CHAPTER 8 — The Girl Who Remembered Everything
Police cars rushed to the school within minutes.
Parents gathered their children and hurried home.
Officers searched every street, every parking lot, and every nearby building.
The mysterious man was gone.
It looked like another dead end.
Back at headquarters, Detective Carter replayed Sofia's statement for what felt like the hundredth time.
Every word.
Every detail.
Then Sofia quietly spoke from the corner of the interview room.
"I remember something."
Everyone turned toward her.
"The man wasn't looking at me when I stopped."
"He looked past me."
"What do you mean?" Carter asked.
Sofia closed her eyes, trying to picture the moment.
"There was a bakery window beside me."
"I could see his reflection."
"He wasn't staring at me."
"He kept looking across the street."
Detectives immediately returned to the location.
Standing where Sofia had stopped, Carter looked through the bakery window.
Across the road stood an old apartment building.
One balcony faced the exact spot where Sofia had confronted the stranger.
Officers searched the building.
Most apartments were empty.
But one door was locked from the inside.
After receiving permission to enter, they carefully forced it open.
The apartment looked abandoned.
Dust covered the furniture.
Curtains blocked every window.
But in the back room they found something chilling.
A wall covered with maps of the neighborhood.
Photographs of school routes.
Pages filled with handwritten schedules.
And in the center...
A large board containing dozens of missing-person reports collected over many years.
Some had newspaper clippings attached.
Others had handwritten notes.
Near the bottom of the board was the newest photograph.
Sofia.
Below it, someone had written only one sentence.
"Target lost."
Detective Carter stared at the wall in silence.
This wasn't the hideout of someone acting on impulse.
It belonged to someone who planned every move with frightening patience.
As crime-scene investigators carefully searched the apartment, one officer called out from another room.
"Detective... you need to see this."
On the floor lay a recently abandoned backpack.
Inside were fresh clothes...
A train ticket purchased that morning...
And a burner phone that suddenly began to ring.
Everyone in the room froze.
Carter slowly picked it up and answered.
A calm voice spoke.
"You found my apartment."
A brief pause followed.
"Now try to find me."
May you like
The call ended.
The hunt had entered an entirely new phase.
