Page 102
Story: The Angel Maker
“Why you always loved him more than me?”
She had barely known those words were coming, and a part of her regretted them as soon as she’d spoken them. But another part of her feltrelieved—as though she’d been carrying this resentment for such a long time and had finally managed to cast some of it out of her. When her mother understood what she’d said, her face started to crumple. But then she caught herself. She looked down at the cane and began turning it round carefully in her grip. There was something about the movement that suggested all the mistakes of her life—all its disappointments and regrets—were playing out in her mind at once.
“Oh, Katie—” she started.
But then she looked up, over Katie’s shoulder. At the same time, Katiewas aware of the light in the room shifting, and she turned to see shadows flitting across the closed curtains.
Footsteps in the garden outside.
And then a moment later, the doorbell rang.
“Wait here,” her mother said.
She turned and disappeared, hobbling awkwardly out of sight down the corridor. With her heart beating faster, Katie crossed the room to the doorway and listened as best she could. Her mother opened the front door.
“Mrs. Shaw?”
A woman’s voice.
“Yes,” her mother said. “We met the other day.”
“That’s right. Detective Pettifer. This is my colleague Sergeant Reece. We’re trying to locate your daughter, Katie.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
Her mother was old and frail, and Katie imagined she was still leaning on her cane for support, but there was the same firmness to her voice she remembered from childhood.
“We’d just very much like to talk to her. And your son as well, of course.”
“I told you I’ve not heard from him in years.”
“What about your daughter?”
Katie leaned against the doorframe.
Waiting.
“She came by yesterday,” her mother said. “I’ve not seen her since.”
“Why was she here?” the woman asked.
“She brings me my shopping. That’s about the only real contact we have anymore. Just doing her duty. She’ll be at home now, I’d guess. You might want to try there.”
If it wasn’t for the cane, Katie could imagine her mother folding her arms at that. There was a moment of silence, and then she heard the distant sound of a radio crackling. It was followed a few seconds later by the noise of feedback, and then quiet and muffled conversation.
She listened carefully.
“Okay,” she heard someone saying quietly. “Okay.”
Then more loudly:
“We’re sorry to have bothered you, Mrs. Shaw. If you do hear from either of your children, we’d very much appreciate you letting us know.”
“Of course.”
A moment later, shadows passed back across the curtains behind her again. She heard the front door close and then the rattle of the chain. She stepped back into the room and waited until her mother appeared back in the doorway again.
“The police are looking for you,” she said.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102 (Reading here)
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120