The Angel And The Devil

8

We walk along one of the corridors our shoes squeaking in a squeaky way. Aunty Molly (my god mother) walks along a corridor, pulling her coat on. Just as she reaches the fire doors at the end of the corridor, Dad, Uncle John and I swing through them.
" Molly! " Dad cries with (false) glee.
" Oh, hello. I'm just going out." Dad stops her, grabs her shoulders and spins her around.  No you're not.
" I've got a lunch date."
We begin to walk in the opposite direction. Aunty Molly follows behind.
"Cancel  it. You're having lunch with me." Ooh err.
Dad puts his hands in his pockets and takes out 2 packets of quavers. Guess uncle John and I will have to starve.
"What?" She says confused.  I don't blame her. We Are slightly strange. The army doctor, the sociopath and the test tube daughter. Dad puts the crips into his pockets
"Need your help. It's one of your old boyfriends – we're trying to track him down. He's been a bit  naughty!"
Dad stops and turns to face us. We are all slightly perplexed.
"It's Moriarty?" Uncle John says surprised.
"Course it's Moriarty."
"Er, Jim actually wasn't even my boyfriend. We went out three times. I ended it." She says matter of factly.
" Yes, and then he stole the Crown Jewels, broke into the Bank of England and organised a prison break at Pentonville. For the sake of law and order, I suggest you avoid all future attempts at a relationship, Molly." I start to snigger but Uncle John elbows me
Grownups.

We go upstairs to Dad's favourite lab I'm told.
"How have you been Claudette. "
I shrug. I don't like telling people my feelings.
"Fine? I guess." Aunty Molly rolls her eyes. "How about you?"
"I'm not sure...."
"No you are. Got a new boyfriend. When you come over you always wear red to brandish your face. You are not wearing any today. You went on a date last night where he gave you that bracket. The thing is Aunty, he seems to be a cheap skate cause that way in Argos for £1.99. He told you he loved you. So in fact your perfect. On cloud nine. Fabulous." Dad stops and applauds.  I bow. Aunty Molly and Uncle John just stand there. Dad nods.

Shortly afterwards, wearing her lab coat, Aunty Molly pushes her way through the door into the lab holding  books and fil. As she staggers into the room, Dad is sitting at the bench in front of a microscope. John is standing at the other side of the bench. My Dad is in his mind palace and Uncle John is more than happy enough to let Aunty struggle. How nice!
"Do you want some help?"
"I'm *grunt* fine *heave* thanks."
"Oil, John."
Dad opens the plastic Petri dish and takes out one of the samples with tweezers." The oil in the kidnapper's footprint – it'll lead us to Moriarty. " Do we really want to meet Moriarty?  I mean last time Uncle John nearly got blown up. What this time? Dad jumps off a building? Haha.

Dad drops the sample into a test tube which has some liquid in the bottom. The fluid begins to fizz. He get a pipette and sucks up some of the liquid and drops it onto a slide.
"All the chemical traces on his shoe have been preserved. The sole of the shoe is like a passport. If we're lucky we can see everything that he's been up to."
Dad carries on  checking the slide.
Uncle John sighs and rubs his leg.
"Still got a bad leg?"  Uncle grunts in a "shut up" way.
"Why what happened? "
"Claudette don't you dare."
"Tell her Claudette."  Dad's voice calls from his microscope.
"Tell me what."
"I was in my room.  And I hear singing. Well I think it's singing but it sounds like a drowning cat. All EWSSSS! !!!! It was uncle john singing staying alive.  there is a crack. It's cause uncle tried to dance." I imitate him and land in a pile on the  floor. Aunty Molly doesn't laugh but sighs in a exaggerated way. Annoyed and tired.   

" I need that analysis." Dad says like a king.
Aunty Molly squeezes some liquid into a glass dish and applies some Litmus paper to it. The paper turns blue.
"Alkaline."
" Thank you, John." Cringe.
"Molly." Double cringe.
" Yes." Ahh.
She turns away unhappily. Dad has found the first component in the mixture of items and makes a note of it.He takes another sample and dissolves it. The results reveal another item because he makes makes another note.
Dissolving another sample into a dish. It fizzes.And another sample dissolved and heated over a Bunsen burner on safety flame. It bubbles turning green.