The Police Director Regrets Disowning His Hero Daughter

Seven years ago, Police Director Frank Wallace disowned his daughter Sloane in front of his entire squad after she stole her mother Ellie's cardiac surgery savings and was caught in a VICE raid. She vanished without a word, and everyone remembers her as a monstrous leech.

Now a small, malnourished girl named Phoebe arrives at the precinct in rags, clutching a backpack stained dark red. She says Sloane sent her with a gift and that Sloane and many other sisters are trapped in the black house, wanting to be freed. Frank's fury returns, and Detective Miller and the officers openly curse Sloane's name, but the scars covering Phoebe's thin arms tell another story.

As Phoebe begs them to open the backpack, Frank orders a full trace on Sloane, torn between old anger and a growing, unspoken doubt.