Chapter 18 : The Clue
1030 Words
By the time the police finished processing the apartment, it was already evening.
Maya stood by the apartment door and gave Ethan one last reminder.
“We’ll take everything back and go through it. If we find anything, I’ll let you know.”
Ethan nodded.
“Okay.”
Maya glanced at the apartment, still a mess from the search.
“One more thing.”
She looked back at him.
“Try not to go anywhere alone for a while.”
Ethan gave her a tired smile.
“I know.”
Maya didn't say anything else.
She left with the other officers, while Ethan waited downstairs for a little while.
Once he was sure they were gone, he called a locksmith and had all the locks on his apartment replaced.
Only after the locksmith left did Ethan go back inside.
The apartment was quieter now, and most of the mess had been cleaned up.
But the signs that someone had gone through everything were still there.
Ethan closed the door behind him.
The apartment fell silent.
The exhaustion he'd been holding back all day finally caught up with him.
He walked over to the bed and lay down.
Everything that had happened had left him completely drained.
He closed his eyes, hoping to shut everything out.
But his mind wouldn't let him.
One thought after another kept surfacing.
Whitmore's notebook.
The USB drive.
Alan Mercer.
And those strange visions that had been appearing in his mind.
Claire.
Whitmore.
That rainy night.
And…
Michael.
Ethan's eyes suddenly opened.
He sat up.
“Wait.”
He stared into the darkness for a moment.
“Michael…”
The name came back to him.
He remembered the handshake.
That brief moment when he'd touched Michael's hand.
What he'd seen hadn't been his own memory.
It had been Michael's.
He'd seen Claire.
He'd seen the van.
He'd heard the conversation between Michael and the man named James.
Ethan's breathing quickened.
Michael knew something.
No.
Maybe it went further than that.
He had seen Claire with his own eyes.
He might have even been involved in taking her away.
If Ethan could get close to Michael, maybe he could find out what had really happened.
He grabbed his phone and opened his notes.
He typed:
Michael Reed.
He stared at the name for a moment before adding another line underneath.
Find a way to get close to him.
Ethan put his phone down.
Right now, Michael was the only lead he could actually pursue himself.
The next morning, Ethan arrived at the police station.
As soon as he stepped into the forensic division, Tom spotted him and waved.
“Ethan!”
Ethan walked over.
Tom picked up an access card from his desk.
“Your database access came through.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“That fast?”
“I pushed it through yesterday afternoon.”
Tom handed him the card.
“Figured it'd help with your research.”
Ethan took it.
“Thanks.”
“Come on. I'll show you how it works.”
Tom led him over to a computer and gave him a quick rundown on how to log into the database.
“Your access lets you look at most closed cases, along with some cases that have already been made public.”
“That includes case files, evidence records, and some surveillance footage.”
Tom pointed at the screen.
“But you won't be able to get into active major cases or anything classified.”
Ethan nodded.
“This should be enough.”
“Good.”
Tom gave him a quick pat on the shoulder.
“If you run into any problems, just come find me.”
Then he walked away.
Ethan sat down at the computer.
He swiped his access card and entered his username and password.
The database opened on the screen.
Ethan took a deep breath.
Then he typed:
Claire Morgan
Year:
2009
He hit search.
A few seconds later, pages of records filled the screen.
Ethan's expression grew more focused.
The news reports and public police records he'd found before had only given him the basic outline of the case.
This was different.
Full case reports.
Investigation notes.
Witness statements.
Scene records.
Surveillance footage.
And evidence collected by the police at the time.
Ethan started going through the files one by one.
Time passed.
He moved back and forth between different records, comparing details as he went.
A time.
A name.
A location.
Then another record that seemed unrelated.
He kept looking for something that might connect them.
Hours went by.
Still, nothing stood out.
Then he opened a surveillance file.
It was footage from around Riverside Private Clinic on the day Claire disappeared.
Ethan dragged the timeline forward.
One timestamp after another flashed across the screen.
Then he stopped.
He rewound the footage.
Watched it again.
And froze.
A man appeared on the screen, walking through the clinic entrance.
He was wearing a dark jacket over a light-colored shirt.
His pants and shoes were also clearly visible.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Those clothes…
He'd seen them before.
No.
Not just seen them.
He'd seen them in a memory.
The image came back to him.
Rain.
A van.
Claire.
A man.
And those same clothes.
His hand slowly tightened around the mouse.
Ethan zoomed in on the footage.
The man turned slightly.
The image wasn't clear enough to make out every detail, but his profile was enough.
Michael Reed.
Ethan froze in front of the computer.
There was no mistake.
It was him.
And those clothes…
They were exactly the same as the ones Ethan had seen in that memory.
His heart began to race.
He looked at the timestamp again.
October 14, 2009, 7:42 p.m.
The day Claire disappeared.
Michael had been there.
Only minutes before Claire's appointment.
Ethan slowly leaned back in his chair.
The fragments in his mind suddenly fell into place.
It hadn't been a dream.
He hadn't imagined it.
That memory…
It had really happened.
And Michael Reed had been there.
Ethan stared at the man on the screen.
After a long moment, he finally whispered,
“So it really was you.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD