Day to day musings of a cat minder/ sitter in North Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne . For details of services go to http://www.catminders.biz

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Sunday 16 November 2008

The Complex Passport Adventure

My Blog is suffering . Too many adventures happening too close together and not enough time to stop and write ? I wish ….. Or maybe inertia is getting the better of me ? You decide !
Yesterday’s Enid Blyton moment was thwarted only by the reluctance of local police to co operate . Sadly PC Goon was not in attendance when we rolled up at North Shields police station to make our crime report and hand over our log of Suspicious Findings . In fact , the Special Constable was notably more interested in the arrival of her late lunch or early afternoon between meals snack ( a cheese pasty , we think , judging by the greasy bag ) than in our crime reports and to our minds opened the half door in the wire meshing separating police and punter only to admit our wet and soggy bag of evidence because of the arrival of the aforementioned cheese pasty .
But as usual I race on ahead of time .

Such was our desperation for adventure that when L and I spotted ( well ok I admit , she spotted ) a wet passport lurking under a rock on the beach when out in the sunshine for our morning constitutional , we began our search for attendant neatly folded piles of clothes , final messages to loved ones , even an abandoned car in the pub car park .
Admittedly we had time to kill as a big greyhound was looking over at us from the far corner of King Edward's Bay and Alice was urging us to keep a low profile as she had sustained a nasty bite last Sunday when ( for once ) minding her own business she was chased by a young greyhound who doubtless mistaking her for a small rabbit ( easily done when you're only thirteen months old and a bit silly ) took a big chunk out of her back leg .
By the time said passport was bagged up ( dog-poo bags can be so useful ) , pocketed , unbagged again ( for a blog photograph . Right . Ok , how sad are we ? ) and surrounding area thoroughly searched , and indeed big boy greyhound had given his human companions the slip and come bounding over to check Alice out ( causing humans much anxiety as noting her angry flesh wound they mistakenly assumed their boy was the cause ! ) , we had invented numerous stories regarding the missing passport and its significance .

All handwritten details had been erased in the water but it belonged to a twenty one year old student with an unusal surname , born in Newcastle upon Tyne .
We decided it needed to be handed in to the loal police and contacted them to report its whereabouts . They took no details , simply asking us to hand it in when we had time .

We decided therefore to make our own enquiries using the internet and although we did hand in the item , within an hour or so of searching were able to locate the young man's mother . The man himself , although having one entry on Google which told us that he had won a national debating competition when still at school , unusually had no Facebook, Bebo or MySpace entry and therefore we drew a blank , but we quickly made a connection via his unusual surname , discovering that his mother was a rather well known local author and poet , who had links with the late Julia Darling who was known to myself though not personally , to many of my friends in the area . As I looked through Google entries attempting to find a way to contact his mother just to let her know we had handed in the passport , I realised that two musicians who were tragically killed in 05 following a hit and run incident in the Westgate Hill area of Newcastle upon Tyne , also known to me at the time as they were friends of friends , were part of this passport story . One of the men who was killed was in fact the father of the young man whose passport we had .
Small world . I read on . A 17 year old boy had in fact taken a BMW whilst under the influence of alcohol and mounted the pavement , hitting the two men who had been playing music , rehearsing for a gig to commemorate the life of Julia Darling which was to have taken place the following evening . Both men were hurled into the air and , I think , killed instantly . News reports stated that the partner of the other man , whose name was Joe Scurfield , asked that the 17 year old see the body of the man he had killed and he agreed . He received a five year sentence . The passport Boy's mother was reported as saying that she was sure that when the 17 year old took the car he had no intention of killing or causing harm or words to that effect . Amazing .

She did have a Facebook page . I contacted her yesterday to say we had handed in the passport . She wrote quickly back to say the passport had been stolen two months ago at the Sage ( music venue ) . Relief that no more sinister connotation .
Small world though . And complex stories everywhere .

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Catcalls
Think you should be a detective! You did well to research the found passport, it was sad to hear the tragic death of the lads father,
Hope Alices leg is healing, and yes it is a small world
Take care all, and give a tummy tickle to Alice for me
Best Wishes
Joan x

BetteJo said...

Wow - amazing how much you were able to find out! I was surprised though what your first thoughts were - I'm not sure that would have occurred to me! Maybe that's the difference between the imagination of someone who is a writer and someone who is not. :)

Hope Alice is feeling better - poor girl, she's had more trouble with other dogs picking on her!!

MsCatMinder said...

Thanks Joan for your comments and good to hear from you again .
I keep my eyes open for surfers and it seems whenever they are out there I have forgotten the camera .
Bettejo , I just think its so odd for someone to lose a passport . Most people dont take them out when they go out as a matter of course so unusual for it to be stolen . And yes , me and my sister do have over active imagination ... I love to be described as a writer by the way . What a dream ...

Anonymous said...

In the interests of accuracy..I notice you omit to mention the bag of Dog Poo inadvertently but unforgivably abandoned near the Discovery Scene in the excitementof the moment...

MsCatMinder said...

You are right of course , though important to say we also did retrace our steps to collect after noting the error of our ways ?

Silliyak said...

Have you considered that the real police station may have moved, and miscreants taken over to cover their ill deeds? And what better cover than a bored clerk to create the illusion. Had he/she been attentive, surely that would have raised suspicions. Garotted? I never said he was garrotted! I sense a book, "The Greyhound Who Loved Newcastle Upon Tyne"

MsCatMinder said...

Now there's a thought .... the cheese pasty was a plant !
And there is a very cute little part time police kiosk on a stick in Tynemouth itself , with part time representation . Now why didn't we go there ?
And where is that soggy passport now ? In the bin ? Or in a forging device as we speak , sand , limpets, dog dander and all ?

Anonymous said...

The bogus police officer has indubitably eaten it..

MsCatMinder said...

And only a Blogger , a Scrabbler or a Sister would fully understand the Total Satisfaction inherent in the application of dander and indubitable . In one post too .

Silliyak said...

I can't even say (or spell) "indubitably", I think you have to be british.
I think the modern equivalent of "the microfilm" was in the pastry. Perhaps Fat Bastard ate it in order to "deposit" it at Paddington Station!

MsCatMinder said...

Silliyak , you are truly splendid . For the record , I too have trouble with indubitably . Dander is more me . You have to see my sister in action to get the full impact of indubitable , indubitably . For the record , Cheese Pasty Woman was not walking in a straight line .
What is the Meaning of this ?

Anonymous said...

Mind you I think she would be quite capable of leaving a Large Deposit at Paddington Station, on account of the high fat diet.

Silliyak said...

Was she using a possibly poison tipped cane? Or tapping out a code?Was there a pattern to her gait? You must remember! Probably NOTHING hangs on this clue! Could she have been a man in disguise? Was she drugged having taken a bite out of said pastry?

MsCatMinder said...

Silliyak , or Bettejo , or any other American readers
Are you familiar with the works of Enid Blyton ?

Do they translate ?

MsCatMinder said...

I have a hypothesis that her unusual gait may link to a pressing need to leave her Deposit at Paddington . Way to Go . Pasty to eat . Passport to see to . All pressing Needs .

Silliyak said...

No, If the gaps in my literary knowledge were a hole, it would be a six lane freeway tunnel. Now ask me about Austin Powers baby! YAH!

MsCatMinder said...

Austin Powers Que ?

Anonymous said...

The Spy Who Ate Me?

MsCatMinder said...

The Spy who Ate me and then left a large deposit at Paddington ?

Silliyak said...

I'm thinking FB had to await the arrival of the Fleet! Come to think of it, maybe he was carrying secrets of the Fleet movements!

MsCatMinder said...

Hang on Hang on Silliyak ....FB has has a sudden sex change ....she was a woman as of Saturday . Or was this a mere slip of the finger ?

Silliyak said...

That wasn't a woman, that was a MAN baby, YEH. (Throws him/her down, punchs face, attempts to rip off wig)

Silliyak said...

Of course, if it WAS a woman, then the whole waiting for the Fleet to arrive has another layer of meaning.

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Definitely complex stories everywhere. Riveting account. You could definitely make this into a short story.

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