‘Why has Zakaria Khelifi come up in this context? Who would do such a thing with the aim of helping him? Is it his current girlfriend? A friend? A group of activists?’
‘Or a terrorist group,’ someone said.
‘Or a terrorist group,’ Eden repeated. ‘And secondly, why is Tennyson Cottage mentioned? What’s the connection with Khelifi?’
‘Does there have to be a connection?’ Sebastian asked. ‘It could be someone who just wants to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.’
‘True,’ Eden said, grateful for Sebastian’s contribution. ‘That could of course be the case. But then the question remains: how does this person know about Tennyson Cottage? I mean, it’s not particularly well known.’
One of the investigators raised his hand.
‘I think you can find it if you do an Internet search. Well, I know you can. I just tried it myself.’
‘I did the same thing,’ Sebastian said. ‘But there weren’t many matches – less than a handful. It doesn’t seem like a place you would just come across unless you knew what you were looking for.’
‘Which takes us back to square one,’ Eden said. ‘How did the person or persons who made the threat know about Tennyson Cottage?’
Was this the right angle of attack? Eden was doubtful. She was finding it difficult to work out how to react to the two different demands contained in the note. Was Tennyson Cottage the most important thing for the hijacker or hijackers, or was it Zakaria Khelifi? Why decide to challenge two governments rather than just one? Surely, whoever it was must realise that the USA would never accept a hostage situation. They didn’t negotiate with terrorists, and there was no way they would shut down Tennyson Cottage during the time it took a jumbo jet to use up its fuel.
As far as Zakaria Khelifi was concerned, Eden thought the same applied. The Swedish government was not going to revise its decision because of a bomb threat. If they did, it would open the floodgates for a surge of hostage situations and bomb threats. Besides which, they still didn’t know if this was a hoax, and that bothered Eden more than anything else.
‘Let’s just ignore the demands for a while and focus on the actual threat instead,’ she said. ‘The bomb that’s supposed to be on the plane. What do Arlanda say, first of all?’
‘I’ve been in touch with them,’ one of the investigators said. ‘They reckon it’s virtually impossible to smuggle a bomb on board these days, either in hand luggage or in baggage that’s been checked in. At least with flights that have the USA as their final destination.’
‘Because the Americans insist that everything has to be X-rayed?’
‘Exactly. Every single thing is X-rayed.’
‘And what do they do if they see something suspicious in baggage that’s been checked in? Do they open it? I can think of countless occasion when people have been asked to open their hand luggage to show what they’re carrying, but I’ve never heard of anyone having to open a suitcase after it’s been checked in. And most people lock their cases these days, so what happens then? Do they break them open? I can’t recall ever seeing that either.’
Sebastian broke in, sounding slightly impatient.
‘Isn’t this exactly what this kind of threat is aiming to achieve?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They want us to sit here trying to guess whether or not there really is a bomb. The fact that we can’t be sure makes the answer irrelevant, because we can’t afford to take the risk. Therefore, it’s not a good idea to mess with people who threaten a plane that’s actually in the air.’
Eden nodded thoughtfully. ‘We can compare this situation with the threats we dealt with yesterday. We were given times and locations for four bombs; we were able to get there, evacuate each location and carry out a search for any possible explosives. In the case of a plane that’s already in the air, with the threat that it will be blown up if it tries to land, that’s impossible. Even if we sent one of the crew down into the hold to search the baggage, it would be impossible. There are far too many bags to go through, and they don’t have the necessary equipment.’
‘This claim that the plane will be blown up if it comes in to land tells us something else,’ Sebastian said.
‘Yes,’ Eden agreed. ‘So far, not one word has leaked out to the press, so in order for whoever has made the threat to know if the plane lands…’
‘… at least one of them has to be on board. Or they have a contact on board,’ Sebastian finished.
Eden thought for a moment. It was the perfect threat. The police and the government would need nerves of steel if they were going to defy the hijackers and hope that the whole thing was nothing more than a bluff, that there was no bomb.
‘If the person who left the note in the toilet is still on board, then that person believes they will be able to leave the plane without being recognised and stopped by the police. And they’re counting on the fact that they won’t have to blow the plane to pieces, because then the person in question would die too. Of course, it’s possible that he or she might be prepared to die for the cause, but perhaps it’s not the most credible scenario.’
‘Which raises another question,’ one of the investigators said. ‘How does the person behind all this think he or she is going to communicate with us, find out if their demands have been met?’
‘Through the media,’ Sebastian said.
‘But the media don’t have the story.’
‘Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. There’s no chance that there won’t be a leak from somewhere – Arlanda, SAS, the police or the government office. Or the Americans, for that matter.’
‘So the person behind all this thinks that he’ll be able to read about it if Zakaria Khelifi is released and allowed to stay here, and if the Americans close down Tennyson Cottage.’
‘I think that must be the case,’ Eden said. ‘No one has tried to make direct contact either with us or the Americans.’
She clasped her hands in her lap, which was something she often did when she was thinking.
‘We don’t know if there is a bomb on board, but most indications would suggest that this is unlikely. Nor do we know if the person behind the threat is on board the plane, but as the note was found in the toilet, that is a reasonable assumption.’
She leaned back and went on:
‘What we do know, however, is that the news has not yet reached the mass media. We also know that the perpetrators have chosen not to contact us directly.’
The others waited.
‘What are you getting at?’ Sebastian asked.
‘We could try to effect an emergency landing in secret, and evacuate the passengers and crew before the news gets out.’
‘Are you crazy? And risk everyone’s life?’
Eden pursed her lips.
‘Just think about it. If there really is a bomb on board, the perpetrators must have made extensive preparations in order to get it there. They must also realise that if the plane is blown up, airports all over Europe and the USA will revise their security procedures so that it will become even more difficult to take a bomb on board. In other words, they will never get another chance. Therefore, as far as they are concerned, it’s essential that everything works this time. Blowing up the plane just because we try for an emergency landing makes no sense at all to me.’
The door of the meeting room opened and closed as someone realised they were in the wrong place.
‘So you think that if we try to bring the plane down, we’ll find out if whoever is behind the threat is serious, and whether one of them is sitting on the plane, or has some other way of knowing what’s happening on board?’
‘Exactly. I believe that if we try to bring the plane down, even if there is a bomb on board, the plane won’t be blown up. I think the person behind the threat will make himself or herself known, and will remind us that we’re not sticking to the rules.’