Page 31 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
AF:Well, I should say Marie-Claire was a woman of colour and they get quite enough stick in this job, so I snapped at Holly to shut up, and apologised to Marie-Claire. She raised her eyebrows and whispered she’d keep an eye on Holly and the baby from a distance that Holly felt comfortable with.
AB:Do you remember a surname for Marie-Claire?
AF:No, sorry. I left her watching the car. Holly had shut herself in. She didn’t realise the door couldn’t be locked from her side, so if Marie-Claire had to intervene, she could. Meanwhile, I went into the warehouse. [Another pause. EC] You know inJaws, when Brodie is on the beach, everyone’s told him the water’s safe, but he’s on edge? Just as he starts to relax, he hears someone yell ‘shark’. There’s this moment, you can see it on his face, but the camera rushes towards him and the focus changes.
AB:I love that scene. [I do too. EC]
AF:It completely recreates that change in perception. When you’re on sudden high alert. That was me when I stepped into the basement. Where they were.
AB:The bodies?
AF:Hmmm. It was a mess and I was … well, I didn’t have to look closely so I didn’t. All stabbed. Horribly mutilated. Bodies laid out around a pentagram or something, painted on the floor. We eventually found out it was a mass ritual suicide. One angel arranged the bodies then fled the scene.
AB:That would be the cult leader. Gabriel.
AF:I don’t remember the details.
AB:So you walk into the room and …
AF:The smell. Blood. Hideous. But do you know something? I’ve seen so many bodies, it wasn’t those that got to me. It was the boy. He was clinging to one of them. Wouldn’t let go. Police tried. Paramedics tried. They’d had to disturb the crime scene to get to him. I had a chat with the SIO and we discussed Holly being brought down to speak with him. I cautioned against that as Holly was so traumatised herself, she didn’t need to see all this. So I had a word with him myself.
AB:Which body was he clinging to?
AF:I don’t know. Their faces weren’t … I said, ‘Come on now, Holly and the little one need you’, etc., etc. All he did was tighten his grip on the body. He was covered in blood, I might add. No response. I asked who is the dead man, is he Jonah’s dad? He shook his head. I said, ‘You’ve done all you can for him, we’ll take over now and find out what’s happened. You’ll have a chance to see him again and say a proper goodbye.’ That’s when he looks me in the eye and says, ‘I’m not saying goodbye. He won’t die. He’s divine.’
AB:They believed they were all angels in human bodies.
AF:Yeah. He thought he could bring the dead man back to life just by wishing. I was prepared to carry on, try to encourage Jonah to come away in his own time, but it was taken out of my hands. A paramedic crept up behind Jonah – with the consent of the SIO – and administered an injection of sedative.
AB:Is that ethical?
AF:Yes. In this instance it was deemed a mental health crisis and safeguarding issue. The team were all in agreement, they’d got permission from the relevants, so …
AB:Did the jab work?
AF:It did. He quickly became compliant. The paramedics checked him over and said he’d be best in the hands of specialist officers, social workers. Being with his girlfriend and baby would also help, they said. Just make sure he’s not alone.
AB:Meanwhile, Holly was still outside with Marie-Claire?
AF:Yes. More about that in a second. The paramedics cleaned Jonah up. He was ready in about twenty minutes and I took him back to my car. [She pauses here, as if she’s thinking about how to explain the next thing. EC] I’ve never said this to anyone else before, but … there was something strange about it.
AB:That you realise now, or that you noticed then?
AF:Bit of both. I’d left Marie-Claire watching Holly and the baby. Holly was in the patrol car, Marie-Claire outside. But when I arrived back, Marie-Claire was sat in the back seat of the car and Holly was pacing outside, trying to calm the baby. I was so concerned with getting Jonah settled and getting those kids – allthree of them – to social services, I didn’t think about it at the time.
AB:Strange. Did Marie-Claire explain why she’d got into the patrol car and allowed Holly out?
AF:No. No, she didn’t.
AB:Was she panicked? Was she trying to get out when you arrived?
AF:No. Both acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. I was preoccupied with getting Jonah in the car and … I wanted to ask Marie-Claire if she’d come with me, or at least follow us in her car, just as back-up in case either of the teenagers made a run for it. But once I’d settled them on the back seat, I turned to look for her and she wasn’t there.
AB:She’d already gone back inside?
AF:She must have. So I drove them to a children’s centre with emergency accommodation.
AB:What were they like with each other? Affectionate?
