The emergency dispatcher listened to James’s frantic explanation with absolute seriousness. When James used his phone to text over three clear photographs of the doorless stone building, the tone of the call shifted instantly. The dispatcher told James to stay exactly where he was and to keep his eyes on the structure, warning him not to approach it under any circumstances.
Reaching James’s remote location by foot would take ground officers hours, and the dense forest terrain was completely impassable for standard police cruisers. If the individual inside decided to flee, they would have a massive head start. To prevent that from happening, the authorities authorized an immediate aerial response.
Twenty minutes later, the distant chop of rotor blades broke the silence of the nature reserve. A tactical police helicopter hovered directly over the clearing, its downwash whipping the treetops into a frenzy. Five heavily armed officers rappelled down lines, landing squarely on the damp ground. They surrounded the stone building with weapons drawn, but as they looked at the seamless walls, they faced the exact same puzzle James had.