Page 237 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“This is quite a setup.” Wyl studied one computer. “What are the specs on the Macs?”
“The best money can buy,” Ailbe boasted. “i7s, with 64 gigs of RAM and two terabytes of flash storage. There is nothing these computers cannot do.”
“Impressive,” Wyl said. “Connection?”
“Running through the campus network, of course, this lab has a dedicated fiber connection with a 10-gigabit pipe. All thirty computers can access the web simultaneously, and the capacity isn’t even stressed.”
Wyl had never seen a lab this well-equipped outside of US government facilities. “I can hardly wait to see the students at work.”
“We’ll get to that next week,” Ailbe said. “This week, you and I will each review submitted projects to ensure there are no errors. Next week, I’ll have them all in the lab putting their projects together and working to ensure everything goes as planned. By the 28th, they’ll have completed the data entry, and we can do a trial run of the project.”
The 28thfor a trial run?Wyl thought.That must mean the 29this the day he plans to launch the cyberattack.
“Well, let’s get to work,” Wyl said, “starting with lunch. Where are you taking me?”
“We have a decent canteen here on campus,” Ailbe said. “We can grab a couple of sandwiches and come back to my office for a chat over lunch.” Ailbe winked as he said the wordchat.
“Chat, eh? That sounds interesting.” If Ailbe wanted to play a game, Wyl had to play along. “After ourchat,I can delve into more projects.”
“Follow me,” Ailbe said.
“Lead the way.” Wyl figured Ailbe thought he was a pushover, precisely what he wanted him to think.
* * *
O’Brien strolled down the hallway of the Arts Millennium Building on the Galway University campus. Reaching his destination, he softly tapped the doorframe of Declan Knowlan’s office.
Declan looked up from his desk. “Yes, sir?”
“Mr. Knowlan, I’m Chief Superintendent O’Brien of Garda. Might I have a word with you?” O’Brien saw a brief flash of alarm in Declan’s eyes.
Declan forced a smile and stood. “Certainly, Chief Superintendent. Won’t you come in and have a seat?” He motioned to the guest chair near his desk.
“Thank you.” O’Brien entered and sat in the comfortable cloth chair.
“What can I do for you, Chief Superintendent?” Declan occupied himself, straightening the papers on his desk before he sat and looked at O’Brien.
“Mr. Knowlan, may we have a private conversation?” O’Brien nodded his head toward the open door.
“Aye. Let me close the door.” Declan rose from his chair and moved around the desk to shut his office door. “There,” he said, “now what warrants your visit?”
“I’ll get straight to the point, Knowlan,” O’Brien said. He dropped the familiarMr.from his name. “We know MacGowan telephoned you at unusual times within twenty-four hours of each of the suspicious student deaths. I need you to tell me about the nature of those phone calls, and in return, I might consider a deal.”
“And what makes you think I have anything unusual to report?” Declan perched his butt on the corner of his desk, one foot dangling, with the other foot planted firmly on the floor, remaining above O’Brien in a superior position.
“Knowlan, you and MacGowan have a habit of talking on the telephone every afternoon. On two occasions, you had an unusually brief morning conversation.”
“I assume you have recordings of these conversations, Chief?” Declan calmly folded his arms across his chest.
“Not exactly, but the coincidence between the two calls and the two murders is something I want to follow up on.” O’Brien removed the small notebook and pencil from his pocket. He flipped open the notebook and wrote.
“Chief, on both occasions, Dr. McGowan’s lab was experiencing problems with network connections. He called to find out if my campus had similar difficulties. It was a simple yes-or-no question that required no further explanation. I fail to see how that ties to a criminal investigation.” Declan glared at O’Brien, his brow furrowed and his jaw firmly set.
“I assume you reported these problems to your IT department?” O’Brien asked.
“Chief, the outage was temporary. There was no need to submit a trouble ticket or get IT involved.”
“I see…” O’Brien made notes.
