"Ma'am, you're being asked to remain here pending a federal inquiry."
Mitchell laughed softly.
"By whom?"
Bell held up his credentials.
"By the investigators assigned to this case."
Mitchell's expression changed.
"Then you should ask them who authorized the original Nightfall operation."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"I just did."
Mitchell looked at her.
"And what did you find?"
Vanessa raised the photograph.
"That I was in Room 17."
Mitchell nodded.
"Yes."
"That I signed an order to erase the records."
"Yes."
"And that my former supervisor was there."
Mitchell's face hardened.
"Daniel was not your former supervisor."
Vanessa frowned.
"What?"
Mitchell took a slow breath.
"Daniel Mitchell was your father."
The archive seemed to tilt around Vanessa.
Bell stared at the woman.
Vanessa looked down at the photograph.
Then back at Mitchell.
"That's impossible."
Mitchell's voice softened.
"No, Vanessa. It's the one thing you were never allowed to know."
She stepped closer.
"Your entire federal identity was built around a lie."
Vanessa stared at her.
"Why?"
Mitchell opened her folder.
Inside was a photograph of a young girl standing beside Daniel Mitchell.
The girl was Vanessa.
But the date on the photograph was thirty years earlier.
Mitchell placed it on the counter.
"Because your father discovered the original Nightfall conspiracy."
Vanessa's voice was barely audible.
"What happened to him?"
Mitchell looked directly into her eyes.
"He was killed in Room 17."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Thomas Cole said he heard a gunshot."
"He did."
"Then who shot him?"
Mitchell's expression changed.
She looked at Vanessa.
And answered:
"You did."
PART 14 — THE WOMAN IN THE RECORDING
Vanessa stepped backward.
For a moment, the archive seemed to disappear around her.
She heard only the words.
You did.
Bell moved closer.
"Director Mitchell, that's a serious allegation."
Mitchell looked at him.
"It's not an allegation. It's in the original report."
Vanessa stared at her.
"I never killed anyone."
Mitchell nodded.
"That's what you were told."
"Who told me?"
"Your mother."
Vanessa's expression tightened.
"My mother died when I was twelve."
Mitchell shook her head.
"That is another lie."
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
The young girl beside Daniel Mitchell.
Her own face.
Her own eyes.
But something was wrong.
The woman in the photograph wore a small necklace.
A silver pendant.
Vanessa had owned the same pendant for most of her adult life.
She touched the necklace beneath her blouse.
Mitchell noticed.
"Do you recognize it?"
Vanessa slowly nodded.
"My mother gave it to me."
"Your father gave it to you."
Vanessa looked up.
Mitchell continued.
"Daniel was not only your father. He was the first person who discovered the evidence-transfer network. He spent years trying to expose it."
"Then why was he killed?"
"Because he found out that the network was being operated from inside the federal government."
Bell looked toward the door.
"Who operated it?"
Mitchell turned toward him.
"People who controlled the evidence, the investigations, and the officials assigned to oversee them."
Vanessa looked at her.
"Who?"
Mitchell placed another document on the counter.
It contained a list of names.
At the top was:
HELEN MITCHELL.
Below it were the names of several senior officials.
Vanessa stared.
"Your name is on this list."
Mitchell nodded.
"Yes."
"You're saying you were involved?"
"I was."
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Then why should I believe anything you say?"
Mitchell took a breath.
"Because I was the one who helped your father hide you."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Hide me from whom?"
Mitchell looked toward the corridor.
"From the people who ordered his death."
A distant alarm sounded.
Bell checked his phone.
"Security breach."
Vanessa turned.
"What happened?"
Bell read the message.
"Someone just accessed the archive's external server."
Mitchell closed her folder.
"We need to leave."
Vanessa stared at her.
"You're not going anywhere."
Mitchell looked at her.
"Then you're going to die in this building."
The lights flickered.
A loud impact echoed from the upper floor.
Bell drew his weapon.
Foster's voice came through the radio.
"Multiple individuals entering the building. They are not responding to security."
Vanessa looked at Mitchell.
"Who are they?"
Mitchell's expression was grim.
"The people who killed your father."
PART 15 — THE NIGHTFALL FILE
The archive doors locked automatically.
Bell moved toward the corridor.
"Foster, status?"
Her voice came through the radio.
"Two individuals at the main entrance. Another at the loading dock."
"Are they armed?"
"Yes."
Vanessa looked at Mitchell.
"How did they know we were here?"
Mitchell shook her head.
"Someone inside the archive alerted them."
Vanessa looked toward Walter Price.
The archivist stood frozen beside the counter.
"Mr. Price?"
He did not answer.
"Who accessed the external server?"
Price slowly lowered his eyes.
Mitchell looked at him.
"Walter?"
He took a step backward.
Bell raised his weapon.
"Don't move."
Price's expression changed.
Then he reached into his jacket.
Bell shouted.
"Hands!"
Price froze.
He slowly removed a small access card.
Vanessa stared at it.
"What's that?"
Price looked at her.
"The original Nightfall key."
Mitchell went pale.
"Where did you get that?"
Price looked at Vanessa.
"Your father gave it to me."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because he knew someone would eventually come looking for the original files."
"Who?"
Price looked toward Mitchell.
Then toward Bell.
Finally, he answered.
"You."
Vanessa frowned.
"Me?"
Price nodded.
"Your father said that one day, you would return to Room 17. He said you would come with a badge, a new name, and no memory of what happened."
Vanessa stared.
"Why would I have no memory?"
Price lowered his voice.