A serious mystery/adventure novella from an author better known as a script writer for the old Carol Burnett show. A professor solicits the help of his brother, a retired police detective, in order to find a friend who has disappeared mysteriously. The friend had claimed to have a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Further investigation ties the plot to the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and Israeli spies.
Unfortunately, the author does not seem to know enough about Fermat's Last Theorem or its history to make this tale interesting from a mathematical point of view. (He merely says Fermat "had come up with a solution to a heretofore intractable conundrum of mathematics", which isn't even quite accurate.)
This story together with another by the same author was published in 2007 under the title Two Novellas.
Thanks to Vijay Fafat for bringing it to my attention.
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