UNDERGROUND

Finally Mendax was allowed to call a lawyer at Alphaline. The lawyer warned the hacker not to say anything. He said the police could offer a sworn statement to the court about anything the hacker said, and then added that the police might even be wired.

Next, Day tried the chummy approach at getting information from the hacker. ‘Just between you and me, are you Mendax?’ he asked.

Silence.

Day tried another tactic. Hackers have a well-developed sense of ego – a flaw Day no doubt believed he could tap into.

‘There have been a lot of people over the years running around impersonating you – using your handle,’ he said.

Mendax could see Day was trying to manipulate him but by this stage he didn’t care. He figured that the police already had plenty of evidence that linked him to his handle, so he admitted to it.

Day had some other surprising questions up his sleeve.

‘So, Mendax, what do you know about that white powder in the bedroom?’

Mendax couldn’t recall any white powder in the bedroom. He didn’t do drugs, so why would there be any white powder anywhere? He watched two police officers bringing two large red toolboxes in the house – they looked like drug testing kits. Jesus, Mendax thought. I’m being set up.

The cops led the hacker into the bedroom and pointed to two neat lines of white powder laid out on a bench.

Mendax smiled, relieved. ‘It’s not what you think,’ he said. The white powder was glow-in-the-dark glue he had used to paint stars on the ceiling of his child’s bedroom.

Two of the cops started smiling at each other. Mendax could see exactly what was going through their minds: It’s not every cocaine or speed user that can come up with a story like that.

One grinned at the other and exclaimed gleefully, ‘TASTE TEST!’