Casino Royale

Sir Gawain Moore 008

I have just finished reading Casino Royale, and I was just wondering, has Bond ever found the eye-patch man? The man who scares Vesper at the end.

Barbel

His name was Gettler (Gessler in the film). Bond checks him out, and finds he's apparently a Swiss in the watch industry, but that's as far as it went. It's not impossible further enquiries were made once he reported Vesper's death and the fact that she was a double, but we're not told about that.

Coincidence Department:
Son Of Barbel and I watched the 1954 CR today, and when I turned off the DVD player afterwards the 1967 CR was playing on the television...

Hardyboy

As this is a question about the novels, I'm moving the thread to the Lit forum. . .

Johmss

He has a "special feeling about SMERSH" and he supposedly starts to dismantle SMERSH, he found a lot of people, but never related with Gettler.

ghggjghf

Gettler is a SMERSH agent who shadowed James Bond and Vesper Lynd while they are on their French holiday at the end of the book. He was identifiable by his glass eye patch, screwed in like a monocle. His real name is unknown, but he posed as a Swiss wristwatch salesman named "Adolph Gettler".

Revelator

Vesper writes "I can't tell you much to help you. The Paris number was Invalides 55200. I never met any of them in London. Everything was done through an accommodation address, a newsagent's at 450 Charing Cross Place."

It indeed seems that her information would not be much help, unlike in the film. So I think it's safe to assume that Bond never caught up with Gettler (although a continuation novelist could have fun with the idea). However, Bond did go on to destroy Mr. Big, Rosa Klebb, and Goldfinger (SMERSH's treasurer), so it's safe to assume he dealt the organization multiple body blows. Since SMERSH was disbanded by the time of Thunderball, it's likely that Bond's victories caused the organization's downfall. Of course, today Russia is running organizations that are SMERSH in all but name (continuation novelists can have fun with that idea too).