You never know who is at the door...

Allan Sanders and Lee Kennedy (Photo courtesy of J Cosmo Newbery).

The trouble with providing a letter drop-point for some of the more scurrilous ne'er-do-wells of the world is that sometimes I find myself on the receiving end of their guest lists. This usually involves bailiffs, sheriffs and bounty hunters.

This afternoon the door bell rang and I was greeted with "J Cosmo Newbery!".

Of course, this puts me on a spot. Do I proceed with the charade? Do I feign ignorance? Do I say that Mr Newbery is off having his knees checked for mines and could I take a message?

I did the only polite thing I could and invited the gentleman in. He had, after all, come all the way from France along with his lovely wife and young son. His name, I found out, was Allan Sanders.

As the story panned out it seems that Allan, writing as Dyson Kardz, and Mr Newbery, writing as Sir Wilberforce Harrington-Smythe, had run a joint counter scam with some Nigerian conmen a few years back. (It is a fear that one day some gentlemen from Lagos will turn up looking for Mr Newbery. They will probably not be invited in.) You can read the account here but I strongly suggest you arm yourself with a coffee, or better, before venturing into their long and quite remarkable tale.
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