Chapter 3 - The Empty Drawer
Marta rushed toward the phone.
The image shook slightly, as though the camera had been placed inside her apartment only minutes earlier.
A man wearing gloves pulled open the drawer beneath her bedroom desk. He removed an old envelope, examined it, and placed it inside his coat.
“No,” Marta whispered.
Victor watched her reaction carefully.
Robert grabbed the phone from the security officer.
“Call the police.”
“There may not be enough time,” Marta said.
Henrik stood.
“What is in the envelope?”
“A list of names.”
David’s face went pale again.
Marta saw it and understood.
“You know about the list.”
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
“The list contains everyone who attended the final safety meeting before my mother’s death.”
Victor’s calm expression finally cracked.
“That document was destroyed.”
Marta turned toward him.
“So you admit it existed.”
Victor realized his mistake too late.
Robert ordered the security officer to lock the room and allow no one to leave.
David immediately protested.
“You cannot detain us.”
Robert pointed at the screen.
“Someone is robbing an employee’s home while we are discussing hidden reports, unsafe land, and missing pages. No one leaves until the police arrive.”
Marta looked again at the live feed.
The intruder had stopped moving.
He slowly turned toward the hidden camera.
Although his face was covered, he raised one hand and pointed directly at the lens.
Then he held up a handwritten message.
BRING THE KEY TO WAREHOUSE 19.
Marta felt the room tilt around her.
Warehouse 19 had been abandoned for decades. It stood near the southern site, less than a kilometer from the sealed tunnel.
Henrik read the message aloud.
“Is that warehouse connected to your mother?”
“Yes,” Marta answered. “It was where the original soil samples were stored.”
Victor moved toward the door.
“This has gone far enough.”
The security officer blocked him.
Robert stepped between them.
“You are staying.”
Victor’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“You do not understand who owns this company.”
Robert stared at him.
“I own this company.”
Victor smiled.
“No, Mr. Wilson. You manage it.”
The words created a silence colder than the one before.
Robert’s confidence faded.
Marta looked at David.
He avoided her eyes.
She suddenly remembered something she had seen during months of evening cleaning: David entering the executive archive after midnight, carrying folders stamped with a symbol she had once seen on her mother’s documents.
A black triangle crossed by a silver line.
Marta turned toward Robert.
“There is a hidden archive beneath the executive floor.”
Robert shook his head.
“There is no lower level.”
“Yes, there is,” Marta said. “The service elevator has a button that only appears when a magnetic key is placed behind the control panel.”
Victor’s face revealed the truth before he could hide it.
Henrik saw it too.
“What is stored there?” he asked.
Marta lifted the metal key from her neck.
“I think this opens more than a deposit box.”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
The security system made a brief electronic sound, then died.
In the darkness, someone overturned a chair.
A hand grabbed Marta’s wrist.
She fought to pull away, but a familiar voice whispered near her ear.
“Do not scream. Your mother is still alive.”
Before Marta could react, the emergency lights flashed red.
The hand released her.
May you like
One person was missing from the room.
And the metal key was no longer around her neck.
