A hypothesis with a hole in it …

It’s almost impossible to argue that Charlie Webb’s hair wasn’t used by Colleen Fitzpatrick. All the facts back it up. Of the 4,000 people who scored a DNA match he was the only male of about the same age as SM and who died without a death certificate being issued. The Keane name marked on his clothing has been explained and despite some concentrated discussion re his height and facial appearance most folks agree Webb is the Somerton Man.

What we don’t have though is a chain of evidence that proves where the hair came from, we only have hearsay. The cops plucked it. DA plucked it. It fell off the back of a truck.

So if a bloke was to argue Webb wasn’t SM it would mean there was one so-called unidentified body in the morgue (SM) and another whose identity was to be suppressed (Webb), it would also mean it was Webb’s suitcase that was found at the station and the card of thread was added by someone (?) in order to link it with SM, possibly the same unmitigated scoundrel who added the matches in order not to have been asked embarrassing questions about how a bloke could light a smoke without having any.

This less than likely scenario might explain why SAPOL didn’t fingerprint anything in the case because if they had done so the prints would not have matched those of the Somerton Man, they being Charlie Webb’s. This would suggest a conspiracy of sorts was afoot and SM’s identification was too sensitive to be made public so they switched it and he was reborn seventy years later as Charlie. Add to that the disappearance of the ROK, the absence of any photos of it, ditto the phone number written on the back etc etc …

In far fetched conclusion we can suggest SM was a foreign agent known to Harkness from her Sydney days and who was in town to look her up, being on the run from his erstwhile employers who not only found him lurking around Moseley Street, they dealt with him in a fatal manner then carried him to the beach. At least it looks like he got one punch in (bleeding right knuckle, remember? Bloke asking a next door Moseley Street neighbour where a nurse lived, remember?).

And of course the real reason young Jessica fled Sydney was not because of her pregnancy, it was due to her imminent exposure as being a junior Soviet stooge and the alleged written down phone number that resulted in her becoming a person of interest in the SM case was intended as a frightener … as in ‘We know who you are and what you’ve done.’ And frightened off she was, not a word from her for the rest of her life. This might also explain why husband-to-be George wasn’t bothered by the police, they knew all they needed to know.

None of this was considered by the coroner as he’d already packed the case up and was back at the office, all this really interesting stuff happened after the adjournment. It’s all about the timing.

What is noteworthy about this fragile scenario is that it means Charlie Webb effectively became The Unknown Man and The Unknown Man became Charlie Webb

Dream on you reckon?