I had intended to post this yesterday but had to leave early, I'm still laughing.
To a certain cohort of a certain class this is either the epitome of wit or it's simply a fact Jack:
“He might have talked about this deal or that connection.
But as an Etonian I simply assumed that Neil, being a Harrovian,
might be prone to embellishment here and there.”
From the DailyBeast's "Neil Heywood & China’s Bo Xilai Scandal: Drinker, Sailor, Fixer, Spy?":
The death of Englishman Neil Heywood alone in a Chonqing hotel room makes the spectacular sacking of high-ranking Chinese official Bo Xilai seem even more like a Hollywood thriller. Melinda Liu reports.
Feverish conspiracy theories rampaged through China’s expat community this month when the U.K. government asked Beijing authorities to investigate the death of a Briton named Neil Heywood, who reportedly knew the Harrow-educated son and lawyer wife of former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai.The request came nearly five months after the discovery of the lifeless 41-year-old Englishman in a Chongqing hotel room; local authorities blamed the death of “excessive alcohol consumption” and swiftly cremated Heywood’s remains without an autopsy. Although his Chinese wife didn’t ask for an inquiry, members of the British community said Heywood was not a heavy drinker and pressed their embassy to ask for a probe.
The investigation request has fanned the already-virulent speculation surrounding Bo’s recent ouster by top Communist Party officials. Before the Heywood twist, Bo’s fall was beginning to look like a matter of yet another power-hungry and reportedly corrupt cadre who flew too close to the sun. Now, his tale involves a murder mystery as well. Or does it? Before getting transfixed by the rumor-mongering over Heywood’s demise, let us review the (sparse) facts of the case:
In November, Heywood died while on a visit to Chongqing. In February, Bo’s high-profile police chief Wang Lijun unsuccessfully tried to seek political asylum in an American consulate; he was whisked away by Chinese officers instead and is now under “investigation.” In mid-March, Bo got sacked. Shortly afterward, British officials say they asked Beijing to investigate Heywood’s demise due to “suggestions of suspicious circumstances involved in his death.” Throughout it all, no one has disputed that Heywood, also a Harrow alum, knew Bo’s flamboyant 24-year-old son Bo Guagua....MORE
