I'm
on the mobile to Helen. She's worried. John is threatening
her. He's trying to control her. There's a hiss and John
intercepts the signal. His voice comes out of the phone.
'Not saying anything bad about me, Helen?'
Helen denies it but we both wonder what he has overheard.
John tells me to meet him near Canning Town. He stands
there with a huge Filofax like a Bible open before him.
This is how he intercepts people on their mobiles, he tells
me. Dozens of wires and connectors are threaded through the
Filofax. The brass connectors lay just beneath the paper on
which the telephone numbers are written. John produces a
small hammer and slams it down on a telephone number. The
number and connector are mashed together and he intercepts
the call. I’m amazed. He swings the hammer from side to
side. Despite its size it would split my skull.
John has a problem. After several blows the connector is
ruined. Too mashed to allow him to intercept. He needs a
new Filofax. He demands one. A henchman appears. The man
says there have no filo faxes been made like that since the
early nineties. People don't use them anymore. John fumes
and the hammer starts to swing. I suggest we hit the
antique shops in Brighton. John nods at my idea. He's
convinced the antique shops will give him a fresh supply.
M. 35