Chapter 10 The Summons

Henry looked down at the worn brown case file resting between them.

For a long moment, he didn't move.

Without a word, he slowly pushed it across the coffee table.

"Take it."

Adrian looked at the file before raising his eyes to Henry.

"You've earned the right to read it."

Henry leaned back in his chair.

"I've lost count of how many times I've gone through those pages."

"I kept thinking I'd missed something."

"A sentence."

"A name."

"A detail hidden in plain sight."

He gave a faint shake of his head.

"If the answers are in there..."

"I never found them."

His eyes settled on Adrian.

"Maybe you'll see what I couldn't."

Adrian rested a hand on the worn cover.

"I'll take good care of it."

"I know you will."

Henry stood.

Adrian followed.

The two men walked quietly towards the front door.

Henry opened it and the cool afternoon air drifted into the house.

As Adrian stepped onto the porch, Henry spoke once more.

"When you're finished..."

He paused.

"Bring it back."

Adrian nodded.

"You have my word."

Henry gave a small nod.

Adrian returned it before walking down the driveway towards his car.

Henry quietly closed the front door, a faint smile crossing his face.

Adrian glanced at the dashboard clock.

It was a little after one in the afternoon.

Instead of heading home, he turned the car towards the station.

The afternoon shift was in full swing by the time he arrived.

Patrol cars pulled in and out of the parking lot while uniformed officers hurried through the station's front entrance. Inside, the building carried the familiar rhythm of another working day.

Telephones rang almost constantly.

Detectives moved through the corridors with case files tucked beneath their arms.

Clerks wheeled trolleys stacked with paperwork from one department to another.

Conversations drifted from open office doors as officers discussed arrests, witness statements and pending investigations.

Everything around him felt routine.

Only his investigation no longer did.

Any decision he made now seemed to carry far greater consequences than before.

The detectives he passed were focused on their own cases, unaware of the questions weighing on his mind.

Adrian made his way to his office without stopping.

He closed the door behind him and placed Michael Donovan's worn case file carefully on his desk.

For a few seconds, he simply looked at it.

The faded cover carried the weight of an investigation that had begun years before Daniel Mercer's murder.

For a brief moment, he wondered how many hands the file had passed through before reaching his own.

Michael Donovan had opened it.

Henry Lawson had spent years searching its pages for answers.

Now it rested on Adrian's desk.

Three detectives. One investigation.

The questions had changed over the years.

The names had changed too.

But the destination had remained exactly the same.

The Blue File.

Adrian drew a slow breath.

If Henry was right, Daniel Mercer hadn't uncovered a new mystery.

He had stepped into one that had already been waiting for decades.

Henry had trusted him with it.

Adrian had no intention of betraying that trust.

He crossed the room to the wall safe built beside the filing cabinet.

After entering the combination, he pulled the heavy steel door open.

He placed the file inside and closed the safe.

He turned the handle until the locking bolts slid firmly into place.

Satisfied, Adrian switched off the office light and stepped outside. He locked the door behind him, intending to grab a late lunch before returning to work.

"Detective."

He turned.

Officer Mills was walking towards him.

"There you are."

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"Were you looking for me?"

"Yes, sir."

Mills stopped in front of him.

"The Detective General wants to see you."

Adrian frowned slightly.

"Did he say why?"

Mills shook his head.

"No, sir."

"He only said that the moment you returned, you were to report to his office."

Adrian studied him for a brief moment before giving a quiet nod.

"All right."

He adjusted his jacket, slipped his office key back into his pocket and headed down the corridor towards the Detective General's office.

The Detective General's office occupied the far end of the administrative wing.

As Adrian made his way through headquarters, the steady rhythm of the station continued around him.

Detectives emerged from interview rooms carrying fresh witness statements.

Uniformed officers crossed the corridor with evidence boxes balanced against their hips.

A telephone rang somewhere behind him before another voice answered it almost immediately.

To everyone else, it was another ordinary afternoon.

To Adrian, it no longer felt that way.

His thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had just left behind.

Henry Lawson.

Michael Donovan.

The Blue File.

Three names.

Three loose ends.

Now the Detective General wanted to see him.

Adrian kept walking.

There was no point guessing.

The request for access to the Blue File had been submitted through the proper channels that morning.

Perhaps it had already reached senior management.

Or was there an issue with the paperwork?

Maybe this meeting had nothing to do with the investigation at all.

Until someone told him otherwise, every possibility remained open.

He climbed the short flight of stairs leading to the administrative floor.

The atmosphere changed immediately.

The constant movement and conversations of the investigative offices faded behind him.

Here, the corridors were quieter.

The doors were closed.

Every office bore polished nameplates mounted neatly beside the frames.

At the end of the corridor sat the reception desk outside the Detective General's office.

The secretary looked up from her computer as Adrian approached.

"Good afternoon, Detective Cross."

"Good afternoon."

She returned a polite smile.

"He's expecting you."

She gestured towards the large wooden door behind her.

Adrian thanked her with a nod.

He stopped outside the office.

It was silent. Even the activity from the lower floors seemed distant now.

Adrian straightened his jacket, drew a quiet breath and looked at the brass nameplate fixed to the door.

Then he raised his hand and knocked.

"Come in."

Adrian turned the handle and stepped inside.