Page 50 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Please let me introduce myself. I am a best-selling true crime author with a long track record in crime reporting and human-interest journalism. My current commission is a book about the Alperton Angels. I understand your late husband Jonathan found Harpinder Singh’s body – I wonder if he mentioned anything to you about the murder scene, or the victim?
Press at the time took the unusual step of naming Mr Childs. Do you have any idea why they might have done that? Articles say he found the body in an empty flat. Did he happen to mention the number of that flat, or the floor it was on? Also, it would be useful to have his police number.
Anything you recall, however insignificant it might seem, may help me piece together the disparate elements of this case.
Yours sincerely,
Amanda Bailey
TO:Amanda Bailey
DATE:5 July 2021
SUBJECT:Re: Jonathan Childs
FROM:Grace Childs
Dear Miss Bailey,
Johnny didn’t speak much about his work and especially not bodies. But I remember something from around that time. A neighbour showed him his name in the paper, all proud that he knew him. Johnny shrugged it off, as if he was being modest, but later said to me it wasn’t him who found that body. He said the timings were all wrong deliberately. I wondered how they got his name, and he said they just wanted to scare him, but that it was nothing and I shouldn’t worry.
You probably know that when he was diagnosed with cancer he had been suspended under investigation for alleged offences. They said he was recruited by a gang and had spent years passing information andmanipulating evidence. All sorts of rubbish. The stress had an impact on his health. These people are no better than criminals. Once they have something on you, they use it to keep you working for them.
Johnny had a habit of getting pulled into other people’s shifty business. His police number was 444.
Grace Childs
Meeting with Louisa Sinclair, editor of WembleyOnline, at Pret A Manger, Wembley, 5 July 2021. Transcribed by Ellie Cooper.
[It seems to start abruptly, as if you pressed ‘record’ as soon as you could without being noticed. EC]
LS:One minute you know everything there is about a subject, then the article is printed and whoosh, all gone.
AB:I’m the same.
LS:Reading over those old clippings, though … You’d left by then. Come to think about it, you left before the final assessment. Why was that?
AB:I must’ve got the job in Hove, so … You know Oliver Menzies has popped up again.
LS:[Awkward hesitation. EC] Yes, actually. Probably shouldn’t tell you, but he’s asked for info on the Alperton Angels too.
AB:Sounds about right.
LS:You know, I always thought the two of you were similar.
AB:What? Oh my—
LS:Both driven, hungry, competitive and … Well, you had the talent, but no support or security behind you. He had that grounding, but no talent. [You both laugh. EC] Well, not none, but you know what I mean, and hehatedthat.
AB:Believe it or not, we’re working together on this case. Saves time and safeguarding issues. I was pissed off at first, but now I’m determined to make it work … turn it into an opportunity.
LS:[Gasps so loudly, she almost sucks the oxygen from the room. EC] Don’t tell me you’re having a torrid affair!
AB:No!
LS:An opportunity forwhat?
AB:To revisit something in the past that’s not been … settled. They say never go back, but if the past comes to find you, there has to be a reason, right? [You both chew and sip drinks for just under a minute. EC]
