Chapter 19 - The Third Archive
The room fell silent.
Marcus looked from the surveillance photograph to Arthur, trying to decide whether the old man had just revealed the biggest secret of the investigation—or merely another layer of it.
"You said there were three archives," Marcus said.
Arthur nodded.
"I also said Daniel never learned everything."
Dana placed both hands on the table.
"Then explain."
Arthur took a slow breath before speaking.
"The first archive contained evidence."
"The second contained witnesses."
Marcus frowned.
"And the third?"
Arthur looked directly at Eleanor.
"The third contained names."
Eleanor's face tightened.
"Names of who?"
"Everyone who ordered the evidence to disappear."
Victor's confident expression disappeared for the briefest moment.
Marcus noticed it immediately.
"So you've heard of the third archive," he said.
Victor quickly recovered.
"I've heard old stories."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
"They're not stories."
"They're unfinished records."
Marcus turned back to the blurred surveillance image.
"The person leaving North Storage..."
Arthur interrupted.
"...wasn't searching for evidence."
"He already knew exactly where to find it."
Dana tapped the enlarged photograph.
"If that's true, then whoever entered the maintenance tunnel had access before today's investigation even began."
Marcus nodded.
"Which means Eleanor's suitcase wasn't the starting point."
"It was the trigger."
The communications officer hurried back with another report.
"We finished comparing today's maintenance access logs."
"Find anything?" Dana asked.
"One badge was cloned."
Marcus looked up.
"Whose?"
The officer hesitated.
"It belongs to a retired airport engineer."
"Still alive?"
"No."
"When did he die?"
"Officially?"
Marcus caught the wording.
"What do you mean 'officially'?"
The officer swallowed.
"He died eleven years ago."
Arthur quietly laughed.
"Official records again."
Marcus folded his arms.
"You don't believe he's dead."
Arthur answered without hesitation.
"I attended his funeral."
"And?"
"The coffin was never opened."
No one spoke.
Marcus looked at the maintenance badge information again.
The engineer's name seemed strangely familiar.
He searched Daniel's notebook.
Halfway through the pages, he found a small list of initials.
R.L.
D.W.
A.K.
M.E.
Beneath them Daniel had written a warning.
If M.E. disappears, assume the plans survived.
Marcus compared the initials to the retired engineer's name.
They matched.
Before he could tell Dana, another discovery interrupted them.
One of the forensic technicians had completed an analysis of the blue wax fragment recovered from Victor's shoe.
"It wasn't transferred today."
Dana frowned.
"What?"
"The wax has microscopic dust embedded inside it."
"So?"
"It matches dust from the hidden compartment inside the suitcase."
Marcus slowly looked toward Victor.
"You stepped near that compartment long before airport security opened the suitcase."
Victor remained silent.
For the first time since the investigation began...
May you like
...he had no prepared answer.
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