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It took Slim three phone calls to discover that Amos Birch’s membership to the British Clockmaking Guild had been rejected just three months before his disappearance. A longstanding clerk sounded almost proud to tell him that Amos had rejected the society’s rules of membership, which governed the production of clocks and watches, and his scheduled attendance at a prestigious clockmaker’s fair had been cancelled.
From his vantage point on a hill looking out at Bodmin Moor, Slim began calling clockmakers in the Black Forest. Some spoke no English, others knew Amos Birch by reputation but not personally. Slim’s phone was nearly out of battery when he remembered the number Kay had given him.
A gruff voice answered in German. Slim introduced himself and discovered that the man—a wood supp
