"You checked them?"
"Yes."
"But you're a janitor."
The words came out before Melissa could stop herself.
Silence.
Harrison looked at her.
Evelyn simply smiled.
"Exactly."
Melissa suddenly realized something.
All morning, she had been looking at Evelyn through the wrong lens.
She had assumed that the uniform explained everything.
It didn't.
Evelyn opened her notebook again.
"Look at the archive number."
Harrison examined the folder.
"17-B."
"Now look at the date."
He did.
His expression changed.
"This date is six months after the archive was supposedly sealed."
"Exactly."
Melissa stared.
"How is that possible?"
Evelyn looked at her.
"That's what we've been trying to figure out."
A loud alarm suddenly sounded somewhere outside.
The three of them turned toward the door.
A security officer's voice came over the intercom.
"Attention. All staff remain in their current locations. We are experiencing a security breach in the evidence archive."
Harrison stood.
"That's impossible."
Evelyn closed her notebook.
"No."
She looked toward the door.
"It's not impossible."
"What do you mean?"
She walked toward the exit.
"They know we found the folder."
Harrison followed.
"How?"
Evelyn stopped.
She looked back at him.
"Because someone inside this building is watching us."
Melissa's face went white.
"You mean someone heard us?"
"No."
Evelyn looked directly at her.
"Someone didn't need to hear us."
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"The cameras."
Harrison's expression changed instantly.
He looked at Melissa.
Then at Evelyn.
"Are the conference rooms monitored?"
Melissa shook her head.
"Not officially."
"Officially?"
Melissa froze.
Evelyn understood immediately.
"Take me to the security room."
Harrison nodded.
The three rushed into the hallway.
But before they reached the elevator, Evelyn stopped.
At the end of the corridor stood a man in a dark suit.
Victor Dalton.
He was smiling.
Not nervously.
Not angrily.
Calmly.
As if everything happening around him was exactly what he had expected.
His eyes moved from Harrison to Melissa.
Then finally to Evelyn.
And his smile disappeared.
For the first time, Evelyn saw something she had been waiting months to see.
Fear.
Real fear.
Dalton whispered something under his breath.
Evelyn couldn't hear it.
But she didn't need to.
She already knew.
He had recognized her.
Not as a janitor.
Not as an employee.
But as the woman he had spent years believing was gone.
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Good morning, Mr. Dalton."
Dalton's face went completely still.
Melissa looked confused.
"How do you two know each other?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Dalton did.
His voice was barely audible.
"Because she isn't who you think she is."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Neither are you."
And then the courthouse lights went out.
The courthouse went completely dark.
For one long second, nobody moved.
Then the building erupted.
Emergency alarms screamed through the corridors. Somewhere downstairs, people shouted. A door slammed. Security officers began calling to one another through the darkness.
Melissa grabbed the wall.
"What happened?"
Judge Harrison immediately reached for his phone.
"Stay where you are."
A faint red glow appeared from the emergency lighting at the end of the hallway.
Evelyn didn't move.
Her eyes remained fixed on Victor Dalton.
He was standing approximately thirty feet away.
For a man who had supposedly been caught in an unexpected blackout, Dalton looked remarkably calm.
Too calm.
Evelyn noticed his right hand.
He was holding something.
A small electronic device.
She recognized it immediately.
"Dalton."
His eyes shifted toward her.
"Yes?"
"What did you just do?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Evelyn took one step forward.
"You cut the power."
Dalton gave a quiet laugh.
"That's a serious accusation."
"Then why aren't you surprised?"
His smile disappeared.
Before he could respond, two security officers appeared from the stairwell.
"Everyone remain where you are!"
One officer approached Judge Harrison.
"Judge, we're locking down the building."
"What's the status?"
"We've lost power to the third and fourth floors."
"Backup generators?"
"Not responding."
Harrison's expression hardened.
"That doesn't happen."
"I know."
The officer looked at Evelyn.
"Who is she?"
Harrison answered immediately.
"She's with me."
Dalton smiled again.
"That's an interesting answer."
Harrison turned toward him.
"Mr. Dalton, why are you here?"
"I have a hearing."
"Your hearing is tomorrow."
Dalton said nothing.
Harrison stared at him.
"Why are you in this hallway?"
"I was looking for my office."
"Your office is on the second floor."
Another silence.
Evelyn stepped forward.
"He's lying."
Dalton looked at her.
"You seem very confident."
"I am."
"About what?"
"You didn't come here for a hearing."
Dalton's expression remained blank.
"You came here because you knew the archive was going to be accessed."
Melissa looked at Evelyn.
"How could he know that?"
Evelyn turned toward her.
"Because someone told him."
Melissa swallowed.
"Who?"
Evelyn's eyes moved slowly across the dark hallway.
"Someone watching the security cameras."
The officer beside them immediately touched his radio.
"Control, check camera access logs."
Static.
Then a voice.
"Control isn't responding."
The officer frowned.
"Try again."
Nothing.
Harrison looked at Evelyn.
"Someone disabled communications."
"Yes."
"Can they access the entire building?"
"If they planned this correctly."
Melissa looked terrified.
"What exactly is happening?"
Evelyn looked at her.
"Someone wants everyone confused."
"Why?"
"So they can move something without being noticed."
Her eyes turned toward the stairwell.
"The evidence archive."
The officer immediately understood.
"You're saying the blackout is a distraction?"
"Exactly."
He turned to his partner.
"Get to the archive."
The second officer started toward the stairs.
Evelyn stopped him.
"Don't."
He looked back.
"Why?"
"If someone expects you to go there, you're walking into their trap."
"Then what do we do?"
Evelyn looked at Harrison.
"How many exits does the archive have?"
"Two."
"Which one connects to the service corridor?"
"The western exit."
"Then that's where they're going."
Harrison stared at her.
"You know the building unusually well for someone who's been working here eight months."
Evelyn didn't answer.
Dalton did.
"Because she hasn't been cleaning this building."
Everyone turned toward him.
Dalton looked directly at Evelyn.
"Have you told them yet?"
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it wasn't necessary."
Dalton laughed.
"You really haven't changed."
Melissa looked from one to the other.
"Someone please tell me what's going on."
Evelyn finally turned toward her.
"My name isn't Evelyn Carter."
Melissa stared.
"What?"
Evelyn slowly removed her employee badge.
She held it beneath the emergency light.
"Evelyn Carter is the name I've been using."
Harrison said nothing.
He already knew.
Melissa's breathing became shallow.
"Then who are you?"
Evelyn looked at Dalton.
His face had become pale.
She turned back toward Melissa.
"My real name is Evelyn Mercer."
Melissa's eyes widened.
"Mercer?"
The name meant nothing to her.
But the security officer's expression changed.
"You mean..."
Evelyn nodded.
"Yes."
He stared at her.
"You're the federal investigator?"
Harrison looked at him.
"Keep your voice down."