And a final message.
IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FATHER, FIND THE MAN WHO SIGNED THE ORIGINAL DEATH REPORT.
Rachel read the name beneath the message.
It belonged to a retired detective.
A man named Robert Collins.
But there was something else.
The date on the original report was twelve years old.
And the signature belonged to Richard Hayes.
At 7:15 the following morning, Daniel Carter finally left the police station.
He had spent almost thirty-six hours in custody.
His release was not an admission that the department had made a mistake.
It was the result of an emergency legal order after investigators discovered inconsistencies in the arrest report and evidence suggesting that his detention had been improperly arranged.
Daniel stepped outside.
The morning air was cold.
For a moment, he simply stood on the sidewalk, breathing.
Then he saw Olivia.
She ran toward him.
"Daniel!"
He barely had time to open his arms before she embraced him.
She held him tightly, as if letting go might make him disappear again.
"I thought I was going to lose you," she whispered.
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I'm here."
She pulled away and examined his face.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm okay."
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
Daniel smiled weakly.
"I'll try."
Then he noticed Ryan standing beside Rachel.
"What happened?"
Ryan stepped forward.
"We found something."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
"Your father's name."
Daniel froze.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
"My father?"
Rachel handed him the photograph.
It showed James Carter standing beside Lieutenant Hayes.
Daniel stared at it.
He had seen photographs of his father many times.
But he had never seen this one.
"Where did you find this?"
"Warehouse 17," Rachel explained.
"Michael stored several recordings there."
Daniel looked toward Olivia.
"Did you listen to them?"
She nodded.
"All of them."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel, Dad was investigating the same people Michael was investigating."
Daniel felt as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
His father had died when he was twenty.
The family had been told that it was a tragic vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver.
For years, Daniel had accepted that explanation.
Now he was being told that his father's death might have been connected to the same corruption that had killed Michael Reed.
Ryan spoke quietly.
"We need to talk somewhere private."
They drove to Rachel's office.
Once everyone was seated, Daniel explained what he knew about Michael's evidence.
Three weeks earlier, Michael had given him a memory card.
Daniel had hidden it inside an old radio in his apartment.
He had not listened to the entire recording because Michael had told him to wait until he could find a trustworthy investigator.
Rachel asked, "Do you still have it?"
Daniel nodded.
"Unless someone has found it."
Olivia looked worried.
"We need to check."
Daniel looked at Ryan.
"Can you help?"
Ryan nodded.
They drove to Daniel's apartment under the supervision of the independent investigators.
The building appeared normal.
But when Daniel opened his front door, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
The living room had been searched.
His drawers were open.
Books were scattered across the floor.
The old radio was missing.
Daniel rushed toward the bedroom.
"Where is it?"
He searched beneath the bed.
Nothing.
He checked the closet.
Nothing.
Then Olivia noticed a small object near the window.
A broken piece of plastic.
She picked it up.
It belonged to the back panel of the radio.
Daniel stared at it.
"Someone took it."
Ryan examined the apartment.
"Whoever searched this place knew exactly what they were looking for."
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"Did you tell anyone where you hid the card?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Only Michael knew."
Then he remembered something.
"Wait."
He walked toward the kitchen.
Inside an old drawer was a small notebook.
He opened it and removed a folded piece of paper.
It contained a series of numbers.
Olivia frowned.
"What is that?"
"Michael gave me this before he died."
"Why didn't you mention it?"
"I thought it was a storage code."
Ryan studied the numbers.
"They might be coordinates."
Marcus entered them into his computer.
A map appeared.
The location was an old parking structure near the city center.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
"That's where Michael used to meet me."
They arrived twenty minutes later.
The parking structure was nearly empty.
On the third level, Daniel found a small metal locker hidden behind a concrete pillar.
The combination worked.
Inside was a black envelope.
It contained a USB drive and a printed photograph.
Daniel picked up the photograph.
It showed Lieutenant Hayes standing beside Sergeant Miller outside a warehouse.
The date was three days before Michael's death.
On the back, someone had written:
The original footage is stored in the security system. Camera 6.
Marcus immediately connected the USB drive to his laptop.
A folder appeared.
Inside were several video files.
Most were ordinary security recordings.
But one file was dated the night Michael Reed died.
Marcus opened it.
The screen showed the entrance to Warehouse 17.
A car pulled into the parking area.
Two men stepped out.
The first was Sergeant Miller.
The second was Lieutenant Hayes.
They entered the building.
Forty-three minutes later, Miller returned alone.
He looked around the parking lot.
Then he opened the trunk of his vehicle.
He removed something large, wrapped in a dark blanket.
Daniel moved closer to the screen.
"What is that?"
Nobody answered.
The footage continued.
Miller placed the object inside another vehicle.
Then he drove away.
The timestamp showed 11:48 p.m.
Marcus paused the recording.
"There are more files."
He opened Camera 6.
This angle showed the inside corridor of the warehouse.
The image was clearer.
Hayes was standing beside Michael Reed.
They were arguing.
Michael appeared frightened.
Then Miller entered.
The three men continued talking.
Suddenly, Hayes pointed toward Michael.
Miller grabbed him.
The camera captured the struggle.
Michael fell.
Daniel covered his mouth.
Olivia began crying.
The video continued.
Hayes stood over Michael for several seconds.
Then he looked directly toward the camera.
He knew it was there.
He walked toward the security system.
The footage went dark.
Marcus sat back.
"That's not all."
He opened another file.
It showed the same warehouse from an exterior camera.
At 12:17 a.m., a second vehicle arrived.
A woman stepped out.
She entered the building.
Five minutes later, she left carrying a small black case.
Daniel stared at the screen.
He recognized her.
He had seen her photograph in the police station.
She was the woman who had signed the original report declaring Michael Reed's death a robbery.
Rachel leaned forward.
"Who is she?"
Daniel answered slowly.
"Deputy Chief Eleanor Brooks."
Ryan's face turned pale.
Brooks was the highest-ranking officer in the department after the police commissioner.
If she was involved, the corruption extended far beyond Hayes.
Marcus replayed the footage.
Then he noticed something.
The video had been edited.
A section lasting almost four minutes was missing.
"Someone removed part of the recording."
Daniel looked at him.
"Can you recover it?"
Marcus nodded.
"Maybe. But there's another problem."
He opened the file information.
The recording had been copied from the original security server less than twelve hours earlier.
The user account responsible for the extraction appeared on the screen.
RICHARD HAYES β ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS.
Ryan stepped back.
"He knew the footage existed."
Rachel looked toward the investigators.
"We need to secure the original server immediately."