When he noticed her, he immediately stopped talking.
The stranger turned and walked away.
Richard gave Victoria a polite nod.
"Still working late?"
Victoria looked at him.
"Some of us have a lot of work to do."
He smiled.
"Indeed."
She stepped closer.
"Mr. Cole, I have one question."
"Certainly."
"Who has access to the original complaint archive?"
Cole adjusted his jacket.
"Authorized personnel."
"Which personnel?"
"That information is available through the administration office."
Victoria studied his expression.
Then she asked:
"Do you know why Margaret Lewis was transferred?"
Cole's smile disappeared for a fraction of a second.
"Personnel decisions are confidential."
"Of course."
Victoria turned to leave.
But just before she reached the door, Cole spoke again.
"Ms. Hayes?"
She stopped.
"Yes?"
"Sometimes an investigation becomes more dangerous than the problem it's trying to solve."
Victoria turned around.
"Only when someone has something to hide."
Cole didn't respond.
She walked away.
That evening, Victoria returned to her hotel room and placed the documents across the desk.
She opened her laptop and began organizing the evidence.
Then she noticed something she had missed earlier.
One of the old tracking sheets contained a reference number that appeared in three different complaints.
The number was connected to a file that had supposedly been destroyed.
But beside the reference number was a handwritten note.
TRANSFERRED TO SPECIAL REVIEW — PRIVATE ARCHIVE.
Victoria leaned closer to the screen.
She searched the department's available records.
Nothing.
She searched the archive database.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the anonymous envelope Robert had received.
One of the documents inside it had contained an unusual code.
She found the photograph she had taken earlier.
There it was.
The same reference number.
The supposedly destroyed complaint had not been destroyed at all.
It had been transferred.
And the transfer had been authorized by someone above Richard Cole.
Someone with access to the department's most confidential files.
Victoria slowly leaned back in her chair.
For the first time since the investigation began, she felt certain that the case was much bigger than she had imagined.
Miller had been arrogant.
Cole had been evasive.
Brooks had tried to stop the investigation.
But none of them appeared to be the person controlling the entire operation.
There was someone else.
Someone who had been working quietly behind the scenes.
Someone who knew exactly which complaints needed to disappear.
Victoria opened a new document and typed a single sentence:
THE DEPARTMENT DOES NOT HAVE A COMPLAINT PROBLEM. IT HAS A SYSTEMATIC COVER-UP PROBLEM.
Then she saved the file.
At that exact moment, her phone rang.
The number was unknown.
She answered.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man's voice spoke.
"Ms. Hayes, my name is Thomas Reed."
Victoria sat upright.
"Thomas Reed?"
"Yes."
"How did you get my number?"
"I've been trying to contact someone from your office for weeks."
Victoria reached for her notebook.
"Are you all right?"
The man hesitated.
"No. And I don't think you understand what happened to me."
Victoria's expression became serious.
"Tell me."
Thomas took a breath.
"Sergeant Miller wasn't acting alone."
Victoria froze.
"What do you mean?"
"I have documents. Original recordings. Emails. Everything."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you over the phone."
"Thomas, I need you to stay calm."
His voice became urgent.
"They know I've been looking for the evidence. They know I still have it."
Victoria stood.
"Who knows?"
Before he could answer, she heard a loud noise through the phone.
Then Thomas whispered:
"They're here."
The call ended.
Victoria stared at her phone.
She immediately called Robert.
But before he answered, another message appeared on her screen.
It was a photograph.
A photograph of Thomas Reed standing outside his home.
And beneath it were four words:
STOP LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH.
Victoria Hayes stood motionless in the middle of her hotel room, staring at the photograph on her phone.
It showed Thomas Reed standing outside his house.
He was wearing a gray jacket, holding a newspaper, and looking directly toward the camera.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary photograph.
But Victoria noticed something disturbing.
Thomas had never sent her a photograph of himself.
He had never told her where he lived.
And yet someone had sent her a picture of him outside his own home.
The message contained only four words.
STOP LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH.
Victoria immediately called Robert Mitchell.
He answered after the second ring.
"Victoria? It's almost midnight. What's happened?"
"Thomas Reed just contacted me. He said he had original recordings and internal emails. Before he could tell me where he was, the call ended."
Robert became silent.
"Are you sure it was him?"
"He knew details about the complaint that haven't been made public."
"What happened after the call?"
Victoria explained the photograph and the threatening message.
Robert's voice became serious.
"Don't go anywhere alone. I'll contact the appropriate authorities and arrange for someone to check on him."
"Robert, we need to be careful. If someone inside the department is involved, we cannot assume every person assigned to help us is trustworthy."
Robert sighed.
"You're suggesting that we have a leak."
"I'm suggesting that someone knows exactly what we're doing."
Robert remained silent for a moment.
Then he said:
"I'll meet you tomorrow morning. We need to discuss this face to face."
Victoria ended the call.
She walked to the window and looked down at the street.
Cars moved through the city.
People were returning home.
Somewhere, Thomas Reed was frightened enough to believe that contacting an investigator could put his life in danger.
Victoria understood that feeling.
She had spent years listening to people who had lost faith in institutions that were supposed to protect them.
But this time, she wasn't going to let the investigation disappear.
The following morning, she arrived at Robert's office at 7:15.
He was already there.
A cup of untouched coffee sat on his desk.
"I couldn't sleep," he admitted.
"Neither could I."
Robert showed her a report from the security team.
Thomas's home had been checked, but nobody answered the door. His car was missing, and his neighbors said they hadn't seen him since the previous afternoon.
"Have they found him?" Victoria asked.
"Not yet."
"Did they locate his phone?"
"No. It appears to have been switched off."
Victoria sat down.
"Then we need to find the original evidence."
Robert opened a folder.