The doors opened and Maggie staggered out. The man outside gave her a bemused look.
‘You all right, love?’
Maggie could even forgive him for calling her love at that moment. ‘Yes, I am now. Thanks for getting me out.’
‘No problem. I checked the main circuit board, the power switch was flipped down. I just flipped it back up again.’
‘Someone did this on purpose?’
‘Kids, probably. Little sods did it all the time last place I lived. They liked to wait outside and listen to the person panicking in there.’
‘Did you see anyone?’
He hesitated a fraction of a second. ‘No, sorry. There wasn’t anyone here when I heard you shouting and banging. Good job you made all that racket, most people are at work this time of day. I just got back off my shift.’
Goosebumps broke out on Maggie’s arms at the thought of being trapped for hours in there. ‘Well, thanks again. I think I need a coffee now.’ She turned towards the stairs.
‘I’d put a stiff brandy in it if I were you, love, you’re looking a bit pale,’ the man remarked. ‘I’m in number five, if you ever need anything.’
Maggie nodded. She didn’t remember having seen him before, but then again, new people moved in and out all the time.
‘If you have to go upstairs, I’ll accompany you in the lift,’ he said.
‘No, you’re okay.’ Maggie shuddered as she looked at the metal door. ‘I’ll walk this time.’ Even though it would be like climbing a mountain, she thought grimly.
‘Don’t blame you, love.’ He did an enormous yawn. ‘Well, better go and get some shut-eye. See you later.’
‘Bye.’ Maggie watched as he disappeared into his apartment, then slowly climbed the stairs.
Her hands were trembling as she got off the phone to Sally. She’d been understandably worried, and Maggie had spent ten minutes reassuring her she was all right after her lift ordeal and telling her not to leave work.
‘I’ll try and find five minutes to get onto the lab, ask if they can speed things up a bit,’ Sally said.
‘What about Dyer? He didn’t want any fuss made.’
‘I’ll deal with him. I’ve got to tell him about this, anyway.’
‘He’ll probably just say it was a normal lift malfunction, Sal.’ Maggie chewed on her pen as Sally told her exactly what she thought about that.
‘Well, just make sure you text me when you get back to my place, so I know you’re okay,’ Sally said finally.
‘Will do. I’m not going to stay long, just grab the files and go.’ Maggie listened for a moment. ‘Love you too, hun.’ She tapped the end call button and put the phone down with a sigh.
The files were exactly where she knew they’d be, neatly stacked in date order. Her desk at work might be a disaster area, but she kept her small apartment as neat and tidy as possible. She pulled out the files and sorted through them, putting aside the ones from just before she became ill four years earlier. Whoever it was, they said it was because of something she had investigated years ago. She added a couple more, with stories she’d written when she’d first started out as a fledgling journalist, just in case, though she was pretty sure they had nothing to do with it. She didn’t want to have to come back again. She left the files she needed stacked on the table and wandered around the rooms, making sure everything was in order.
Nothing seemed disturbed, but the silent apartment gave her the creeps. Maggie picked up the files and left, careful to lock the door. There was no sign of Laura or the man who had helped her before, for which she was grateful. She didn’t think she could engage in any more small talk today.
She half expected to find a window smashed when she returned to her car, but everything was exactly as she’d left it. Maggie threw the files on the passenger seat and lowered herself behind the steering wheel with a groan, then turned the key and backed out of the parking space.
Back at Sally’s, she spread the files out on the dining table and started to go through them. Opening each one was like taking a trip back in time. Every sheet of paper held a piece of Maggie’s past, memories of the days when she lived life to the full, throwing her heart and soul into her work without a care for herself or the consequences.
She quickly discarded the very early ones; banal stories she’d written for the first newspaper she’d briefly worked for, without a hint of scandal. Likewise the articles from her early days as an investigative reporter, stories about minor misdemeanours with local politicians and D-list celebrities. She definitely hadn’t ruined anyone’s life back then, merely agitated the waters a little before everything settled down again.
But then she’d stumbled across a gang in Gosport; a group of lads in their early twenties who’d started off as small fry as teenagers but gradually became hardened criminals involved with drugs, among other things. That investigation had led to others, ranging from a sweet old lady who sold cannabis to her grandchildren’s friends; baby gangs of knife-wielding kids, some only ten years old; a councillor who almost got away with murdering his girlfriend, until Maggie dug up some vital evidence; to corruption in the police force at a high level, which almost cost her her job, until the intervention of her then-editor, Melanie Rhodes.
As she read through the cases, she realised that any one of the people involved could be behind the threatening letter; the baby gang would be all grown up by now, the drug dealers out of prison, the ex-DCI a pensioner. Only the councillor was beyond suspicion, having died a few years earlier after being released from prison. And she couldn’t imagine the sweet old grandmother bearing a grudge; the last she’d heard, the woman was in an old people’s home, having the time of her life terrorising staff and patients alike.
She closed the files she didn’t need and put them aside, then reached for her phone and waited impatiently as it rang.
‘Sally, it’s me again,’ she blurted as soon as Sally picked up.
‘Hi, me. Are you okay now?’ Sally asked.
‘I’m fine. It’s just… I’ve been looking through my old files.’
‘Did you find something?’
‘I found a few somethings. I’ve been looking through the cases I’ve worked on over the last twenty years or so, and I’ve whittled it down to three possibilities.’
‘That’s great. What did you find?’
‘So, there were a few gangs, but two in particular stand out. One was made up of vicious kids aged ten to thirteen, who went around knifing anyone who got in their way. They didn’t kill anyone, but only because they were caught in time.’
‘I remember them,’ Sally said.
‘Yeah, I think most people do. The little shits were a tough bunch, it was a nasty case to work on. They all went to various secure children’s homes, and later young offenders’ institutes, but I’d like you to find out where they are now.’
‘No problem.’
‘Do you want their names?’
‘Go on.’
‘Justin Burgess, Jerry Davidson, Calvin Richards, Jessica Harper, Martin Hart, and Adrian Norris.’
‘Okay, got it. I’ll check the database, see what I can find out. Who’s next?’