Chapter 40 - The Man in the Maintenance Uniform
Lieutenant Marcus Doyle refused to believe the maintenance worker had vanished without leaving evidence.
He ordered technicians to reconstruct every camera angle surrounding the police headquarters during the missing nine seconds.
Hours later, an analyst called him into the monitoring room.
"We found him."
The footage came from a parking garage across the street.
The man pushed the same toolbox toward a delivery van.
Halfway across the lot, he removed his maintenance jacket.
Underneath...
...he wore an ordinary business suit.
He entered the van.
Thirty-eight seconds later, another man wearing the maintenance uniform exited from the passenger side.
Marcus stared at the screen.
"Two people."
The analyst nodded.
"They switched places."
"Professional."
"Very."
Another frame caught Marcus's attention.
The first man's wrist became briefly visible while closing the van door.
There, just below his sleeve...
...was a faded tattoo.
Not a gang symbol.
Not military.
A simple geometric design consisting of three interlocking circles.
Marcus immediately forwarded the image to Detective Morris.
When Elena showed it to Catherine, the older woman's expression changed instantly.
"I know that mark."
"You do?"
"It wasn't a tattoo."
"What was it?"
"A seal."
"Whose?"
Catherine looked toward Harold.
"A group that approached us many years ago."
Harold finished her sentence.
May you like
"And we turned them away."
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