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39
ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

Inspector Şen's work was done. After the arrest, the case was handed over to the prosecution service, as required by Turkish law. But if Çağatay Evyapan was Cha0, then who was this character Şahin, whom Mert Ortaç insisted was the real Cha0. Was Şahin a mere figment of Mert's imagination? After all, Mert did have a history as a fantasist and embellisher.

Fond though he was of spinning a yarn, the fundamental aspects of Mert's story were true. He did work for various official organisations, including the Intelligence Agency; he was a highly gifted programmer with a particular skill for decrypting smart cards; he did make huge sums of money from selling fake Digiturk cards, for which he was later investigated; he did lavish money and entertainment on people he wanted to impress; he did tread the DarkMarket boards using Sadun's nicknames, Cryptos and PilotM; he did holiday with his girlfriend at the Adam & Eve Hotel in Antalya; and he was most definitely kidnapped and humiliated by Çağatay Evyapan.

However, he was unable to offer any proof for his central claim that Cha0's real identity was the mysterious Şahin. Mert demonstrated such a detailed knowledge of the inner workings of DarkMarket that, if he was lying, somebody or some organisation must have furnished him with some or all of these details. The question is – and it remains stubbornly unanswered – why? And who were they trying to frame or discredit by throwing the extraordinary Mr Ortaç into the mix? Certainly not Çağatay Evyapan as he emerges from Mert's story as a lesser criminal? The police? Or was it perhaps the man who Mert claims was Lord Cyric, a prominent member of the Turkish and global internet scene?

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