In Chapter 4, we meet Jonathan Guess, a young man who rises to power in the city of Vessena as a new kind of law enforcer – the “Thieftaker General” – while also operating as the right hand of Fortunado, the nefarious “Thief Lord” himself. Playing both sides of the law, Mister Guess makes a tidy living arranging burglaries and then collecting fees for the return of the items that were stolen. It is a clever ploy, and one that I cannot take credit for inventing. Like a lot of the fun world-building details that I employ in “The Elect Stories,” the concept of a “thief taker” is lifted directly from a bit of weird but true history. In fact, the real “thief taker,” a 17th century arch-criminal named Jonathan Wild, was a major source of inspiration for Jonathan Guess and his less than heroic adventures. Like our Mister Guess, Jonathan Wild worked his way up through the criminal class before landing his official position with the city (London, in Wild’s case) largely through self-promotion. Also like our Guess, Wild became known for exploiting and then casting aside his criminal cohorts. In fact, the phrase “double-cross” was purportedly coined in reference to Wild’s habit of crossing allies off his list. That habitual treachery eventually caught up with Wild, who was sold out for one of his criminal escapades by one of those same men he had previously thrown in jail. We’ll just have to wait and see how things go for our pal, Guess…
