thats the problem.The officer doesnt know where he is?No. The Canadians story was so absurd that the officer figured he was either in shock or senile. So he put the old guy on the back of his wheel to take him back to his hotel. But the Canadian didnt know enough to bent grass on he fell off before theyd gone iii feet-cracked his head and broke his wrist.What Susan choked.The officer wanted to take him to a hospital, but the Canadian was furious-said hed walk back to Canada before hed get on the pedal again. So all the off icer could do was walk him to a flyspeck public clinic near the park. He left him there to get canvas out.Susan frowned. I assume theres no need to ask where David is headed.