Good. Here's **Chapter 26: The Underground Chase and the Revealing of the Truth**—a long, tense, and suspenseful chapter, in the style of the entire novel. --

 

# **Chapter 26: The Underground Chase and the Revealing of the Truth**

Radecki broke into a run so suddenly that his elegant shoes slipped on the stone floor. He bounced off the wall, then pushed open the heavy corridor door, disappearing into the darkness. The echo of his footsteps resounded like a wild, chaotic rhythm—as if the very rhythm of fear were beating out the rhythm of his desperate escape.

"Argo, leave it!" Jakub said instinctively, as the dog prepared to pounce on the terrified director. "We're going after him!"

Argo immediately changed direction, breaking into pursuit with the precision of a dog trained for years. His paws bounced off the ground quietly but surely, and his growl pierced the darkness of the tunnel, as if a warning to whoever was fleeing.

Jakub glanced over his shoulder.

Andrzej Kamiński was still kneeling at the bottom of the stairs. His body seemed to have no strength left to live. But his eyes—full of desperation and pain—stared directly at the commissioner.

"*Stop… him…*" he whispered with his last breath.

And then his body slumped to the side. Silently. Without resistance.

Jakub felt something tighten in his gut. But he couldn't stop now. Only one thing mattered at that moment: the truth, and the dog running ahead of him, ready to do anything to catch it.

"Argo, lead the way!" he shouted, and he moved on, his flashlight illuminating the corridor with jagged light.

--

## **A Chase in the Dark**

The library basement seemed endless. Old brick walls, ducts from the former paper mill, forgotten tools, moldy shelves—everything blended into one surreal labyrinth.

Radecki's footsteps echoed off the walls, but his location was unclear. First it seemed he turned left, then right, as if he'd known this labyrinth for years.

Jakub ran after Argo, trying not to stumble in the darkness. Adrenaline throbbed in his temples.

"Stop, Radecki!" he roared. His voice echoed. "It's over! You've run out of hiding places and secrets!"

From afar, they heard hysterical laughter.

"*You don't get to decide when it's over, Commissioner!"* the director's voice replied. "*You don't!*"

Argo sped up. His claws scraped against the concrete, his tail raised, his ears pricked.

Suddenly, the dog turned into a side tunnel.

"There it is!" whispered Jakub, who noticed the trembling reflection of light: someone ahead of them had a flashlight. Radecki must have dropped it or turned it on in his panic.

The tunnel was narrow. The commissioner's flashlight barely illuminated the end of the path. The air smelled musty and… dust? No. It was ash.

Jakub understood where the chase was leading.

To the paper incinerator. The oldest part of the factory. Closed for decades.

--

## **Incinerator**

They passed through another metal gate. The interior was vast, high, with many metal structures, pipes, and old furnaces, covered in rust and cobwebs. The air was cool, even though the place had once been consumed by enormous flames.

Radecki stood in the middle. He was panting heavily, holding his knees with his hands, but he quickly straightened up as soon as he saw them.

“Don't come any closer!” he shouted. “I'm warning you!”

Argo growled, taking a step forward.

“You have nowhere left to run,” Jakub said, approaching slowly, his hand ready to reach for the handcuffs. “Everything has been revealed.”

“*Nothing has been revealed! Nothing!*” Radecki yelled. “Those were old cases! Old conflicts! No one understands! No one knows what it was like!”

Jakub stopped.

“You killed him,” he said calmly. “Your associates. Your competitors. Your ‘friends.’ That's why Kamiński wrote: ‘He's watching.’ He meant you.”

Radecki laughed nervously.

“Those were different times!” His voice broke. “They wanted to destroy me! Take everything! Do you understand? *Everything!*”

“So you took them. One by one.”

Radecki took a step back, and his foot caught on something—a metal container that rolled noisily across the floor.

Argo barked loudly.

Jakub didn't take his eyes off the director.

"And then you faked Kamiński's death. To close the case. To make everyone believe the culprit was dead."

Radecki took another step back.

But that step was crucial.

Because he leaned against an old, tall container—rusted and unstable. The structure trembled.

"Please don't do that," Jakub said warningly. "Escape won't help."

"You're not going to lecture me!" the director yelled. "You're not!"

And he pushed the container, hoping to tip it over, create a ruckus, and escape through another corridor.

But the structure was unpredictable.

Instead of rolling over onto its side as he had planned, it leaned toward him.

"WATCH OUT!" Jakub shouted.

But it was too late.

The metal tank collapsed with a terrible crash.

Radecki tried to jump away, but his foot slipped on the powdery concrete. The massive structure crushed him sideways, not killing him instantly, but immobilizing him completely.

"Aaaaah! Help!" he screamed, desperately struggling.

from under the heavy ironwork.

Jakub ran over.

The tank was too heavy to lift himself. Argo was running around, barking shrilly.

The commissioner knelt beside the director.

"Radecki... please tell the truth," he said quietly but firmly. "This is your only chance to fix anything."

The director looked at him with wild panic.

"He... he hated me..." he rasped. "He knew... everything... He knew that... that I had to do it..."

"Who else did you hurt?"

Radecki gritted his teeth.

"Everyone... who knew... disappeared..." he whispered. "And I... had to..." He stopped suddenly, wheezing.

The commissioner leaned closer.

"What did you have to do?"

Radecki's eyes widened. They looked like the eyes of someone who was only now seeing the consequences of their own actions.

"*Hide… their bodies… here… underground…*" he whispered. "*In the furnaces…*"

Jakub felt a coldness creep over him, even stronger than the underground one.

Radecki gathered the last of his strength and added:

"No one… was supposed to… be left…"

The director's head fell to the side.

Breathing—it vanished.

The underground fell silent.

Argo stopped barking. He just stood beside Jakub, panting slightly, feeling the weight of the moment.

Jakub slowly stood up.

Everything was clear.

The truth was darker than he had ever imagined.

And what awaited him next… could be even worse.

--

If you want, I can write **Chapter 27: Nighttime Search of the Underground and Finding What Was Supposed to Be Burned**,