Chapter 14: The Phone Call That Stopped the Investigation
Chapter 14: The Phone Call That Stopped the Investigation
The handwritten note remained on the evidence table.
"They know I talked."
No one spoke for several long seconds.
The words carried a weight far greater than anyone wanted to admit.
If Reeves had written the note himself, then he had been frightened enough to abandon everything.
If someone else had forced him to write it...
The situation was even worse.
Dr. Evelyn Brooks carefully slipped the note back into the evidence bag.
"Seal it."
An investigator immediately complied.
Jonathan Vale looked toward the lead investigator.
"I want every exit around the campus secured."
"It's already being done."
"What about local police?"
"They've been notified."
Anna remained unusually quiet.
Mrs. Foster noticed.
"You've been thinking ever since the note was found."
Anna nodded slowly.
"Something doesn't make sense."
Everyone turned toward her.
"If Reeves was trying to disappear..."
She looked at the cracked phone.
"...why would he leave the most important evidence behind?"
The investigators exchanged glances.
No one had considered that.
Jonathan smiled faintly.
"Go on."
Anna stepped closer to the table.
"He carried that phone every day."
"If he wanted to escape..."
"He would take it."
She paused.
"But if someone wanted investigators to find a message..."
"They would leave the phone where it couldn't be missed."
A heavy silence settled across the room.
Dr. Brooks looked at the evidence bag again.
"So you're saying..."
"This scene may have been staged."
Anna nodded.
"At least partially."
The lead investigator immediately called two members of the forensic team.
"Re-examine the vehicle."
"I want fingerprints."
"Shoe impressions."
"Everything."
The officers hurried away.
Just then...
A shrill ringtone echoed through the silent gym.
Everyone instinctively looked around.
It wasn't coming from a student's phone.
Nor from one of the investigators.
The sound came from the evidence table.
The cracked phone.
The one supposedly abandoned by Reeves.
Every person in the room froze.
One investigator stared in disbelief.
"It still has power."
The phone continued ringing.
Unknown Caller.
Dr. Brooks looked toward the forensic specialist.
"Can we answer it without contaminating evidence?"
"Yes."
The specialist placed the phone inside a clear forensic examination box connected to external controls.
He pressed the answer button remotely.
The speaker activated.
No one spoke.
Neither did the caller.
Only slow breathing could be heard.
Anna listened carefully.
Then...
A distorted voice finally broke the silence.
"You're asking the wrong questions."
The investigators immediately began tracing the call.
Dr. Brooks remained calm.
"Who is this?"
A short laugh came through the speaker.
"You already know one name."
The voice continued.
"Martin Graves."
Jonathan's expression darkened.
"What do you know about him?"
Another laugh.
"Less than you think."
The voice paused.
"More than you should."
Richard Carter stepped forward.
"If you know where Reeves is—"
The caller interrupted sharply.
"Richard."
The gym became silent again.
The caller knew his name.
"I wouldn't worry about Reeves..."
The distorted voice said.
"If I were you..."
"I'd worry about your own records."
Richard's face changed instantly.
"What records?"
The caller ignored the question.
Instead...
He spoke directly to Anna.
"You've done well."
Everyone looked toward her.
"But your notebook only uncovered one school."
Another pause.
"What if I told you..."
"...there are seventeen more?"
The gym seemed to lose all sound.
Seventeen schools?
Dr. Brooks looked stunned.
"That's impossible."
The caller answered calmly.
"No."
"It's documented."
The investigators exchanged alarmed looks.
The forensic specialist whispered,
"We're still tracing the call."
The progress bar on his monitor slowly climbed.
Thirty percent.
Forty.
Fifty-three.
The caller continued.
"You've been investigating symptoms."
"Not the disease."
Jonathan gripped the silver handle of his cane.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"The same reports."
"The same edits."
"The same missing complaints."
"The same silence."
He paused.
"In every school."
Anna slowly stepped toward the phone.
"Who are you?"
Several seconds passed.
When the voice returned...
It sounded almost tired.
"Someone who waited too long to speak."
The trace reached seventy-eight percent.
The forensic technician whispered excitedly,
"Almost there."
The caller spoke one final sentence.
"If you want the truth..."
"Don't search for Martin Graves."
Jonathan frowned.
"Then who?"
The answer came immediately.
"Search for..."
The line suddenly filled with loud static.
The connection broke.
Call Ended.
The entire room stood frozen.
The forensic technician looked frustrated.
"We lost it."
"Can you recover the location?"
He typed rapidly.
Then stopped.
"I have something."
Dr. Brooks stepped closer.
"What is it?"
The technician looked up slowly.
"The call wasn't made from outside."
Silence.
"What do you mean?"
"It originated..."
He enlarged the digital map.
Every investigator leaned closer.
The blinking signal appeared.
Right there.
Inside the school building.
Someone had been watching the investigation from within the campus itself.
May you like
And according to the location marker...
The mysterious caller was only one floor above the gym.
