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Chapter 5: The 24-Hour Case

The briefing room buzzed with tension.

Grayson stood at the head of the table, holding a thin black case file.

Rook sat at the far end, legs barely dangling over the chair, arms folded.

No expression.

The agents stood behind her — skeptical. Watching.

> “This case was opened two months ago,” Grayson said.

“No suspects. No motive. No trail.”

He slid the file across the table to her.

> “You have twenty-four hours.”

---

Rook opened the file.

Photos. Police notes. A timeline.

A missing man — Sebastian Kroll, high-ranking banker. Vanished from his apartment with no signs of struggle.

Security footage showed him entering the building.

Never leaving.

Door locked from the inside.

No prints. No blood. No note.

---

Maeve leaned against the wall, smirking.

> “We worked that case. There’s nothing to go on.”

Rook didn’t look up.

Didn’t answer.

She flipped the pages again.

Then once more.

Then… stopped.

She stared at one blurry photo of a desk lamp.

No one noticed what she was looking at.

---

> “Where’s the body?” Rook asked.

> “We don’t have one,” Grayson said.

“That’s why it’s unsolved.”

> “He never left,” she said.

> “Right.”

> “Then the building lies.”

They all turned to her now.

> “Excuse me?” Vera asked.

Rook flipped the page, pointing to the desk photo again.

> “The reflection on the lamp’s chrome shows something red — like a rug.”

> “So?” Dirk asked.

> “There is no rug listed in the apartment inventory.”

She closed the file.

> “Check under the floorboards. The rug was new. It’s hiding the cut marks.”

They all stared.

Oren blinked.

> “Wait. You think the body’s still there?”

> “No,” she said.

> “Then what’s the rug hiding?”

> “Where it used to be.”

---

Dead silence.

Grayson nodded once.

> “Oren. Vera. You’re flying to the Kroll apartment in one hour.”

> “Yes, sir.”

As they moved out, Maeve looked at Rook again — this time, not as a joke… but something else.

Maybe fear.

Maybe respect.

---

Grayson looked at her.

> “Where did you learn to spot reflection distortions?”

Rook shrugged.

> “I used to watch rich people’s windows from rooftops. You learn fast if you don’t want to be caught.”

He nodded.

> “What else do you see?”

Rook stared blankly at the room.

> “Weak walls. Too many cameras. One of them’s fake.”

Grayson raised a brow.

> “Which one?”

She pointed.

Without turning.

> “That one. Near the ceiling. The red light doesn’t blink. And there’s dust on the lens.”

---

End of Chapter 5