Dear Jo,

Great, you’re still interested.

There’s just the matter of a little test. Did I not mention that? It’s not a trick. I need to check out all my recruits’ abilities. You may think you’re up to the job but this is whole mind thinking; using logic and creativity.

Mrs Partridge left her house one January morning at 7 o’clock. There’d been a recent spell of snow and lower than usual cold temperatures of minus9. She left the house, dressed appropriately for the cold weather. She wore duck down boiler jacket, over layered clothing, thick woollen socks in Magnum boots, fleece glove liners under ski gloves and a woollen hat. She had a small rucksack stuffed with her personal items.

When she saw the black ice on the slight incline, she decided to leave her car where it was parked, outside her house, and walked the 2miles to work. The weather had improved, as predicted, and though still cold, midges were seen hovering over shrubbery.

For Mrs Partridge, the day was uneventful until she reached home. She was found laid on her back, on the paving, round the back of her house. Unfortunately, she wasn’t discovered till the next day when the postman dropped off a parcel. She was dead.

She’d received a penetrating orbital trauma from a foreign body resulting in temporal lobe seizure, arterial trauma and brain ischaemia. Apart from some bruising, from her fall and seizures, there were no other injuries.

Her rucksack was against the unlocked, closed door where the key was in situ. She wore glasses but these were found by the door.

There was slight ground frost overnight and no ice formed apart from a small area near her head.

It was concluded that Mrs Partridge’s death was an accident. The foreign body, which would have been heavy, with a sharp point and smooth edges, was never found.

Ponder if you will, the Case of the Fallen Bird, (as I like to call it). What conclusions do you make of this case?

Yours

Swan

Dear Jo,

I most sincerely apologise for my error. It is one that went unnoticed by you but I assumed you were male. How could I have made such a boob, I mean your name is female, Jo, or Josephine as you have informed me, and not Joe as I thought.

Thank you for your quick response. You tell me you’re intrigued by my name so I will tell you.

Family tradition goes that an ancestor, on my mother’s side, was a Native American. She wanted to name her first born in ‘the way of her ancestors;’ after the first thing she saw after my birth, something like that. I like to think she was at home, by the lake, when I was placed in her arms, and she glanced briefly at a wedge of swans that had taken flight. Hmm. Nice, but not the truth.

I was born a week early. It was a surprise to Mother but not to those around who thought my birth, in the kitchen, no shock at all. She was always fidgeting; she couldn’t sit still. Mother had been preparing the Sunday roast at the time and true to her word, she turned to look, and what she saw was a large, yellow, box of matches on the kitchen table. The makers? Swan.

As you can see, I’m far from conventional, and nor shall I be, unless called to be so. My ways may be strange but they are effect.

You are correct in thinking that meeting face to face will only be in extreme circumstances. Do not destroy or file our letters, but rather keep them in bundles in the PO Box; they are pieces of evidence, our security. Yes, I do require that you acknowledge an unwritten contract of trust, that you fulfil our mutual contribution to the mission, no matter how long it may take. It is a commitment, but one that’s worthwhile.

Yours

Swan

Dear Jo Brady,

Thank you for considering this mission, solely on the word of our mutual friend, Eddie.

Firstly, some ground rules before you agree to anything.

You may think letter writing to be passé but I believe the act or art of writing to be more truthful; it focuses the mind more than typing on a key board and pressing send.

I admit to being a technophobe. This stems from my reluctant adoption of paranoia; an extreme form of awareness. I trust the word but not the type. I believe in the post but not email. Phones, be they landline or mobile are tricky; I don’t want to hear that Eve’s dropping in (pardon the pun) with her Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It may be slow, but the forgotten grandparent of communication is my bag.

I have tried and tested my theory that our future correspondence will not be tampered with if we follow certain rules. Use tradition letter writing stationery; keep it light weight, (standard stationary weight 80gsm will do), bulky mail could be tempting a rogue sorter to seek out money. Also, extra stamps have implications other than cost.  Use C6 envelopes with one A4 paper folded twice. Write on one side only and no A5’s please. Follow this and we’ll have a nice, neat postcard size, unassuming letter.

We MUST use the designated PO Box addresses to avoid OTHERS accidently opening our mail or becoming suspicious, and of course it will appease any worries I may have about the security of this mission.

Who am I? I sound like an advert for Debrett’s. I will introduce myself next time. As you can see, I’ve run out of space.

Yours

Swan

Dear Eddie,

Thanks for your reply. I’m glad you’re up for this, though I am a little disappointed that you can’t assist immediately. I take it, the contact you mentioned is reliable. Of course he is. I trust you. It’s just, I thought we would work together from the offset. No worries. Honestly, I can’t wait till you’re on board with this.

I shall write to Jo Brady and fill him in with some details; see what he thinks and ensure he’s committed.

I’ll keep you posted with details of my new mission.

Yours

Swan 

Dear Eddie,

Surprised to hear from me?

I know it’s been a year but things have been pretty wild. Involving you in all this is a big ask, but I can’t think of anyone I can trust more with the things I have discovered.

Do you need persuading? What if I said, ‘Aunt Mable’s hatpin,’ would that draw you in?

Reply to me at the PO Box number and then I’ll fill you in with the details. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Yours

Swan