Chapter 7 - THE EVIDENCE THAT NEVER EXISTED
The television went black.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because for the first time in my career…
I didn’t know who the victim was.
I looked at Elias.
Then Hayes.
Then myself.
The three names stayed in my mind.
Who should pay?
It was a question designed to destroy trust.
And whoever was behind this understood exactly how detectives think.
We search for patterns.
We search for motives.
We search for the truth.
But what happens when the evidence itself is manipulated?
I walked back to the basement.
I picked up the files my father left behind.
There were hundreds.
Every page connected to one thing.
A hidden investigation.
One that existed outside official police records.
I found a folder marked:
PROJECT MIRROR.
Inside were photographs.
Victims.
Suspects.
Detectives.
Politicians.
Judges.
Everyone connected to cases where the truth had disappeared.
At the bottom of the folder was a document.
Authorization signature.
Robert Hayes.
I looked at him.
“You started this.”
Hayes didn’t deny it.
“I joined it.”
That answer made me angrier.
“Joined what?”
He looked exhausted.
“The people who control investigations before they become public.”
I laughed.
“That sounds insane.”
“Does it?”
He pointed at the files.
“Look at the evidence.”
I did.
And slowly…
I understood.
Some cases weren’t solved because detectives failed.
Some cases were solved because someone wanted a specific answer.
The killer.
The victim.
The motive.
Everything was chosen.
I looked at Elias.
“What was your role?”
He stayed silent.
Then:
“I was the person they blamed.”
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
This time, a video.
I opened it.
It showed my apartment.
The night before.
The night someone entered my bedroom.
The camera angle was different.
Higher.
Hidden.
I watched myself sleeping.
Then someone entered.
A man walked toward my bed.
Stopped.
Looked at me.
Then placed the phone on my nightstand.
The camera moved closer.
I waited to see the face.
But the person turned away.
Before leaving, he looked directly at the camera.
And smiled.
The video ended.
A final frame appeared.
A name.
Not Elias.
Not Hayes.
Not mine.
A name I had never seen before.
Dr. Victor Kane.
Elias looked at the screen.
And his expression changed.
For the first time…
He looked afraid.
“Where did you get that?”
May you like
I stared at him.
“Who is Victor Kane?”
