He asked to inspect the bear, then apologized and gave it back. Hayes requested the Baltimore security footage. The video arrived 2 minutes later. Zuri and Nia stood at the assistance desk. Valerie returned Mr. Buttons.
Then a uniformed officer stopped them outside the boarding lane and carried the bear behind a privacy screen. His face remained turned from the camera. His badge number was visible. Officer Mercer read it aloud. MTA 6041.
Hayes looked at him. That's your number. Mercer shook his head. My badge was with me all morning. The footage advanced.
The gate officer returned the bear to Nia and lifted his head. His face was Owen Mercer's. Same gray hair, same scar beside the jaw, same uniform. Mercer stared at the screen. That is not me.
Peter moved closer. The impostor copied my face to escape in Kansas City. He may have copied yours in Baltimore. Officer Hayes checked Mercer's original boarding scan. He entered flight 218 at 8:14 a.m. The officer in the footage handled the bear at 8:09.
The two locations were a 12-minute walk apart. Mercer could not have done both. For a moment, the evidence cleared him. Then Zuri opened her original cabin recording again. In the window reflection 5 minutes before Celeste reported the bracelet missing, Mercer stood from row six and adjusted his jacket.
Something flashed beneath his sleeve. A flexible strip of artificial skin. Zuri enlarged the frame. The scar beside his jaw had begun peeling away. Nia stepped back.
Officer Hayes reached for Mercer's arm. He moved first. Mercer seized her wrist, removed her radio, and pulled Nia against him. A small blade appeared beside the child's shoulder. Passengers screamed.
The man they had called Officer Mercer tore the false scar from his face. The gray hair came away with it. Peter recognized the younger face underneath. The custodian, the impostor, backed toward the open aircraft door with Nia held in front of him. Then he looked directly at Zuri.
Bring me your mother's phone or your sister becomes the 12th child the system loses. The blade rested inches from Nia's shoulder. The phone, the custodian repeated, slided across the floor. Zuri held it with both hands. If you hurt her, you get nothing.
His grip tightened around Nia. You are 11 years old. Do not confuse one lucky discovery with control. Zuri looked at her sister, not the blade. Nia's thumb moved across Mr. Button's paw.
Seven stitches, four down, seven back. She was frightened, but she was also counting. Officer Hayes stood 3 ft away with empty hands. Peter blocked Celeste from moving. Clare pressed herself against the galley wall while Captain Cole quietly warned officers outside not to rush the door.
The custodian pulled Nia toward the jet bridge. "Place the phone on the floor and step back." "Why do you need it?" Zuri asked. "Because it belongs to your mother." "That was true." Simone had used the silver phone during her investigation. After her death, Aunt Relle gave it to Zuri because it contained family photographs. Zuri never knew it also carried the final key to case 417.