Dear Mr David Holmes

Your letter addressed to Metin Kamil came to my mother's house a few doors away from his old home.

 We've known Metin for most of his life - we've lived around here since 1982 and the rest of his family moved away from '1 Spencer Avenue' a number of years ago when his father died.  Metin stayed around the area but sadly ended up on the local streets and took refuge generally in the grounds of a local church.  His family were unable to care for him.

 It's very sad for me to tell you but Metin died about three years ago - can't remember exactly what the circumstances were but we know it was from something quite unfortunate. 

However, we did hear that he was hit over the head with an iron bar for reasons unknown and his state of heath deteriorated over the years.

 We used to chat with him quite often and he was a very bright and articulate person - may have frightened most people away who didn't really know him, but he was very astute and would easily catch every detail of your conversation when you think he wasn't really paying attention to what you said - he would suddenly respond and expand on whatever topic you were on.  Deep down, he believed in honourable principles.  He was harmless but towards the end of his life, got himself into a bit of trouble and managed to survive for another day.

 I'm sorry to let you know this sad news.

Kind regards.

Christina