CHAPTER 8 — "The Mastermind Finally Revealed"
The warehouse fell into complete silence.
Every detective stared at the black screen.
Emily's final message...
gone.
Erased in front of their eyes.
Richard slowly clenched his fists.
"Trace that signal."
Three cybercrime specialists immediately connected their equipment to the laptop.
One minute passed.
Then another.
Finally, one of them looked up.
"Sir..."
"We found where the deletion command came from."
Richard stepped closer.
"Where?"
The technician swallowed.
"Your own headquarters."
Charlotte frowned.
"Kingsley Global?"
The technician nodded.
"The command was sent from a private server inside the executive floor."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"Only four people have access to that room."
Without another word, he ordered everyone back to the company headquarters.
An hour later...
The glass tower of Kingsley Global was surrounded by police vehicles.
Employees watched nervously as detectives entered the building.
Richard led them straight to the executive floor.
Only four fingerprint profiles could unlock the private server room.
His.
The Chief Financial Officer's.
The Head of Legal's.
And...
Richard stopped walking.
"No..."
Charlotte looked at him.
"What is it?"
He stared at the final name.
Edward Kingsley.
"My older brother."
Charlotte froze.
"Uncle Edward?"
Richard nodded slowly.
"He left the company fifteen years ago."
"He said he wanted a quiet retirement."
The Head of Legal looked confused.
"That's impossible."
"Mr. Edward hasn't visited this building in over a decade."
The cyber specialist interrupted.
"Actually..."
"The server has been accessed every single week."
"Using his biometric credentials."
Richard's heart pounded.
"Open the room."
The steel door unlocked.
Inside...
Everything appeared normal.
Until Charlotte noticed a family portrait hanging on the wall.
She stepped closer.
"That picture..."
"It wasn't here before."
She lifted the frame.
Hidden behind it was a biometric safe.
Inside the safe...
were dozens of fake identities.
Foreign passports.
Encrypted hard drives.
Offshore banking tokens.
And one thick black notebook.
Richard opened the first page.
Every crime.
Every forged document.
Every stolen dollar.
Every murder plan.
Everything had been documented in perfect detail.
Signed with only two initials.
E.K.
Charlotte whispered,
"He planned all of this..."
Richard slowly turned another page.
His hands began shaking violently.
There was a photograph.
Emily.
Smiling.
Standing beside Edward.
The date...
was only two weeks before her death.
Taped beneath the picture was a handwritten note.
"Loose ends must disappear before Richard signs the succession papers."
Charlotte covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
At that exact moment...
One detective shouted from the hallway.
"Sir!"
"We've located Edward Kingsley."
Richard looked up.
"Where?"
The detective hesitated.
"He's already inside the building."
The lights throughout the entire tower suddenly went dark.
Emergency alarms began blaring.
Then an old, familiar voice echoed through the building's speaker system.
"Good evening, little brother."
Richard's blood ran cold.
Edward laughed softly.
"I've been waiting eighteen years for this reunion."
Charlotte instinctively grabbed her father's hand.
The voice continued.
"If you want the rest of Emily's recording..."
"...come to the rooftop."
"But come alone."
Then the speakers went silent.
May you like
On the rooftop...
a helicopter could already be heard approaching through the night sky.
