Chapter 14 - The Visitor Without a Badge
The disappointment lasted only a moment.
"Empty doesn't mean useless," Marcus said.
"What else did they find?" Dana asked over the radio.
The detective listened for several seconds.
"They found fresh footprints."
Everyone looked up.
"How fresh?"
"Within the last hour."
Marcus immediately requested photographs from the scene.
A few moments later, the images arrived.
Dust covered the abandoned storage corridor.
Only one clear trail crossed the floor.
A single person had entered.
The footprints stopped in front of Locker 118.
Then...
They disappeared.
"No exit prints?" Marcus asked.
"None."
Dana enlarged the photographs.
"There has to be another way out."
Airport engineering began searching old construction plans while Marcus continued reviewing Daniel's notebook.
Near the final pages, he noticed something previously overlooked.
Tiny pencil marks had been erased almost completely.
Using an evidence light, faint words became visible.
Never use the obvious exit.
Marcus smiled slightly.
"Daniel expected someone to search this place."
The communications officer interrupted again.
"Engineering found something."
"What?"
"There was an emergency maintenance tunnel behind North Storage."
"Still accessible?"
"It was officially filled with concrete."
Marcus asked the obvious question.
"Officially?"
The officer nodded.
"The inspection report says it was sealed."
"But..."
"No one has physically checked it in over ten years."
Dana immediately dispatched another team.
Meanwhile, airport police escorted Victor into a nearby interview room.
He hadn't been arrested.
Not yet.
But Marcus noticed something strange as Victor walked away.
Victor glanced toward the public waiting area.
Not toward the exit.
Not toward the officers.
Toward an elderly man reading a newspaper.
The glance lasted less than a second.
The old man folded one corner of the newspaper.
Nothing more.
Marcus almost dismissed it.
Almost.
Then he remembered Daniel's repeated warning.
Trust no one who already knows Samuel's inheritance.
Marcus quietly walked into the public seating area.
The elderly man continued reading without looking up.
"Busy morning," Marcus said casually.
The man smiled faintly.
"It has been twelve years."
Marcus's heartbeat quickened.
"You know why we're here."
The man slowly folded the newspaper.
"I knew Daniel Whitmore."
Marcus remained perfectly still.
"And who are you?"
The man looked directly into his eyes for the first time.
"I was never supposed to survive the fire."
Before Marcus could ask another question, the man's expression changed.
He glanced over Marcus's shoulder.
His smile disappeared instantly.
"Don't turn around," he whispered.
"Why?"
"Because the person walking toward you..."
He lowered his voice even further.
"...isn't here to recover the evidence."
Marcus felt every instinct sharpen.
"Then why are they here?"
May you like
The old man answered with a calm certainty that made Marcus's blood run cold.
"To make sure no one ever reaches Samuel alive."
