Page 21 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
CM:So, I start at the LSE in September …
AB:Swear down! The London School of Economics. That issocool. [Amanda Bailey, are you altering your speech and accent here to sound more street? EC]
CM:But I’m thinking beyond education. It’s a means to an end, right?
AB:Uh-huh.
CM:I thought journalism is a direction I could go. I mean, I want to enjoy what I do. Current affairs are alright, but I don’t really fancy long hours and early mornings writing about traffic on the M25, you know what I mean? I was thinking maybe music journalism, if that’s still a viable career … Amanda?
AB:Who’s that on the poster?
CM:Jeff Walker from Carcass. [You must look blank here. EC] It’s a band.
AB:Is it heavy metal?
CM:Carcass are more grindcore. The posters on this side:classicdeath metal.
AB:Obituary. Dismember. Morbid Angel.
CM:You’re a fan?
AB:No, bit too satanic for me. It’s just something I’m researching at the moment. Angels. Devils. Beliefs.
CM:Here: the Sabbath, Led Zepp, Deep Purple they were the pioneers. These built on the foundations. The history is—
AB:Do you believe in evil?
CM:Er … no, I just like the music. [Heavy metal isn’t anti-religious somuch as darkly rebellious in its imagery. EC] and I play guitar, as you can see—
AB:Connor, years ago a group of people who believed themselves to be angels plotted to kill a baby because they thought it would grow up to destroy humanity—
CM:That is soaked!
AB:It’s soaked, yeah right, but two teenagers, just a bit younger than you, were drawn in and convinced of it. I’m trying to understand how and why that might’ve happened. This guy here—
CM:Robert Plant—
AB:What would make you believe he was the devil?
CM:He’d have to prove it. Not just tell me he is. I’d want to see, like, water turned to blood or something – and be sure it wasn’t just a cool special effect.
AB:What if these others believed him to be the devil? This guy …
CM:Nick Menza from Megadeth.
AB:Yep, what if he were to walk through the door and tell you that, beyond any doubt, Robert Plant is the devil?
CM:Menza died in 2016, so he’d know by now, right? [He laughs, you don’t. EC] I’d need to see proof.
AB:Proof. That’s the key. You’d need to prove it. [I’m cringing at the awkward silence. EC]
CM:So how did you get into journalism? Which A levels? What degree?
AB:Neither.
CM:Seriously?
AB:I wrote a piece about the care system for a council newsletter. That got me a place on an apprenticeship scheme at a local paper.
