Elvis had a thing called the fifty yard walk. Say he was getting ready for a show.  No matter what frame of mind he was in he had a technique for switching into the right frame of mind for a performance.  He would use this technique in the walk from his dressing room to the … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 16: The Fifty Yard Walk →

My interventionist stance on the Turkestan issue was unquestionably having a bad effect on my career.  The meeting with The Master had gone reasonably well though I was dissatisfied with some aspects of my performance.  There were of course no explicit sanctions taken against me: ostensibly everything carried on exactly as before.  But greetings were … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 17: Information Made Him Fat →

Porky could see that Cheese had started the session like a man with a plan.  This was no night-outer.  This fact gave Porky at least part of his bad feeling.  Cheese was more than a recreational player.  This was strategy.  Cheese had opened up with some ultra-cautiously played hands.  Porky didn’t think Cheese had expected … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 18: A Man with a Plan →

Big Cheese stretched his brown furry body full length on the black leather sofa in his flat. He had phoned and asked me to come over. Cheese's flat was at the top of a luxury apartment building in docklands. It would have been fun dodging the paparazzi outside the building if I‘d been in the … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 19: Pendrivel Attacks →

In this Testament I will speak only the truth.  Do not dismiss this memoir as merely febrile and deluded.  It must serve as a warning. The situation with Turkestan was this.  The ruling families of the West, with their power base largely in oil interests and strategic minerals, wished to control the area of the … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 20: The Problem with Turkestan →

Porky liked his office in Casino Byzantium.  It was certainly a big advance on his first office, a cramped little room that had nevertheless been the launchpad for piggypoker.com.  Happy days.  But still, being in your office was still to be on public view, so Porky had built on a more peccary-friendly retirement suite adjacent … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 21: The Great Gathering →

The leader of Mouse Force Alpha switched on his torch and scanned the office that was the scene of the current operation.  It was a fairly small set up and MF1 didn't foresee any major problems. And this was what is known as a soft operation.  The objective of the mission would be achieved using … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 22: Mouse Force Alpha →

The Big One.  Vegas.  I'm in a plane coming in to land at McCarran airport.  I've had to spend the whole trip in a cage, the only way Air America would let me fly.  Health and safety gone mad.  They couldn't have a hamster running around the plane.  And what if there was a crash … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 23: Vegas →

Porky was making a phone call to Zak Zargosa from his office in Casino Byzantium.  Zargosa picked up.  He was in Las Vegas.  Porky always used speakerphone.  It was a cloven-hooved thing. “Hi Zak.  Porky here.” “Hi Porky.  How's it going?” “Going good.  And you?” “Going good.  I love Vegas.  I'm staying at The Luxor. … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 24: Zak →

I got a call from Big Cheese.  Go to his place for a meeting tonight.  The others would be there: Will the Pit, Bloodbath Henry, the three Corgi brothers.  Cheese sounded serious.  I got there in time but was the last to arrive.  Bloodbath was lying on the sofa.  He looked really chilled like he … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 25: Cheese Makes Big Plans →

It is important right from the start to clear away some misconceptions.  It should not be though that The Master was merely a cynic exploiting the values of a corrupt world.  If this was the case he would be a very unremarkable person.  The problems went deeper than that. The problems were structural, even metaphysical. … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 26: The Performer →

Porky asked himself the question for the thousandth time.  How had they done it?  Maybe Cheese's win was easy enough to explain.  The cat had simply outplayed Zargosa.  If so well done to him.  Porky could even admire how he had managed the whole thing.  However, Cheese's win was only a small part of what … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 27: Harry Plays Roulette →

I was in Vince Spangle's office.  Big Vince was my international agent at the time. It was a small office in a small street in Soho. The office was on the first floor above the Kitty Kat Club, a top pole-dancing venue.  Vince had called me in to talk about some work.  He had said … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 28: Harry Meets an Old Friend →

The Mannings lived in a typical 1930s suburban house on the edge of Shooters Hill in east London.  Brian Manning was a HR Director for Euro Bank and Joan was a legal secretary.  They had one daughter, Helen aged seven.  Their house had a large garden, great for kids, that backed onto Shooters Hill, separated … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 29: His Name is Fluffy →

Henry slid through the cat flap and onto the garden path.  It was night, but there was a clear sky and a bright moon.  Purrfect.  His night vision kicked in and he was hit by the familiar smells of the garden.  Henry had had enough of Big Cheese.  A new world, a new ra-thingy between … Continue reading Harry Says Chapter 30: Bloodbath Henry Takes a Walk →