The killing of a Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, on Waterloo Bridge in September 1978 is a case to clinch the truism that real life is better scripted than fiction. As Markov was crossing the Thames, heading back to BBC headquarters, he bumped into a man with an umbrella and felt a sharp pain in his leg. The man apologised, got in a taxi and disappeared.
Four days later, Markov was dead. Doctors discovered a pinprick irritation on his right thigh. They removed the flesh and found a 1.7mm pellet containing 0.45 mg of ricin, a poison that had almost certainly come from Russia.
