The latest development in the search in France for those aiming at killing people around the famous 850-year old Notre Dame cathedral in Paris:
Molins said the investigation has led to the dismantling of a "terrorist commando of young women" aligned with the Islamic State group.
"In the last few days and hours, a terrorist cell was dismantled, composed of young women totally receptive to the deadly Daesh ideology," said Molins, using an Arabic acronym for the extremist group. The prosecutor contended that the women were guided in their actions by IS members in Syria, "which shows this organization intends to make women combattants."
Police found a handwritten pledge of allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi inside the purse of Ines Madani. The note also stated that in answer to the call of the No. 2 IS leader, killed in August, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, "I attack you in your lands to mark your minds and terrorize you," Molins said in an account of the arrests.
The probe took on a wider scope with the arrest of Sarah H. Investigators discovered she was to marry Larossi Abballa, the man who killed a police couple in June in their home in Magnanville, outside Paris, before being killed in a police raid.
In my thriller, The Euros: Notre Dame Point Zero, the taking of hostages by a faceless, nameless group of ruthless men, leads the Euros on a race against time, to rescue the hostages and the cathedral.
In the thriller, the representative of the Archbishop of Paris (nicknamed The Historian by the Euros because of his extensive knowledge of the cathedral’s past) describes his concerns about a group of woman that one of the people now working with the Euros is linked to: a group of women known as the Mouse House, that is expert in infiltrating into public places, like Notre Dame:
“What type of negotiations?” she demanded suspiciously.The Puzzlemaker closed the fingers of one hand and then exploded them in a poof gesture.“They’ve taken over Notre Dame. They’ve taken hostages. But so far we do not know what they want. So, we wait. That’s the usual dynamic in hostage situations. Now perhaps you could go with him?”She followed Bobby One out of the room, and the PuzzleMaker turned to the Bishop.“You don’t seem to like her very much,” he said curiously. “Any reason?”“My face must have given me away,” the Historian replied. “She’s the gypsy I’ve heard about – the one they’re calling the Headmaster’s Gypsy?”“Yes. Her name is Zila Glinka,” the PuzzleMaker said, rubbing a hand over his tired face. The lack of information they had about who the Bad Guys were, and what they really wanted, was more troubling than he cared to admit. They were still in the dark about so much, this far into a hostage taking.The Historian spread his hands.“She and the other one – the hostage friend – they’re cataphiles, not so?”When the PuzzleMaker nodded, he went on.“I don’t like Tunnel Rats. They oppose the Church, and government, authority. They believe in Reason, and not in God. We’ve heard that before, during the Revolution – the cathedral was dedicated to the Goddess of Reason then and not to God. And they break rules, and love disorder ...”“Surely not all of them?” the PuzzleMaker interjected. What was it the Headmaster had said about her? She inhabited the other Paris, the mirror image Paris that lay under the sprawling city. “Bobby One told me that one group restored an old clock in the Pantheon? They spent a lot of time doing that, and did a good job, he said; then they just left it there. They liked restoring damaged parts of Paris that the city authorities ignore or overlook?”“That’s true,” the Bishop said. “That was the old Wagner clock in the Pantheon. It was done by the Urban eXperiment group, who call themselves the UX. They’re part of a bigger group known as the Mexicans. UX had a clockmaker in charge of the rescue operation, Jean-Baptiste Viot, and when they were finished they told the authorities so that the clock could be wound up properly. The police formed a special group to track down the UX down, and they even laid charges against some of the UX members who fixed the Wagner. The judge threw out the charges after twenty minutes.”“Then why are you opposed to them?” the PuzzleMaker asked curiously.The Historian had grown on The Euros: his enthusiastic fitting out of a comprehensive data room, and carefully chosen words to fit the vast information he possessed about Notre Dame into the actionable information that Juliette had told him they needed, had endeared him to them.His lack of regard for the Tunnel Rats was a bit puzzling.The Historian steepled his fingers and tapped his index fingers together; the PuzzleMaker recognized this as a sign that he was concerned about something.“They’re notorious for how far they go in their underground wanderings, and how many famous buildings they can break into,” he began. “I’m told that the UX are very well prepared. They somehow found plans of the underground tunnels and quarries. The UX have an intimate knowledge of hundreds of miles of electricity and water tunnels, catacombs, subways, quarries, subways and sewers.”His raised fingers darted left and right to illustrate how wide the UX knowledge extended.“They have a women’s team – they call it the Mouse House - that is expert at infiltrating places. Another team runs their database of information about the underground, and another team arranges shows. There’s a team that takes care of their communications network, another to take photographs, and one to do restorations. You join them if they invite you; that’s the only way you get in.”“And it’s their access to public places that disturbs you?”The Bishop nodded.
