"He was a good detective. But he made one terrible decision."
Daniel grabbed the edge of the table.
"Why would he do that?"
Hayes looked almost sympathetic.
"Because the victim was about to expose the entire operation."
Elena studied the captain carefully.
Something was missing from his story.
"You said Sarah witnessed a murder," she said. "But you haven't told us who the victim was."
Hayes looked toward the floor.
"His name was Jonathan Bell."
Daniel suddenly looked up.
"Jonathan Bell?"
Hayes nodded.
"Why?" Elena asked.
Daniel's voice became barely audible.
"Because Jonathan Bell is the name of the man who called me last night."
Silence filled the room.
Then the captain laughed.
Not loudly.
Not nervously.
It was the quiet laughter of someone who had just heard something deeply unfortunate.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because Jonathan Bell died twenty years ago."
Daniel looked at Elena.
"Then who has been calling me?"
Before anyone could answer, Elena's phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
It contained a photograph of Captain Hayes standing outside the police station.
The timestamp was from five minutes earlier.
Beneath it were six words:
"THE CAPTAIN IS NOT WHO YOU THINK."
Elena slowly raised her eyes.
Hayes was no longer smiling.
At 2:15 a.m., Elena Cross sat inside her car outside the police department.
Rain slid down the windshield.
Daniel sat in the passenger seat, staring at the flash drive in his hands.
Neither had spoken for several minutes.
Finally, Elena broke the silence.
"Your father was Detective Michael Reeves?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because nobody asked."
"You're a police officer. You knew your father had been involved in an investigation that ended with a murder."
"I was told he was killed in a traffic accident."
"Did you ever investigate his death?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I tried."
"And?"
"The records were missing."
Elena turned toward him.
"Missing?"
"His accident report, the medical examination, the witness statements. Everything. When I asked the records department, they told me the files had been destroyed during a computer system failure."
"When?"
"Eight years ago."
Elena looked through the windshield.
"Convenient."
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
"That's what I thought."
He turned the flash drive over.
"There are two things I know about my father. He was a good man, and he never trusted Captain Hayes."
"Why?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Because he believed Hayes was involved in Black Lantern."
Elena started the engine.
"Then we're going to find out what Black Lantern was."
They drove to an abandoned municipal archive building on the outskirts of the city.
According to Daniel, the old police records had once been stored there before the department moved everything to its new digital system.
The building had been closed for nearly a decade.
A broken sign hung above the entrance.
Inside, dust covered the floors.
Elena used her flashlight to navigate the corridor.
"Which room?"
"Archive B."
They found it at the end of the hallway.
Daniel forced the door open.
Rows of metal shelves stretched into the darkness.
He began searching through the old case numbers.
Elena examined a filing cabinet near the back wall.
Then she noticed something strange.
A single drawer was newer than the others.
It had a digital lock.
"Daniel."
He approached.
"What?"
"Look at this."
The lock had a small screen.
A message appeared when Elena touched it.
ENTER AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL CODE.
Daniel frowned.
"Try my father's badge number."
Elena looked at him.
"Do you remember it?"
"Yes."
He entered the six-digit number.
The lock turned green.
The drawer opened.
Inside were three folders and a small cassette recorder.
Elena picked up the first folder.
Its label read:
BLACK LANTERN β CLASSIFIED INVESTIGATION.
The second folder contained photographs of several police officers.
Some were young versions of officers still working at the department.
Others were strangers.
Daniel picked up the third folder.
His hands began to shake.
It was marked:
JONATHAN BELL β DEATH INVESTIGATION.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph of a man lying on a courthouse floor.
His face had been damaged beyond recognition.
A handwritten note was attached.
Victim identified as Jonathan Bell. Official cause of death: accidental fall.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"That's him."
Elena looked closer.
"Are you sure?"
"I've seen his face before."
"Where?"
"In my father's old photographs."
Elena turned another page.
There was a list of witnesses.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Sarah Whitmore.
But beside her name was a handwritten note:
WITNESS STATUS: TERMINATED.
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
"Daniel, look at this."
She showed him another page.
It contained the names of five officers who had been assigned to Black Lantern.
Captain Richard Hayes.
Detective Michael Reeves.
Sergeant William Foster.
Officer Charles Miller.
And a fifth name that had been crossed out.
Elena examined it carefully.
Only a few letters remained visible.
S...H...A...W.
"Who is that?" she asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
Elena picked up the cassette recorder.
A label had been attached.
For Daniel. If he ever comes looking.
Daniel stared at it.
"My father wrote that."
Elena found an old cassette inside the recorder.
She pressed PLAY.
Static filled the room.