RETURNING TO HIS OFFICE, Gregory sat down at his desk and went back to work. He intended to clear up any doubts before he closed his eyes again to rest.
Thousands of photos taken by people present at the event and local news coverage of the marathon, as well as hours of footage from personal and security cameras, formed the largest jigsaw puzzle he had ever seen in his career. Connecting so many pieces was terrifying, and so far very frustrating.
How could he find a stranger among so many others as unknown as him?
Those people were so unique, so unique...
How could he define the right one?
To the distant eyes of an observer, they were all the same, despite their singularities, because to him, they were all just strangers.
Searching for someone, finding the other. That was the task that had been occupying his mind for the last twenty-four hours. Just looking at photos and videos looking for a stranger wouldn't do it. He needed to be perceptive, sagacious, and Gregory Evans was like that, the kind of person who always thinks about how to optimize his work, in the craziest ways possible. Bill Gates, the famous Benjamin of Microsoft, once said that the most competent people were lazy, because they always tried to do the job with the least amount of effort.
Greg didn't like being considered lazy because he always looked for the easiest way out. His need to make the most of his time, for example, was so great that the first thing he did when he was in his office was to turn on the computer and only then would he turn on the lights, put the things he had brought on the table and get the coffee, simply so he wouldn't have to wait for the seconds for the machine to boot up while sitting in front of it, doing nothing. He was distressed, because he had worked on that problem for many hours and couldn't find a solution. That's when he sat down in front of the table full of material and closed his eyes, taking care not to doze off.
How could he reduce the possibilities?
What kind of person would carry a bomb?
How would she behave if she did?
What would the bomb look like?
That was it!
He quickly opened his eyes and lost his frown.
The explosive would be the first step to solving the enigma. He needed to know what the bomb looked like and how it could be transported.
"Martin! Where's the bomb disposal team's report?"
"It's here," he handed it to her.
Gregory began to analyze the bomb disposal team's report. Hours earlier, he had received a preview of the same report, so he decided to compare them. The result intrigued him greatly.
In the first document, the post-explosion reading revealed a weak presence of vapors produced by a chemical agent that is purposefully inserted into explosives such as Semtex and C4 after 1991, to facilitate their identification, since the compound had been associated with terrorist use, losing market share.
In the second document, however, the same team concluded that the explosive was assembled with gunpowder and nails, similar to one found years earlier on a corner of Times Square.
The disparity left him astonished. How could a specialist team change their hypothesis so drastically? — he wondered.
The paperwork said that the material was contained in a small pressure cooker or something similar. Therefore, Greg concluded, the terrorist would have to be using a backpack or bag large enough to carry it. He was almost certain that he was not dealing with a suicide bomber, especially since, according to the report he had read describing the situation of the victims, there were people who had lost limbs, but none had been torn apart like a suicide bomber would have. However, the guy could have simply left the package where he left before detonating it.
Greg went back to the pile of photos and videos. He needed to mark each person who was carrying some kind of bag or backpack with them. His starting point was, logically, the area where the explosion occurred. The person responsible would have been there at some point, even if it was just to leave the material.
— Hey, Martin, I need your help — he said, focused on the photos. Martin got up from his desk and came over to him.
— What do you need? — he asked, not very excited.
Gregory took a red pen and handed it to him.
— I want you to help me mark all the people who are carrying large bags or backpacks. Let's focus on this corner, where the bomb exploded.
Despite some reluctance from Martin, the two began to look, photo by photo, marking everyone who matched the pattern within a radius of approximately twenty meters. Hours later, the number of photos dropped extraordinarily, summing up the work of the two.
After that, with the people marked, they began a careful search through the videos. Every video from security cameras and personal video cameras that showed the site of the explosion was watched by the two in the hours that followed. Their eyes remained on those who were marked in the photographs.
— Look at this woman, — said Martin. — She's been walking since the corner with that bag, but when she shows up here, I can't see the bag.
— Let's look for it on the video from that other camera... here. — Gregory replied anxiously.
— Let's see...
— There, she's there, she's with the bag.
— Yes, she really did go right by. Many false signals appeared...
In the same way, the two continued, persistent, observing each person until they exhausted the possibilities that someone left the bomb there and left. Everyone who passed by kept their belongings. The hypothesis that the terrorist left the place was almost being abandoned, Greg didn't want to think like that, but he was already being led to investigate the possibility that the guy had stayed with the explosive and was one of the five killed in the explosion.
— Martin, let's go to the ones who were right there.
— Do you think the guy committed suicide?
— I don't know... it's hard to believe, but that's what's left for us now.
THEY THEN FOCUSED ON those who were at the scene, within the radius of the explosion. There were at least nine people there with backpacks or bags large enough to carry the explosive, exactly three young men with backpacks, two men with large executive suitcases and four women with their bags, of those who appeared in the recordings and photographs.
The two women did not seem to have the slightest chance of being suspects. One of them was undeniably a Benjamina from the house, carrying a huge bag that seemed to be carrying things belonging to the baby in her arms, a newborn, perhaps five or six months old at most. No human being, not even a suicidal lunatic, would have the courage to do that while taking their own baby with them...
The other woman was also scratched out, because, in addition to being clearly American, during a part of the recording she was waving to the track and recording with her camera, they could see that one of the runners was her companion, because he also responded to her with waves and affectionate gestures. The men carrying briefcases weren't exactly discarded, but they both looked exactly like American businessmen. They wore expensive suits and had even more valuable items, such as watches, gold rings and state-of-the-art smartphones, and one of them was constantly talking on the phone.
What caught Gregory and Martin's attention were the young men. Three young men were watching the event right at the site of the explosion. Two of them seemed to be friends, as they were close by and spoke to each other a few times, while the other was a little further away. But the one who caught Greg's attention the most was one of his friends, a young man who looked to be around twenty years old, with a coat, a cap, a huge backpack on his back and clearly Muslim features.
— Look at this one, Martin! — Gregory exclaimed, pointing to the computer screen.
— Wow... stereotypes always help — Martin commented mockingly.