Chapter 60 - Beneath the Foundation
Maintenance crews followed the underground conduit through a narrow service tunnel that had not appeared on any current building plan.
Dust covered every surface.
Several emergency lights had failed decades earlier.
Only portable lamps illuminated the path.
Arthur walked beside Margaret in complete silence.
"I founded this company," he said quietly.
"And yet I no longer recognize the building."
Margaret answered without taking her eyes off the tunnel ahead.
"Organizations often hide their deepest history in places no one thinks to revisit."
After nearly two hundred meters, the conduit reached a reinforced steel junction box.
The communications cable continued through a concrete wall.
The blueprint ended there.
"No recorded room beyond this point," the facilities engineer reported.
Margaret examined the wall carefully.
Fresh repairs.
Not recent.
But newer than the surrounding concrete.
Someone had concealed an access point years after the original construction.
Ground-penetrating radar confirmed it.
Behind the wall...
There was empty space.
Not large.
Just enough for another room.
Arthur slowly exhaled.
"So Office 7C wasn't the destination."
Margaret nodded.
"It was only the entrance."
No one attempted to break through immediately.
Every measurement, photograph, and scan was documented first.
The investigation had learned one lesson repeatedly.
Rushing destroyed evidence.
Patience revealed intent.
As they prepared excavation equipment, Margaret noticed something scratched into the old junction box.
Only three faded letters remained.
E.K.
Not painted.
Not printed.
Engraved.
May you like
Whoever carved those initials had expected them to survive.
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