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KINGPIN

and continue to run CM, King Arthur closed CarderPlanet and faded into the night. History has shown that Iceman made a fatal mistake. I will not make the same.

Mularski planned to keep his Master Splyntr identity dormant but alive: He’d have a well-established underground legend that he could pull from his pocket whenever he needed it in future investigations. But it was not to be. About a week after DarkMarket went dark, a reporter for Südwestrundfunk, Southwest Germany public radio, got his hands on court documents filed in Matrix’s case that laid bare Mularski’s double life. The U.S. press picked up the story. Now 2,500 members of DarkMarket knew they’d been doing business on a sting site and that Iceman had been right all along.

Three days after the story broke in the United States, Mularski found an ICQ message to Master Splyntr waiting on his computer. It was from TheUnknown, a UK target who’d gone on the run after he was raided by the British police. “U fucking piece of shit. Motherfucker. Thought you can catch me. Hahaha. Fucking newb. U are nowhere near me.”

“If you want to make arrangements to turn yourself in, let me know,” Mularski wrote back. “It will be easier than looking over your shoulder the rest of your life.”

TheUnknown turned himself in a week later.

Mularski was almost relieved to have his secret identity revealed; for two years, his laptop had been his constant companion—even on vacation, he’d been online talking to carders. He’d enjoyed some of it—building online friendships with some of his targets, teasing and taunting others. Master Splyntr could say things to criminals that a respectable FBI agent never could.

Eager as Mularski was to have his life back, it would take time. Nearly a month after DarkMarket’s closing, he was still fighting a vague restlessness. Mularski had one more challenge to master. He’d have to learn how to not be Master Splyntr.