เข้าสู่ระบบNo one spoke.The black monitor reflected four stunned faces before the screen finally returned to the forensic desktop.The file was gone.Not moved. Not hidden. Gone.The cybercrime examiner's fingers flew across the keyboard."I'm checking the temporary cache.""Can you recover it?" Bennett asked."Maybe."Lines of code streamed across the screen."The deletion was automated.""A timed script executed the moment the file finished displaying."Nathan exhaled slowly."Samuel built a dead-man switch."The examiner nodded."And he knew enough to make recovery difficult."Damian kept staring at the empty folder."But we still saw the message."Bennett's expression hardened."Someone in the estate cannot be trusted."Adrian folded his arms. "Twenty-two years ago, Samuel believed someone connected to the estate couldn't be trusted.""Or," Nathan said quietly, "he believed that person—or someone connected to them—would still matter when someone finally found this."That possibility settle
Morning came with a renewed sense of urgency.For the first time in days, the task force wasn't following another dead end.They had a destination.Detective Bennett held Samuel Ashcroft's faded library card between his fingers."If Victor was telling the truth," he said, "Samuel hid his notebook somewhere no one thought to search."Nathan looked at the card."And that somewhere is Locker 214."Bennett nodded."Let's hope it hasn't been emptied after all these years."---Less than an hour later, Bennett, Damian, Nathan, Adrian and two forensic officers arrived at the Central City Library.The building had stood for decades.Its stone walls and towering windows gave it an air of quiet permanence.The library had not yet opened to the public.The head librarian met them at the entrance after Bennett presented a court order."I received your call, Detective."She looked at the faded library card."I've never seen one this old.""Do you still have the lockers?" Bennett asked.She smiled
The task force moved before sunrise.Within minutes, unmarked police vehicles left headquarters in different directions.Their destinations were the twelve active railway crossings identified from Evelyn Ashcroft's phone call.No flashing lights.No sirens.If Evelyn was alive, Detective Bennett wasn't willing to risk alerting whoever was holding her.A large city map was spread across the command vehicle.One by one, Bennett crossed out locations."Crossing One—clear."A voice crackled over the radio."Crossing Three—nothing suspicious."Another transmission followed."Crossing Five—negative."Nathan looked at the remaining circles."We're running out of options."---Damian, Nathan and Adrian headed toward the oldest crossing on the eastern edge of the city.Unlike the others, it bordered several abandoned warehouses that had once served the railway.The area had been scheduled for demolition years earlier but had never been redeveloped.Their SUV rolled to a stop.Damian stepped ou
The abandoned parking structure echoed with the sound of approaching sirens.By the time Detective Bennett, Damian, Nathan and Adrian arrived, the area had already been cordoned off.Evelyn Ashcroft's sedan sat alone on the third level.Its driver's door was slightly open.Crime scene tape fluttered in the cold night breeze.Bennett ducked beneath it."No one touches anything until it's photographed."The forensic team nodded.High-resolution cameras began documenting every angle of the vehicle.Damian stopped a few feet away.The words on the windshield had been written in thick red strokes.STOP FOLLOWING THE DEAD... OR YOU'LL JOIN THEM.Nathan frowned."Is that blood?"A forensic technician carefully swabbed the message."We'll know soon."Another technician leaned into the driver's seat."There are bloodstains on the steering wheel.""And the driver's seat.""But not enough to suggest a fatal injury."Bennett looked through the open door."So whoever was bleeding...""...left aliv
The silver locket lay inside a clear evidence bag on the hood of Bennett's car.No one took their eyes off it.Nathan was the first to speak."Samuel Ashcroft on one side..."He looked at Victor Hale's photograph."...and Victor on the other."Adrian frowned."It doesn't make sense.""They disappeared twenty-two years apart."Damian's expression remained unreadable."Unless their stories were connected long before either of them vanished."Detective Bennett handed the evidence bag to the lead forensic technician."I want the locket processed immediately.""Fingerprints.""DNA.""Age of the photographs.""And find out when this locket was manufactured.""If someone assembled it recently, I want to know."The technician nodded and hurried toward the forensic van.---The search of Evelyn Ashcroft's home continued.Every room was photographed.Every drawer catalogued.Unlike Victor Hale's apartment, this house felt lived in.Nothing suggested Evelyn had planned to disappear.Her handbag
The photograph lay in the center of Detective Bennett's desk.No one touched it.No one spoke.Damian stared at it, his pulse pounding in his ears.It was unmistakably recent.The four men stood outside Victor Hale's apartment building, exactly where they had been earlier that afternoon.Bennett.Damian.Nathan.Adrian.The angle was elevated, as though the photograph had been taken from one of the upper floors across the street.Nathan broke the silence."They were close."Adrian's jaw tightened."Close enough to photograph us...""...and walk into Victor's apartment after we left."Bennett slipped on a pair of gloves and carefully lifted the photograph."The paper is still warm."Nathan looked at him."Warm?""It was printed recently."A forensic technician stepped forward."We'll process it immediately.""Fingerprints.""DNA.""Printer marks.""Anything."Bennett nodded."And check every surveillance camera within a five-block radius.""I want to know who entered that apartment aft
“Amelia!”The sound of Damian’s voice echoed through the apartment with a panic nobody had ever heard from him before.Sophie gasped.Nathan froze.And Adrian immediately lifted Amelia into his arms as her body went limp against him.“Move.”His calm tone cut sharply through the chaos.Years of med
The words slammed into Damian like a physical blow.“Don’t touch her.”For a second, nobody moved.Amelia’s body trembled weakly in Adrian’s arms, her face pale enough to terrify everyone in the room.“Move aside,” Damian said coldly.Adrian ignored him completely.“Get water,” he told Sophie calml
The moment Amelia signed the papers, the ballroom erupted into whispers.Some people pitied her.Most enjoyed the spectacle.After all, scandals involving powerful families were entertainment for the rich.Amelia could practically feel their eyes burning into her skin as she placed the pen down car
The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Orion Hotel glowed above the crowd, casting gold across silk gowns and tailored suits. Laughter echoed through the ballroom, champagne glasses clinked softly, and cameras flashed toward the stage where the powerful elites of the city gathered.At the center of i







