Page 77 of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
I suppose they must.
Ellie Cooper
They know what you want and they’re using that knowledge to control you.
Amanda Bailey
I’ll be OK.
Ellie Cooper
So if I haven’t had that second call by 2.15 a.m., call 999?
Amanda Bailey
No. Give it two hours at least.
Ellie Cooper
Anything could happen in that time.
Amanda Bailey
It isn’t so they can rescue me. It’s so they know what I was doing when it happened.
A conversation between Amanda Bailey and Oliver Menzies, in a noisy café, 12 July 2021. Transcribed with a scowl, by Ellie Cooper.
OM:The sound on that file is almost identical to what I hear when the mad squaddie calls me every morning.
AB:We’ll see now, won’t we? See ifthisfile records properly. Right, that’s on. That’s recording. On, right?
OM:Yes, it’s on. What I think is he broke in the night before we drove to Tynefield and tampered with my phone. To sabotage my big interview. He knew how important it was because he’d been listening in on my calls, reading my texts and WhatsApps.
AB:Can he do that? And would he?
OM:Yes. Long background in security comms. Boasted about listening to royal phone calls. You won’t believe what he’s capable of. The things he did in Iraq. To his fellow squaddies, this is. Long before he even got hold of an enemy soldier. Bullying doesn’t come close.
AB:He admitted to it?
OM:Off the record and only to me. I know why, now. If it gets out, he’ll know where it comes from. And I’ll be next.
AB:What can he do to you, realistically?
OM:Well, he got hold of a porter rumoured to be working for the Taliban, tied him to a tree and set fire to him. From the feet up.
AB:Shit.
OM:No one who worked on that book believes he’s given up the mercenary work. He has no emotion except anger, no empathy. He’ll kill literally anyone for money. Hounding me is child’s play for him.
AB:Hmmm, still says it’s recording. Tell me about the visit to Gabriel. As much as you can remember.
OM:So I leave you trying to sweet-talk the officer on the door. I go through security, like at an airport. Then, in the corner of the visiting room … there he is. [Silence. EC]
AB:What’s he like?
OM:He looks exactly like all his photos. I swear he hasn’t aged a day.
AB:Not gone grey? He’s over sixty.
