"I don't know."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"You lied to me."
"I didn't."
"You told me you were trying to find out what happened to her."
"I am."
"Then why would she name you?"
Harrison looked devastated.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, the laptop made a sound.
A new message appeared.
ONE OF YOU IS WORKING FOR THEM.
Then another line appeared.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO FIND OUT WHO.
The basement lights flickered.
Evelyn looked at Harrison.
Harrison looked at Evelyn.
Neither moved.
Then Evelyn noticed something.
A small red light was blinking beneath the desk.
A recording device.
Someone had been listening to them.
She reached for it.
The moment her fingers touched it, a voice came through the speaker.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Distorted.
But unmistakably familiar.
"Evelyn..."
Evelyn froze.
It was Sarah.
"Don't trust Harrison."
The line went dead.
Harrison whispered:
"Evelyn, please."
She stepped backward.
For the first time in twelve years, she was standing within reach of the truth.
And the truth was beginning to look nothing like what she had expected.
Then a loud metallic sound came from behind them.
The basement door slammed shut.
They were locked inside.
The basement door slammed shut with enough force to shake the walls.
Evelyn spun around.
Harrison rushed toward it and grabbed the handle.
Locked.
He pulled harder.
Nothing.
"Move."
Evelyn stepped forward.
Harrison moved aside.
She examined the electronic lock.
"No."
"What?"
"This isn't a normal lock."
Harrison looked at her.
"Can you open it?"
"Eventually."
"How long?"
"Too long."
She pulled a small tool from inside her uniform.
Harrison stared.
"You carry that while working as a janitor?"
Evelyn didn't look up.
"I carry many things."
She crouched beside the control panel.
"Someone activated the emergency lockdown manually."
"Can we override it?"
"Not from here."
Harrison looked around.
"Then how do we get out?"
Evelyn stood.
"We don't."
He frowned.
"What?"
"They don't want us to leave."
A faint mechanical sound came from somewhere above them.
Evelyn looked toward the ceiling.
"Someone is moving."
Harrison lowered his voice.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Could be security."
"No."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because security doesn't lock people inside evidence storage."
She returned to the laptop.
The screen had gone dark.
Evelyn pressed the power button.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
"Someone shut it down remotely."
Harrison stared at her.
"Then the message was designed to disappear."
"Exactly."
He leaned against the desk.
"Evelyn..."
She looked at him.
"I need to tell you something."
"I've heard enough secrets for one day."
"This one concerns Sarah."
That made her stop.
"What?"
Harrison took a breath.
"The night she disappeared, she came to me."
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
"When?"
"An hour before she vanished."
"What did she want?"
"She said she'd discovered something."
"What?"
"That evidence from several major cases had been altered."
Evelyn's face hardened.
"Altered how?"
"Files were being replaced. Dates changed. Witness statements disappeared."
"Who had access?"
"Several people."
"Names."
Harrison hesitated.
"Victor Dalton."
Evelyn nodded.
"Who else?"
"The chief clerk."
"Who?"
"Margaret Lewis."
Evelyn immediately wrote the name down.
"Anyone else?"
"Two prosecutors."
"Names."
"Richard Bell and Thomas Avery."
Evelyn looked at him.
"And you?"
Harrison went silent.
She stared.
"Did you have access?"
"Yes."
"Then you were part of the group."
"No."
"You just said you had access."
"I did. But I never changed anything."
"How do I know?"
"You don't."
His answer surprised her.
Harrison looked exhausted.
"That's the truth."
Evelyn studied him.
For twelve years, she had imagined this conversation.
She had imagined Harrison as either a hero or a villain.
But standing there, she saw something more complicated.
He looked like a man carrying a secret that had nearly destroyed him.
"What happened after Sarah came to you?"
Harrison looked down.
"She gave me a file."
"What file?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"She told me not to open it."
"Why?"
"Because she said if I knew what was inside, I'd become a target."
"Where is it?"
Harrison hesitated.
"I thought it was destroyed."
"Thought?"
"Sarah took it back."
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
"Then what happened?"
"She left my office."
"And disappeared."
"Yes."
"You didn't follow her?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"Someone called me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"The call came from a blocked number."
"What did they say?"
Harrison looked directly into her eyes.
"They told me Sarah was going to die if I followed her."
Evelyn's expression changed.
"And you believed them?"
"I heard her scream."
Silence.
Harrison continued.
"Not through the phone."
Evelyn stared at him.
"I heard it from the basement."
Her breath caught.
"You were here."
"Yes."
"That night?"
"Yes."
"Then you know who took her."
"I saw someone."
"Who?"
"I couldn't see his face."
"Man or woman?"
"Man."
"Height?"
"About six feet."
"Build?"
"Average."
"Anything else?"
Harrison closed his eyes.
"He wore a black courthouse security jacket."
Evelyn stared at him.
"Security?"
"Yes."
"Did you report that?"
"I tried."
"To whom?"
"The security director."
"Who was?"
Harrison looked at her.
"Daniel Mercer."
Evelyn froze.
The name hit her like a physical blow.
"Daniel Mercer?"
Harrison nodded.
"My father?"
"Yes."
Evelyn stepped backward.
"You're saying my father was the security director?"
"At the time."
"My father was told Sarah was missing?"
"Yes."
"And he never told me?"
"I don't know what he told you."
Evelyn's hands began to shake.
Her father had died five years after Sarah disappeared.
He had never once admitted knowing anything.
Not one word.
She had spent years believing he had simply withdrawn after Sarah vanished.
Now everything looked different.
"Why would my father hide this?"
Harrison didn't answer.
Evelyn suddenly turned toward the laptop.
"Wait."
"What?"
"The photograph."
She opened the image from Dalton's phone again.
The picture of Sarah outside the café.
She zoomed in.
Behind Sarah was a parked vehicle.
A courthouse security vehicle.
Evelyn stared.
The logo was unmistakable.
Harrison stepped closer.