Well, as you can tell, I live to tell the tale!
So, did I manage to get to the meeting? Yes I did, and I'll tell all in a minute, but first let me explain how I was able to find Scarrott's Elbow. As you'll know (if you've read The Testing of Archie Rathbone) Bolt, Upright & Clench have their shop in Scarrott's Elbow in London, but only existing customers can find it. Doesn't seem a particularly good marketing approach I'd say, but then who am I to question these things!
Anyway, it occurred to me that all I needed to do was to write a short passage in which I receive some small thing from the tailors (in this case, a pair of socks), and that would make me an existing customer! And guess what - it worked!
So, last Sunday I went off in search of their shop. I couldn't tell you how I found it, but I did. I had the passage from the book to go on - where Archie and Emma first go to Scarrott's Elbow together - but it proved a little vague at certain key points. For some reason though, even though I seemed to be wandering aimlessley I suddenly found myself at the entrance to a street with a stone gargoyle set into the wall, and I realised I must be getting near. Five minutes later, there was the sign on the wall. Scarrott's Elbow was creepy enough - all gothic gloom and sinister shadows, but the closer I got to the premises of Messrs Bolt, Upright & Clench the more uneasy I felt.
I'd prepared for the likelihood that someone would challenge me as to why I felt particularly agrieved (the whole pretext of the meeting after all). I felt I couldn't really tell them who I was (in case they decided that I was the ultimate cause of their problems), so instead I invented a new identity: Roger Tickle, slighted ex-boyfriend of Emma Trout, and bitterly resentful of Archie Rathbone. If pressed, I intended to claim to have escaped from the book as well, and just hoped I wouldn't be asked how I'd managed it (after all, I still don't know how Bolt and Trenchfoote escaped yet)!
I don't know what I was expecting to find when I entered the Tailors' shop, but I was completely unprepared for what I found. It wasn't the building itself - that was just as I'd imagined it. No, it was the motley collection of ruffians and nefarious characters assembled there that caught me by surprise. You name it, they were there - disgraced merchant bankers, commodities brokers, traffic wardens. There were self-confessed burglars (colleagues of Trenchfoote no doubt), pick-pockets, and of course several examples of the lower forms of estate agent and second-hand car dealer. But what left me weak at the knees and whimpering to myself in a corner was seeing Bolt and Trenchfoote in the flesh (or feather, in Trenchfoote's case).
Oh sure, I'd seen Trenchfoote only a few days before, but he hadn't been aware of me at the time. Standing in that Tailors' shop under his pearcing gaze left me feeling that my inner-most thoughts must be tattooed on my forehead. Seeing Bolt was far worse though. Some of the shock must have been as a result of setting eyes on an individual I'd previously only seen with my mind's eye. When I'd written The Testing of Archie Rathbone his vile character had seeped from my finger-tips and into the book, and left me feeling slightly unclean afterwards. He was short, wizened and had glistening eyes that were utterly without mercy - the sort that gave glistening eyes a bad name.
Anyway, let's just say that mine was not a comfortable place to be!
Well, eventually they got down to business - discussing their grievances and what they might do about them. It soon became clear that this was not a democracy - Bolt and Trenchfoote were going to have their way, and anyone who wanted to join them would have to fall into line. I was surprised at how Bolt allowed Trenchfoote to take the lead, but then Bolt was never a leader.
In the end though, they agreed that before they can conceive their grand plan they must first secure the necessary funds. With the help of those with specialist skills in that area, they intend to liberate a large amont of money from a very high-profile bank (which I shall not name). Needless to say, I have informed the authorities anonymously, but I know enough of Bolt and Trenchfoote not to believe that they will be so easily foiled.
What will they do next I wonder? And how can I find out, without being found out myself...?
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