Black and grey engraving-style tattoo of a headless gentleman in a suit with a question mark on his chest, with a floating head in a top hat above, on a forearm.

Headless gentleman with floating head

Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A headless gentleman in a tailcoat, waistcoat and tie stands with a cane, a question mark marking his chest. Above him, a separate head with a moustache and closed eyes wears a top hat decorated with a crescent, and wisps of cloud surround it. The fine cross-hatched linework and shading give an old engraving look, shown in black ink and greys against plain skin.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The man came through the crossing at Harrow Marsh at twenty past four, which was the hour I always lost what patience I had left. He carried a cane that tapped the concrete in a slow, deliberate rhythm, and the queue behind him leaned back as if from a draught. Above his collar, drifting a foot higher than any head had a right to, his head went on ahead of him under a grey top hat with a crescent moon stitched to the band. It looked pleased with itself, and its eyes were shut, as though it had already seen everything worth seeing.

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He laid a document on my counter. It was not a passport. It was a folded sheet headed DECLARATION OF GOODS, and on its front someone had drawn a question mark the size of a saucer. I asked him what he was bringing into the country. The head, from its little cloud, said that he had come to find out. I checked my manual, which had nothing on hats, clouds, or travellers who arrived with their queries pinned to their chests, and I said so.

I stamped the page because stamping was the only sensible thing left to do. The ink came out as a crescent. The gentleman bowed to the counter, and the head bowed too, a little late, and the hat slid through the gate ahead of the rest of him. The queue shuffled forward. When I looked down at the form again, a line of smaller print sat beneath the crescent, one I had never noticed before: Admitted, pending.

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