Chapter 7 - THE SHAFT
The shaft descended behind twelve floors before meeting an old mechanical transfer corridor on level thirty.
The corridor connected to:
HVAC rooms,
electrical closets,
a disused service elevator machine room.
No resident cameras.
No access logs.
The killer could exit Michael’s apartment through the hidden panel.
Climb down.
Leave through a maintenance door.
Simple.
Except one problem.
That maintenance door was alarmed.
No opening event.
Robert smiled without humor.
“Locked room number two.”
Jack inspected the door.
Electronic contact.
Mechanical latch.
No tampering.
Then building maintenance supervisor said:
“There’s another way.”
A grated ventilation access led from the corridor into the parking-garage exhaust plenum.
Too narrow for a large man.
Jack measured.
Twenty inches.
The man in black had broad shoulders.
No.
Then they found a rope.
Not hanging.
Coiled behind a duct.
Dust-free.
Climbing rope.
Attached to an old elevator counterweight rail.
The shaft continued all the way to the roof mechanical penthouse.
Jack looked up.
“Roof.”
Roof access log?
One contractor badge used at 9:41 p.m.
Company:
Hale Fire Systems.
Technician assigned:
Marcus Vale.
Marcus said his badge had been stolen two days earlier.
Now they had an exit.
Hidden shaft to roof.
Stolen badge.
Roof stair down to adjacent parking structure? Yes.
But Jack was unsatisfied.
“How did the killer know the hidden panel existed?”
Robert answered:
“Renovation records.”
“Then why erase it from current plans?”
“To make sure nobody else knew.”
“Who had authority to erase it?”
Michael.
That changed the mystery.
Michael knew about the hidden shaft.
Maybe he used it.
May you like
Maybe the killer did not discover his secret.
Maybe Michael shared it.
