was telling the truth. Maybe their lab couldn’t ID the paint chip and they’re planning on tracking down Traveler through the map.’
‘I’m not following.’
‘The map was printed from a website,’ Darby said. ‘The website’s URL was printed at the bottom of the page. They’ll track Traveler down through an IP address.’
‘I have no idea what an IP address is. The computer stuff is way over my head.’
‘All the feds need to do is to identify the people who accessed this particular section of the map. They’ll go to the company and have them print off a log of IP addresses – it’s a unique string of numbers assigned to your computer every time you log on to the internet through your ISP – your internet service provider. Those IP addresses can be tracked down to an individual computer.’
‘So these IP addresses, they’re like a digital fingerprint.’
‘Not only is it like a digital fingerprint, the IP address acts as an individual map which will lead the feds directly to Traveler’s home. The feds will get a list of IP addresses and start targeting anyone living in and around New England. That’s going to take some time. Tracking Traveler down through the make of the car will be quicker.’
‘Okay. Give me your notes again on the paint chip.’
‘Tell me where to meet you. It will be quicker.’
‘You need to go to the Boston office before you get into any more trouble.’
‘I want to help you. You’re going to need people you can trust.’
‘It’s not a matter of trust, Darby. The feds can’t hurt me. I’m set to retire at the end of next year, but if they find out you’re still investigating this case, they’ll make your life difficult. I’ve seen it happen before. Too many times. Go downtown. I’ll call and keep you up to date, I promise.’
‘If you want the notes, then I’m coming along for the ride.’
‘Getting involved in this could cost you your career. You may want to give that some thought.’
‘I want to find Carol Cranmore and bring her home. What do you want?’
Banville didn’t answer. Darby spoke into the silence.
‘We’re wasting time. Carol may still be alive. We need to jump on this now.’
‘You said you’re parked at a liquor store.’
‘Joseph’s Discount Liquors on Palisades,’ Darby said. ‘I’m parked out back, in the delivery area.’
‘I still have one of the surveillance vans. We can run the investigation from there. Give me twenty minutes.’
Chapter 57
At 1300 hours, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team boarded a private business jet at the Quantico airstrip. They were coming from a debriefing on the Traveler case. This was what they knew:
In late 1992, nine Hispanic and African American women disappeared in and around Denver, Colorado. The lead suspect in the case, John Smith, had packed up and moved by the time police located his address.
Smith’s home had been thoroughly cleaned, but forensics technicians for the Denver police recovered a partial boot print that matched a footwear impression found in the dirt next to the abandoned vehicle belonging to one of the missing women. An empty trash can sprayed with Luminol revealed a small area of blood. Analysis yielded two different DNA samples.
The first sample matched the genetic profile of one of the missing Denver women. The DNA profile was entered into CODIS, the FBI’s Combined DNA Indexing System.
The second blood sample was also listed on CODIS, but the identity of the person was not made available to law enforcement agencies or forensic laboratories. The sample belonged to Earl Slavick, a member of the Hand of the Lord, a paramilitary white supremacist group whose ethnic cleansing agenda included the overthrow of the U.S. government. The group, it was believed, had played a role in the Oklahoma City bombing, although no firm link had ever been established.
Slavick was also a high-level FBI informant.
Slavick had been given early parole in the beating of a Hispanic woman in exchange for providing the FBI with detailed information of the group’s activities at its secluded training headquarters in the Arkansas hills, not far from the Oklahoma border. As a member of the group, Slavick had been undergoing firearms training and bomb making when, in early 1990, he tried to abduct a Hispanic woman at gunpoint. Slavick dragged the woman, Eva Ortiz, into the woods. When Slavick tripped and fell, Ortiz ran away.
The woman had failed to pick Slavick out of a lineup. He was let go by local police.
When word of his botched abduction attempt finally reached the