Chapter 29 - The Fourth Face
Marcus carried the faded photograph back into the inspection room without saying a word.
Dana immediately noticed the missing face.
"Someone cut it out."
"Years ago," Marcus replied.
Arthur took one look at the photograph and slowly sat down.
"I remember this day."
Eleanor turned toward him.
"You were there?"
Arthur nodded.
"It was taken the afternoon Rebecca said we had less time than we thought."
Marcus laid the photograph beside Daniel's notebook.
Three faces remained.
Daniel.
Rebecca.
Arthur.
The fourth person had been removed so precisely that not even part of a shoulder remained.
Only a faint shadow on the ground hinted that someone else had once stood there.
The forensic analyst enlarged the image.
"Wait."
Everyone leaned closer.
The missing figure had been cut away...
...but the reflection in a nearby window had not.
Only part of the reflection survived.
A hand.
The sleeve of a dark coat.
And a distinctive signet ring.
The same ring Arthur had recognized from the surveillance footage.
Marcus compared both images.
"The ring matches."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"He was already with us."
Dana frowned.
"You mean the founder?"
Arthur nodded slowly.
"We thought he was helping."
Marcus looked back at the handwritten note added three weeks earlier.
Do not allow Phase Three to begin until Samuel arrives.
Someone had handled this photograph recently.
Someone who still knew exactly where the investigation was heading.
Before anyone could speak again, the communications technician interrupted.
"We've identified the paper."
"What about it?" Dana asked.
"The photograph is decades old."
Marcus nodded.
"But the handwritten note isn't."
The technician looked uneasy.
"The ink is less than one month old."
Silence spread through the room.
Someone was still updating Daniel's evidence.
May you like
Someone who had never stopped watching.
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