Maybe I was the unlucky one to have been singled out twice in a row. I am sure that there were hundreds or more who have shared the same experience, or maybe you never travelled out of Malta and back in those days because you could not afford it.

I had my wife witness the two incidents and I can assure you that what I said was fact.

Needless to say, he found the game, and his antics would have been similar had he found out I killed his mother. After a ten-minute demoralising rant (he had purposely let my wife through), he found the ultimate solution – pay a fine of Lm50 for which he gave me a Lm10 receipt, which I obviously had to accept if I didn’t want to spend the night there.

All this unashamedly in front of his colleagues – I recall that a customs officer was considered a very desirable job in those days, I wonder why. John II, you cannot make us who lived (should I say survived) those times forget the institutionalised corruption of the Labour years. I have many more stories to add, so don’t push me.

I mentioned the brand names…….not the person however. What irks me is that these people are known as fervent Nationalists, and were even appointed on boards. U ftharu!

I knew you would.

The translocation was stressful enough. I had no inclination to compound the stress by causing marital strife. The relative, incidentally, was not my wife.

I’m curious to know the authorities’ reaction when you reported the customs officers.

Wrong on both counts.

[Daphne – I wouldn’t know, because obviously you’re anonymous, so you might as well claim to be the Queen of Sheba.]

XXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Those were the only two shops selling any clothes worth mentioning at that time.

[Daphne – I’ve blanked out the names, Mario.]

Daphne…No I do not know. I was living abroad at the time. Is he by any chance my namesake?

[Daphne – Yes, of course, I’d forgotten you were away at the time. Yes, he’s your namesake (first name, not second).]