She knelt in front of the storage door, her eye inches away from the keyhole. In the other room, light poked through the boarded-up windows, which allowed the detective to make out the faces of two people arguing with each other.
The fat police officer and Helena, the landlord.
Margret had felt that both of them were hiding something. But the thought that those two secrets were connected to each other had not crossed her mind whatsoever.
'This is so frustrating. Damn!'
Despite her risk paying off, she couldn't even claim the whole prize. Margret didn't understand anything the two of them were saying, so all she got was the vibe of the conversation.
It was aggressive, and there was a clear dominant personality silencing a soft bunny.
Though for some reason, this dominant personality that Margret was watching did not give the sense of being the ultimate hunter.
Why was that...
Margret's thought process was suddenly broken, as the silence in the other room ended.
The blond detective put her eye up close again. Ready to see if she could discern anything else from this meeting.
After staring directly into her eye for what he considered enough time, the police officer slowly let go of her hand and backed away a few steps.
Seeing this, Helena let out a shaky breath.
"Just do what you're told, Helena. If they ask you anything, just ignore or deflect. Those British shits may think highly of themselves, but they will soon learn that stepping foot in this town was a mistake."
His voice was firm, though still carrying slight anger in it.
The building owner looked down, her eyes red from all the tears she had shed a second ago.
Seeing her lower her head in bitter acceptance, the police officer's voice rang out again, this time carrying a level of calmness in it.
"Keep them away from the girl, okay? I'm sure that they will give up eventually. And if they don't, then... I guess we'll have to see what he does."
He waved her off.
Helena nodded and walked away with her head down.
********************************************
Margret pulled her eye away and scratched her head. A small frown covering her face.
'Well, that was... something.'
She at least knew who her targets would be now. Their argument was definitely suspicious, but she still didn't know what they talked about, so it was really up in the air if the fat police officer and Helena were connected to the missing people or some other incident.
'If they are connected to a crime... if they are criminals. Then I can't... I can't let them get away. They need to face jus—'
Her hand balled into a fist without her noticing.
'They need to be punished.'
Bang.
Letting her emotions get the best of her, Margret slammed her fist on the storage door, causing a loud banging sound to echo throughout the first floor.
'Shit.'
Before she even had the chance to check the keyhole, Margret could already hear rapid footsteps coming toward the door.
Not wasting any time, the blond detective put her flashlight in her pocket and bolted toward the hole she had come in from.
Her breath became ragged and her muscles were shaken by the very sudden burst of movement. Not to mention that her body was already in pain from her squeezing between the buildings a minute ago.
Just as Margret heard the storage room being opened, she crawled through the hole in the wall, stepping back into that tight gap between the buildings once more.
Her breath was already ragged from running, and now she couldn't even take deep breaths anymore.
Despite the situation, the blond detective managed to keep her composure... to a certain degree at least.
'Is this how I die?! So many years of being a detective, and punishing those who deserve it... and I go out by being suffocated between two walls. No way—no fucking way, I can't accept that. My life carries more meaning than that, I know it!'
Gathering all her strength, Margret began squeezing across the two walls with even more speed than the first time. Her body felt the horror of this speed, as her clothes were torn up by jagged pieces of broken bricks and her muscles got a death massage.
And through sheer will, Margret managed to escape the death grip of the walls.
Letting out coughs like a lifetime smoker, the blond detective immediately began to sprint away.
'My body hurts so much, but I can't rest. I need to get away from here. If I get caught, it's all over.'
She ran and ran, not paying much attention to the direction. Margret did not know these roads, and without Helena to guide her, the blond detective had no other options left. She made turns and twists, going into alleyways that looked familiar.
After running for some time, Margret finally began to slow down—eventually stopping altogether.
The blond detective was so tired that she sat on the sidewalk without shame. Her clothes were already full of cuts and holes, so what would some snow and dirt do?
'....f-fucking hell...what a life this is.'
It was funny, really. For the bad people to feel hell, she had to feel it as well. It was a sacrifice, an equal exchange of pain. Even though Margret was not a criminal, she had to endure the same pain.
But if that was what it took for the monsters living amongst humanity to be punished, then she was fine with it. In fact, Margret wouldn't hesitate to be consumed by Hellfire if it meant that the bad people would meet the same fate.
That was just who she was...
Right?
"Well, I was not expecting to meet you in this part of town, miss."
Hearing a familiar voice, Margret shook her thoughts away and looked up.
Standing just a few meters away was none other than the bartender—Lucjan Baker. He was carrying a bag of what seemed to be food in one hand, while keeping his other hand in his pocket.
His face showed much concern as he looked at the blond detective.
"Miss, what happened to your clothes? Are you alright—do you need help?"
Hearing his frantic voice, Margret chuckled.
"Actually, yea, I do need some help. I'm kind of lost, so a guide would be much appreciated."
Lucjan replied immediately, with not an ounce of hesitation.
"Not to sound rude, but you did look sort of lost. Don't worry, though, I'll get you back to your building no problem."