The folder opened slowly. For a second, the screen stayed blank, then rows of files appeared. Dozens of them.
Each named differently. Some looked like case titles. Others like random notes. A few were labeled in ways that didn't make sense at all.
Evan leaned closer. "…these are all cases?"
Noah didn't answer immediately. His eyes moved across the screen, scanning each name carefully. "Yeah," he said finally. "Different cases she's worked on… or studied."
Evan frowned. "But why mix everything like this?"
Before Noah could reply, something caught his attention. One file. Recently opened. Its name stood out. "Eclair-Honey" Noah's gaze stopped there. For a moment, he didn't move. Evan noticed. "What is it?" Noah clicked the file without answering. The contents opened. And everything changed. The screen filled with documents. Notes, images, timelines, connections drawn between people, locations marked, fragments of statements. Nothing was in order. Nothing followed a straight line. It looked like chaos.
Evan blinked. "…what am I even looking at?" Noah leaned closer. Reading faster now. Processing...absorbing. "This…" he murmured. "This is our case." Evan's chest tightened. "Our…?" Noah nodded. "Hunter." A silence fell between them. Evan swallowed. "But this is all… scattered. It doesn't make sense." Noah let out a small breath. "That's because it's not meant to." Evan turned to him. "What?"
Noah leaned back slightly, still staring at the screen. "This is how Rhea works."
Evan frowned. "By confusing herself?"
"No," Noah said calmly. "By protecting her work." He pointed at the screen. "If someone tries to access this without understanding her pattern, they'll think it's useless."
Evan looked again. The random notes, disconnected thoughts, broken sequences. To anyone else, It really did look meaningless.
Noah continued, "She organizes things in her head… not on paper."
Evan shook his head slightly. "That's… insane."
Noah allowed himself a faint smile. "It's effective."
Then the smile faded. His eyes moved again. Slower this time, more focused, piece by piece, line by line. Rhea had been thorough. She had followed everything. And somewhere inside all this; She had found the answer. Noah's jaw tightened slightly.
"She knew."
Evan looked at him.
"What?"
Noah didn't look away from the screen.
"She figured it out." A pause. "Before she disappeared."
The room felt heavier. Evan's voice dropped.
"Can you tell… what the clues are?"
Noah exhaled slowly. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. Then stopped. "No."
Evan frowned. "No?"
"Not yet," Noah said. "But they're here." He tapped the screen lightly. "Somewhere in this mess." His eyes sharpened. "And she left them for a reason."
Evan watched him. There was something different in Noah's expression. Not just worry. Not just exhaustion. Like a man standing at the edge of something important.
Suddenly, Noah's phone rang. The sound cut through the silence like a blade. Both of them froze for a second. Noah picked it up. The name on the screen 'Kolon.' Noah answered. "Yes."
Kolon's voice came through, calm but firm. "How much time do you think you have left?"
Noah didn't reply.
Kolon continued, "I'll answer that for you." A pause. "About eighteen hours."
Evan's chest tightened.
Noah's grip on the phone hardened slightly.
Kolon's voice didn't change. "After that… I won't be able to hold this anymore." Another pause. "You understand what that means."
Noah closed his eyes briefly. "Yes."
Kolon exhaled. Then the line went dead.
Silence returned. But it wasn't the same silence as before. This one was heavier.
Evan spoke first. "Eighteen hours…" Noah didn't respond. His eyes were already back on the screen. Scanning...searching...faster now...more intense...because now, it wasn't just about finding the truth. It was about finding it in time. And somewhere inside that scattered chaos, Rhea had left the final piece. Waiting to be found.