A Bombing Enigma Page 18

  “What if she is as clueless as she seemed? They will not be kind to her!” Cynara exclaimed.

  “Yes, but there is no choice,” Bradley stood firm.

  “We will call them first thing in the morning and brief them,” Charles agreed.

  “I will not be surprised if they themselves pay Elizabeth a visit in regards to the Fatwa,” Bradley said.

  It was all too outlandish. Could there really be a Fatwa? Did these things even exist in today’s world? This was not medieval times. It was England in the 21st century. Cynara forced herself to listen to what Bradley and Charles were discussing. Bradley requested them not to mention anything about the Fatwa when talking to the agents. He wanted them to play ignorant in order to not jeopardize his source in the agency. Cynara went to bed as soon as he left. She hoped the rest of the night was boringly quiet. The day had provided enough excitement to last a lifetime.

  Cynara awoke to the alarm feeling refreshed. Charles was already dressed by the time she showered and completed her toiletries. They had a hurried breakfast and walked over to the manor. There were two different police officers keeping watch. Cynara spotted one just behind her cottage and the other one in front of the main gate. They provided their names and phone numbers. Their presence was comforting.

  Mr. Drake opened the door and was surprised to see Charles with Cynara but prudently did not ask anything. Cynara requested him to call Elizabeth. They went into the study. Cynara sat down at the desk and tried to remember what she had been working on the day before. So much had happened since then that it was difficult to recall. Charles stood by the window looking outside.

  Elizabeth walked slowly into the room a few minutes later. Her face looked drawn with stress and she had big bags under her eyes. She probably had not slept much. “Is something the matter?” she asked apprehensively, without even greeting them.

  “We need to tell you something,” Charles responded.

  Elizabeth looked at them in alarm. She seemed like a doe about to take flight. Stiffening her shoulders, she faced them bravely. “Yes, what is it?”

  Charles started to narrate the events of Saturday night. He said that Bradley, his friend’s cousin, who is a reporter, had stopped by to find out about Jimmy’s letter. He was writing an investigative piece for his newspaper. Elizabeth interrupted that she had heard of him, as he was also a friend of Kevin’s. Charles then went on to say that while he was there, Fatima arrived, Abaan Khalid’s sister. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in astonishment at hearing this. Charles gave a synopsis of the visit.

  “That must have been so unnerving for you. Why did you not tell me yesterday?” Elizabeth asked Cynara.

  “I wanted to but I felt confident that Fatima was not involved in any of the recent events. Furthermore, I was worried that the police is not going to be so lenient and will definitely question her, might even torture her. Thus, I decided to keep quiet about her visit. I am sorry. It was wrong,” Cynara explained.

  “You cannot be certain,” Elizabeth stated. “It is best for the agents to determine how innocent or involved Fatima is.”

  “I agree. Can you please call and request them to come here?” Charles asked.

  “Yes, certainly,” Elizabeth said. Just as she stood up and reached for the phone, the doorbell rang. It startled all three of them.

  “Quite early for a visitor,” Charles said looking at Cynara. They were both thinking the same thing. It must be the agents.

  “Yes it is early. Let me first attend to the visitor,” Elizabeth said. They only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened and the agents entered.

  “This is a surprise,” Elizabeth said. “I was just about to ring you.”

  “Ring us?” Mr. Daniels asked.

  “Yes. There is something that Ms. Walters needs to share,” Elizabeth said.

  Cynara quickly reported her encounter with Fatima. She just briefly mentioned Bradley Robinson’s presence during the meeting and referred to him as a friend. The agents listened quietly without interrupting.

  “How did she know where you live?” Mr. Daniels asked after Cynara completed her narrative.

  “I do not know,” Cynara replied.

  “You should have informed us immediately Ms. Walters. We cannot take threats like this lightly,” Mr. Watson said sternly.

  “I did not feel she was a real threat,” Cynara said.

  “Appearances can be deceptive. Let us be the judge of that,” Mr. Daniels reprimanded. “You were fortunate that Mr. Robinson was present at the time and you were not alone.”

  “The patrol officers told us Mr. Robinson visited you again last night?” Mr. Watson asked.

  “Yes, he came to see me as I was not here Saturday night,” Charles jumped in.

  “What will you do to Fatima?” Cynara asked timidly.

  “We are not monsters but we do need to question her. And if she really is blameless, then there is nothing to fear,” Mr. Watson replied.

  Cynara nodded her head. She really prayed that Fatima was what she appeared, a sister who loved her brother very much. Cynara could relate to her sentiments. Just as Charles was for her, Abaan was Fatima’s only sibling.

  Cynara came out of her reverie when she heard Elizabeth ask Mr. Daniels, “What did you want to see us about?”

  “We know the reason for the bomb. It was meant for you,” Mr. Daniels said solemnly.

  “For me? Are you sure?” Elizabeth asked.

  “There is a Fatwa on your life. The bomb was meant to kill you,” Mr. Watson said flatly.

  Chapter 29

  “Fatwa?” Elizabeth asked incomprehensibly.

  “Do you understand what that means?” Mr. Watson asked.

  “Yes,” Elizabeth whispered.

  “There was a Fatwa issued calling for your death two days ago on social media,” Mr. Daniels said. “It seems to have been initiated by a Muslim Radicals group.”

  “Are you serious?” Elizabeth asked almost inaudibly.

  “Yes I am sorry,” Mr. Daniels said.

  “Is that the same group that Abaan Khalid belongs to?” Charles asked.

  “We are not certain, but it is a credible assumption,” Mr. Daniels replied.

  “What is their reasoning?” Cynara asked.

  “We do not know yet,” Mr. Daniels replied. “But this unquestionably proves that a terrorist organization is involved.”

  “So the bomb yesterday was meant for Mrs. Stewart?” Charles asked.

  “Yes that is what we suspect,” Mr. Daniels said.

  “Terrorists do not usually have personal vendettas or go around committing murders. So why are they targeting Elizabeth?” Cynara asked.

  “We can only speculate at this time. Usual agenda for terrorists is to spread fear and create chaos,” Mr. Watson said.

  “My God! It is all quite insane.” Elizabeth uttered wildly.

  “Please we all need to stay calm,” Mr. Watson said quietly.

  “What should we do now?” Charles demanded.

  “Well for starters we have two officers patrolling the grounds at all times. Mrs. Stewarts should stay here and not venture out anywhere until we fully eliminate this threat,” Mr. Daniels said.

  “And how long would that take?” Cynara asked.

  “We are hoping to have the case solved soon,” Mr. Daniels said confidently.

  “Yes we can assure you of that. Let us see what we find out after talking to Fatima,” Mr. Watson added.

  “Fatima? You think she is involved in this bomb plot or the Fatwa?” Cynara asked tremulously.

  “It is possible. She came here angry,” Mr. Watson replied.

  “Yes but her anger had vanished by the time she left,” Cynara said.

  “Ms. Walters, I repeat what we said earlier. If she is innocent, then she will come to no harm,” Mr. Watson said.

  “We know how shocking this all must be, but please, just give us time to do our jobs,” Mr. Daniels said.

  “Do we have any other opti
ons?” Charles enquired a little sarcastically.

  “Do not worry Mrs. Stewart,” Mr. Daniels pointedly ignored Charles. “You will be well protected.” The agents left after repeatedly promising to keep Elizabeth safe.

  “Well they certainly dropped a bombshell,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yes,” Cynara replied. “Please try not to be concerned. The police have guaranteed your safety.”

  Elizabeth weakly nodded her head. “Let us just try to forget all this and do some work.”

  “You are up to it?” Cynara asked.

  “What else is there to do? I need to stay busy,” Elizabeth said.

  “Working is a good distraction,” Charles agreed. “Please refrain from going out anywhere, for your own security.”

  “I will not step outside the property,” Elizabeth consented.

  Charles returned to the cottage and Cynara and Elizabeth resumed their paperwork. The circumstances were too crazy to mull over. Instead, Cynara forced herself to delve into the bills they were sorting. Elizabeth also worked quietly. The hours passed productively and before Cynara realized it was 5 pm. She shutdown the computer and went to the cottage.

  Charles was home and looked at her in concern. “How was your day? How is Elizabeth?”

  “She is fine, being very brave. The day went by swiftly. We got a lot of work done,” Cynara replied.

  Charles gave her a quick hug and went to make them some tea. Cynara pondered about the threat on Elizabeth’s life. She knew about Fatwas because she had read how a Fatwa had once been issued against a famous author. He had written something very controversial about Islam and a Fatwa had been declared against him. Cynara remembered reading that he had gone into hiding to save himself. These threats were for famous people like that, and not someone like Elizabeth. She was a very rich widow but still not enough to justify a death threat.

  Everyone at the manor refrained from talking about the murders or the bomb over the next couple of days. It was like a silent pact between them to try to forget the entire alarming matter. Elizabeth did not leave the premises at all. Cynara thought about Fatima a few times. She ardently hoped the investigators had found her as innocent as what she had seemed. The officers were still safeguarding the manor on eight-hour shifts. Their protection was quite reassuring.

  The stalemate ended with Bradley Robinson on Thursday. He came over just before dinner, unannounced. Cynara and Charles were quite mystified by his sudden arrival. The grave look on his face unnerved them.

  “Is something wrong?” Cynara asked fretfully. “Are there any more threats against Elizabeth?”

  “No, it is nothing of that sort,” Bradley said. “Have things been quiet?”

  “Yes. We have not heard from anyone, neither terrorists nor agents,” Charles replied.

  “How is Fatima?” Cynara asked.

  “She is fine. They took her in for questioning but then released her. She does not know anything about Abaan’s current whereabouts or plans,” Bradley replied.

  “Oh thank God. That is such a relief,” Cynara said gratefully.

  “Did Fatima say how she knew which was Cynara’s cottage?” Charles asked curiously.

  “When she came here that evening, she saw Mr. Keene going into his,” Bradley responded.

  “That explains it,” Cynara remarked.

  “I have uncovered some rather astounding evidence,” Bradley said. “The Fatwa against Elizabeth on social media is fake.”

  Chapter 30

  “Fake? Whatever do you mean?” Charles asked.

  “Yes it is fake. The website from where it was launched onto the internet and the claim that the group Muslim Radicals is behind it is all phony,” Bradley explained.

  “How do you know? From your insider?” Charles asked.

  “No. I have not heard anything officially. This is from some of my hacker friends on TOR,” Bradley said.

  “Hacker friends? What is TOR?” Cynara interrupted.

  “TOR is an internet network that allows users to remain anonymous. It is heavily used by hackers,” Bradley defined.

  “So it’s the dark web?” Charles asked.

  “Yes exactly,” Bradley replied. “I did an interview with a couple of hackers a few years ago. They stayed in touch. I requested them to check out the website where the Fatwa was broadcast. They discovered that it’s all fabricated.”

  “Fabricated? What was the damn objective?” Charles asked in confusion.

  “I do not know why. But someone went to great lengths to make it look authentic,” Bradley replied.

  “You trust these hackers? The information is correct?” Charles questioned.

  “Yes. They are the best,” Bradley said simply. “They have actually taken down the fake website all together. The authorities will also realize the truth.”

  Cynara let out a deep sigh of relief, “Thank God it is all fictitious. I do not understand why. But at least there is no bounty on Elizabeth’s life.”

  “Yes it was probably to make us think that terrorists are targeting Elizabeth. But for what aim, I cannot say,” Bradley commented.

  “Let us not forget the bomb,” Charles reminded them. “That was bona fide.”

  “Yes, that was real,” Bradley shook his head in perplexity. “But I do not see the end game.”

  “The only game I see is having us live in fear!” Cynara exclaimed.

  “I am still certain some sort of a terror scheme is positively afoot,” Charles said strongly.

  “We can only hope the authorities are able to determine the intent of the person or persons who contrived this phony Fatwa,” Bradley said.

  “Yes, correct.” Charles agreed.

  Cynara called Elizabeth on her cell phone and told her about the fake Fatwa. Elizabeth was quite taken aback. Then she confessed that the threat had anyways sounded very unreal. Now knowing it was all concocted actually seemed logical. Cynara was unable to comprehend the purpose behind it. She advised Elizabeth to still continue taking all the necessary safeguards.

  Charles thanked Bradley profusely before he left. Cynara smiled as she observed Charles. He had been furious at Bradley’s intrusion in their cottage just a few days ago. Now he was the epitome of politeness and cordiality. She mocked Charles about his sudden liking for Bradley while they ate dinner. He justified by saying that Bradley seemed to be looking out for their best interest.

  Cynara wondered whether terrorism was really at the heart of the intrigue. Or, was someone misleading them? The investigators were still working with the presumption that terrorists were the culprits. She voiced her thoughts to her brother but he did not share her doubts. He maintained that a terrorist organization was undoubtedly running the show with Abaan Khalid Fakhri’s involvement. There was no question in his mind. Cynara did not share his certainty but just wanted the offenders caught.

  Charles invited his friend, Peter Jennings, out for lunch on Saturday. He had originally planned to call him to the cottage, but the police were still staking out the property. Elizabeth had requested all of them to keep everything under wraps, as she was worried about unwanted press coverage. Bradley had also been good with his word and there was nothing in the news about the bomb or the subsequent police vigil.

  Charles and Cynara met the couple at an Italian restaurant in the city. Janine was wearing a lovely summer dress and looked beautiful. Peter gave Charles a hard time about still being a bachelor, as he had succumbed to marriage. He preached on its merits. It was hilarious to see Charles make excuses for still not having found anyone suitable. He blamed it all on the formidable Aussie women.

  After eating, the conversation steered to more serious topics. They all started discussing Ruth’s suicide and Sharon’s murder. “Two deaths back to back must be very hard on the family, especially one being a suicide and the other a murder,” Peter remarked.

  “Yes it has been appalling,” Cynara agreed.

  “How is Elizabeth coping?” Janine asked.

  “She is
still mourning her husband. These deaths on top of that have certainly not helped. It has been pretty ghastly,” Cynara answered.

  “Still mourning?” Janine asked. “It has been a year?”

  “Yes almost, he died last August and today is July 26th,” Cynara replied.

  “She really loved him?” Peter asked a little disbelievingly.