|
IMPORTANT PREFACE
TO THE
SECOND EDITION |
 |
| It may not have escaped the attention of the more
diligent reader that this edition is in fact the second edition,
despite being the first to make it into most bookstores. Well, as
they say, therein lies something of a tale. |
| Around eighteen months ago, in August 2007, the first
edition of this book was sent to print in a modest run of three
thousand copies, although, given the extraordinary public interest
in Miss Palmer’s demise, it seemed certain we would be requiring
further print runs in time. On August the 27th the book was launched
with an extravagant fancy dress party held at Boston’s Four
Seasons hotel, and initial copies were shipped out to a select one
hundred outlets. Pre-orders via the Amanda Palmer Trust (APT) website
had already mounted up considerably, and hence we were about to
order the second run. Then, quite unexpectedly, we received a visit
from Inspector Ruecker and his team. |
| Let me be honest: “visit” is a wholly
inadequate word to describe the invasion and intimidation that was
to follow. All our computers were seized, both private and business;
anyone working at the APT headquarters was hand-cuffed and bundled
into the back of a police van: we spent a good twenty four hours
in and out of cells being questioned, with no real explanation as
to why. Finally we were released without charge, pending further
investigation, and the computers were eventually returned some four
months later. All copies of the first edition were seized bar one
hundred and twenty seven that had been bought for cash in bookstores
and couldn’t be traced. These have not been returned. |
| So what was going on? It seems that one of the palmeresques
presented in the book, Text Number Nine, bore an extraordinary and
incriminating resemblance to the circumstances of Miss Palmer’s
actual death, most specifically in various details never released
to the public. As is well known the investigation remains open and
no one has yet been charged with the crime, nor has the nature of
Miss Palmer’s death ever been fully revealed, hence this text,
and its connection to the APT itself, constituted major evidence,
and thus was not to be published. |
| I must emphasize that no one connected with the APT
has ever been charged, nor implicated in relation to Miss Palmer’s
death, however, the following investigation did uncover an extraordinary
and disturbing level of corruption within the committee and in particular
amongst the editors involved in the preparation and selection of
materials for the book, both in the moral and political senses of
the word. Needless to say, many resignations were made, and the
APT now runs under entirely new management. |
| One of the new Board’s first tasks was to address
the issue of this book. Should it be reprinted with the seized text
omitted? Should it be abandoned? Re-edited? However, before any
particular approach could be agreed upon a new set of revelations
came out with regard to the other nine texts, which resulted in
one clear and more easily agreed conclusion: that the book should
be reprinted as a facsimile of the original edition but with the
seized text, and any other text deemed sensitive by Inspector Ruecker
and his team, blacked out; additionally it should include a substantial
appendix which details the true circumstances of its compilation
and authorship, and the trail that ultimately led towards Tobias
James. |
| That is the book that you now hold in your hands. |
|
Have you seen this
man? He is thought to be approx. 6ft two inches tall, and often
wears a false moustache. Please contact us urgently with any information.
|
|
