CH 8 – When is a Spy no longer a Spy?

For over 70 years years The Somerton Man was thought to have been a spy if not by most then by many and they had good reasons for thinking so. However now that he has been conditionally identified as being Carl Charles Webb, the Mental from Melbourne, this original thesis has exited the building, been chucked out the window, given the bum’s rush, laughed out of the room. I mean, the bloke was just a bloody suburban electrical fitter, an instrument maker, plus he had an addiction to phenobarbital with ether on the side which is not unlike someone these days smoking black hashish with a straight malt whisky chaser.

whoa …

Getting back to it …..

Folks once thought the Somerton Man was a spy because …..

He had no ID on him when found.

Neither did Carl Webb.

His clothes had their labels removed.

So were Carl Webb’s .

He died in mysterious circumstances.

So did Carl Webb.

His body was moved from wherever he died to where it was found.

So was Carl Webb’s.

He was found at a particular time and in a particular city where Communist spies were thought to have been running rampant.

As was Carl Webb.

There was nothing in his suitcase to identify him, bar a spool of thread.

Ditto Carl Webb.

He had a book with a mysterious code written on the back cover.

So did Carl Webb.

The same book had the phone number of a woman whose daughter accepted she was a spy and who may have had a hand in his murder.

A hand in Carl Webb’s murder.

He was thought to have been murdered, possibly because of his spying.

As it was with Carl Webb.

The official investigation into his death may have been deliberately hampered by a higher authority.

Ditto Carl Webb.

The Tamam Shud slip found in his fob pocket may have been placed there at a later date.

As it was with Carl Webb.

There remains speculation in some rarified circles that the Rubaiyat with the TS slip removed was a ploy to de-rail the investigation and suggest he had committed suicide.

As it was thought with Carl Webb.
…

It’s just like playing it back, ain’t it?