Radical

by Sijal Aziz

  In the commotion a woman fell just in front of Kate and started shouting “Help me, Help me”

  Detective Derek turned around to see what was happening.

  As Kate bent down to help the woman, she saw Detective Derek looking straight at her. All the people had somehow boarded the train and Kate was visible from miles.

  She saw detective Derek running towards her and at the same time she heard the chime and the announcement “Step Back doors are closing”

  Kate picked up the woman and pulled her in with her just before the doors were about to close.

  Outside she could see Detective Derek. He was staring at her with an angry look on his face. Then she saw him take out his cellphone out to make a call.

  The group’s head thanked Kate for helping the member of his group.

  After exchanging pleasantries with the rest of the group Kate exited the metro on the 4th stop and made her way back to her hotel.

  She was exhausted. When she was back in the safety of her room it was close to midnight. She took a shower, sat down on her bed and cried.

  She cried until she could cry no more. She hated her life. She had a perfect life. How could it all had gone so wrong? Why did her life take a turn for the worst? She cried for herself again and then she cried for Matt. Somewhere in the midst of all that crying she went to sleep.

  Detective Derek arrived at the station at 8:00 AM, the next day. He was called by Captain Tod as soon as he arrived.

  When Detective Derek entered the room Captain Tod was walking in his room fuming. As soon as he saw detective Derek he boomed, “How could you let her get away? Is it difficult for you to catch one woman?”

  “She somehow made it out of the Union Station and boarded the red line at the union metro. When I arrived there, she had already boarded the metro”

  “I need this woman caught! Do you understand? Get more people on your team if you need to. I want her caught!”

  “Captain, I have asked Jim to get the surveillance tapes from the Union Station and the metro station. As soon as the tapes arrive, we will go through them to check how she got away”

  “Also, I want you to intensify your search in and around the Union Station. She must be living close to it that’s why she placed a call from there!” Captain Todd said calming down a bit.

  Although Detective Derek did not agree with Captain Todd’s analysis, but he did not contradict him as the captain was already in a bad mood.

  “Ok, sir”

  “That’s all!”

  Detective Derek opened the door and left.

  Once on his desk he did some online research on People2People Inc. Kate was right it was a subsidiary of Kent and Cooper.

  Also, Kate was right that her company had compiled the CJIS program that the FBI was using currently. The more he looked into the case the more it became evident that Kate was not lying about anything and her company was involved in something major.

  Detective Derek went over to Jeff. He has seen Jeff more in the past two weeks than in the past couple of years.

  “Do you know about channeler firms Jeff?”

  With no one seeking Jeff’s help he was bored most of the time and playing games on his laptop.

  Jeff looked up from his laptop at Detective Derek, “Yes?”

  “Well is it possible for a channeler firm to modify a police record in the CJIS?”

  Jeff liked being asked questions about IT and it made him feel like he was at least something worthwhile with his degree.

  “Yes and no” Jeff responded.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well in order for someone to be able to modify data in the CJIS they need to be able to have modification permission with the CJIS system.

  There could be a way to do it but it’s not effective. You know channeler firms provide different types of data for CJIS. A channeler firm could send a malware embedded in their data file. Once the FBI opens the file containing the embedded malware, the malware will be automatically installed onto their system.

  Suppose the malware had been compiled to gather passwords and logins from the CJIS system. Once it gathers these logins and passwords, it will send them to the designated email address or server. The channeler firm can then login to the CJIS and modify data.

  But it’s only a matter of minutes before the FBI identifies the problem and set back their server to before the breach took place. FBI maintains databases of the CJIS in two separate locations. It’s easy for FBI to revert back to data if it feels the CJIS has been manipulated. So, changing the records in this way, is not going to work”

  “Hmm. Can you think of any other way CJIS records can be manipulated?” Derek asked.

  Jeff looked suspiciously at Detective Derek. Detective Derek saw the look of suspicion on Jeff’s face and said, “It’s for a case I have been working on. The subject claims that she did not have a rap sheet and it was somehow given to her after she was suspected of murder. So far whatever she has said has turned out to the truth, so I was wondering whether it was true as well”

  Jeff was thoughtful for a moment. Then he suddenly jerked as if he had come across something exciting, “Well there is one other way in fact two other ways, but they could be a little bit farfetched?”

  “Well I am open to believing anything you can think of”

  “Ok so you know CJIS is being operated by the FBI. One way is if someone in a higher position in the FBI manipulated data. As people working in higher positions in the FBI have the authority to modify data”, Detective Derek didn’t look too enthusiastic about what Jeff just said.

  Jeff looked at the disappointment on Detective Derek’s face and quickly added, “The other way could be that the firm that has developed the CJIS could have left a backdoor in the software or hidden a sleeper program in the CJIS software.

  Through the backdoor they could login anytime and change data. This could be a bit risky as FBI will find out sooner or later.

  However, the sleeper program would be difficult to detect. There would be no login or password needed. All the sleeper program would need to do is to change the data according to the instructions it had been given. If the sleeper program had been coded really well, even the system protection and firewall would not recognize it, since they will recognize it as part of the main program.

  “What is a sleeper program?”

  “A sleeper program works pretty much like a person sleeping. For example, let’s suppose we have an assassin in our station. Now this assassin can only hear certain commands and continue sleeping through anything unless those particular commands are given.

  For example, with the command ‘wake up and kill Alice’. The assassin will wake up and kill Alice and go back to sleep again.

  Now in our scenario let us suppose that the detectives in our station can only see the people who are awake and investigate them. So, they never see the assassin nor investigate him because he isn’t really doing anything except sleeping so he cannot be seen.

  The sleeper program works on the same principle.

  It receives a wakeup call and a command from another program and does what the command has asked it to do and then goes back to sleep again.

  So, a channeler firm can send this command embedded in their data file and tell the sleeper program what to do. The sleeper program will modify, enter or delete the record and go to sleep again without being caught by the humans and softwares that are there to protect the system”

  “Jeff please keep what I am about to tell you very confidential until we solve this case”

  “Sure”

  “I want you to do some research on Kent and Cooper and People2People Inc. Check to see if either of them is doing anything illegal. I mean anything and when you have found something, I want you to report to me and only me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes”, Jeff responded.

  Jeff felt excited. He had wanted to change jobs as he has had literally nothing to do in the past two years.

&nbs
p; The detectives did not ask for his help and he was at his desk doing nothing.

  But now finally his prayers had been answered and Detective Derek had provided him with an opportunity to be part of the police force. Yes, he will make sure that he left no stone unturned to gather information on Kent and Cooper and People2People Inc.

  CHAPTER 19

  His name was Simon Carter. His earliest memories were those of his parents smothering him with love and attention. At times he felt as if he could not breathe in their presence.

  They loved him and listened to his every wish and whim. He hated them. He wanted them to disappear from his life, he wanted them to stop loving him. He wanted to be free to do whatever he wanted.

  But they would not let that happen. Whenever he would be alone in the lawn, in his room or watching TV, they would come to him and tease him with their questions and love.

  He ran away from his house when he was 5 but the sheriff brought him back. The Carters were a respectable family living in Sherwood, a small town in the Pulaski County in Arkansas.

  Since it was a small town everyone knew everyone else. The Carters were rich and people all over the town knew them. Police made it their duty to take care of them as Mr. Gellar Carter was the friend of the mayor.

  So, when Mr. Carter reported that his son was missing, the police dropped whatever they were doing and diverted all their resources to finding young Simon Carter.

  And they did. As Simon was about to board a Greyhound bus, a sheriff saw him and immediately ran to him and stopped him.

  When the sheriff asked his name, Simon broke down in tears and started crying and sobbing, “My name is Simon Carter and I was kidnapped”

  The sheriff immediately took him to his car and radioed others, “I have Simon Carter in my car. He was found at the Greyhound bus station headed for Little Rock”

  Then the sheriff turned to Simon Carter, “Son, you said that you had been kidnapped. Do you see your kidnapper around?”

  “No, he asked me to board the bus and said he would be following me and if I did not board the bus, he would kill me”, Simon said sobbing.

  “Nobody can hurt you now son, can you tell me a little about your kidnapper and what he looked like”

  “I don’t know, he said that if I looked at his face, he would kill me”

  “Ok, no problem. Where did he kidnap you from?”

  “From outside my home”

  “Ok, son there is nothing to worry about now, I will drive you to your home now. Do you need something to eat or drink?”

  “No, please just take me home to my mom”, Simon said still sobbing.

  When they reached home, Simon’s parents were waiting for him outside. They both ran towards Simon and hugged him. His mother was crying, and he could see tears in his father’s eyes. Simon tried to control his rage. He hated being brought back but there was no use creating a scene in front of the police. He had to behave nicely in front of them.

  There were two detectives at his house as well. They asked him the same questions, the sheriff had asked earlier. Simon had not anticipated being caught and therefore was not prepared to answer any questions. So, he started crying and sobbing which made Mr. Carter put a stop to the questioning.

  What happened next was even worse, if Simon’s parents were loving towards him before, they were absolutely doting towards him now. They never let him go out of their sight.

  Simon’s dad put 9 feet high walls with electric fence all around the Carter estate to make it safer.

  Simon’s father hired a security guard who drove Simon to and from school. The only place Simon could be alone was in the expansive gardens around his house.

  He was a restless child and he did not know what he was supposed to do. One day as he was sitting alone in his garden, plucking the grass with his hand, he saw some ants walking in a line. He started killing them with a stick in his hand and he enjoyed seeing them writhing in pain and dying in front of his eyes.

  For the first time in his life he felt happy and excited. He started spending more and more time in the garden killing all the insects he could find in the most ingenious ways he could think of. Killing somehow relaxed him and he wanted to do it all the time. By the age of seven he graduated to torturing and killing cats and dogs.

  When his parents found out they were devasted. One day his father came home early from work and went out looking for Simon in the lawn. Simon was nine at the time. What he saw next made him throw up. Simon had a cat impaled on a stick and was killing it with a screw driver.

  He grabbed Simon by the arm and dragged him into the house. Then he called his mother and told her what Simon had done. They both decided to take Simon to a psychologist. Simon did not want to go to a psychologist.

  So, he started hatching a plan to kill his parents. He went to his mother’s medicine cabinet and took out her sleeping pills. He carefully ground them until they turned into fine powder.

  He was careful not to make a mess, because he hated mess and did everything with meticulous care.

  His father arrived home from work at around 7. Simon went to the door, opened it and hugged his father. His father was taken aback. Simon had never done that before.

  His father’s first thought was that maybe Simon had finally started to become normal. But he was a little suspicious. He was disappointed in Simon. At first, he had gone out of his way to be loving towards Simon but lately he could not help but be angry at him.

  He had bad grades, he was out all the time, God knows doing what and was aloof to the love and care of his parents. It was as if they didn’t exist for him.

  Then Simon went over to the TV and started changing the channels until he came to Animal Planet. His father went to his room to freshen up. Simon waited for about half an hour and then went to the kitchen where his mom was cooking dinner, he went to her, hugged her and said, “Mom may I just have French fries today for dinner?”

  He had never hugged his mother. She could have given him the moon at that moment. She hugged him back and said, “Yes, my darling I will make fries for you now. Are you sure you don’t want anything else, I am making meatball pasta for tonight. It’s your favorite”

  Simon hated meatball pasta. In fact, he hated all of his mom’s cooking.

  “No mom, I only want French fries. Can I help with the garnishing of meat ball pasta?”

  His father arrived in the kitchen just then and walked over to his wife and kissed her, “I am famished. I had a very hectic day today and I am starving. What are we having for dinner tonight?”

  His mother put her hand on his father’s face and said lovingly, “Poor darling. I have made meatball pasta for tonight. And you know what, Simon has offered to garnish it for us today”

  “Is that right? Great, can’t wait to eat it”

  “Let me help you with the garnishing Simon”, his father said.

  “No, no, I will do it myself. Mom can you just dish out the meatball pasta in two plates. I will do the rest myself”, Simon said excitedly.

  “Ok. As you wish baby. Do you want me to carry the dishes to the dining table once you are done or would you do that also?”

  “I will carry the dishes. You just take my French fries and let me serve you”

  His mom’s eyes welled up with tears. Her husband took her by the hand and they both went to the dining room.

  Once they were gone Simon took out the sandwich bag from his pocket and carefully sprinkled the same amount of powder on each plate, making sure the powder did not fall on the sides of the plates. He then garnished it with parsley and took the plates out one by one and served them to his parents.

  “I hope I have done a good job and I hope you finish your pasta”

  He had ground around 20 pills and powdered both the pasta plates with them.

  He sat down with them and ate his French fries. Enjoying every bite, they took.

  His mother tried to do small talk with him, but he was too excited to talk. He kept on smil
ing at her. Once they had finished dinner, his mom asked him whether he would like to help with the dishes.

  Simon stood up, stared at her and left for his bedroom without saying a single word leaving his mother and father staring after him in shock.

  Simon was in his bed going over his plan. If the sleeping pills did their job it would take approximately 2 hours for his parents to be asleep. He set an alarm for 2 hours on his clock and went to sleep. When the alarm rang, he got up, went downstairs to the basement and took out his father’s hammer.

  He then went to the kitchen and took out four plastic bags and put them in his pockets. His hands were shaking with excitement. He almost ran upstairs to their bedroom. He opened the door carefully and made his way to their bed.

  They were sleeping. He took a glass from the side table and threw it on the floor. They did not even move. He sat down on top of his father and started hitting him with the hammer in the head. His father tried to move just a little bit before going down under. It was his mother’s turn then. He did the same to her. While he was hitting her, she opened her eyes and there was shock and disbelief there. He hit her even harder.

  He got off his mother. Carefully put on the plastic bags on his feet and hands so that he did not leave any foot marks.

  Once his hands and feet were covered, he walked over to the toilet and took a long shower.

  He had never felt happier in his life. The murders made him feel ecstatic, but the cover up he had planned was what he was really proud of. He had planned it well. This of course was a test for him. If the police could not apprehend him as a killer after this he could kill whenever he pleased.

  Once he had made sure he had cleaned himself thoroughly, he got out of the shower dried himself and used a hairdryer to dry his hair, brushed them and then ruffled them up a little bit.

  He then took the hammer, cleaned his fingerprints off it and left it dipped in bleach for a couple of hours. All those episodes of Forensic Files had trained him on how to get rid of evidence.

  The police metal scanners were only good for detecting metal for up to three feet underground. He had dug a 4 feet hole in the ground. Once the hammer was cleaned out, he took it outside, making sure that his finger prints wouldn’t get on it, buried it in the hole and covered it up thoroughly to make sure the ground didn’t look disturbed.