I thought I was done here, but now I'm of a mind to share a small, true story.

In 'Scottish Decision,' Gently finds himself on a team with a snarky, slim, yellow-haired member of Military Intelligence. Just to show you what the guy is like, they are trying to rescue a peacemaker who has been abducted, and the MI guy repeatedly sneers, "What's-his-name is dead meat." I think I encountered one of his co-workers in 2017.

That day in 2017 I found myself toddling along a London street right where MI had its HQ. I had my Rollator to help with walking, and to keep out of the way, I was as far to the left as I could get, hugging a stone wall. Suddenly a male figure swept up from behind me, walking too fast and coming too close, breaking into my personal space, and not being careful of me as an old person. Just the sort of behavior one would expect from the MI guy in 'Scottish Decision.'

After the rude person got ahead of me, I saw he was slim, with a silhouette made famous by Sloane Square, with kinky red hair poking out from a fashionable hat. I regarded him with disfavor, also thinking, "I bet you don't know that you look like Clem Kadiddlehopper from behind."

Apparently his government-issued Hostility Detector went off, because suddenly he spun around to face my way and started to scan the environment, his eyes sweeping up high, then to the right and to the left, checking the street, checking the trees behind the stone wall - checking everything, in fact, but the little old lady with the walker, with whom he made no eye contact. Because obviously she was of no importance whatever. Failing to detect a threat, he turned around and resumed his stride.

Little did he suspect.