The operator kept Maggie on the phone while the police and the paramedics were quickly sent to the flat. Maggie was becoming more and more incoherent.
The operator asked her calmly 'Now Maggie, how did you kill him?'
Maggie started to pray out loud 'Hail Mary', a memory from the convent long ago 'Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.'
At one point she started to laugh hysterically. It was the shock. The operator had taken a deep breath and thought to herself 'Oh God I've got a right one here!'.
'Maggie, listen to me' she said 'the police and the paramedics are at the front door. Go and let them in now.'
Maggie opened the front door and the police in their masks barged in. The paramedics rushed through in their hasmat suits like a military unit, it was all very alarming and Maggie sank further into shock.
A Policewoman gently took Maggie aside and tried to calm her down.
'So he's in the back bedroom is he?' she asked.
The other police officers were already at the door and knocking on it.
'We need to break down the door Maggie is that ok?' one of them said.
Maggie nodded her head and she all of a sudden went quite silent.
It didn't take much to break the cheap lock and with one push they were in. They all took a sharp breath not expecting to see what they saw.
Bill was slumped forward in his gaming chair, the lights on his VR helmet were flashing and blinking. On the computer screen a soldier was lying dead with blood pouring from his chest. The words 'GAME OVER' overlaid this grisly scene. It was all quite startling. The officers looked visibly shocked themselves. It was obvious that Bill was dead and judging by the smell, had been for several days.
Maggie let out a bloodcurdling scream that could be heard right up Camden road and beyond.
One of the paramedics unplugged the helmet from the computer and as he did the Zoom call that was scheduled somehow flashed up on the screen and there was Andy with Jan in the background. Andy wasn't sure of what he was seeing. He could see part of what looked like a motor cycle helmet and flashing lights.
'Hello' He said. 'Mam, Dad are you there?'
Suddenly his Mam's face, with the headscarf tied tightly under her chin, appeared onscreen beside the helmet.
'It's Bill' She said 'He's dead. I killed him.'
Andy and Jan went silent not really taking in what was going on. It was just too surreal. Then a police officer's masked face came on the screen and asked 'Are you the son?'
'Yes, yes I am' Said Andy.
I'm sorry to tell you this,' The officer said 'But your father has passed away.'
Andy couldn't believe what he was hearing. He almost fainted. Jan grabbed his shoulders and let out a shriek.
'Oh my god. Oh my God what's going on?' he muttered, his Mother's words echoing through his brain. He could hear her shouting in the background 'Kill Bill...it's a movie...' and then Maggie dropped to her knees and started to pray again.
'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.' She babbled.
It was all too much and the officer suggested that they needed to switch off the Zoom call and said they would call Andy back. They took his number and assured him they would call back and explain everything.
Andy and Jan were left alone in a state of disbelief. What was that flashing helmet? Why did Mam say she killed Dad? So many thoughts going through their heads. Andy sat on the side of the couch and went into deep shock, shaking from head to toe. Jan started rushing around and grabbed a blanket belonging to Spice and threw it over him, the dog hairs going all over the place. Then she sat beside him, holding his hand, and together they burst into tears.
Meanwhile back in Camden the police woman had gently guided Maggie into the kitchen so the paramedics could deal with Bill's body. They had to leave the helmet on his head as they couldn't manage to remove it.
'What's that thing on his head?' Maggie asked, confused at the sight of it. One of the officers explained that It was to play computer games with.
'Good grief! He looks like he's from another planet.' Maggie said.
Sitting at the kitchen table Maggie had sat silently with her hand to her mouth shaking her head in disbelief for what seemed like a lifetime and indeed her whole like was passing before her eyes.The police officer was gently trying to get some coherent information from her but couldn't really make any sense of what she had to say.
Suddenly Maggie jumped up.
'Will you have a cup of tea?' she asked.
'Here do you want me to make it?' the police woman asked as she sat socially distant from Maggie.
'No, no I'll do it,' she said. 'Look it's all ready.'
'That's our lunch,' she said, pointing to the sandwiches.
'Does anyone want a cup of tea?' She shouted down the hall.
Then keeping herself busy she went into some sort of automatic phase. It was all too much to process. When the tea was made she sat down and took her cigarettes and lighter from the patchwork suede bag that Jan had given her last Xmas. Maggie lit up a cigarette and smoked for the first time inside the flat. Chain smoking and drinking her tea she just stared vacantly into space, the guilt eating away at her.
Thoughts were flashing through her mind. She stared at her Super Gran mug not feeling very Super Gran more like Killer Gran she thought darkly. She realised she hadn't seen Bill the day before and the day before that. On Friday she had seen him at around 12 midday. Was he dead all that time? No, no. she had heard him on Friday night and as these thoughts flew through her mind she knew that she had killed him. She must have brought back the virus when she went to get her fags.
'Mother of God,' She thought 'I'm as good as a murderer!'
She could vaguely hear the police officer in the background blathering on.
'Will you shut up!' she suddenly snapped at her. 'Leave me alone, just leave me alone!'
'Now Maggie,' Said the Officer 'You've had a terrible shock.'
Maggie just stared vacantly at the police officer. All she wanted right now was for them all just to go.
More people had arrived at the flat to remove Bill's body. It wasn't the easiest removal with the helmet on his head and his body in such an awkward position never mind all the weight he had piled on and all the time Maggie just sat silently chain smoking in the kitchen listening but not listening to the police woman. Later she couldn't really recall anything that had been said. She vaguely remembered a few of the other police officers had come into the kitchen and had phoned Andy but she couldn't recall the conversation. The police woman had managed to get some information from Maggie and they had pieced the sequence of events together from that.
Finally, much to Maggies relief, they all left the flat. They said they would be back in touch and took her phone number. They also left some numbers for her to call on a piece of paper. He most likely died of Covid the officer had said. Maggie had nodded her head in agreement confirming her worst fear.
When they had all left she walked around the flat in a daze. Going to the back bedroom she looked in and saw the green stain of Bill's energy drink splashed across the cream carpet. The room had a strange sickly sweet smell that gave her an uncomfortable feeling so she just shut the door and went back into the kitchen.
She cleared away the lunch putting the plates of stale sandwiches into the bin, emptying the ashtray and washing the cups. Going into her bedroom she took the headscarf off and changed into her nighty and dressing gown and feeling a lot more comfortable she sat down in the living room and turned on the TV.
The rest of the evening passed with Maggie watching the BBC without taking in a word, her mind numb with the shock.
Back in Hayes Andy, Jan and the kids all sat together in the living room, the grief bringing them all together. Jan was as upset as Andy. Bill had been like a father to her. Jan had been in the care system from the age of twelve, never knowing her father and estranged from her mother. The social workers had taken her away from her mother for her own safety and she had moved from the children's home to a foster family until she had got her own small bedsit in Holloway at sixteen. She had been drawn to the safety of Andy's family. The reliability and predictability of what she saw as a normal family. She had adored Bill and Maggie and they had treated her like the daughter they never had.
It was the first death in the family and they were all shaken to the core and didn't really know what they were meant to do. The police told them they couldn't visit Maggie because of lockdown restrictions and also as it was a suspected Covid death.
When Darren heard this he felt his anger rising and was about to say something but realised it wasn't the time or place. Victoria made coffee for everyone and Jan grabbed a bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey from the bar. She went around topping up each coffee with a generous splash of whiskey but when she got to Victoria she had put her hand over her cup.
'No Mum I'm alright not for me.' She said.
In a flash Jan looked her daughter directly in the eye and then at her stomach and in that instant realised she was pregnant. Jan registered the frightened look in Victoria's eyes as she realised her Mum knew her secret.
Emma sat curled up on the couch crying her eyes out looking so fragile and broken. Spice had gone from one person to another trying to give them her special Spaniel love, feeling the sadness in the room she had at one point whined loudly. Darren sat on the edge of his fathers chair trying to comfort him occasionally giving Andy's shoulder a squeeze.
Somehow they got through the afternoon crying, grieving and making numerous cups of coffee, comforting each other in disbelief at what had happened. By early evening they were all exhausted and went to bed finding some comfort in being able to mentally shut down and sleep a dreamless sleep. They would deal with what needed to be done over the next days