Chapter 7 - The Neighbor Who Saw Too Much
Across the hall lived eighty-two-year-old Margaret Lawson.
She had occupied Apartment 7C longer than anyone else in the building.
Detective Bennett visited her only hours after the attack.
Mrs. Lawson welcomed the officers politely but seemed unusually nervous.
"You've noticed something," Bennett said.
The elderly woman hesitated.
"For years."
"What kind of things?"
Mrs. Lawson looked toward Michael's apartment.
"I hear footsteps."
"From upstairs?"
"No."
"Next door?"
"No."
She lowered her voice.
"Inside the walls."
The detective exchanged glances with another officer.
"Why didn't you report it?"
"I did."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
"What happened?"
"The building manager laughed."
Mrs. Lawson slowly stood and walked to a bookshelf.
She removed an old notebook.
"I started writing everything down because no one believed me."
Every page contained dates.
Times.
Descriptions.
11:42 PM — footsteps behind bedroom wall.
2:17 AM — whispering.
4:03 AM — metallic scraping.
The entries stretched back almost six years.
Bennett turned another page.
One particular note caught her attention.
April 16 — Young woman crying in apartment 7B. Male voice says: "He must never discover the truth."
"What year was this?" Bennett asked.
"Five years ago."
Michael and Emily had been living there already.
The detective photographed every page.
Mrs. Lawson then revealed something she had never told anyone.
"I saw a man."
"When?"
"Last winter."
"Describe him."
"He came out of the basement carrying groceries."
"Were you certain he belonged in the building?"
"He avoided every security camera."
"What did he look like?"
"Tall."
"Dark coat."
"Gray beard."
"And..."
She paused.
"He walked with a limp."
Detective Bennett froze.
Daniel did not limp.
Neither did the previous owner.
"There was something else."
"What?"
"He wasn't alone."
"You saw another person?"
Mrs. Lawson nodded.
"A little girl."
The room became completely silent.
"A child?"
"About eight years old."
"What happened to her?"
"They disappeared through a door that doesn't exist anymore."
The detective immediately requested blueprints dating back forty years.
Because according to every modern map...
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There was no door where Mrs. Lawson insisted she had seen one.
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