A Javelin for Jonah (Mrs. Bradley)

by Gladys Mitchell

  “We shall see what happens when Merve is brought to trial,” Gascoigne replied. “Well, I am sure we all owe a deep debt of gratitude to Dame Beatrice for clearing up the matter for us. I think that, but for her intervention, we might even have had to close the College.”

  “That would have been a great pity,” said Henry. “I feel we are doing useful work here, on however small a scale.”

  “Well,” said Dame Beatrice, “I will take my leave of you all. Is it true that Hamish will be given leave of absence in September?”

  “I don’t want it,” said Hamish. “There is a shortage of staff with Jones gone, so, if Mr. Medlar will have me until I leave in October…”

  “My dear fellow! Delighted! Delighted!” cried Gascoigne. “But, by the way, James, as I think I have mentioned before, er—not ‘Mr. Medlar’ but ‘Gassie’.”

  “Thank you very much, sir,” said Hamish.

  About the Author

  Gladys Mitchell was born in the village of Cowley, Oxford, in April 1901. She was educated at the Rothschild School in Brentford, the Green School in Isleworth, and at Goldsmiths and University Colleges in London. For many years Miss Mitchell taught history and English, swimming, and games. She retired from this work in 1950 but became so bored without the constant stimulus and irritation of teaching that she accepted a post at the Matthew Arnold School in Staines, where she taught English and history, wrote the annual school play, and coached hurdling. She was a member of the Detection Club, the PEN, the Middlesex Education Society, and the British Olympic Association. Her father’s family are Scots, and a Scottish influence has appeared in some of her books.