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Nicky parked out front of the gate. They got out of the car and walked up to the metal fence. Police tape fluttered from the fence. There were a few mismatched pieces of furniture stacked near the entrance of the warehouse, old and decaying, likely filled with bugs.
Nicky pushed her way through the front gate and let Ken through. She shut it behind them.
"So, what's our plan, Agent Lyons?" Ken asked.
Nicky looked around. "Well, it seems pretty abandoned. I want to see if there's any way in behind all this."
Ken nodded. "Got it." He headed around back, and Nicky followed, but there was no way to get into the warehouse without smashing in the back door. "It looks like there could be a way in over here."
Ken led them around the back, where a broken window gave them easy access.
"Great," Nicky said. "Let's try and be as quiet as possible. I don't know if anyone's in there, but we should assume they're close by."
Nicky took the lead, and Ken followed as she crept into the dark warehouse.
When Nicky had seen the pictures of this place in the file, it hadn't seemed like anything special. Now, as she stood in the center of the open space, she was awestruck. The warehouse was so much bigger than it had seemed on the outside. The warehouse was dark inside, with only a few rays of sunlight shining through the cracks in the windows. It was quiet, too, except for the distant sound of birds chirping outside the walls.
And the smell. It was awful.
The smell of rot and decay filled the room. It was a nauseating mixture of mold and dead animal. The stench was so bad that it would make even the strongest person gag. The furniture was splintered and disintegrating, and the walls were peeling and covered in graffiti.
"Nicky, wait," Ken said suddenly.
Nicky turned to him. "What is it?"
Ken was holding his hand up, a silencing gesture. He slowly walked toward the back, where Nicky saw a crack in the wall that led into another room.
"What is it?" Nicky asked softly.
Ken pointed to the room. "I think I heard something. I'm going to check it out."
Nicky watched as Ken tiptoed carefully into the room. She held her breath, listening for any sound, but she didn't hear anything. Ken slowly turned back to her and made the okay sign.
Nicky felt her shoulders relax.
Ken motioned for her to come.
Quietly, Nicky crept toward the room. She peered around Ken to see what was inside. There was a long table. It looked like an office room of some kind, with some old desks sitting around with clutter still everywhere: pencils, dirty papers, even a couple of textbooks.
Nicky moved toward a desk, and Ken did the same, going across the room to see if there was anything valuable.
Nicky didn't see anything of interest on her desk, though. She was just about to turn away when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
Poking out of one of the drawers was a roll of paper. Nicky frowned and opened the drawer, then pulled it out. She rolled out the paper.
It was a blueprint of the factory. The old blueprint was a faded cream color, with thick black lines crisscrossing the page. There were a few discolored spots. The writing was in faded ink, though still legible. But it was clear enough to understand the building's layout.
"Walker, check this out," Nicky said to Ken. He came over and peered over Nicky's shoulder.
Ken looked at the blueprint and back at the room. "That makes sense. This property was a furniture factory before the owner went bankrupt and disappeared."
"Yes, but this says the factory was renovated in 2004," Nicky said, pointing at the writing. "This is the original blueprint."
Nicky had brought her handbag with her with Ella White's case file in it. She pulled it out and read it over.
According to the report, the police scoured the building for anything else, but Ella's body was the only one found.
They had checked all the rooms on the main floor, and the upper level, including all the bathrooms.
