Tyson Bowman
Who they are
Jaffrey’s bagman: a thirty-something ex-con with two stretches for assault (C03), a tattoo that sits badly with the suit he wears to the Dewdrop, and a conversion to “the straight and narrow” that C03 reports without believing it. He does the errands the candidate cannot be seen doing — including the stationer’s near St Paul’s that sells guns and false papers.
He is the hinge between the political plot and the criminal one, and the book treats him as expendable from his first scene: Dodie’s column is built on his visits to Reginald Blaine, and once Gimball is dead, Zafar Jaffrey decides he has to disappear (C10).
What they want
To be useful and to be paid, in that order, and not to be the one who takes the fall — which is precisely the role he ends up in.
Book 5 — London Rules
- C03 — His visits to Blaine’s shop are the substance of the Gimballs’ accusation against Jaffrey.
- C05 — At the Dewdrop, told by his principal to say nothing and asking whether anything needs fixing.
- C09 — Named as the man who confronted Gimball; Jaffrey decides he must disappear.
- C11 — Questioned about the confrontation; the decision to remove him is taken in the same conversation.
Open questions
Whether he killed Gimball. The Service settles on him as the scapegoat (C08), Jaffrey questions him about “a confrontation” rather than a killing (C10), and the cell says it did not do it — which leaves three possibilities and no confirmation.
Related
Zafar Jaffrey · Dennis Gimball · Reginald Blaine · Dodie Gimball