Luke 8:17 and a present from Henrik H. Christiansen.

A cease-and-desist letter lands in the blackbox and introduces a cast of familiar names.

Well, so much for today's plan. Because something just that I honestly couldn't have wished for.

A respectable Dubai law firm sent a cease-and-desist to blackbox@mikedellatte.com. The addressee of the attachment itself is not me. It is one Alexey Rodionov, a character you have already met on these pages. He is given 48 hours to go quiet:

No calling, no writing, no "monitoring," no asking, no going near the client, his family, his mother-in-law, his former colleagues, his business partners, the "Sheikh of Qatar" and the business partner in Germany, universities, and basically anything with a pulse. Plus a signed undertaking confirming he got the message and will keep his mouth shut. Otherwise: Dubai Police, the public prosecutor, the cybercrime unit, the whole set.

I am sitting here with my most surprised face on. Why does Henrik H. Christiansen need four pages of legal heavy artillery just to ask one guy to stop asking questions, including questions about his academic qualifications?

The last one is especially touching. People are usually proud of their academic qualifications and wave them around for everyone to see, they do not sic a Dubai law firm on you to ban the topic. But that is just my own personal guess, of course.

And a special thank-you for the spoilers. I had already been dropping hints: a Qatari sheikh, German partners, a whole tangle of international companies. And here their own lawyers kindly lay it all out in black and white, like a "do not approach" roster. The irony is that this letter is an exhibit in its own right. It names, by name, Henrik H. Christiansen, ORCA Cyber Security, Tyde GmbH, Al Masdar, Qatari Sheikh, German partner (I wonder who that might be) and universities.

In other words, it is not some blogger on the internet (that would be me) who dreamed these characters up. Their existence is now officially confirmed by the camp of one of the protagonists of my book and my investigation. I could not have dreamed of a better gift. Thank you, you just saved me a whole chapter. You even went and confirmed my house rule, if only by accident: on this site, I only tell the truth.

Cherry on top: a menacing four-page legal notice signed with... the name of the firm. No lawyer's name, no signature, no license number. Just "Yours faithfully, Horizons & Co." Faithful, maybe. Signed, not so much. I would file that under postcard.

I never thought I would quote the Bible in my life, but I simply cannot resist:

"For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open."Luke 8:17, NIV