Page 40 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
AB:Thanks, Penny. Really app—
PL:Thank YOU! Really pleased to help.
AB:I’m—
PL:Didn’t realise at the time I’d be involved in such a famous case. Been fascinated by it ever since. Read everything I could get hold of. You’ve seenDerelictionandThe Assembly? I’ve got both on Blu-ray. Did you seeInside No. 9? And now I’m helping you write a book about it. Great, hey?
AB:[No chance to answer. EC]
PL:I’ll tell you all about what happened from start to finish. Is that what you want?
AB:[Whether it’s what you want or not, it’s what you’re getting. EC]
PL:It was an ordinary night shift in emergency. Busy. No hint we were about to go down in history with one of the most notorious mass murder cults of all time. I was on the desk when she came in. This is Holly, the teenage mum. She was covered in blood like Carrie inCarrie. What you don’t realise when you’re watching horror films is that bloodreallysmells. I’ve read that it’s primeval, like we can smell blood really clearly. It’s part of our hunting and scavenging senses, so when it’s animal blood it’s basically food. But if we smellhumanblood, there’s likely a danger to life, i.e.ourlife, so we’re instinctively repelled by that. Food or danger it’s all survival. But in a hospital we have disinfectant that neutralises it. Anyway, I’d been workinghere a few years so I was immune to it all. But this girl. I could smell her as soon as she walked in. People stopped talking and stared. Not only was she RED all over, she had a baby in a carrier bag. Yeah, kid about four, six weeks. When I say she was out of it, I mean she was WELL out of it. First thought was drugs, psychotic episode, severe trauma, all of the above.
AB:Did you—
PL:Yeah, a colleague came straight away and took the baby away for assessment. When you see a child like that. Well, it’s what you go into the job for. Turned out it was fine, just stressed and hungry.
AB:Can you remember if it was a boy or girl?
PL:Stupid, but I can’t. Not even sure if I ever knew. Like I said, I didn’t realise it would be a big case and I was focused on the young mum. All that blood. Later we’d find out it had come from the dead angels. You know the police didn’t see it? They picked the girl up, drove her here and dropped her off at the door, but didn’t see the baby in the bag. Unbelievable, right? But not if you look at it another way.
AB:It’s— [Let the woman speak, Mand. OMG you’re hogging this convo. EC]
PL:I’ve heard something really, really interesting. [She lowers her voice here; this is going to be either interesting or crazy. EC] I’m not saying I believe it myself, but I know people who do and I’m happy to put it out there. See, people who know a bit about the occult … they say it’snotthat the police officers were lazy and neglectful and all the other things they were accused of. They didn’t see that baby because it was hidden from human sight by a host of dark angels that were protecting it from harm. But you know what? I think there’s an evenmoreexciting theory. That the baby hiditselffrom their sight. Supernaturally. It doesn’t need angels because it has its own protective energy. Anyway, I’m interested in everyone’s opinion so I’m open-minded. At the time, other colleagues examined the child and cleaned it up, while we spoke with Holly and … it’s weird. She talks quite calmly but what she says makes no sense. Angels, devils, The Assembly, the alignment. We suspect post-partum psychosis.Not our department so we prepare a referral – a pathway so she can get a diagnosis and treatment in a psych ward or whatever.
AB:Wh—
PL:About an hour after Holly and the baby arrived, a policewoman turned up asking where the girl and baby were, as she had a call to take them to a specialist centre.
AB:Who—
PL:No idea. But the police who brought the girl in had driven straight off, so it was our best guess they’d radioed for this woman to take over. She was in uniform and seemed to have a plan, so we discharged Holly and the baby into her care.
AB:She had—
PL:Yeah, the policewoman had the letter of referral.
AB:You weren’t—
PL:Not at all. She was taking care of the child and seemed bonded to it. That’s the strange thing with PP. It’s a delusion of the conscious mind, but when a woman gives birth the mothering instinct is so strongly rooted in the subconscious … they tell you their baby is a demon while changing its nappy and giving it a bottle.
AB:Do you—
PL:No. What happened to them after that was out of our hands. I forgot about it till I saw the murders on the news and realisedthatwas the girl who rescued the kid. Real names were kept out of the papers, but eventually they used Holly and the boy’s name, Jonah, because they weren’t their names anyway. If only I’d known at the time, I’d have asked her more questions.
AB:What—
PL:Oh, I don’t think they were actually angels. I just find it fascinating what people believe. If someone you trust tells you something andthey’reconvinced of it, do you go with the flow? Or is it that if someone has power over you, you just don’t have the confidence or energy or whatever, to challenge them? Because some people have that charisma, don’t they? Born leaders. They tell you they have the answers, in such a way you believe they really do. But just because someone is a born leader, doesn’t mean you should follow them. [She pauses here. First time since the interview started. EC]
AB:Is there—
PL:Yes. I think there is.
AB:But you don’t know what I was about to ask.
PL:Was it: ‘Is there such a thing as evil?’
