The Weeping Angels

Tuesday morning. Eric moaned as he opened his eyes. He rolled over and buried his face in the pillows, wanting nothing more than to just go back to sleep. But the beeping of his alarm clock on the other side of the room and the constant whirr of the cars outside prevented him.

He pulled back the thick duvet and swung his legs over the side. Eric scratched his neck absentmindedly as he walked towards the bathroom.

Half an hour later he emerged from his apartment and out of the building. Eric chucked his bag onto the passenger seat as he slid into the car. He would be arriving late at work that day. Last night as he had been trying to get to sleep, he had decided that he would talk to Emma’s mother, Susan before he talked to Emma. He already had Susan’s address because it had been on the pieces of paper that he had been reading over. It was the fact that he had her address that had given him the idea to see her first.

It took him an hour to find the house. He pulled up alongside the curb and stared at the quaint cottage with its forest of plants that would almost look overgrown if they weren’t so carefully trimmed away from the paths.

Eric stepped out of his car, pulling his bag with him and walked slowly up to the front door. He pushed the small white button and could faintly hear the ding-dong of the bell inside.

“Coming!” A woman called out.

A few moments later Eric could hear someone undoing a lock. The was a creak and the door opened slowly.

“Hello.” The woman spoke uncertainly. “Can I help you?”

Eric smiled comfortingly at her. “Are you Susan Squire?” Eric hardly needed to ask. Emma and this woman were so alike that if they were the same age, you could almost mistake them for sisters.

“Yes,” came the tentative reply.

“I’m Detective Eric Palmer. I work with your daughter, Emma. May I come in?”

The door opened wider and Susan stepped back. “Has something happened at work?”

Eric was silent as they walked down the carpeted hall into the kitchen. Susan gestured at a seat and Eric smiled as he sat.

“Not so much happened, as discovered.”

Susan frowned. “I’m not sure I follow you.” She turned to the kettle on the stove. “Tea?”

“No thankyou.” Eric replied. He waited until Susan sat at the table opposite him before talking again. “Are you aware that your daughter and I are working on the case of the Weeping Angels?” Susan nodded as she sipped her tea. Eric cleared his throat and looked around the room. “Well, yesterday, we discovered that a woman name Sarah Knok was one of the victims.”

Susan stared at him, wide-eyed over the rim of her cup. “My mother,”

“Yes, your mother. Emma’s grand-mother. I’m assuming you never told Emma anything about her grand-mother, because she had no idea who Sarah Knok was. Am I correct?”

“No, we never told Emma anything about Mum.” She set down her cup and stared intently at Eric. “Are you sure it was my mother?”

“We only have one Sarah Knok on record.” He paused, waiting for Susan to say something. “Why didn’t you tell Emma anything about Sarah?”

Susan sighed and played with the bracelet on her left wrist. “Well, it was thought at the time that my mother was, well, crazy. She kept going on about how she had lived in the year 2009. But people just thought that she was mad. I mean, how could it be possible?” She looked up at Eric. “Are you positive?” She asked again.

“As far as I know, there is no way around it.”

Susan looked back down at the table. “So she was telling the truth.” She mumbled, mostly to herself.

“Yes.”

“My father eventually put her into an asylum because of it. The whole thing just wore him down completely.” She glanced up again and gave a strange sort of half-smile. “Isn’t that odd? My mother was here, in 2009 and I didn’t even know it.” She laughed and shook her head. “It’s hard to get your head around.”

Eric nodded. “I know. It’s one of the hardest parts of this case. There’s just no logic to it.”

“Why did you need to talk to me about this?” Susan asked and drank some more tea.

“I just wanted to see if it was actually true, somehow it just didn’t seem at all possible unless I had someone to verify it. Truth be told, it still doesn’t seem possible, but, it’s true. It’s cold hard fact and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.”

“So, there was no other reason you wanted to know?” Susan persisted.

Eric frowned slightly. “Well, I wanted to see if it were true before I told Emma.” He stared at Susan’s face, watching her reaction. “I think that she has a right to know. But of course, if you don’t want her to know, then I will keep silent.”

Susan chewed her lip and stared at the white wall behind Eric as she thought. “No, tell her. You’re right; of course she deserves to know.” She gave that odd half-smile again, “I’m not even sure why I haven’t told her. Perhaps because I didn’t truly believe any of it myself.” She paused and her eyes took on a slightly vacant look. “I was only four when she died, but all I remember of her is that she was forever talking about how life was in 2009 and the people she knew then. I had always thought that it was some kind of game that she was playing to amuse me. But apparently not.” She blinked and looked back at Eric. “I suppose you want to go off to work now.”

Eric nodded and stood. “Thankyou very much.” He said as they walked to the front door.

“You’re welcome. And good luck with this case.” She smiled and waved as Eric walked to his car.

Eric slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He blew out a big gust of air and drove to work.

Emma assaulted him as soon as he entered the building. “Where have you been?” She demanded as he walked to his office.

“I had something to do before work.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“I only decided last night.” He hung his jacket over the back of his chair and dropped his bag onto the floor. “Emma, close the door please and then sit there.” He pointed at the chair opposite his.

“What were you doing?” Emma asked as she sat down.

“I was making a house call.”

Emma cut him off. “Whose house? Is it about the case? Why didn’t you take me?”

“Shut-up!” Eric said in frustration. “If you would just be quiet and listen then I would tell you.”

Emma folded her arms across her chest and glared at Eric. “Talk then. But be quick, I have work to do.”

“I went to visit your mother,” he held up his hand to silence Emma when she opened her mouth. “Because I found out something yesterday that I had thought would never happen to me, well someone I know anyway.” Eric reached down to his bag and pulled out the file containing the paper regarding Sarah Knok. He handed the folder to Emma. She opened it and glanced at the pieces of white paper. Eric sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Eric waited as she read through the paper. He knew she had found the family tree when her jaw dropped and her hand shook slightly as her fingers gripped the paper. “Emma, Sarah Knok is your grand-mother.”