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e-mails you’ve isolated are from the same German source, that they’re even from Germany!’ seized Dodson, exaggerating the incredulity. ‘It isn’t sufficient for you just to believe that one hazy image could be Roger Bennett to have raised an alarm like this; we’d need more than that even if it were Bennett. I think we should consider standing down.’
    â€˜I didn’t decree the alarm level, although I think it’s justified,’ defended Sally. ‘It’s the middle of the night now; it would be inconvenient as well as a mistake to reduce or withdraw what’s been put in place until the full forensic examinations are completed.’
    â€˜The longer we leave the emergency in place, the greater the danger that there’ll be an information leak, screaming headlines, public panic, and embarrassing parliamentary explanation,’ persisted Dodson.
    â€˜Better a false alarm than the screaming headlines and public panic that would result from a nuclear leak we’d failed quickly enough to prevent,’ said Sally.
    â€˜A drawdown at this hour is impractical,’ decided Monkton. ‘We’ll give forensics until the morning.’
    â€˜But no longer than the morning,’ stressed North. ‘I fear we’ve cried wolf here.’
    The Director-General answered the anteroom extension to his personal internal telephone, listening without interruption and remaining momentarily silent, head bowed. He replaced the receiver and turned back to the others. ‘The man at the street sign is Hasib Hussain, but in Germany he calls himself Horst Becker. He tops their most-wanted terrorist list.’
    Dodson’s face was ashen.

 
    7
    â€˜We’ve got him!’ Palpable relief was in James Bradley’s voice.
    â€˜No, we haven’t,’ refused Irvine, concealing his similar feeling in front of what remained of his blank-faced audience. After the conclusion of the first exchange with Langley, Barker and Malik had left to compare the minimal transliteration they believed already achieved from the ongoing random high-velocity sweep.
    â€˜We’ve got an area,’ insisted the CIA man.
    â€˜We enhanced the signals search for his cell phone and computer after your surveillance supervisor finally remembered that al Aswamy was carrying a computer sack,’ persisted Irvine. ‘The signal was traced somewhere in Brentwood, Northeast DC, but it was too faint for coordinates. The area’s still too big. And presumably he’s still got his motorcycle transport.’
    â€˜It’s a good enough location to put in a new team.’
    â€˜Try to make it a better crew than the last one,’ said Irvine heavily.
    â€˜I’ve briefed them personally,’ assured Bradley, reluctant to capitulate again, but conscious of his weaker position. ‘We’ll find the son of a bitch, and this time we won’t lose him. You staying at Fort Meade tonight?’
    â€˜Of course.’
    â€˜I’ll be here at Langley. That’s where to find me.’
    â€˜We need to meet tomorrow, whatever happens,’ said Irvine. ‘Your fieldwork has got to be better than this.’
    â€˜All of those things and more. Let’s talk in the morning, assess where we are. Fix a meet then.’
    â€˜You’re right,’ agreed Burt Singleton, as Irvine replaced the receiver. ‘This is a bad start that could turn into a full-scale disaster. We’ve already gone over our agreed deadline: the other Homeland Security agencies should be brought in first thing tomorrow.’
    â€˜I know.’ Irvine paused. ‘It went too well and too easily in the beginning, made us forget there’d be setbacks.’ Made me forget, he mentally corrected himself.
    â€˜That’s the flaw,’ picked up Marian Lowell. ‘It only needs one glitch. There’s a straw to clutch at if the cell and computer signals stay in