The Murder Bag (38 page)

‘It’s all right for the angels!’ the grumpy sheep said bitterly. ‘The angels can
fly
to the manger! But I must
walk
!’

The grumpy sheep – Scout under an old white rug superglued to an even older rucksack, her nose blackened with make-up – narrowed her eyes at the heavens.

‘Why must I walk to the manger? It means nothing to me! I don’t even want to see this baby they call Jesus.’

She regretted it in the end. On her knees in the centre of the stage, shaking her head as the wise men and angels milled around in the background.

‘Oh
why
was I so grumpy! Why did I complain? I see clearly now! At last, I see it all.’ She raised her head and stared out into the darkness. ‘This is a special child!’

Mrs Mallory – Margaret – was sitting next to me and she reached across and squeezed my hand as I sat there in the darkness with all the other parents, choking down wild laughter, and the hot tears streaming down my face.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The first grown-up piece of journalism I ever wrote – the first article that did not involve staying up all night with rock stars – was out of 27 Savile Row, London W1 – West End Central.

The young men and women I met there were among the finest people I have ever met. They are real, but this book, which roams freely about their place of work, is a work of fiction.

I have taken the liberty of using real life to give
The Murder Bag
some grit – for example, the Black Museum really is at Room 101, New Scotland Yard, and the ‘From Hell’ letter by someone claiming to be Jack the Ripper is quoted accurately from contemporary photographs.

The letter itself is said to be lost, and its location in this book is a product of the author’s imagination.

Tony Parsons

September 2013

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Epub ISBN: 9781448185726

Version 1.0

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Published by Century 2014

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Copyright © Tony Parsons 2014

Tony Parsons has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by

Century

Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

London SW1V 2SA

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781780892337