Many Happy Returns
Profiles continued
Mrs Butterworth – Number 2
Mrs Butterworth, a very charming woman who has a taste for a little speed. She is also not only in possession of the prisoner’s house, but also of his beloved Lotus 7 KAR 120C. In fact she sits well behind the wheel, having a little taste for speed!
Female
Height……5feet 7 inches {approx}
Weight….. 140 lbs {approx}
Age………Late forties {approx}
Hair………Light brown
A widow
She is a very good cook, it being one of her little hobbies
A widow.
Her deceased husbands name…Arthur
Nationality…English speaking
Chief Administrator
Chairwoman of the village
Clothes; Two piece Heather – Herring bone patterned suit, with a dove grey belt. A dove grey hat, navy blue roll neck jersey and flat shoes.
Later she has changed into;
A blue and white diamond patterned dress with high heeled shoes.
A gold watch is worn upon her left wrist.
A smoker.
A very good cook, it’s one of her hobbies, bet it was Martha who baked that cake!
Has the curious habit/mannerism of putting her right arm across her waist, and resting the right elbow upon it, her right hand put to her throat, pulling at it!
A very charming kind and pleasant lady is Mrs Butterworth, always smiling perhaps a little smarmy, but someone who would help ‘anyone in trouble’.
If there is one single word which sums up both Mrs Butterworth and this new number 2, it is ‘seductive’.
She has taken possession of No1 Buckingham Place and has the lease for ten years, fully furnished and has only added a few of her own personal items to the house, other wise it is as it was in the prisoners day.
She even had the shower taps put on the right way round! There are also a few other subtle changes, such as the addition of a photograph of her dear departed Arthur in Naval uniform, and the change of pictures/prints, now there are three oil paintings on the wall opposite the door of the lounge, and a large Mezzotint above the couch and of course her and her husbands clothes in the wardrobe in her bedroom.
She also has a maid, Martha, a still fairly common occurrence to have such a maid, especially for someone like Mrs Butterworth living in London
Her use of the name “Stumbell & Croydon” {not used by the prisoner to do business}, could have been a mistake. Or perhaps the house passed onto another estate agent’s, during the prisoner’s absence.
She invites a raggedy man into her home, feeds him and doesn’t mind his prying into her affairs. She is quite willing to answer all of the prisoner’s questions.
When it is time for the prisoner to leave and go on his way, Mrs Butterworth is somewhat reluctant to let him go just like that!
In fact she insists upon using her bathroom while she lays some of Arthur’s things out for him.
She allows him the use of “her” car, on the promise that he stops that nasty over heating. A simple enough task, just remove the license plate from the grill and that will allow air to pass through and cool the engine.
Making him promise to come back, Mrs Butterworth shouts to him that she might even bake him a birthday cake!
Mrs Butterworth is a woman of her word, keeping her promise by baking him a birthday cake. Because upon the prisoner’s return to the village, she enters his cottage all smiles and carrying a birthday cake, wishing him ‘Many happy returns’.
So in the end Mrs Butterworth turns out to have been none other than number 2 all along.
This then brings into question the exact length of time Mrs Butterworth spent living at 1 Buckingham Place London
The plan to allow he Prisoner to escape the village by sea going raft, was something of a risky one. After all what would have happened if Number 6 had not been up to the challenge? Who would have taken the blame for the death of Number 6? Surely not Mrs Butterworth/Number2?
Somehow I do not see this plan being hers. Her involvement in the plan cannot be in doubt. However judging by the way Mrs Butterworth would not allow the prisoner to leave her home like that, means that she did care, perhaps even felt sorry for him.
After all she would help anyone in trouble. Wouldn’t you?
So when would Mrs Butterworth vacate 1 Buckingham Place
But in any eventuality Mrs Butterworth had to arrive in the village in good time, in order to be able to greet the return of number 6, with his birthday cake.
And by doing so, keeps the promise that she made to him back in London
This new Number 2 wears a distinctly different badge to previous Number 2’s. In that it has a black background and white penny farthing, with a white Numeral 2.
Such black badges usually have a red numeral!
A charming woman was Mrs Butter worth, but now it is possible that somewhere under that charming exterior, there is a cruel streak in her.
Perhaps as Number 6 is returned to the village, this “new” number 2 has arrived just in time, not only to celebrate Number 6’s birthday, but also to begin her term of office as Chairwoman and chief administrator.
Martha - The Maid
Female
Height…. 5feet 4inches {approx}
Weight…. 135 lbs {approx}
Age…….. 60 {approx}
Hair…….. grey
Nationality… English speaking
Wear’s the uniform of a maid, black dress and white apron and flat shoes.
An elderly woman perhaps, but yet still quite active enough to perform all her everyday tasks required by her mistress. Both polite and correct, she is a woman who has been in service for all her working life.
Martha was most probably recruited from an employment agency, and after becoming Mrs Butterworth’s maid, was then taken to the village in order that she continue in her position.
She has a brusque manner.
Strong willed
Takes against people very easily.
She knows just how her mistress likes to have things.
What she would make of the Butler
But with her rather brusque manner and apparent dutifulness at serving her mistress, she would certainly want to run things her way below stairs in the green dome. After all who would know her mistress more than Martha?
The maid treats the raggedy figure of the prisoner upon her doorstep with a disdainful look up and down, and is more than a little brusque with him, giving the prisoner the sharp end of her tongue.
Later she is advised by her mistress to learn to delve beneath the surface, who knows the treasures she might find!
Apparently her description of the prisoner was hardly flattering!
As Number 2’s maid, she would hold her position only for as long as her mistress held the position of Number 2, so what then for this woman?
The Village must surely have come as a great shock to her, even worse would be the fact that she, unlike her mistress, could never leave!
The Butler
Like anyone else, confined to his quarters on the morning in question as were all the village citizens. But afterwards once Number 6 had been allowed to escape the village the village was brought back to life and was much the same as it ever was, until of course we were made aware of Number 6’s impending return then the village was put to sleep once more, but for a shorter time.
As the village came back to life I was standing on the high lookout point over looking the piazza, little did I know what lay in store for me personally.
Number 2 was not his mistress well for a time because she brought along with her Martha her maid, all I will say is this, I took an instant dislike to Number 2’s maid number 38, she waltzed in as though she owned the very place. Well I did my best to make her welcome, but she wanted it all her way even though I had the domestic affairs of the green dome running like a well oiled machine, well until she arrived that is.
She said that after years of giving loyal service to her mistress there was no one better than her to know just how her mistress like to have things.
Well I ask you who would have put up with such a woman? In time that number 38 with her damned brusque manner forced me out, but in the end it didn’t do her any good, because once her mistress left the village she did so without her maid, and then number 38 was moved out of the green dome and I moved back in!
Perhaps in other ways it was also many happy returns for other citizens of the community it was also ‘many happy returns.’ it certainly for the Butler
The Colonel {first name James}
Male
Height….. 6 feet {approx}
Weight…. 180 lbs {approx}
Age………40 {approx}
Hair……… black
Nationality… English
Occupation... Middle Civil Servant
Salary……… £300 per month {approx}
Wear’s a dark brown bomber jacket, dove grey polo neck shirt, grey flannels and leather boots.
A well spoken man, probably ex-private school and a member of the “old school” network.
He lives in a large well furnished house in the country, which reflects his position within a British government department connected with national security.
He likes to relax and play a round of golf on a Saturday afternoons.
He is calm and relaxed, even “laid back”, giving the impression that nothing much rattles him, not being a man to get excited, taking everything in his stride. He finds it easy to give out orders and to delegate, expecting his subordinates to follow his every instruction to the letter and without question.
The Colonel was the once direct superior of the prisoner’s, they working for the same department. But can he now trust his ex-colleague? After all he resigned and then abruptly disappeared. After all people do defect from one side to the other, an unhappy thought, but a fact of life.
The Colonel has something in common with the chairman of the village, Number 2. It seems that the title remains the same, only the face changes! This is the second time we have met with the Colonel, but both times it has been a different man and of different character.
The first Colonel and possibly his predecessor, was both a cynical doubter, full of sarcastic remarks!
As with Number 2, the Colonel’s face may change, but the position itself remains the same.
This Colonel has doubts about his ex-colleague and his story about the village and his abduction at first, but at least he is prepared to listen. Then heavily persuaded he orders Thorpe to check every detail in their ex-colleagues report.
He offers every help and assistance that the prisoner requires.
He teases his ex-colleague, showing his sense of humour, by calling him Number 6, at which he is threatened with a bout in hospital by the prisoner.
It is not clear if the Colonel is embroiled with the village, but it is more then possible that he is.
He describes the prisoner as an “old, old friend who never gives up!”
Thorpe
Male
Height…. 6feet {approx]
Weight…. 170 lbs {approx}
Age……. 40 {approx}
Hair……. Greying, thinning
Nationality… English
Occupation.. Civil Servant
Salary……... £200 per month {approx}
Drinks Whisky.
Wear’s a light grey twp piece suit, brown waist coat, white shirt, dark blue with ‘R.A.F wings’ motif tie and black shoes. Again probably of a public school background and another of the “old school” net work, probably wears the old school tie on occasions!
He is assistant to the Colonel, it is he who drives the Colonel away in the Rolls Royce, after seeing off the ex-colleague at the airfield.
This man is the dead opposite to that of the Colonel.
Thorpe is both a very sceptical, cynical and cold hearted man, perfect qualifications which makes him a most suitable candidate for the position of Number 2.
A man, who if ever attained such a lofty position, would most probably stop at nothing in order to break Number 6!
He sees the ground level photographs as pictures of a “Holiday Camp,” indeed he wouldn’t mind a fortnight’s leave there. It being a far cry from “sing sing!”
Such being the sarcasm which Thorpe so easily demonstrates.
“You resign, you disappear, you spin a yarn that Hans Christian Anderson would reject for a fairy story” Thorpe tells the Prisoner.
And when the prisoner insists that the village was deserted, all Thorpe can find to say is ‘perhaps they were on the democratic annual outing!’
For much of the time as the Prisoner gets more and more irate, Thorpe simply sits in his chair drinking whisky and making sarcastic remarks!
Perhaps he would like to put his ex-colleague under some real interrogation.
Instead of assisting the Colonel in helping their ex-colleague, he gives the impression of a man who would rather be interrogating the prisoner, than simply sitting there listening to his de-briefing session.
But he sees their ex-colleague as “an interesting fellow”.
He is ordered by his superior the, to check every detail in their ex-colleagues report. There is the feeling that had the Colonel not ordered him to do this task, Thorpe would never have bothered. Certainly he seemed not a man to actually go out of his way to prove the prisoner’s story.
Navel Commander
Male
Height…. 5feet 11inches {approx}
Weight…. 180 lbs {approx}
Age……. Late fifties {approx}
Hair……. White – balding
Nationality… English
He wears a British Navel uniform, with the rank of Commander.
Judging by his many medal ribbons, the Commander has seen much action in his long and active naval career.
He finds the prisoner’s recent sea faring exploits as remarkable.
He together with the RAF Group Captain, helps the prisoner calculate the course and possible maximum and minimum travel, on a true course.
At the centre of this is the lighthouse at Beachy Head , the point from where the travel range is calculated.
Once the calculations are complete and both the maximum and minimum travel range has been set, together with the North Easterly course, the Commander bearing in mind an equitable climate which would strongly suggest the coast of ‘Morocco, South West of Portugal and Spain’.
However as soon as this is discovered, the Commander takes his pencil and scribbles all across the area!
The Commander is in no way connected to the village, he has been brought in simply to work on the rough navigation of their ex-colleagues in order to ascertain the possibilities of where the prisoner could have sailed from, and therefore gauging the size and place of the search area. The rest would be down to the prisoner and the Group Captain to find the location of the village.
RAF Group Captain
Male
Height…. 5feet 11inches {approx}
Weight…. 165 {approx}
Age……. 40 {approx}
Hair……. Dark brown with a moustache
Nationality… English
He has seen action, judging by his medal ribbons.
He wears an R.A.F uniform and rank of Group Captain, together with his “wings”
The Group Captain assists in calculating the travel range of the prisoner.
Maximum….. 1,750 miles, this is indicated on a world map by the drawing of a large circle.
Minimum…… 400—500 to cover drift and tide, a smaller circle is drawn within the larger.
Two course lines are then drawn, both North and North Easterly.
It is a total search area of 750,000 square miles.
The Group Captain is in no way connected to the village. He is to pilot the Gloster Meteor Mk71/2, from an airfield somewhere in the South of England.
He is last seen in ”the kitting out room”, doing up his flying boots. But of course it is not the Group Captain who pilots the jet aircraft.
It is clear that the Group Captain was over powered by the bogus milkman in the Kitting out Room, or whether he aided him. In either case, if the Group Captain had been laid out unconscious on the floor or not, when he eventually came round, he would have some explaining to do to the Colonel.
Ernst
1st gun runner
Male
Height…. 5feet 10inches {approx}
Weight….165 lbs {approx}
Age…….. Late forties {approx}
Hair…….. Dark – unshaven
Nationality… Unknown
He speaks a foreign language, only the name of his friend is understandable, ‘Gunter’.
Wear’s a black coat and trousers, a knitted green and white stripped cap, a navy blue ribbed crew neck jumper and Wellington
Gunter
Male
Height…. 5feet 10inches {approx}
Weight…. 165 lbs {approx}
Age…….. Late forties {approx]
Hair……..Black – unshaven
Nationality…. Unknown
Wear’s a black coat and trousers, Wellington
Foot note;
If these two men really are gun runners and in no way are connected to the Village. Then their arrival on the scene was a very timely one.
There is also the question of the provisions eaten by the two supposed gun runners. Are they those of the Prisoner’s, or had they already been aboard in the galley?
The Romanies
1st Romany;
Male
Height…. 5feet 10inches {approx}
Weight….190 lbs {approx}
Age…….. 40 {approx}
Hair…….. dark brown – unshaven
Nationality…Romany
He speaks to his companions in the Romany tongue.
Dress, brown leather jerkin, fawn flared trousers, red tartan shirt and boots.
He has a grey whippet, is possible that he races it. But many people keep whippets because they like them, the same as any dog. It is unlikely that a Romany would keep a dog just because he liked it. Whippets are bred for racing.
He looks a brute of a man, not too untidy but unkept and rough looking. He doesn’t seem to think much of the raggedy figure of the prisoner when they meet. In fact he ignores him, something which would have probably happened to him on occasion.
He argues with the young gypsy woman about the stranger who has followed him and who now nears their camp.
What this mans relationship is with is two companions, is clearly impossible to say, wife, father, brother, sister, all or none of these. However he clearly uses the young girl to look after him, cooking his food, washing his cloths…. On occasion!!
2nd Romany;
Female
Height…. 5feet 6inches {approx}
Weight…. 115 lbs {approx}
Age…….. 20’s {approx}
Hair…….. Dark brown shoulder length
Nationality… Romany
Wear’s a red dress with a blue apron, long knitted cream cardigan and flat shoes.
This Romany woman shows the prisoner the first act of kindness since his abduction to the village, she gives him a cup of fortifying broth or tea from the pot on the fire.
She shows a warm smile to the raggedy but still handsome stranger.
She argues with one of her companions, seemingly about the stranger and her offering him the tea or broth.
She is an attractive young woman, who gives as good as she gets from the first of her companions.
The relationship between the woman and the two men, is difficult to define.
Possible she is the daughter of one, and the wife of the other, or neither of the two.
It is clearly impossible to say. But clearly she looks after the two men, cooking and washing their clothes and such.
3rd Romany
Male
Height… difficult to say, he is always seated!
Weight…. 145 lbs {approx}
Age…… 40’s {approx}
Hair…… dark
Nationality…Romany
Wear’s a black Homburg hat, red neckerchief, dark trousers and grey jacket.
What exactly is the relationship with this man to that of his companion’s, cannot be said, for we do not know what it is. It could be any of the previously mentioned forms of relationship, or none.
The Man in the Office
Male
Height…. 5feet 7inches {approx as we never see him standing}
Weight…. 160 lbs {approx}
Age…….. Late thirties {approx}
Hair…….. Balding
Wears glasses suggesting long sightedness
Nationality… British
Occupation.. Minor Civil Servant
Salary……… £150 per month {approx}
Wears a two piece navy blue suit, white shirt and dark blue/white stripped tie {possibly an old school tie}.
He is a minor bureaucrat, probably spending much of his time in that windowless office, just waiting for the next visitor to arrive.
Although a Civil servant, he is a front man for whatever department he works, a receptionist would do as much for any company.
It was this same man who sat behind that very same desk, to whom the prisoner clearly ranted and raved at as he handed in his letter of resignation to.
Milkman
Male
Height…. 5feet 10inches {approx}
Weight….135 lbs {approx}
Age……. Mid forties {approx}
Hair……. Dark brown
Nationality… unknown possibly English
Possibly an R.A.F pilot.
An agent of the village.
Wear’s a grey smock, white cap, white shirt and black tie. A blue and white stripped apron, a brown leather satchel hung about his neck and shoulders.
He could very well be the milkman who delivers the milk in the village.
He clearly enters the Kitting out Room and over powers the Group Captain, or at least that is the way it looks.
He dons a flying suit and takes place of the Group Captain, his flying helmet on and the tinted visor down as he walks to the Gloster Metero jet. Was this not so then the prisoner would have seen that the pilot was not the Group Captain, which would have given the game away.
And in that regard, nor must the milkman speak to the Prisoner, his voice would be a dead giveaway!
But he does obey the prisoner’s flight instructions, only to happy to do so and fly the prisoner back to the village.
And perhaps it is with a great deal of self satisfaction that he pulls the ejector seat handle, “Be seeing you!”
The pilot is unable to return to Gibraltar , or the airfield back in England
Be seeing you
No comments:
Post a Comment