[ TT ] You are a recently deceased detective . God took you early as he has need of you . For the first time ever , there has been a murder in heaven .

It was a simple job. Jack raised the cigarette to his mouth and chewed cautiously at its edge. He watched as the man in the silver suit got into his car. 
 
 He lit the cigarette and breathed in deeply as the man started his car and drove away. He began to count each drag as he felt the nicotine surge. A woman in red walked past him and nodded innocuously at nothing. A bystander would have taken it as a slight nudge of her head, an almost imperceptible hint. 
 
 Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen… 
 
 He threw it out the window and began to drive. 
 
 It had been done. 
 
 He grinned as he checked the time; 10:45. It would be five minutes until the man arrived home and realized she had the photos and the accounts and all the proof that had been collected over the last two weeks. It would be ten minutes until the police arrived and he predicted a lawyer would be called faster than – 
 
 It was a bad day for Jack but a good day for heaven. 
 
 Sourly he opened his eyes and groaned, he could feel the bruises pulsing on his skin. He lifted himself up and noticed suddenly the silence. The city had never been this quiet. He felt his feet soak up the water beneath him. Looking down he realized it was far too thick to be water. Crimson liquid. He knew what it meant. 
 
 There was no colour here. Just blood and blackness. 
 
 “ Oh, you ’ ve finally arrived. ” 
 
 A young boy appeared, as if from nowhere, out of the shadows. He was cherub-like, with a sweet face, round cheeks and a broad smile which seemed overjoyed by the sight of him. 
 
 “ I have to admit; we were concerned you weren ’ t going to make it. ” 
 
 Jack said nothing. He tried to keep his cool while his insides screamed and his mind was paralysed by confusion and fear. I can ’ t be, he thought. 
 
 “ They told us not to stare too much. But I ’ m such a huge fan. ” The young boy reached out a soft hand and shook Jack ’ s keenly, “ It is an absolute pleasure. Absolute. ” 
 
 “ Dead, aren ’ t I? ” The words seemed to leave his mouth quicker than he anticipated but the young boy just laughed. 
 
 “ I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out. Have to say you ’ ve reacted better than others. I ’ m glad they brought you here, we needed you. ” He walked back into the darkness, a sort of strange glow hovered around him. Jack followed. 
 
 “ You see. It shouldn ’ t be so dark around here. ” The cherub seemed disturbed, “ It used to be so colourful. Normally you ’ d be greeted by a parade of your favourite deceased relatives and perhaps you would see how beautiful you had always been. When we show people their souls, they ’ ve known to break down and cry for days. Some people carry a sort of self-loathing that ties them down like ropes. It ’ s nice to cut it away. Heaven has changed, I ’ m afraid. ” 
 
 Jack stopped. 
 
 “ Heaven? ” he said “ how did I end up here? ” 
 
 The cherub turned, grinned and before them steps seemed to form from the shadows. He then walked on upwards. “ I ’ m afraid I ’ m going to have to leave that to my boss. ” 
 
 The steps stopped and a gate appeared. It was worn and faded and looked nothing like the ‘ pearly gates of heaven ’, the one that could be found on canvasses in museums. It was just a rickety wooden gate. Before it stood a palsied old man with a smile. What do they all have to smile about, Jack thought, looking at the darkness and the gate. 
 
 “ I brought him here as requested. ” The cherub boy said. 
 
 “ Yes. Well done Malachi. ” The voice was gruff and deep, “ Now go on, back to the other place. ” The cherub ’ s eyes looked sad but the smile remained. He walked away quietly enveloped back into the shadows. 
 
 “ I ’ m so glad we have you here. I ’ m Peter. ” He reached out a hand and the two men stood there in the afterlife shaking hands as if it was another day at the office. 
 
 “ He said you ’ d tell me why I ’ m here. ” Jack said, looking intently into Peter ’ s eyes and finding that the glow of the boy could be found here. Peter seemed to find this attention disturbing and nervously began to speak. 
 
 “ Yes, well you see you shouldn ’ t be here… Technically you were meant for the other place. But it had to be done. You see something has gone wrong – 
 
 “ How did I die? ” 
 
 “ Die? Why the way everyone does. I suppose your heart stopped and your brain turned off. But you see normally she doesn ’ t intervene, today she had to. You see today… ” There was gulp and a deep sigh. “ Today somebody died. Here. In Heaven. ” 
 
 Jack laughed uncontrollably. It was quite out of character. 
 
 “ I thought you were meant to be the strong, quiet type. You ’ d stalk around. ‘ Savour words like they were cigarettes ’ … that was your catchphrase right? Say these precious words to the right people and then you'd find the killer, right? ” 
 
 “ Someone died in heaven, ” he barely caught his non-existent breath before the laughter erupted again. St. Peter didn ’ t seem to take to this kindly and a flash, a glint of anger stole his kindly smile for a millisecond. 
 
 “ Now you see here, Mr Detective. We brought you here to help us and I ’ ll be damned if you don ’ t. Angels never die and yet one did and now this place – he pointed at the shadows and the blood soaked floor – has been stolen from us all, the once great entrance to heaven has been desecrated. You ’ re going to find who did this and you ’ re going to do it fast. ” The way he spoke was ethereal and filled with deep timbre, as if another voice had joined his own. 
 
 Thoughts bounced around Jack ’ s mind. He caught himself a nice question. 
 
 “ But he ’ s omnipotent? ” 
 
 The question hung in the air. St. Peter, smile still intact but with furrowed eyebrows, flicked his tongue out his mouth and caught some invisible bug. 
 
 “ She is… ” he sighed, “ But well it ’ s more complicated than that. You see she knows everything but well… It ’ s like she has a library filled with every book that ’ s ever been written and ever will be written and ever will be thought about all within her mind. Yet she has to find the book that she wants, she has to wade through infinity to find a fraction of a dot. We need an outside source to help us. So she brought you in. ” 
 
 Odd, that God should need the help of man. 
 
 “ She brought me in. You all keep saying that. What do you mean? ” Jack said, with a sinking feeling. 
 
 “ Well… She… I suppose we played around with the rules and she searched her library and happened upon a moment that was meant to be. But she realized she could change it and so she did and she … Well this whole thing has been a disaster from the start, it really undermined her and … 
 
 “ You killed me. ” 
 
 “ She did, yes. I suppose though she kills everyone in the end. Mother of all creation and yet, creation herself, writer of fates, guided by the unknown. It must be a complicated role. She ’ s searching, every second and every moment for the killer and the murder and how this whole thing is going to play out but it ’ s just out of reach… Hidden behind a curtain of shadow. ” 
 
 The darkness seemed to ripple. “ Quickly then, I guess you should go on in. ” Peter smiled with his eyes glazed with sadness and opened the rickety old door. 
 

