Chapter 26 In which Charlie decides to try and outwit the bloggers

As Pangloss and his faithful sidekick Charlie left the Westphalia Express building there was a faint sound of the national anthem. Charlie took his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.
'Mr Windsor?' said the voice at the other end.
'Yes,' said Charlie.
'This is Martin Leyland; I'm a journalist. I wonder if I could have a few words with you - alone?'
'It's him!' hissed Charlie, covering the mouthpiece.
Half an hour later Charlie Windsor was sitting opposite Martin Leyland in the Westphalia-on-Sea Conservative Club.
'The people at the Westphalia Express are going mad looking for you,' said Charlie.
'Well, they only had to pick up the phone book and call me,' replied Leyland.
'Do you mean to say Martin Leyland is your real name?'
'Yeah, why wouldn't it be?'
'Well, I just thought ... you know, with the people at the newspaper not being able to find you ...'
'That lot? They couldn't find their arse in the dark with both hands.'
'Really? Now let me ask you directly: are you the Piddlebackside blogger?'
'No, I'm not, but I know who is.'
'Well, do you mind telling me his name then?'
'Their names. This is too big for just one person; it's a team of writers.'
'Oh. We were becoming convinced it was you.'
'Yes, that was the plan. The clue was in one of the early chapters where misdirection was mentioned. A lot of careful groundwork was laid down in advance - I had to be in on it because I agreed to be the front man. Radio Heaven almost caught me on the hop when they phoned for an interview, but luckily I stalled for time and was able to call the people behind it to see how they wanted to play it.'
'Oh, I didn't realise ...'
'I don't think anybody did. I even told my parents that I was behind it. Telling my mother is an extremely efficient way of disseminating rumour and hearsay around Westphalia-on-Sea, and she's been around a lot longer than the internet, so it would have been foolish not to use such a useful resource.'
'I see; so they still think ...'
'... it's me. Yes,' finished Leyland. Look, everyone is starting to think it's me now, so the radio and the papers will soon lose interest and you'll never find out who's really behind it. The internet allows people to create multiple blogs and personalities under assumed names, and then hide behind the word 'anonymous' to make comments. Nothing is really what it seems. What's important is not who's writing it, but what they're writing. And in your case, how much damage it can do.'
'Yes, I suppose you're right there.'
'Now, the reason I asked to meet you alone was to ask you this - what do you plan to do about your relationship with Pangloss?'
'How do you mean?'
'Well, weren't you his campaign manager during the election?'
'Yes.'
'And haven't you been very supportive of all his big ideas?'
'Well, yes. Actually I've had a few big ideas of my own, you know.'
'Yes, I know, said Leyland. We'll come to those all in good time. But for now, you do realise that you have to start distancing yourself from Pangloss, don't you?'
'Do I? Why?'
'Because he's a lame duck mayor, of course. If you keep on supporting him over the next two years your support will slowly ebb away, and with it your dream of becoming an MP - that's a given.'
'Blimey, I hadn't really thought of it in those terms.'
Well, maybe you'd better start thinking in those terms. With hindsight, a Conservative mayor was probably the last thing you needed.'
'Hmm, I really need to think hard about all of what you've told me. I was wondering, do you think I could start a blog that satirized the Piddlebackside blog? Would that work?'
'I doubt it. I mean, who would read it? The real one is heading for 8,000 hits. It's a nice idea, and I'm sure they'd be flattered, but realistically you're not in their league, are you? I mean, what would you say on it?'
'Oh, I'd say I know who they are.'
'And ...?'
'Well, that's it.'
'Hmm, it's a bit lame, if you ask me. What would you call yourself?'
'Something similar to the blogger. I know - Voltaire.'
'Hmm, not very original is it? People will probably just think it's the bloggers throwing out more red herrings and not you being clever, and then you'd have gone to all that trouble for nothing.'
'Well, it's up to you. Good luck with your Piddlebackside.blogspot, and thanks for talking to me.'