Page 120 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
AB:You mentioned it.
OM:When?
AB:In the car on the way back from Tynefield.
OM:I didn’t.
AB:How else would I know? It’s a strange way to declare innocence. Why not just say ‘I didn’t do it, it’s a mistake,’ or ‘I was framed’? It sounds as if he genuinely can’t remember whether he did it or not.
OM:I have no evidence either way.
AB:If Gabriel didn’t kill Singh, then who did?
OM:The dark forces. Was Singh himself a dark force?
AB:Did you readMy Angel Diaryby Jess Adesina? [He must shake his head. EC] It’s a young adult series of books inspired by the angels. An epic romantic journey. It’s funny, crazy, and has a quirky main character called Tilly who quote unquoteknowsshe’s an angel, i.e. bisexual. There are four books and the character grows up with her readers. It starts when she’s at high school and in the last book she marries an older man, while her girlfriend marries another man. They all live polyamorously ever after in adjacent flats. It’s basically Jane Austen with avocado on toast.
OM:It sounds [he must pull a face or something. EC] but then, I’m not the target market.
AB:In the last few pages of the final book, Tilly admits none of them are angels, they all just share a difference. That’s the moment of self-realisation she has been working towards the whole time. The angel thing is a metaphor for something she can’t express. Once she learns to express it, she sheds her angel wings, so to speak, and can move forward into her life, which is where we leave her at the end. Quite moving.
OM:Thanks for the spoiler.
AB:I might not even have linked it to the case if I hadn’t found an interview Adesina gave toGraziaten years ago. She clearly states she spoke to someone involved. I then found out she and Holly went to the same school …
OM:Let me guess. Holly was at the school for only a short time. There’s no way this Adesina knew her from reception class to sixth form. [You pause here as if you’re surprised he knew that … EC]
AB:Right. Yes, that’s what she said. Holly came from another school and was only there for a term.
OM:Holly isn’t a teenager, Mand. She looks young, she acts young, even down to causing trouble and putting on a façade of naivety … Holly and Jonah are eternal beings.
AB:That’s what you’ll hint at in your book, right?
OM:Uh-huh.
[Messaging you. EC]
WhatsApp messages between Ellie Cooper and me, 28 July 2021:
Ellie Cooper
There’s something about this case. It burrows insidiously into your mind, then sets about changing it.
Amanda Bailey
Hey, Els! You caught me with my feet up, glass of red, scrolling through Netflix You may be right there. It’s logic versus instinct. Head and heart. Some people see a coincidence and that’s all it is to them. Others see it as evidence of supernatural forces at work.
Ellie Cooper
Or earthly criminal forces up to no good
Amanda Bailey
Oliver thinks he’s logical and rational, but this case has brought out the instinctive thinker in him. You remember the two police officers, Rose and Khan?
Ellie Cooper
They responded to Holly’s 999 call and saw, or didn’t see, angel symbols painted on the ground?
