Хеннинг Манкелль - Firewall

“Is this really true?” Wallander asked skeptically.

“It is definitely in the works,” Alfredsson said. “But we should also be honest about the fact that there are many things we just don’t know. Weapons systems are complicated.”

“Let’s return to Falk’s computer,” Wallander said. “Did you find those weak points?”

“I’m not sure,” Modin said hesitantly. “But I think there’s a way to see a connection between all of these institutions. They all have one thing in common.”

“And what is that?”

“They’re the cornerstones of the global financial network. If you compromised them enough, you’d be able to set in motion an economic crisis that could wipe out all of the world’s financial systems. The stockmarkets would crash. There’d be widespread panic. Everyone would rush to take out their money. Currency exchanges would go wild until no one could be sure what the rates should be.”

“And who would be interested in causing anything of this nature?”

Martinsson and Alfredsson spoke at the same time.

“Many people,” Alfredsson said. “It sounds like the highest form of terrorism imaginable. And there are many people out there eager to cause chaos and destruction.”

“Taking out the global financial network would be the ultimate act of sabotage.” Martinsson added.

“Does everyone in this room think that that’s what we’re looking at here? And that something like this is based in a computer in Ystad?” Wallander asked.

“It’s definitely something like this,” Martinsson said. “I’ve never come across anything like it before.”

“Is it harder to break into than the Pentagon?” Alfredsson asked.

Modin narrowed his eyes.

“It’s certainly not any less complicated.”

“I’m not sure how best to proceed in this kind of a situation,” Wallander said.

“I’ll talk to my people in Stockholm,” Alfredsson said. “I’ll send in a report that will later get sent on all over the world. We have to alert the institutions involved so that they can take precautions.”

“If it isn’t already too late,” Modin mumbled.

Everyone heard him, but no one made any comment. Alfredsson left the room in a hurry.

“I still have trouble believing it,” Wallander said.

“Well, whatever it is in Falk’s computer, there are people ready to kill in order to keep the system and countdown going,” Martinsson said.

Wallander pointed at Modin so that Martinsson would understand that he should choose his words with greater care.

“The question is what we can do,” Wallander said. “Is there anything we can do?”

“There’s often a button to push,” Modin said abruptly. “If you infect a computer system with a virus, you often hide it in an innocent and common command. But in order to set it off, several things have to come together at once. The commands often need to be carried out at a precise time, for example.”

“The best thing we can do now is carry on with what we’ve been doing,” Martinsson said. “We need to let the institutions know that they’re in danger of an attack so that they can inspect their security procedures. Alfredsson will handle the rest.”

Martinsson scribbled a few words on a piece of paper. He looked up at Wallander, who bent over to read them:

THE THREAT AGAINST MODIN IS SERIOUS.

Wallander nodded. Whoever had been spying on Modin from the road between the fields had known how important he was. Right now he was in the same situation that Sonja Hökberg had been in.

Wallander’s phone rang. Hansson was calling to let him know that the search for the attacker had not yet yielded any results. But they would continue unabated.

“How is Nyberg doing?”

“He’s already comparing fingerprints.”

Hansson was still out near Backåkra, where he would stay for now. He didn’t know where Höglund was.

They ended the conversation. Wallander tried to phone Höglund, but her phone was out of range.

There was a knock on the door, and Irene came in with a box.

“Here’s the food,” she said. “Who’s supposed to take care of the bill? I had to pay the delivery man out of my own pocket.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Wallander said and stretched out his hand for the receipt.

Modin ate. Wallander and Martinsson watched him in silence. Then Wallander’s phone rang again. It was Elvira Lindfeldt. He went out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

“I heard on the radio that shots were fired in an incident close to Ystad,” she said. “And there were policemen involved. I hope that wasn’t you.”

“Not directly,” Wallander said vaguely. “But we have a lot going on right now.”

“It made me worried, that’s all. I had to ask. Now of course I’m getting curious but I won’t ask any more questions.”

“There isn’t much I can tell you,” Wallander said.

“I understand that you don’t have a lot of free time at the moment.”

“It’s too early to say. But I’ll be in touch.”

When the conversation was over Wallander thought about the fact that it had been a long time since anyone had cared about him. Let alone worried about him.

He went back into the room. It was twenty minutes to six. Modin was still eating. Wallander and Martinsson left to get some coffee.

“I forgot to tell you that I cross-checked the list of names I got from Sydkraft. But I didn’t find anything.”

“We didn’t expect to,” Wallander said.

The coffee machine was on the blink again. Martinsson pulled out the plug and then put it in again. Now it was working.

“Is there a computer program inside the coffee machine?” Wallander asked.

“Hardly,” Martinsson said. “Though I guess you can imagine more sophisticated machines that would be controlled with tiny computer chips.”

“What if someone went in and changed the program? Could they change it so tea came out instead of coffee? And milk when someone wanted espresso?”

“Of course.”

“But how would it get triggered? How could you get it to start?”

“Well, you could imagine that a certain date has been entered in. A date and a time, perhaps an interval of an hour. Then the eleventh time that someone presses the button for coffee, the virus is triggered.”

“Why the eleventh?”

“That was just an example. It could have been any number that you’d chosen.”

“Is there anything you can do once that change occurs?”

“You could pull out the plug and restart it,” Martinsson said. “You can hang a sign saying the machine is broken. But the program that runs the machine would have to be replaced.”

“Is this what Modin is talking about?”

“Yes, but on a larger scale.”

“But we have no idea where Falk’s coffee machine is.”

“It could be anywhere in the world.”

“And that would mean that whoever sets off the chain reaction wouldn’t even have to be aware of it.”

“It would even be an advantage if the responsible party was nowhere near where the virus first arises.”

“So we’re looking for the symbolic equivalent of a coffee machine,” Wallander said. He walked over to the window and looked out. It was already dark. Martinsson walked over to where he was.

“I want you to do something,” Wallander said. “I’d like you to write a memo about what we just talked about. The threat of a global financial collapse. Get Alfredsson to help you. Then send it on to Stockholm and all of the internationl police agencies you can think of.”

“If we’re wrong, we’ll be the laughing stock of the world.”

“We have to take that chance. Give me the papers and I’ll sign them.”

Martinsson left. Wallander stayed in the lunchroom, deep in thought. He didn’t notice when Höglund slipped in. He jumped when she turned up at his side.