B2 · Upper-Intermediate · Espionage Uncovered · 524 words · ~3 min read

🚲 The Amsterdam Handover

Language focus: The passive voice · uncovering a scheme

Act 2 · The Digital Nomad’s Trail

Two days later, a tip from Jonas sent Elif and Hana on to Amsterdam, where a former Helian accountant named Pieter had agreed, after a great deal of persuasion, to talk. They met him on a quiet canal-side bench, far from cameras and former colleagues, the grey water sliding past as though it, too, were keeping its secrets.

Pieter was a nervous, meticulous man who had clearly rehearsed every word he was about to say. “Everything I am about to give you,” he began, “was copied before I resigned. If any of it is ever traced back to me, my career is finished for good.” Elif assured him, calmly and sincerely, that his identity would be protected at all costs.

The documents were damning. Over several years, dozens of startups had been targeted, their research quietly extracted and repackaged as Helian’s own. Patents had been filed within weeks of each theft; inconvenient employees had been dismissed without explanation; and a trail of shell companies had been set up specifically to launder the stolen ideas into respectable, marketable products.

“It was all run from the very top,” Pieter said quietly. “Nothing was ever done without her approval.” “Her?” Elif asked. Pieter hesitated, then said the name that would come to define the rest of the entire affair: “Lena Brandt. The founder herself. Everything you are looking at was authorised, signed off and then carefully buried by her.”

Elif scrolled through the files in mounting disbelief. Verda was merely one name on a long, methodical list. An entire ecosystem of innovation had been hollowed out from within, and the people responsible had been celebrated in the press as visionaries, while the true inventors were quietly pushed aside and forgotten. The sheer scale of it was breathtaking.

“Why are you telling us all this?” Hana asked. Pieter gave a tired, hollow shrug. “Because I helped, for a while. I told myself that the figures were only figures. But you can only look the other way for so long before you stop recognising the person in the mirror.” It was, Elif thought, the very same conscience that had ultimately destroyed Victor Crane.

She knew that the evidence, while extraordinary, was not yet quite enough on its own. Documents could be disputed; whistle-blowers could be discredited. To bring Lena Brandt down for good, she would need to catch Helian in the very act — to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the theft was ongoing and that Verda’s own data was being exploited at that precise moment.

As the three of them parted in the gathering dusk, Pieter pressed a small encrypted drive into Elif’s hand. “This is everything,” he said. “Use it well, and use it quickly. The moment they notice the data has stopped flowing from your servers, they will know that someone is on to them — and, believe me, they will not sit still.” The clock, Elif understood, had just begun to tick. She slipped the encrypted drive into an inside pocket, zipped it firmly shut, and made herself a silent promise that, this time, the truth would not be allowed to stay quietly buried.

Key vocabulary (6 words)

meticulousadjective
Showing great attention to detail; very careful.
damningadjective
Strongly showing that someone is guilty or wrong.
patentnoun
An official right to be the only one to make or sell an invention.
shell companynoun
A company that exists only on paper, often to hide activity.
launderverb
To hide the illegal origin of money or goods by passing them through legal channels.
ecosystemnoun
A complex network or community, here of companies and ideas.

Phrasal verbs in this chapter

  • trace back to — To trace back to means to find the origin or source of something.
  • sign off — To sign off on something means to give official approval.
  • push aside — To push aside means to ignore or refuse to deal with someone or something.

Comprehension quiz

  1. Where do they meet the whistle-blower?

    • Amsterdam
    • Berlin
    • London
    Show answer

    Amsterdam

  2. Who is Pieter?

    • A former Helian accountant
    • A tour guide
    • A chef
    Show answer

    A former Helian accountant

  3. What do the documents show?

    • Dozens of startups were robbed
    • Nothing important
    • A holiday plan
    Show answer

    Dozens of startups were robbed

  4. Who authorised everything?

    • Lena Brandt
    • Victor Crane
    • Hana
    Show answer

    Lena Brandt

  5. A “shell company” is one that…

    • exists only on paper to hide activity
    • sells shells
    • is very large
    Show answer

    exists only on paper to hide activity

  6. “Trace it back to” means to…

    • find its origin
    • copy it
    • translate it
    Show answer

    find its origin

  7. Why does Pieter speak out?

    • His conscience troubled him
    • For money
    • For fame
    Show answer

    His conscience troubled him

  8. Why isn’t the evidence enough yet?

    • They must catch Helian in the act
    • It is too long
    • It is in German
    Show answer

    They must catch Helian in the act

  9. “On to them” means Helian will realise…

    • someone has discovered their scheme
    • they have won
    • the data is safe
    Show answer

    someone has discovered their scheme

  10. “The clock is ticking” means…

    • time is running out
    • it is midnight
    • the clock is broken
    Show answer

    time is running out

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