Police officers and engineers conferred, then waved him over. The lead investigator gestured toward the screens. “You were right about the soil. We could use your eye when we go down there. Are you willing to come along?” Daniel hesitated, but the answer came quicker than he’d liked. “Yes.” He couldn’t turn away now.
Harnesses were fitted, helmets checked, radios crackling. Daniel descended with two officers, the air growing cooler, the smell of damp soil filling his nose. Floodlights swung above, catching the rough timber supports. The tunnel’s walls pressed close, carved jaggedly by hand. It was claustrophobic, a vein cut into the earth.