THE GREATEST HEIST BOOK 2 | Chapter 5 The Lair
When Ken Starr killed Prosecutor Ann Marie Villafaña’s investigation, he shielded an entire network from public view. This is what was missed.
The helicopter breaks through low clouds. Wind pushes hard from the east. Below, the Atlantic hammers volcanic cliffs—no gentle Caribbean here, just exposed rock and wild water crashing against stone
Ghislaine Maxwell keeps one hand steady on the cyclic. Tail number N491GM. The aircraft Epstein bought for $7.9 million. He insisted her initials be on the tail.
She looked over at her passenger’ “Don’t worry Jes. I’ve been flying since I was a teenager “—her father taught her.
Today’s passenger: Jes Staley. JPMorgan executive. Future CEO of Barclays. Epstein’s most trusted friend.
Staley steps off into wind that comes straight off the ocean. He’s greeted by Epstein staffer at the foot of the twisty path that leads to the main house—no straight lines here. “Deception requires encryption.” Palm fronds thrash overhead. The pool reflects churning sky. Stone walls keep some of the weather out. Not all of it.
Inside the study, four velvet chairs face inward around a low table. The room is quiet except for the sound of wind against glass.
Epstein stands at the blackboard. Chalk in hand. A math teacher at work.
He writes:
POWER
Underneath: Financial. Physics. Intellectual. Political.
These are the domains. The territories that matter.
He draws a line. Writes:
DECEPTION
Underneath: Illusion & Fear.
This is the method. The tool that makes everything possible.
Another line:
PLANTS
Underneath: Truth. Health. Holy.
These are the intelligence categories. What you need to know about a target to make them useful. Their truth—what they really want. Their health—where they’re vulnerable. Their holy—what will compromise them.
To the right: Appears
Then: Music / ABX
A/Y Mix / M Mix
And at the bottom, bracketed together:
( Time – DC / UC )
Dark Brain
Direct Conscious? Unconscious? Timing for when targets know they’re being used and when they don’t. Keep it below conscious awareness. Dark Brain—the part that operates without ever surfacing.
The math teacher who became an intelligence operative cerated an algorithm for what he did: an equation for acquiring power through systematic deception.
Epstein had written about this years earlier in an essay about evolutionary biology:
“Predators in search of free energy would be able to decipher and consume, if it weren’t couched in a multi-layered encrypted form. Even self-deception acts as a defensive strategy.”
The modeling business was the encrypted form. The algorithm on the blackboard was how you extracted value from it.
He steps back. Studies what he’s written. The formula is complete.
He picks up the phone. Dials.
“Stephen? About the fellowship —I’ve been thinking about what drives group behavior —Every group.”
“You always know the right questions, ”Professor Stephen Kosslyn. Chair of Harvard’s Psychology Department. Someone Epstein has been funding for years.
“The very idea of survival requires deception,” Epstein says, his eyes still on the blackboard. “It’s biology. Predators deceive. Prey deceive. Even cells deceive each other.”
He pauses. Lets it land.
“People can act as prosthetics. They become extensions of ourselves. Augmenting our cognitive abilities.”
What Kosslyn hears: Fascinating social psychology theory.
What Epstein sees: The operational framework he just mapped on the blackboard, translated into academic language.
“Jeff, you synthesize better than anyone I know,” Kosslyn replies.
“That’s why I’m applying, Steven.”
“I’d love to have you here.”
“Well I have to be accepted.”
Epstein hangs up.
The blackboard remains behind him. Under INTELLECTUAL, he could write a new name now: Kosslyn. Harvard. Legitimacy acquired.
The algorithm works.
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