Free Off Kilter by Glen Robins Page B

a grinding halt for nearly a day. Billions of pounds of lost income and lost opportunity had yet to be punished.
    No one seemed to know much about this Pho Nam Penh chap or his band of operators, known as the Komodos. The news outlets never mentioned him by name. The intra-agency bulletins made reference to the group as suspects in various cyber crimes and hack attacks, including the penny-skimming scam. As of yet, no law enforcement agency had collected the kind of solid evidence that could support a warrant for any arrests, cease and desists, or other sanctions. Penh and the members of his enigmatic band had proven so elusive that surveillance and tracking were not possible.
    Turning his attention to another enigma, Nic searched Collin Cook online and found a trove of news articles. As he read, Nic discovered Collin’s tragic but well-chronicled story on the local Bay Area news stations’ websites. He learned that Amy Cook and her three children were returning to their Petaluma home after celebrating the Fourth of July at her family’s Lake Tahoe cabin. A semi truck hauling twenty tons of rock from the highway construction project on Interstate 80 lost control and tumbled onto the minivan Mrs. Cook was driving. The pictures were horrifying. The Toyota Sienna was flattened. Nic paused to catch his breath.
    Curiosity piqued, Nic continued to read. Another article reported that Collin Cook was hospitalized after being found unconscious on his living room floor in a pool of his own blood and vomit by a California Highway Patrol Officer investigating the accident. The officer was dispatched to the Cook home when Mr. Cook did not answer CHP calls. It was discovered through phone records that Mr. and Mrs. Cook were on the phone to each other at the time of the accident. Nic stopped again. He couldn’t help but feel for this guy. No wonder he came unhinged.
    The last article he read summarized the mysterious disappearance of the same Collin Cook. It recapped the tragedy and quoted the concerned parents of Mr. Cook who asked for help bringing their son home. That was shortly after Thanksgiving. Mr. Cook reportedly received an insurance settlement estimated to be more than $25 Million, according to unnamed sources.
    I guess he took the money and ran, thought Nic. Why not? Seemed like a nice enough guy according to all accounts, but don’t they all, up until they cross the line?
    With his findings on the two men fresh in his mind, Nic tried to surmise the mysterious link between Penh and Collin Cook. Why? Why would an average Joe like Collin Cook start colluding with an enemy like Pho Nam Penh? Nic had to make sense of it, but none of it fit together. Yet.
     
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    Alastair Montgomery had spent the entire day in and out of meetings with his superiors and his subordinates. Non-stop status updates on this RBS thing. It was enough to drive a man insane. There were too many demands, too many opinions, and not enough credible information to act on. All the media frenzy, all the accusations, all the commotion had taken its toll. His head felt like it might explode. He needed a drink.
    As Alastair draped his coat over his arm and hefted his computer bag, Nic Lancaster swept breathlessly into his office waving a stack of papers. “Sir, I think I’m onto something,” he said.
    “What have you got there, Nic?” said Alastair. His eyebrows rose, but his facial expression remained unchanged.
    “This is a list of banks in the Caribbean that have received an influx of electronic funds transfers into numbered accounts during the three days after the RBS attack. I’ve eliminated all but those that received at least $1 million in a single transaction.”
    “That’s great, Nic. What do you plan to do with that information?”
    “I’ve informed these banks that we’re tracking down the funds that were stolen from RBS.”
    “And what’s that going to