Callan Uncovered

[firestorm717]

Since finishing the Callan TV show, I've been craving more of our antihero and his cadre of backstabbing frenemies, but as the fandom is basically nonexistent, I've been forced to turn to official sources to slake my cravings. No, I didn't resurrect James Mitchell and make him write a 234089123 chapter Callan/Meres fic, followed by a live reenactment by zombie!Edward and vampire!Anthony. (Alas!) But I did buy the Callan Uncovered volumes of short stories, which Mitchell first published in the Sunday Express, and which later formed the basis for the TV show and movies. For the most part, they're standard pulp spy fiction - stark and punchy - with just enough scenery sketched in to provide a backdrop to the action. The plots are pretty formulaic too. Hunter gives Callan a target to protect/kill, Callan hires Lonely to do the spying or breaking & entering, something goes wrong because Hunter withheld information, and Callan ends up running-and-gunning (or punching) his way out of a bad situation. Of course he survives, but with a little bit less of his conscience each time.

Did I mention that the writing is incredibly sexist? I counted exactly three female characters who weren't damsels-in-distress or sexy femme fatales. Now, I didn't expect much from '60s pulp fiction, but god damn, did I really have to force myself through some of these stories.

Anyway, you're probably wondering why I bothered. The reason is... because I was looking for some Callan/Meres ship fodder. And I found it! Though not as much as I'd like, since Meres is only a minor character in the stories. Hunter, on the other hand... oh boy, there is some SERIOUSLY slashy Hunter/Callan banter, which I have to share with the fandom. So without further ado, all the ship information you could ask for along with some interesting tidbits that should prove useful to the fic writer.


General Observations

• The primary operatives in the stories are Callan, Meres, and Fitzmaurice. Callan is the best shot, which is evident both in the field and in practice. However, he readily admits that Fitzmaurice (described as a large and very black West Indian) beats him at karate. Meres is the con-man of the bunch, "smooth as a billiard ball", and an excellent driver to boot. He can tail a vehicle like nobody's business and manages to keep a car with a blown-out tire on the road. Together with Lonely as the unobtrusive thief and spy, they would make a great D&D party.


• Callan is often a fish out of water on assignments, as he's expected to mingle with the rich and famous (or just plain rich) as one of their own. Hunter has to school him on proper etiquette, which usually means taking Callan out on dates to the theater, the club, even a ballet performance.


• Early on, Callan loves pulling rank on Meres, forcing the other man to take subordinate roles on jobs, and Meres hates him for it. However, over the course of the stories, there's a subtle shift in their relationship from antagonism to mutual respect to, dare I say, a partnership? Not as obvious as in the TV show, but it's definitely there. By the end of the stories, Callan no longer taunts Meres by assigning him humiliating roles, and Meres seems to have dropped the rivalry, obeying Callan's orders without complaint. It's worth noting that even when they are on bad terms, Callan's first choice for partner is always Meres.


• Callan/Meres are both shown to get nervous during missions. Several times, Callan is forced to face larger, stronger opponents in unarmed combat, and beforehand, he's sweating with dread as he contemplates his chances. Meres admits in File on an Awesome Amateur that he gets stage fright right before an operation. He's shaking after a stint as bait for a sniper, and one wonders if his anger at Callan is just a way to cover up his fear. It's interesting to see these glimpses of vulnerability, as we're reminded that even the best agents are just one false move away from death.


• Many stories mention Section operatives who were captured and brutally tortured to death. One died in the middle of a scream. Another, Callan's trainee, was betrayed by a double agent - Henderson, the only one of Hunter's section to go double. Henderson costs the Section seven lives before Callan manages to track him down and kill him. This bloody history makes me wonder if Callan and his colleagues carry cyanide pills with them in the field... as a last resort, when the suffering knows no end.

Callan Uncovered

1. File on a Deadly Deadshot
   
   
   • Hunter takes Callan to a gentlemen's shooting club and gives him a beautiful Purdy shotgun, part of a matched pair custom-made for Hunter's father. Callan handles the Purdy like a charm, shooting down clay pigeons with perfect accuracy. At the end, he looks at the shotgun in awe and says it's incredible to which Hunter replies, "You both are. Even my father - " But he never finishes the sentence. Mitchell writes: Hunter's father was dead, and he himself had no sons. That was a bitterness he could not share with Callan. Nevertheless, Hunter loans the deeply sentimental Purdy to Callan for a job.
   
   
   • Hunter then proceeds to take Callan to lunch at his club. Callan reacts with surprise, as Hunter never does this for his operatives, again implying a special relationship between the two. Naturally, Hunter has an excuse: he wants to make sure Callan's manners are up to par for the job, which requires Callan to pose as a wealthy gentleman on a Lord's estate.
   
   
   • If Callan's going to pose as a gentleman-of-means, he'll need a valet. Hunter emphasizes that it's expected for someone of his (pretend) station. Callan grins wickedly and asks if Meres is available. Alas, Toby is not, so Callan ends up with Lonely as his smelly valet.
   
   


2. File on a Weeping Widow
   
   
   • The Hunter/Callan flirtation continues. When Callan is dodgy about giving a report, Hunter sighs in frustration and says, "This isn't the time for maidenly coyness, Callan."
   
   
   • Turns out, Callan's trying to protect a lady he likes, who may or may not be entangled in KGB shenanigans, and who Hunter may or may not want to stick in a red file. "Prove her innocent, Callan, or else hand her over to someone who won't care if she's guilty." Callan asks, "Like Toby?" to which Hunter replies, "Meres would handle this one admirably."
   
   
   • After awhile, Hunter gets fed up with Callan's lack of progress and tells Callan to turn the case over to Meres. Callan knows all too well how that will end, so in a rare display of submission, he begs Hunter for another day to set things right: "Please, Hunter... please. I've never asked a favour before." And Hunter ultimately obliges, though with the ominous warning, "I shall expect to be repaid."
   
   
   • Unfortunately, that repayment never comes, as in a terrible moment of vulnerability, Callan falls in love with the lady... and nearly gets killed when his unthinking love causes him to ignore crucial inconsistencies in her appearance. He escapes death in the end - muscle memory is a damn good thing - but Hunter is furious at the resulting mess, and Callan's girlfriend leaves him once she realizes he's a dirty murderer.
   
   


3. File on an Angry Actor
   
   
   • Callan is assigned as bodyguard to an old lady, whom the KGB want to kill. The reason is not important. What is important is how Callan goes about luring out the assassin - by using Meres as bait! And oh, not just any bait... Meres is forced to crossdress as the old lady, complete with a white-haired wig and dove-grey silk dress. Naturally, Meres is furious. Mitchell writes: But Meres knew that his only court of appeal was Hunter: knew, too, that he was under Callan's orders. It didn't make him hate Callan less, but at least he would do as he was told.
   
   
   • While Meres sashays temptingly in the window, Callan stalks and brings down the gunman. Afterwards, Meres pours himself a Scotch, his unsteady hand betraying his nerves. Callan asks if he's alright. Meres replies that he's fine, but feels rather like a fool. Callan tells him to get rid of the gunman's body to which Meres responds sarcastically, "Of course. Just as soon as I've slipped into something a little less formal."
   
   
   • Honestly, I can't believe Mitchell went there with this story. Meres in drag? It's so hilarious and bizarre and... well... actually kinda hot. (Hey, I'm into that sort of thing). A pity Meres didn't get to dress up as a pretty woman. Bet that's the real reason he was upset at Callan ^_~ he wanted to look pretty for his bae. However, with the job well done, there's always time for sexy roleplay!
   
   


4. File on a Lucky Lady
   
   
   • Another job for Callan playing bodyguard - to a rich girl this time. Meres is his in, since Meres is good at wooing rich girls and telling them all about his BF who is "awfully good with a gun." (No innuendo there, LOL).
   
   
   • This particular rich girl really knows how to boss a man around. "Say good evening, darling," she says. Callan obeys. "You see," she tells the gambling table, "He's perfectly well-trained." If Meres got word of this, he'd be snickering at what that training entailed.
   
   
   • The story ends with a team-up between Callan/Meres/Lonely. Callan asks for Meres as his partner, and the two meet at the Section's armory to plan and practice all night. (More PWP fodder!) Then, Callan/Meres run a scam akin to Thor/Loki's "Get help!". Meres pretends to be falling-down-drunk at a party so Callan has an excuse to manhandle him upstairs, where they pick up the guns that Lonely dropped off earlier. The pair take out the baddies quick as can be.
   
   


5. File on a Careful Cowboy
   
   
   • This story is amazing. It's literally I Never Wanted the Job set in the Wild Wild West. Hunter sends Callan to kill a Mafia don as a favor to the CIA. This Mafia don is obsessed with Westerns to the point of building his own dude ranch, complete with horses and taverns and cowboys... and minders to keep an eye out for trouble. Callan needs all the help he can get if he's gonna take this guy out.
   
   
   • So of course, Callan asks for Meres. Hunter is skeptical - an Englishman as a cowboy? But Meres loves the idea, and after fooling around in the armory, Callan realizes he loves it too. The pair of them get all dressed up in cowboy outfits. Callan sports denims and a plaid shirt with a cut-away leather holster tied to his thigh with pig-string, while Meres wears black pants, a black shoestring tie, a black leather waistcoat over a white shirt, topped off by a black flatbrimmed hat. The pair are really too beautiful for words. Then, they practice all day with Colt .45's, Callan always just a little bit faster than his elegant companion.
   
   
   • Callan also recruits Lonely as a stablehand. Surprisingly, Lonely proves to be a skilled horseman, easily mounting and guiding his steed around the ranch. (This contradicts File on a Reckless Rider in which Lonely has no experience riding horses). Meres is less lucky in his pick of a big roan, which leaves him limping. In a rather nasty fit of spite, Callan thinks to himself that he's pleased to watch Meres limp while Lonely is free from pain.
   
   
   • Despite their petty arguments, when the cards are down, Callan/Meres/Lonely work together like a well-oiled machine. Callan loads his gun with the ammunition that Lonely stole from the armory, then takes out the Mafia don in a classic "pistols at dawn" fast-draw scene. Meres snipes two heavies from the rooftops and warns Callan of the third coming up behind him. Bang, bang, all the goons die, and Hunter is most pleased.
   
   


6. File on a Doomed Defector
   
   
   • Callan/Meres set out to lift a KGB defector named Ostrava, bickering all the way like an old married couple. First, Meres complains of boredom in Milan, while the two keep watch outside a gothic cathedral. "How can you just sit there?" he asks Callan, who is admiring the architecture. "I can sit here because nice, kind Mr. Hunter told me to sit here," Callan replies. "So why don't you just shut up and look at the nice cathedral?" Meres mutters, "So everything's nice today, is it?" But Callan doesn't rise to the bait: he has enough on his mind as it is, he doesn't need a punch-up with Meres to top it off.
   
   
   • Meres huffs for the entire seven minutes their target is inside the cathedral, but once Ostrava exits, it's all business. He tails Ostrava's Ferrari through the city and on to the Autostrada like a pro, following it to a restaurant in the countryside. Callan thinks: Say what you like about Meres - and there isn't much I couldn't say about him - but even so he's great with a car. Never obtrusive, always at least two other cars between him and the subject, but always there, clinging like an adhesive bandage. If only he could be like that with people. I choose to interpret this as Callan wanting Meres to cling to him ^_~.
   
   
   • At the restaurant, Callan/Meres are just about to sit down to a romantic meal when Callan's ex friend, Neruda, shows up. Callan doesn't even need to say anything for Meres to sense trouble. He demands to know what's wrong. Callan confesses that Neruda recognizes Ostrava and may be a problem. Meres's eye gets that glittering look that foretells the chance of danger; the chance to hurt. "Do we take him?" he asks, but Callan replies with a sharp, "No." He says that Neruda is a good man. Meres goes back to complaining, "What an old softy you are... First they're nice, now they're good. What on earth is the matter with you?" I'm with Meres here. I too would be upset if my BF interrupted our date in Milan to flirt with his ex.
   
   
   • With lunch ruined, Meres is eager to continue following their target, but Callan tells him to leave it. Meres starts to argue, and Callan pulls rank: "That's an order. You remember orders? They're the things I give and you take." (In bed *cough*). Meres goes back to sulking. He's still sulking the next night, consumed with envy that Ostrava is entertaining girls in a lavish suite, while he's stuck on duty watch across the hall. Callan wisely retires to bed alone.
   
   
   • Finally, late at night, when Ostrava and his goons are drunk off their rockers, Callan/Meres con their way into the suite. They quickly take out the bodyguards, and Ostrava looks up at them in fear, thinking they've come to kill him. Mitchell gives us this lovely line: Meres chuckled, a sound that made Callan think of a silk cord twisting round a neck.
   
   
   • Callan/Meres are driving Ostrava to the airport when the off-front tire of their car blows out. Once again, Callan has a superb opportunity to admire Meres's skill as a driver, as Meres wrestles the wheel, forcing the car to stay on the road. Meres makes the car limp to a lay-by, where Neruda is lying in wait to kill Ostrava. Meres says to Callan, "I rather think you'll need help, old boy." But Callan tells him to stay out of it. He has to face his ex... um, friend... alone. Since this is Callan, you know things don't end well. At least Meres is happy, since he's the only one of Callan's suitors to survive this deadly mission.
   
   


7. File on a Darling Daughter
   
   
   • Callan is sent to keep an eye on the heroin-addicted daughter of an important general. He quickly tracks down her pusher, a pathetic layabout named Billy Bone, whom he could easily take out alone. But since Callan hates drug pushers, he returns to Hunter with a request for assistance - from both Meres and Fitzmaurice. "Good gracious," says Hunter. "I hope the poor chap isn't brittle."
   
   
   • The ensuing scene, told from Billy's perspective, is really a beauty to behold. Meres (the "slim, elegant one") takes the lead in the interrogation, his voice dripping with sadistic charm. "You're going to tell us, sweetie. You're going to tell us everything." When the pusher denies any knowledge, Meres just laughs and draws on a pair of thin leather gloves. "Oh, dear. Manual labour again." Callan asks if Meres can handle things on his own, as Callan would really like some coffee. "Go ahead," says Meres. "Twosomes are by far the most fun." And indeed, Meres has a lot of fun judging from his victim's nasty screams, while Callan and Fitzmaurice calmly sip java in the next room.
   
   
   • For once, Callan isn't bothered by Meres's sadism. In fact, when Fitzmaurice expresses displeasure, Callan reminds his colleague that Billy is pushing heroin. Both Callan and Meres hate heroin. It wouldn't be a stretch to see this job as Callan's gift to Meres, a justifiable use of the latter's talents. And boy does Meres enjoy it. Even after Meres breaks Billy (not a difficult feat), he keeps toying with the man, patting Billy's cheek and calling the guy "sweetie", as he promises to squeeze every last drop of information out of his victim. Anthony Valentine really captured that faux sweetness perfectly in Death of a Friend.
   
   
   • Alas, this story ends in tragedy. Callan can't bring himself to kill the daughter, who's so far gone from heroin addiction that she'd sell her father's secrets for her next fix. He tries to convince her to get treatment, but the daughter despairs at ever recovering, so she commits suicide. Out of all the stories, this ending left me the most emotionally raw because it was just... a father and daughter who loved each other very much, and yet, that love wasn't enough.
   
   


8. File on an Awesome Amateur
   
   
   • Meet Cynthia Widgery - professional ornithologist, world traveler, and amateur spy. Cynthia is a middle-aged woman, tough as old teak, with a grip like a wrestler's and brogues that would terrify a skinhead. Her area of expertise is birds of prey. Upon their first meeting, she's quick to identify Callan as one and proceeds to intimidate both him and Hunter with her domineering personality. The two barely get a word in edgewise, while she lays out the information she's gathered on a Russian defector.
   
   
   • After Cynthia leaves, Callan asks Hunter if she's reliable. Hunter replies with nothing but accolades: "Cynthia Widgery is one of the most competent persons it's ever been my misfortune to meet and the only amateur I've ever used more than once... I wanted her full-time, but she wouldn't have it. She's too busy with her damn birds."
   
   
   • With an endorsement like that, I expected a collaboration between Callan and Cynthia. Instead, the main mission involves Callan/Meres lifting a poet at a costume party. Meres is delighted by the prospect. "I adore fancy dress parties," he says, adjusting his cravat with finicky care. Callan looks at him: knee breeches, buckled shoes, a waistcoat of black and gold; all he needed was a tie-wig to be the perfect Casanova... "You look all right," he says. "You too," Meres replies. He sounded surprised. Callan is dressed as a corsair: soft leather boots, baggy trousers, white shirt, embroidered waistcoat, and a broad red sash round his waist stuffed full of plastic daggers and pistols. If that's not an invitation to write costume porn, I don't know what is.
   
   
   • The sidelining of Cynthia in this story really is a crime. I blame Mitchell's sexism. In fact, I'd say he did it intentionally, because he portrays her as a misogynistic caricature of a feminist shrew, masculine and rude and hypocritical. Callan makes a crack that Cynthia's all about women's lib, but hates to see "birds getting belted", therefore she'll always be an amateur. It's a really shitty ending to what could have been a fun Callan/Meres + Cynthia team-up. I can only hope that fandom will rectify this injustice with fic.
   
   


9. File on an Angry American
   
   
   • Hunter sends Callan, Meres, and Fitzmaurice to protect the wife of a Mr. Paul Ventris. Why is she so important? He won't say. In fact, he's downright shifty with his information, refusing to let Callan see the files on either Ventris. All Callan knows is that Paul is marked for death by the CIA, and he's to ensure that the wife, Jane Ventris, doesn't get shot as well.
   
   
   • Putting on the best of his three suits, Callan poses as the private detective Jane hired to find her husband. When he meets her at the Savoy, the first thing he notices is her terrible taste in clothes. Mitchell writes: ...what he got was beauty, but beauty so ill-clad as to look like a surrealist joke: a perfect rose wrapped in soiled paper... She wore shapeless tweeds and a sweater two sizes too big for her, woolen stockings, and court shoes that must have been going out of fashion when she'd bought them ten years before. But he's quick to add that underneath the clothes, she's really quite beautiful - if she'd just take off those granny glasses! Ugh.
   
   
   • Callan obsesses over Jane's fashion choices for several paragraphs before he starts making any useful observations. He deduces from her speech that she's a highly educated Englishwoman. Her choice of reading for the evening is "Philosophical Reflections" by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Dimly, Callan remembers Hunter telling him that Wittgenstein is the sort of philosopher even other philosophers find heavy going. (No idea how that topic came up - date night at an Oxford salon?).
   
   
   • With Callan tailing her car, Fitzmaurice guarding her door, and Meres keeping a watchful eye at dinner, one would expect Jane to be perfectly safe. Not so. Turns out, our clever lady philosopher with the Oxford first figured out long ago that the CIA goons after her husband are, in fact, double agents. And although her husband is a (soon to be divorced) cheating piece-of-shit, she still risks her life to save him out of moral obligation - hence, all the philosophizing. She brings evidence to Hunter and drives out to warn her husband before it's too late.
   
   
   • On the road, Jane is intercepted by one of the assassins, whom Callan takes out with some difficulty. She patches up his injury, then the two lie in wait for the second assassin. During this time, we're treated to a curious slice of female gaze. Jane's eyes roam over Callan; she's attracted to him and likens him to a cat: "precise, elegant, and quite pitiless." After he kills the other assassin, she propositions him at the hotel and, well, let's just say Callan's a day late reporting back for a reason ^_~. Hunter has no right to complain. As Callan points out, he kept them all in the dark because Jane is his niece.
   
   
   • This is yet another story starring an interesting female character, whom Mitchell tries very hard to ruin with his sexist jokes about her clothes. Fortunately, he fails. Jane comes out looking highly intelligent, principled, and brave. She basically solves the case on her own, and Callan's just the plumber. I wasn't surprised to learn she's related to Hunter - she'd make a great Hunter herself if she could pull her nose out of Wittgenstein. Moreover, she's not afraid to go after men she finds hot, even if it means screwing under her uncle's nose. A real classy English lady!
   
   


10. File on a Harassed Hunter
    
    
    • Hunter spirits Callan away on a romantic honeymoon to Newcastle. Did I say honeymoon? I meant batshit crazy revenge mission, one so out of character that it has Callan questioning his boss's sanity. Yes, Hunter violates all standing orders regarding his safety, traveling by hired Daimler instead of bulletproof Bentley, staying in a cheap hotel instead of a secured Ritz. Callan is his only bodyguard, and boy is Callan unhappy about it because, as usual, Hunter hasn't told him a thing.
    
    
    • At the culmination of a tense evening, Callan grabs Hunter's hand and demands to know what's going on. Hunter finally admits that they're here to kill a man, one whom Hunter must know is dead. He refuses to say more until Callan switches tactics and begs, "Sir, please... For God's sake, tell me." Then, Hunter spills everything. The man they're after is a top KGB assassin, who killed one of his operatives twenty years ago. Callan thinks this is madness - blokes like Hunter expect operatives to get killed, it's their way of life. But Hunter says this one was different... because she was his daughter.
    
    
    • "You've got to be joking," says Callan. "You of all people setting up a hate killing." He demands to know how Hunter could have a daughter, since Section orders state that no chief can have relatives, as it gives the Russians too much leverage. (This is kind of an absurd order and contradicts the TV show). Turns out, this daughter was the product of one of Hunter's past love affairs, and he didn't even know she was his daughter until after she died. A bit late for sentiment, much? But Hunter is adamant that they get revenge, so Callan finds himself dragged reluctantly along.
    
    
    • The rest of the story is truly a comedic exercise, as Callan tries to keep Hunter alive through a poorly thought-out amateur mission with their drunk informant in tow. At one point, Callan says he needs a backup man, and Hunter replies that Callan's got him. "You can't be my backup man," Callan responds, desperate to keep his boss out of harm's way. "You need a gun." He knows that Hunter never carries a gun, as generals never need it. But this time, Hunter produces a revolver.
    
    
    • Despite Callan's fears, Hunter still retains his skills in the field. He knocks out a bodyguard with the barrel of his gun and pushes open a door as deft as Meres or Fitzmaurice. Callan does the heavy lifting though. The final assassination is almost an anticlimax; Callan breaks in and shoots the man in his sleep, two thumps of the silenced Magnum, just like that.
    
    

Miscellaneous Bits and Pieces

• In File on a Reckless Rider, Callan is assigned to stop a sniper. Unfortunately, that sniper's target is an avid equestrian, and the hit is supposed to take place on a hunt. Callan doesn't ride horses (where would a poor city boy find the opportunity?), but he knows Meres does, so he requests Meres for the job of bodyguard to the target - on horseback.


• In File on a Dancing Decoy, Callan surprises Hunter with his knowledge of Petrouchka. Guess our boy isn't as uncultured as we thought. Hunter rewards Callan by setting him up with a beautiful (male) premier ballet dancer, who disguises Callan as... I can only guess, based on the powder blue sweater and amethyst medallion, an effeminate gay man. "You see?" the dancer says. "You can look quite pretty when you try." A shame Meres wasn't there to offer his sartorial opinion.


• In File on a Fearsome Farm, Hunter puts Callan on a diet. Yes, that's right. A diet. He literally orders Callan to go to a health farm because of "All that rich West Indian food - and the beer you had to drink when you were a school janitor. My dear fellow, if you're not careful, you'll become obese." Callan seethes to himself: Hunter paying off old scores was the most insufferable Hunter of all. Nevertheless, he obeys and self-consciously purchases a pair of bathroom scales on his way home. Callan's furious to find out Hunter is right - he's 5 lbs overweight. Those 5 lbs come right off from sheer terror when Callan realizes he's lost his gun during the mission... and rather than admitting his folly to Hunter, opts to face a trained assassin unarmed. Most effective diet plan ever?


• In File on a Pining Poet, Callan has to bring Lonely in to sniff out the heavies at a crowded bar, since he can't pick them out himself. Lonely identifies the two men, but completely overlooks the woman, even though he sees and describes her as the "bird with the muscles." It really is a stupendous oversight by the pair of them, as I figured it out immediately and was actually confused when Callan kept worrying about the third "unidentified" heavy. She's right there you sexist idiot! Callan/Lonely really should have met their end by her hand. As it is, Lonely nearly dies from a bullet, leaving Callan heartbroken for all of the five angsty minutes it takes Mitchell to resurrect him via deus ex machina.


• In File on a Difficult Don, Hunter starts out his meeting with Callan in a whimsical mood. Turns out, his whimsicality is just a false veneer. Mitchell writes: Hunter hated the idea of attacks aimed at members of the Section, hated them so much that exaggerated whimsy was his only barrier against berserk rage.


• In File on a Joyous Juliet, Hunter says he'd very much enjoy seeing Callan in "doublet and hose" on a telly production of Romeo and Juliet. Thankfully, Callan is spared the embarrassment.


• In File on a Tired Traitor, Meres's excellent instincts save him from getting stabbed by an assassin. Alas, his jacket is not so lucky. The knife slices open the sleeve of the best lightweight jacket he's ever owned, a violation that upsets him even more than getting beaten by his assailant. Callan fetches him a glass of whisky and tries not to laugh. Fortunately, Meres also brought his second best lightweight jacket on this mission, which he slides into with a "languid, graceful gesture." This time, he places his hand on his Magnum revolver.


• In File on a Beautiful Boxer, we learn that Hunter memorizes files, Meres loves Spanish food, and Callan will literally let an assassin run off because he's too embarrassed to give chase naked. "Very British" is an understatement. Also, for fic reference, Fitzmaurice's full name is Spencer Percival Fitzmaurice.