The Language of Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

plot.”
    Khattak couldn’t agree. It didn’t make sense. A halaqa was a study circle, devoted to exploring and understanding theology. If a regular session was being held at the mosque, many of the mosque’s congregants would expect to attend it. How could Hassan Ashkouri expect to maintain the secrecy of his plot?
    He doubted that either Coale or Laine would be able to answer his question. And then he remembered what Martine Killiam had told him.
    â€œThe superintendent said there were seven people at the training camp, along with Mohsin Dar. Ashkouri must have been there. But there were two women also, is that correct?”
    Laine nodded in quick response.
    â€œWere these women at the halaqas?”
    â€œYes. Why?”
    Khattak frowned in thought. “Because halaqas in a mosque setting are typically segregated events. And they’re open to the general public. The superintendent said that you haven’t been able to determine if the women are members of the cell or not. That raises several questions: How did Ashkouri restrict attendance at these halaqas? Why wouldn’t the imam be part of a discussion on theology? And if the purpose of these halaqas was to advance the terrorist plot as you say, wouldn’t the presence of the women indicate membership in the cell?”
    Coale snorted. “Do you think we’re amateurs, Khattak? Or that we’ve been waiting for you to deliver the truth to us from on high? I’ve said as much from the beginning.”
    Laine rushed in to answer. “The intercepts have never confirmed it. And neither did Mohsin, though he was part of the halaqas.”
    â€œThen what did Mohsin tell you?”
    â€œThat Hassan Ashkouri was an operator. He convinced the imam to let him run a series of private sessions, not all of which were meetings of the cell. Some had another cover—poetry, Middle East history, Ashkouri’s personal interests. He encouraged the attendance of women at the sessions. Given his generous donations to the mosque, the imam saw no need to object.”
    â€œI see.” But Khattak didn’t. The setup was unusual, burdened with unnecessary risk. And it didn’t answer the question of how the two cells were communicating. He found his interest in the national security investigation stimulated by the questions mounting up in his mind. Were he still a member of INSET, he’d have access to some, if not all, of the answers.
    â€œDo members of both cells attend these halaqas?” And then, to get around Coale’s insistence on blocking any information that could help him better understand Mohsin’s murder, he added, “Will they be among the suspects I’m to profile?”
    An indirect way of getting at the same thing, while paying lip service to Coale.
    â€œThey haven’t yet. So you won’t have any contact with them.”
    Coale sat back in his chair. It was Laine who added, as if apologizing for Coale, “We don’t know how the two cells are communicating. It’s not by phone or private meetings, or we’d have surveillance to back that up. Whatever we’ve learned from Mohsin has come strictly from within Hassan Ashkouri’s group. But Ashkouri didn’t confide in Mo beyond a certain point.”
    â€œThat’s not your problem, Khattak,” Coale interjected. “You’re to interview the people who were with Dar at the camp, but you’re not to ask what reason they had for going up there, or what purpose the camp served.”
    â€œWhat purpose did it serve?”
    Khattak found himself looking to Laine for the answer. She stood, sending her chair to the ground in her hurry. When he rose to right it, her cold hand brushed his. She withdrew it at once, as if stung by the contact.
    â€œI’ll bring you what I have on the people at the camp. The men were there for commando training—the use of weapons, surveillance tactics, personal combat.