"Hello, Miss Thyme?" the stranger repeated, sounding calm but with a sense of urgency.
"Y-yes, speaking?" Maggie answered warily, trying to work out whether this was a prank or not.
"My name is Detective Colwell, from Boston P.D. I'm calling about your Grandmother, Evelyn Thyme?"
Maggie sat upright as she realised this wasn't some hoax. "What's happened? Is everything okay?" Maggie started to sound panicked.
"I'm afraid we need you to return home straight away, there's been a break in in your Grandmother's house." the detective replied gravely, as tears started to build in Maggie's eyes.
"Oh God! How's my Gran? Is she hurt?"
"I think it is better if you come straight here," the detective said, "we'd really like to speak to you in person." Maggie could feel her heart pounding in her chest. This was bad. Really, really bad. Maggie informed the detective that she was leaving straight away, and was packing things back into her bag before she'd even hung up the phone.
Adrenaline coursed through Maggie's body as she stuffed all of her belongings into her bag and raced down through the hotel to get to the underground car park. She almost threw her hotel key at the reception desk as she flew through the lobby and entered the elevator to the basement. The receptionist called after Maggie, but Maggie hadn't even registered her as the elevator doors slid shut behind her. It seemed to take an age for the elevator to finally reach the basement, and Maggie nearly ran into the doors as she tried to exit quickly. Jumping into her car, Maggie raced out of the car park, almost crashing through the stop barrier on her way out. Thinking of nothing other than getting home, Maggie navigated her way out of New York City and finally made it onto the freeway that would get her to Boston. Maggie's foot pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor; she was almost thankful that she'd received the call in the middle of the night, at least the roads would be clear.
Maggie made it home in a fraction of the time it had taken her to get to New York. As she turned into the street where she lived, she saw her Grandmother's manor lit up with flashing red and blue lights. Police cars and paramedic vehicles were parked all in the driveway as Maggie pulled up to the house, and she leapt out of the car and ran up the stone stairs to the vast wooden door. An officer blocked Maggie's path as she tried to squeeze through.
"Excuse me, Miss. You shouldn't be here" the officer warned solemnly.
"I live here, this is my Grandmother's house!" Maggie cried, trying to push her way passed the man stopping her.
"Miss Thyme?" A voice called behind her. Maggie's head turned and she saw a tall, middle aged man walking up the steps, wearing a dark striped suit and a large overcoat. "I'm Detective Colwell, we spoke on the phone?"
Maggie stopped trying to struggle with the officer in the doorway and turned to face the detective properly. "What's going on?" she demanded, "Where's my Gran?" Detective Colwell ran his hands through his slicked back hair and sighed.
"Come with me, please" he said as he took the lead and moved his way into the house. Maggie followed him, her heart thumping so loudly she felt as though it was going to burst. Detective Colwell led them into the kitchen, pulled out a couple of stools from under the counter and sat, gesturing for Maggie to do the same. "Would you like a drink?" Colwell asked, as though it was his kitchen and Maggie was the guest. She shook her head weakly, and a chill swept across her body, making her shiver involuntarily. "Miss Thyme, as you know, we responded to a 911 call this evening about a break in at this address." Colwell began, "Upon arrival, we saw the two perpertrators making their escape, and unfortunately they got away." Maggie's head snapped up and her eyes narrowed at the Detective as she tried to process what he was saying.
"They got away?" she snarled.
"Don't worry," the Detective reassured her, "We have got every available officer looking for them as we speak. We take these incidents extremely seriously." Maggie felt sick. She closed her eyes and wished she had never left her Gran alone, even if it was only for a few days. It suddenly registered to Maggie, that she hadn't seen her Grandmother at all, and she stood up swiftly, knocking the stool over as she did so.
"Where is my Grandmother?" Maggie repeated her question to the Detective.
"Miss Thyme, when we entered the property, we found your Grandmother collapsed on the floor in one of the upstairs rooms." Colwell explained solemnly. "We called for medical assistance, but I'm afraid it was too late."
The blood drained from Maggie's face as she tried to process what she had just been told. "She's... dead?" Maggie whispered, not wanting to believe this strange man in front of her. Colwell simply nodded in silence. "No! You're wrong! She can't be! Where is she?!" Maggie shouted, growing angry.
Colwell remained calm as he replied, "She's been taken into an ambulance. I'm terribly sorry, Miss Thyme, I understand this may be difficult to process."
Maggie desperately tried to make sense of the information that she'd just been given, but she just couldn't. She had spoken to Evelyn only hours before, and although she had sounded unwell, Evelyn wasn't the type of woman to be defeated so easily. Something else must have happened. "Did the burglars take anything?" she croaked, tears beginning to flow freely down Maggie's pale cheeks.
"Not from what we can see." Colwell answered, "Your Grandmother has got quite an eclectic collection of valuables, but nothing looks out of place or missing as far as we can tell. We would need you to assist us with that part of the investigation though, to advise if anything has gone." Maggie began to protest, but Colwell interrupted her. "Not tonight!" he explained, "We understand how difficult this must be for you, Miss Thyme. We don't want to rush you. But we want to catch these criminals as much as you do. We want them to answer for what they have done."
"What did they look like?" Maggie asked, although she hardly cared. Her Grandmother, the one person who truly made Maggie happy was gone, and she was left alone with no clue as to what she was supposed to do.
"They were two young males, both with brown hair," Colwell answered, "One was quite tall and looked to be in his late teens, early twenties. The other looked to be a few years younger, and wore a denim jacket. They got away on a motorcycle, driven by the elder of the two. Does this sound familiar at all to you?" The Detective asked seriously.
Maggie shook her head. "I don't know anybody like that," she said in despair. At that moment, another police officer walked into the kitchen.
"Detective Colwell, sir" the officer said quietly, "We've just had a call in over the radio. One of the patrol cars has spotted two kids on a motorbike heading towards the harbour. They slipped down some narrow roads but they're sure that's where they're heading!"
"Get some patrols down there now!" Colwell barked, "I want them combing the entire area!"
"Yes, sir!" the officer replied, "There's something else, too. As they were turning the corner, the patrol officer said it looked as though the younger boy was holding something. Some sort of book, he said."
Maggie, who felt as though she was in a neverending nightmare, suddenly became aware of the conversation going on behind her. A book? Evelyn had hundreds of books. Probably thousands. She had got a library full, the very same ones that Maggie used to read when she was a child. Not just history books either. Hundreds upon hundreds of note-filled journals were stored in boxes and stacked all throughout Evelyn's house. Maggie remembered the conversation she'd had with her Grandmother just the day before, how excited she was about this old research she'd rediscovered. Maggie caught her breath suddenly. The research? Why would anybody be interested in that? How would anybody even know about that? Especially two kids, one of whom was similar to Maggie's age. She had always been the outsider for being so interested in history; it wasn't ever something considered cool by other kids she grew up with.
But Maggie was convinced. She didn't know who, or why, but Maggie knew that whoever it was that broke into her Grandmother's house, and caused her death, had helped themselves to whatever research her Grandmother had recently found. Before the detective could move, Maggie darted upstairs to her Grandmother's study, almost expecting Evelyn to be sat in her armchair waiting for her. As she pushed open the heavy wooden door, and ducked under the yellow and black police tape that blocked the doorway, Maggie was greeted with the musty smell of leather, mingling with a faint trace of cigarette smoke. The tall lampshade that stood behind Evelyn's armchair provided the only light in the room, and as Maggie looked around, she spotted an open box sat on her Grandmother's large oak desk. Maggie ran over to the box and dug around. She didn't know what she was looking for, until she stumbled across it; an inventory list. Maggie ran her eyes down the list, flicking between the paper and the box to make sure everything was there. She was about a third of the way down when she realised something was missing. A journal.
"I knew it!" Maggie cried, shocked. Heavy footsteps made their way up the stairs, as Detective Colwell and two other officers ran to investigate.
"You shouldn't be in here yet, Miss Thyme," Colwell began, "We need to get the team in her to search for any leads."
"I've just found a lead," Maggie informed him sharply. Colwell looked shocked. "A white leather bound journal, marked with initials C.M." Maggie read the inventory list aloud. "It's missing." She added.
"Who is C.M?" Colwell asked, moving beside Maggie to inspect the paper she held.
"Cassandra Morgan, she worked with my Grandmother a long time ago, but she died." Maggie answered.
"Did she have any family?"
"She did, but her husband dumped his kids in a home and then disappeared after her death. I never met them, and I don't know anything about them or where they went." Maggie muttered distractedly.
"Okay, at least it is somewhere to start." Colwell said, and walked back over to the officers waiting by the door. Whilst he gave his instructions, Maggie stumbled in a daze over to her Grandmother's chair. It felt comforting, knowing she was somewhere familiar, but realising that her Grandmother wasn't coming back, it began to feel incredibly alien to Maggie. It wasn't a reassuring feeling.
Maggie suddenly thought, and stopped the Detective before he went back downstairs. "Wait Detective!" She called. He stopped in the doorway and turned. "Did the burglars...hurt her? In anyway?" Maggie's voice caught the back of her throat as she struggled to utter the words.
"No, Miss. We don't actually think so. But we'd need to do a post mortem to be sure." Maggie sighed and slumped back in her Grandmother's armchair. Colwell walked back into the room, and crouched to meet Maggie's watery brown eyes. "Don't worry. They will be held accountable for what's happened here. We will see to that." Colwell reassured her softly. He offered his hand to Maggie, who accepted, and led her back downstairs.
Police officers were combing the large house until streaks of morning sunlight started to break through the clouds, looking for anything which could be useful. Exhausted, Maggie made to go to her bedroom to lie down, but was stopped by officers in case she "contaminated" the crime scene. Instead she collapsed onto the small couch in the corner of the living room, pulled a blanket over her and closed her eyes, but she couldn't sleep properly. Every time she tried, she saw two masked men coming towards her holding books and knives, laughing manically as they towered over her. Several times she'd wake up with a start, praying that it was all a bad dream, and she'd wake up to her Grandmother's firm but comforting presence, but she didn't. Colwell eventually asked one of the officers to take Maggie to a hotel, so she could get some rest. Maggie was almost carried into the back of the police car, and then into the hotel, where she finally fell into a dreamless sleep.