By: Adi Balaji
Last night at 11.53 PM there was an attempted murder of Phineas Bunce after the Blackbeard Pirate Council’s first session. Sources say that Bunce was harmed by an unidentified subject while he was having a drink at a bar near the location of the committee meeting. Taking into consideration that no one except the members of the council knew the location of the committee meetings, it is safe to assume that the attempt on Bunce’s life was made by a member of the council itself, and that this crime was politically motivated.
During the first session of the council, Phineas Bunce’s ideas seemed to be incredibly controversial among the members as it involved creating a centralized pirate body that would oversee wealth exchange between the pirates, essentially taking away some of the freedoms offered by piratism for the greater good of pirates and their lifestyle. This initiative was heavily contested by an anti-centralist bloc that formed consisting of renowned pirates such as Mary Read, Josiah Burgess, Black Bart, and Charles Vane. They strongly opposed Bunce’s original idea for a central pirate bank claiming that creating a central body such as that would create a “big pirate nation” that they did not want, and that creating a public body such as this would be “painting a target on [their] back” for the British and Spanish Navy. This forced Bunce to make changes to his initiative to accommodate the committee’s wishes of piracy to remain loosely overseen. Even still, Bunce’s directive was passed by a very narrow majority.
The news of the attempted murder and the suspicion of an inside saboteur was delivered to the council the next morning during the second session; members had mixed reactions. Josiah Burgess, one of the pirates that strongly disagreed with Bunce’s centralist initiative, reassured the committee that he would never have committed the crime because he considers Bunce an ally, even if they have opposing ideas.
The Working Paper: “Captain Burgess, you experienced disagreements with Bunce last session. Is there a statement you would like to make regarding the attempted murder of Phineas Bunce?”
Josiah Burgess: “Bunce is a good man, great pirate, and even better friend”
The member who raised perhaps the most suspicion for this attempted murder is Charles Vane, one of the leaders of the Republic of Pirates in Nassau. Vane was one of the members that expressed strong dissent against Phineas Bunce’s ideas and did not support the formation of the Memento Mori Pirate Reserve. Throughout the second session, Vane consistently repeated that the council should not be trying to find the criminal as that is not the reason the council has gathered, and repeatedly deferred the discussion topic away from discussing the attempt of Bunce’s life. Unlike many other members, Vane refused to properly sympathize with Bunce and voice solidarity in finding the killer with him.
WP: “Charles Vane, you experienced strong disagreements with Bunce last session. Do you have a statement to make regarding the attempted murder of Phineas Bunce?”
Charles Vane: “Bunce is a pirate of honor and he can defend himself, that is all.”
Upon additional investigation, The Working Paper found that Charles Vane has had a history of violence towards other pirates, and harsh rules on his own crew. This violence includes torture, maiming and murder of prisoners. This information definitely puts Charles Vane under the spotlight for the attempted murder of Phineas Bunce.
As of now, there is no way to tell for certain who was the criminal involved in the attempt on Bunce’s life. The anti-centralism bloc, and Charles Vane in particular, remain under suspicion. The discussion ended on a more positive note when Phineas Bunce made motivational remarks when asked about his feelings towards the killer.
WP: “Do you have anything to say to the criminal that attempted to murder you?”
Phineas Bunce: “While you can try to attack me until the day I die, you can never bring down the pirate community because the pirate community stands strong. Stay away from all of my pirate friends on this council or I will kill you.”
The council keeps all hands on deck to continue to investigate the crime..
Sources cited:
Minster, Christopher. “Biography of Charles Vane, English Pirate.” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-charles-vane-2136363.
“Famous Pirate: Charles Vane.” Charles Vane - Famous Pirate - The Way of the Pirates, www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/charles-vane/.