James Bond was best known for his cool, calm, “shaken-not-stiirred” demeanor, complimented by his quintessential Britishness. He portrayed all of the very best things the British Secret Service had to offer, even if it was just “in the movies.”
So what about real secret agents in the British Secret Service? Are they all cool as ice, dressed to impress and irresistible to the ladies?
Well, apparently not…
Scotland Yard is about to announce that Gareth Williams, a M16 Secret Service agent, who was found dead in a bag around three years ago, most likely climbed into the large sports bag, locking himself inside it by accident. Not a move James Bond would have made .
The new findings by the British investigators contradict previous reports that Williams had died at the hands of another. It will also put an end to the many conspiracy theories which have circulated since his death .
Williams who was not just a spy, but also a codebreaker from GCHQ, Britain’s signals intelligence agency, was found naked in the bag in the bath at his apartment in Pimlico, London.
After an inquiry in 2012, coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox said that Williams was most likely “unlawfully killed” after it was assumed impossible for a person to climb into such a bag, and padlock themselves in.
It is now believed that it was in fact a possibility that Williams inadvertently locked himself in the bag when it was revealed that he had a keen interest in escapology.
A source in Britain said:
“It seems as though the coroner made a mistake in ruling out evidence that Williams could have climbed into the holdall without outside help. If it can be demonstrated that Williams was able to climb into the holdall unassisted, then all the other fanciful conspiracy theories start to fall apart.”
As part of the investigation, two experts attempted to lock themselves into an identical bag 400 times. They said that even Harry Houdini, let alone James Bond himself, would have had a hard time attempting such a feat.
A few days after the inquest, a retired Army officer showed that it was in fact possible to climb into a bag of that size and lock it from the inside.
A source involved with the inquiry said about the case: “They have been unable to find any trace of anyone who should not have been in the flat, and have every reason to believe that Gareth may have climbed into the bag himself and had been unable to get out.”