Chapter 28 - The Visitor with No Record
Before anyone could continue analyzing the microfilm, an officer hurried into the room.
"Marcus."
"What happened?"
"We have someone asking for Eleanor Whitmore."
Dana frowned.
"Family?"
"No."
"Attorney?"
The officer shook his head.
"He refuses to identify himself."
Marcus stepped into the public reception area.
A man in his early sixties stood quietly beside the window, wearing a simple charcoal coat and carrying no luggage.
He wasn't nervous.
He wasn't impatient.
He simply waited.
Marcus approached.
"You asked for Mrs. Whitmore."
The man nodded.
"I did."
"Your name?"
"I've used too many."
Marcus folded his arms.
"Then give me the one that's true."
The man smiled.
"If I do, you'll arrest me."
Marcus remained silent.
The stranger reached into his coat.
Several officers instantly tensed.
Slowly, he produced only a faded photograph.
It showed Daniel Whitmore, Rebecca Lawson, Arthur...
...and one more person whose face had been carefully cut away with scissors decades earlier.
The stranger handed Marcus the photograph.
"I think this belongs with the others."
Marcus looked up.
"Were you there when this was taken?"
"Yes."
"Who removed the fourth person?"
The man's expression turned serious.
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because if that face had survived..."
He paused, looking directly toward the inspection room where Eleanor sat.
"...Samuel would have been found years ago."
Marcus lowered his eyes to the back of the photograph.
A date had been written beneath the faded ink.
It wasn't twelve years old.
It had been added only three weeks earlier.
May you like
And underneath the date was a single instruction.
Do not allow Phase Three to begin until Samuel arrives.
