It is only in Chapter 14 that we find out the true
identity of the "Spider Man". It is when David, Rosalind and Petra are captured by the
men of the Fringes that David comes face to face with the leader of the Fringes, who he
has worked out is his uncle. Note the similarity that is drawn between David's father
and his uncle:
A figure seated on a stool just
inside the entrance looked up as we approached. The sight of his face jolted me with
panic for a moment - it was so like my father's. Then I recognised him - the same
"spider-man" I had seen as a captive at Waknuk, seven or eight years
before.
During the dialogue
that occurs between the spider-man and David, his nephew, the story comes out. David
tells him:
"My
father had an elder brother," I said. "He was thought to be normal until he was about
three or four years old. Then his certificate was revoked, and he was sent
away."
Looking back at
David's father's actions, this explains a lot. Having had a "mutant" discovered in his
own family as a brother, it is understandable why he is so intent on discovering and
disposing of other mutants. The fact that his own very brother was a "mutant" who
remained undiscovered for four years would have made him all the more desperate and
urgent to root out any form of impurity everywhere - including in his own
family.
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