Good. Here's **Chapter 24: Confrontation in the Library Basement**—long, full, novelistic, consistent with the style so far. --

 

# **Chapter 24: Confrontation in the Library Basement**

The narrow stairs groaned under the weight of the approaching man, and the humid underground air seemed to thicken with each passing second. Commissioner Jakub Nowak stood still, illuminating the intruder with a narrow flashlight beam. Beside him, Argo growled low, bristling, ready to defend his partner.

The figure finally descended.

It was the library director, Mr. Radecki—immaculately dressed as usual, though his face, in the shadows of the damp room, looked different. Sharper. Cooler. With a disturbing glint in his eyes.

"You found something you… shouldn't have," he said softly, almost friendly.

Jakub wasn't fooled by his tone. "You were the one hiding those documents? Those letters?" he asked firmly. "And the key?"

"Oh, please," Radecki muttered, stepping deeper into the room. "They're just old stories. Memories from times long gone. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill."

Argo's growl intensified, as if he felt the director's words were like a silk pillow hiding a needle.

Jakub repeated the question, this time more sharply:

"Who was the man who wrote those letters?"

Radecki paused at the old table. He ran his hand over the wood, as if he were the master of this gloomy place.

"One of my... coworkers at the factory," he replied slowly. "He was always oversensitive. He claimed someone was following him. He scared people with nonsense about 'someone watching.' A paranoid type."

The commissioner picked up one of the letters and tossed it in front of the director.

"That 'paranoid' wrote that he wouldn't have time to escape." That "He knows." And a moment later, he disappeared.

Radecki glanced down at the note, but his face didn't flinch for a moment.

"Things happen, Commissioner," he replied calmly. "Some people leave without a word."

Jakub felt a growing chill. Both in the air and in the atmosphere of the conversation.

"What about this?" he asked, holding up a photo: a still of the factory's management from years ago. "Here you are standing next to a man who was later murdered. It's not a coincidence, is it?"

For the first time, a hint of irritation appeared on the director's face.

"Commissioner, you don't understand... those times were different. The factory was full of tension. Conflicts. Rivalries. Someone disappeared, someone died—the normal course of events in such places."

"This is not the normal course of events," Jakub replied firmly. "I want to know what happened here."

The director bowed his head, as if weary.

"What if I told you that what you found was only a fragment? That there's something... more behind this story?"

Argo barked a warning.

Jakub stepped closer, tense as a bowstring.

"You're hiding something," he said calmly but firmly.

Radecki laughed softly.

"Hiding? Commissioner... I've been guarding this place for thirty years. And these secrets. To you, it's a mystery. To me... a necessity."

Suddenly, the director reached into his jacket pocket.

Argo lunged forward, barking furiously.

Jakub instinctively raised his hand, ready to react.

Radecki, however, didn't draw his weapon. He pulled a small, black key from his pocket.

"This key..." he said quietly, "opens the second entrance to the basement. The one you haven't even seen. If you truly want to know the truth... go there yourself."

He held out his arm.

"Please."

Jakub didn't grab the key.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because I'm curious, Commissioner," Radecki replied with a disquieting smile. "I wonder if you, too, will begin to see what they all saw."

He took a step back.

"And if you don't want the truth... you can leave. And never come back."

At that moment, the flashlight beam wavered, as if the underground itself was warning of what lay beyond.

Jakub looked at Argo.

The dog pressed against his leg, but his eyes were hard. Ready. Alert.

The Commissioner made his decision.

"Show me where the other entrance is," he said, looking directly into the director's eyes.

Radecki nodded slowly, as if he had expected this.

"This way," he replied, turning toward the dark corridor leading off to the right.

Argo barked a warning, but obediently followed them.

The cold in the narrow passage was so intense that Jakub shivered. The stone walls seemed to absorb the flashlight's light. Only the echo of footsteps could be heard.

And suddenly…

Something sounded beneath their feet.

Like a quiet, hollow thud.

"It's here," Radecki whispered.

He stopped at the stone wall and pulled out his key.

But before he could insert it into the lock…

Argo growled again, this time louder and more menacing than ever before.

Jakub froze.

Radecki looked down.

And then, from the darkness, behind them—from the direction of the stairs leading to the main warehouse—came the sound of footsteps. Heavy. Slow. As if someone, or something, was descending.

The director's expression changed.

Fear. Genuine.

"It wasn't me…" he whispered.

Jacob turned sharply, raising his flashlight.

Argo leaped in front of him, barking fiercely.

.

And then…

The flashlight fell on the stairs.

Someone was standing there.

A silhouette. Large. Hunched.

And the moment the figure took the first step down, the underground walls responded with a dull, thunderous echo.

---

**End of Chapter 24**

Want **Chapter 25: Who's Coming Down the Stairs?**

So, a full-blown confrontation with a mysterious figure from the past.

Am I writing?