@richardjjbridle.bsky.social
Author at brownhatstories.com
The World of Inspector Fatima Dieng
Tales of Propitious Peregrinations
The House of Comens
The World of Inspector Fatima Dieng
Tales of Propitious Peregrinations
The House of Comens
Having, as it were, done my business, I returned to the bedroom to explore further.
January 1, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Having, as it were, done my business, I returned to the bedroom to explore further.
Henriette Sarr, Fokisi Lomu and Lisa Wong had gathered during their lunch break at Bierhaus NYC, a German eatery styled to look like it had been transposed from Munich. It was not popular with any of the UN crowd, and they had chosen it exactly with that in mind.
January 1, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Henriette Sarr, Fokisi Lomu and Lisa Wong had gathered during their lunch break at Bierhaus NYC, a German eatery styled to look like it had been transposed from Munich. It was not popular with any of the UN crowd, and they had chosen it exactly with that in mind.
Kieran erupted into a paroxysm of laughter and coughing, so much so that Henriette began to fear he might lose control of the car.
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United in Death: a Brown Hat Investigations story — Brown Hat Stories
One of the most important pieces of advice given to those in United Nations service approaching retirement is to have a plan. Make sure you are ready to engage in organised, fulfilling activity. Resea...
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December 31, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Kieran erupted into a paroxysm of laughter and coughing, so much so that Henriette began to fear he might lose control of the car.
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I awoke to what was clearly a grey day, and there was a cold draught somewhere. This was surprising, as the previous night had been quite clingingly warm.
December 31, 2025 at 11:53 AM
I awoke to what was clearly a grey day, and there was a cold draught somewhere. This was surprising, as the previous night had been quite clingingly warm.
Today my book of choice was Trials of Translation in the Island in the Sun by Tarzie Vittachi, the former Editor of the Ceylon Observer.
December 30, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Today my book of choice was Trials of Translation in the Island in the Sun by Tarzie Vittachi, the former Editor of the Ceylon Observer.
They parted outside the restaurant, but, at the end of the street, Henriette did not turn left to go back to her hotel. She turned right and walked along Rideau Street and across the Rideau Canal until she came to the Chateau Laurier Hotel, where she went in to sit at a bar overlooking Parliament.
December 30, 2025 at 12:16 PM
They parted outside the restaurant, but, at the end of the street, Henriette did not turn left to go back to her hotel. She turned right and walked along Rideau Street and across the Rideau Canal until she came to the Chateau Laurier Hotel, where she went in to sit at a bar overlooking Parliament.
Henriette was initially somewhat wary of this suggestion. They had only just met that day. But she already knew practically all of Michel’s personal history, thanks to Kieran Prendergast’s insistence.
www.brownhatstories.com/united-in-de...
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United in Death: a Brown Hat Investigations story — Brown Hat Stories
One of the most important pieces of advice given to those in United Nations service approaching retirement is to have a plan. Make sure you are ready to engage in organised, fulfilling activity. Resea...
www.brownhatstories.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Henriette was initially somewhat wary of this suggestion. They had only just met that day. But she already knew practically all of Michel’s personal history, thanks to Kieran Prendergast’s insistence.
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Loving books as I do, but having very limited means for their purchase, it is only natural that I spent possibly most of my time in libraries, moving from the University Library to the John Rylands Library in Deansgate to the Manchester Central Library in Saint Peter’s Square.
December 29, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Loving books as I do, but having very limited means for their purchase, it is only natural that I spent possibly most of my time in libraries, moving from the University Library to the John Rylands Library in Deansgate to the Manchester Central Library in Saint Peter’s Square.
I was going up north, though not quite back to Yorkshire. Other side of the Pennines. University of Manchester. I was enrolled in the English Department of the Faculty of Arts, which they called Owens after John Owens, a merchant and industrialist who died childless in 1846.
December 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I was going up north, though not quite back to Yorkshire. Other side of the Pennines. University of Manchester. I was enrolled in the English Department of the Faculty of Arts, which they called Owens after John Owens, a merchant and industrialist who died childless in 1846.
Michel reflected for a moment and then said: “Mr Prendergast wanted me to believe that he is a good deal less thorough than I know he is. He pretended not to recall my prospectus or to have seen our website.
December 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Michel reflected for a moment and then said: “Mr Prendergast wanted me to believe that he is a good deal less thorough than I know he is. He pretended not to recall my prospectus or to have seen our website.
“How many do you speak?” asked Henriette. Kieran meanwhile shot her a dirty look for interrupting what he clearly thought should be an exclusive dialogue.
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United in Death: a Brown Hat Investigations story — Brown Hat Stories
One of the most important pieces of advice given to those in United Nations service approaching retirement is to have a plan. Make sure you are ready to engage in organised, fulfilling activity. Resea...
www.brownhatstories.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:19 PM
“How many do you speak?” asked Henriette. Kieran meanwhile shot her a dirty look for interrupting what he clearly thought should be an exclusive dialogue.
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Father soon became quite a well-known character throughout the town. Presenting himself on his first day behind the bar in a white coat, just as he used to at the counter of his grocery, the locals all fell over themselves laughing.
"Be you one of them boffins from Porton Down?"
"Be you one of them boffins from Porton Down?"
December 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Father soon became quite a well-known character throughout the town. Presenting himself on his first day behind the bar in a white coat, just as he used to at the counter of his grocery, the locals all fell over themselves laughing.
"Be you one of them boffins from Porton Down?"
"Be you one of them boffins from Porton Down?"
Not that it is relevant at all, since there is no need for further mention of their names in this narrative, they, my adoptive parents, were called Percy and Doris Gofton.
December 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Not that it is relevant at all, since there is no need for further mention of their names in this narrative, they, my adoptive parents, were called Percy and Doris Gofton.
The drive up had actually been the first time she had gone out of New York City, except for a couple of workshops at conference centres on Long Island or in Westchester County. Now they had driven across the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey.
December 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The drive up had actually been the first time she had gone out of New York City, except for a couple of workshops at conference centres on Long Island or in Westchester County. Now they had driven across the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey.
And so it was that a week later they were sat at a table at the back of the Black Sheep, a bar on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan, not far from where Kieran Prendergast had his office. Henriette was surprised when she was first introduced to him by her friend, Eddie.
December 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
And so it was that a week later they were sat at a table at the back of the Black Sheep, a bar on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan, not far from where Kieran Prendergast had his office. Henriette was surprised when she was first introduced to him by her friend, Eddie.
When I started to read the account of everything that happened to Professor Maartinesz, I was curious as to why he decided to write so much about his birth and childhood, and the origins and attitudes of his parents.
December 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
When I started to read the account of everything that happened to Professor Maartinesz, I was curious as to why he decided to write so much about his birth and childhood, and the origins and attitudes of his parents.
They gave their blessing to the plan, and Henriette then had Lisa start work on putting it into practice. She meanwhile arranged to meet with an old friend whom she knew from when she had been a Human Resources Manager in MONUC, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
December 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
They gave their blessing to the plan, and Henriette then had Lisa start work on putting it into practice. She meanwhile arranged to meet with an old friend whom she knew from when she had been a Human Resources Manager in MONUC, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Where was I? Yes, doing nothing. Well, not quite. Of course, I went on with my life.
December 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Where was I? Yes, doing nothing. Well, not quite. Of course, I went on with my life.
I was, in that summer of 1977, looking to take a break, having saved up a little nest egg just for that purpose, and not having been able to afford any significant travel during the past three years since I had left university.
December 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I was, in that summer of 1977, looking to take a break, having saved up a little nest egg just for that purpose, and not having been able to afford any significant travel during the past three years since I had left university.
Put a group of international civil servants in a room, give them a clear instruction and see what you get.
www.brownhatstories.com/united-in-de...
www.brownhatstories.com/united-in-de...
United in Death: a Brown Hat Investigations story — Brown Hat Stories
One of the most important pieces of advice given to those in United Nations service approaching retirement is to have a plan. Make sure you are ready to engage in organised, fulfilling activity. Resea...
www.brownhatstories.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Put a group of international civil servants in a room, give them a clear instruction and see what you get.
www.brownhatstories.com/united-in-de...
www.brownhatstories.com/united-in-de...
Put a group of international civil servants in a room, give them a clear instruction and see what you get.
December 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Put a group of international civil servants in a room, give them a clear instruction and see what you get.
Oumarou Darboe, Anjali Gauchan, Fatih Kapesa, Nouth Savoeun, and Choe Tae Song, five people from different countries, different backgrounds, had in different ways come to work in different parts of the UN. They had all in a sense lived their dreams.
December 22, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Oumarou Darboe, Anjali Gauchan, Fatih Kapesa, Nouth Savoeun, and Choe Tae Song, five people from different countries, different backgrounds, had in different ways come to work in different parts of the UN. They had all in a sense lived their dreams.
I really never intended to write about my own disturbing experience with that imposter of a travel agency, Propitious Peregrinations.
December 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I really never intended to write about my own disturbing experience with that imposter of a travel agency, Propitious Peregrinations.
“But what of our friends?” Adama continued. “I thought this was going to be such a happy day, after we got Hadi’s great news, but now I’m not so sure.”
December 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
“But what of our friends?” Adama continued. “I thought this was going to be such a happy day, after we got Hadi’s great news, but now I’m not so sure.”
Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee coffee. And something for this wretched headache. I need both to be able to think! Now calm down, Max. You must be able to come up with a plan, now that you are no longer in acute danger.
December 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee coffee. And something for this wretched headache. I need both to be able to think! Now calm down, Max. You must be able to come up with a plan, now that you are no longer in acute danger.