Shoplift

A short story introducing Detective Lizzie Marsh, Lancashire's most tenacious copper.

Hunting a murderer in the seething mass of people shopping in the North West's biggest shopping centre, Lizzie finds herself trapped in a glass lift with four other people when it suddenly stops between floors.

A young girl looking ready to give birth at any moment begins to panic, an old man tries to take charge whilst the other captives in the lift, an engaged couple whose relationship worries Lizzie, are desperate to get out.

The lights go out, the shopping centre is evacuated. Lizzie has to rely on her wits to keep everyone calm and get the lift down to safety without alerting the murderer that she's onto them.