The Otterbury Incident
Page 12
‘You bet it was,’ murmured Toppy. ‘And we cleaned yours, in public.’
‘– and in general they made a scandalous nuisance of themselves, all over Otterbury, with their absolutely unauthorized collecting of money. This, to be sure, I should have been prepared to overlook, since I have reason to believe that the money was collected, however misguidedly, for a charitable object – for the, ha-hum, in short, for the relief of one of their school-fellows. But –’ the HM drew himself up to his full height, and his black gown swirled around him like a thundercloud – ‘but these childish pranks pale into insignificance beside what happened yesterday. I cannot trust myself to speak about this. I will ask Inspector Brook to address you. But first, will every boy who was in any way concerned with the – er – the attack on Mr Skinner’s premises step up on to the platform here.’
We shuffled up, and were made to stand in two rows on the left of the dais. It was worse than my worst forebodings.
The Inspector fastened Ted and Toppy with a frosty eye. Then he turned to the school.
‘It’s never a good thing to take the law into your own hands,’ he began briskly. ‘We policemen are here to enforce the law – it’s our job. So, next time any of you get into trouble, or have genuine cause for suspecting somebody else of criminal activity, I hope you’ll come to us. But I hope there won’t be a next time. We in Otterbury have a pretty clean sheet, and we should be proud of it. Now these boys here got up a collection – incidentally, I had some complaints from our townsfolk about their methods, but I decided to turn a blind eye on it – it seemed to me fairly harmless. But then the money they had collected was stolen from one of these boys. And, instead of coming to the police, they decided to do some detection off their own bat.’
The Inspector paused, coughed dryly, and took a swig out of the tumbler in front of him.
‘So they got into deep waters. I’ve had a talk with one of them, Edward Marshall, and it’s quite clear to me –’ his frosty eye seemed to twinkle for a moment – ‘it’s quite clear to me that Scotland Yard couldn’t teach some of you youngsters very much about the elements of criminal detection.’
The school was hushed – not a cough or a shuffle as they drank in the words of this remarkable man.
‘Yes, it was a very pretty piece of investigation. But, having worked out their theory and collected evidence to support it, these enterprising boys still did not come to the police. I don’t know whether they thought we’d eat them.’ (Polite laughter.) ‘Anyway, they decided to go after the suspects. They needed one more bit of evidence to clinch their case, or so they thought. In order to get this – it was a certain wooden box – they planned and carried out a felony. They broke into the premises of a – er, of a respected citizen of this town, whom they had no reason to suspect of complicity in the original robbery. This was serious enough –’
Inspector Brook paused again, while a buzz of astonishment and wild surmise went up from the assembled school.
‘But not only did they break into private premises. Marshall and Toppingham – and all these boys on my left here were also accomplices before the fact – started a gun battle. The police can charge them with carrying lethal weapons with intent to wound, breaking and entering, intimidation, assault and battery, shooting at certain fellow-citizens, discharging rockets at same, and – er, in short, these are just a few of the charges to which they may have laid themselves open.’
By now, the school was simply petrified with amazement.
‘Yesterday evening, acting on information received –’ the Inspector’s mouth twitched again – ‘I proceeded to Skinner’s yard. There I found, amongst other things, one of these boys, Nick Yates, lying unconscious with a broken head – he’s well on the way to recovery now, the doctor tells me – and two citizens of Otterbury tied up with ropes and threatened by several boys with air-guns. I also found –’ the Inspector paused dramatically – ‘I also found evidence that these citizens, together with one who was captured shortly afterwards – he was the – er – target for the rockets I have mentioned – and a fourth who is still at large, were receivers of stolen goods, distributors of the same through Black Market channels, and had at one time been engaged in coining counterfeit money.’
The Inspector sums up
Sensation in the Great Hall of King’s School, Otterbury!
‘I have to say that, but for the – er – somewhat unorthodox activities of my young friends here, the crimes of this gang might never have been discovered,’ went on the admirable man, beaming all over his face now, ‘and that, in view of this, the police do not propose to press against you young ruffians any of the charges I have spoken of.’
The school began to cheer, but Inspector Brook raised a large hand. Looking straight at us now, he continued:
‘Furthermore, I have to say that, after hearing the full story, I consider you all acted with resource and initiative and courage. I won’t pick out any one of you, except perhaps Nick Yates – he’s in hospital and I can’t make him blush from here. He tackled a very dangerous man. It was a brave thing. A good show by all of you. A credit to the school. As a token of the police’s gratitude, I’m going to ask an old friend of mine – he’s a Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard – to show you over the place one day in the holidays: you might be able to give him an idea or two. And one of the firms whose stolen goods you helped to find – it’s a chocolate-making firm – I’ve been in touch with them and they’ve told me to distribute a pound of chocolate to each of you.’
By this time the cheering from the school was so deafening that we could hardly hear what the Inspector was saying. He mopped his brow, while the din subsided.
‘That’s about all I have to say. Except that, when you young terrors next embark on a gun battle with a gang of crooks, you might let me in on it. And, if ever again I hear of you so much as raising a water-pistol against anyone, I’ll clap you in the cooler as sure as eggs are eggs! But seriously, no more taking the law into your own hands, see? Promise?’
We promised fervently. The Inspector sat down. I noticed Rickie lean over to the Headmaster and whisper in his ear. The HM rose. He was looking as pleased as Punch.
‘We are grateful to Inspector Brook for talking to us, and for taking so lenient a view of your conduct. Since you seem to have broken half the windows in Otterbury, we’d better forget about the one which Nick Yates broke: the school authorities will pay for it. Now go along quietly to your classrooms. QUIETLY!’
1904 Born Cecil Day-Lewis on 27 April in Ireland
1905 The family move to England
1917 Goes to Sherborne School in Dorset
1923 Is admitted to Wadham College, Oxford and studies Classics
1925 His first collection of poetry for adults, Beechen Vigil, is published
1927 Graduates from Oxford
1935 Under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake, writes his first detective novel, A Question of Proof
1939 Works at the Ministry of Information as Publications Editor during the Second World War. After the war joins the publisher Chatto & Windus as Director and Senior Editor
1946 Becomes Lecturer at Cambridge University
1947 Minute for Murder, a novel based on his experiences during the Second World War, is published
1948 The Otterbury Incident is published
1951 Is appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford, where he lectures on poetry until 1956
1962 Becomes a Professor at Harvard University, USA
1968 Becomes Poet Laureate until 1972
1970 His last collection of poems, The Whispering Roots, is published
1972 Dies 22 May, aged sixty-eight, in Hertfordshire
Interesting Facts
C. Day-Lewis was a famous poet but under his pseudonym, Nicholas Blake, he was also a renowned detective-story writer for adults.
C. Day-Lewis is the father of the award-winning actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, and food writer and journalist, Tamasin Day-Lewis.
&nb
sp; Edward Ardizzone was an English artist and an award-winning writer and illustrator of children’s books. During the Second World War, Edward was appointed Official War Artist and was even commissioned to paint a portrait of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill! After the war, his watercolours and drawings were exhibited all around the UK and he had many books published, including the popular Little Tim series. Edward Ardizzone died in 1979.
Where Did the Story Come From?
C. Day-Lewis based The Otterbury Incident on a French film of the 1940s called Nous Les Gosses, meaning ‘We Kids’. But instead of Paris, he set the story in post-war England, where the bomb sites provided an exciting backdrop for the rival gangs’ battle re-enactments. The fictional town of Otterbury, with its Abbey and school, is similar to Sherborne in Dorset, where C. Day-Lewis went to school when he was a young boy.
Guess Who?
A He’s a whacking great bad-tempered thug of a man, with an unshaven chin and little blue eyes.
B He had a loud check suit with padded shoulders, and a perfectly ghastly tie with large patterns on it like drawing-room curtains.
C He’s a tall, thin whippy-looking chap, with a bit of hair always falling over his eye …
D A big man, with an untidy sort of face and an absolutely bald head, always talking to himself.
E He had a round, pasty face, and eyes that slithered about when he spoke to people.
ANSWERS:
A) Skinner
B) Johnny Sharp
C) Toppy
D) E. Sidebotham
E) The Wart
Words Glorious Words!
We often come across new or unfamiliar words when we’re reading. Here are a few unusual words you’ll find in this Puffin book. Did you spot any others?
betimes early, in good time
execration loathing and hatred
opprobrious sharply critical
snide fake
spiv someone who lives by petty fraud
Ulster a man’s long, loose overcoat
Quiz
Thinking caps on – let’s see how much you can remember! Answers are here. (No peeking!)
1 Who is the narrator of the story?
a) Ted
b) Charlie
c) George
d) Nick
2 What is ‘The Incident’?
a) A bookshop
b) A disused railway carriage
c) A children’s playground
d) An old bomb site
3 In ‘Operation Glazier’, who does the gang say they are raising money for?
a) The SPG
b) The NYAF
c) The Red Cross
d) The CID
4 What is the Wart’s real name?
a) Jack Straw
b) Jake Steal
c) Joshua Shadow
d) Joseph Seeds
5 Who helps the boys to get out of Otterbury Abbey?
a) Johnny Sharp
b) Mr Sidebotham
c) An errand boy
d) Toppy’s sister
ANSWERS:
1) c
2) d
3) b
4) d
5) c
The National Health Service (NHS) is launched in July, bringing free healthcare to the citizens of the United Kingdom.
The Summer Olympic Games are held in London.
Prince Charles is born on 14 November.
The game of Scrabble is introduced by James Brunot.
All About Old Money
Before 1971, Britain used a different system of money known as ‘Pounds, Shillings and Pence’, or ‘£.s.d.’ for short. The symbols ‘s’ for shilling and ‘d’ for pence came from the Latin words solidus and denarius, meaning ‘Roman Coins’. The ‘£’ sign was developed from the ‘l’ for libra, meaning ‘a pound of money’.
The amounts of money were written out and said in various ways. For example £5 8s. 6d. (the amount the gang raise in ‘Operation Glazier’) may have been written as £5-8s-6d but would have been said as ‘Five pounds, eight and six’. Amounts below a pound were often written with a forward slash, like this: 8/6d.
There were twenty shillings in one pound and this was written as 20s or 20/-.
There were twelve pennies in one shilling, two halfpennies in a penny, and four farthings in a penny!
Here are the coins and banknotes that Ted and his friends would have used in The Otterbury Incident:
Halfpenny( pronounced ‘ha’penny’, written as 1/2d)
Penny (also known as a ‘copper’ after the metal it was minted from)
Threepenny piece (3d, pronounced ‘thrupenny bit’)
Sixpenny piece (6d, known as a ‘tanner’)
Shilling (12d, known as a ‘bob’)
Two shilling piece (2s, also written as 2/- and known as a two-bob bit)
Half a crown (2s 6d, also written as 2/6d)
Ten shilling note (10s, also known as a ‘ten-bob note’)
One pound note (20s, also known as a ‘quid’)
Puffin Writing Tips
Watch the news and stay tuned to the latest happenings in the world – you never know what might inspire your next idea.
Ask: who, what, where, when, why and how? It’ll help you dig deeper and find out more about our characters.
This book didn’t start on a computer (because they didn’t exist in 1948!). Try writing with good old-fashioned pen and paper.
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First published by Putnam 1948; transferred to The Bodley Head 1966
Published in Puffin Books 1961
Reissued in this edition 2017
Text copyright © C. Day-Lewis, 1948
Illustrations by Edward Ardizzone
Illustrat
ions copyright © Edward Ardizzone, 1948
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
Cover illustration by Edward Ardizzone
The Otterbury Incident is an adaptation of the French film Nous les Gosses, which was shown in England under the title Us Kids, and I am greatly indebted to the Academy Cinema Ltd and Messrs Pathescope for their kind permission to use the plot of that delightful film as the starting point of my story.
C.D.L.
ISBN: 978-0-241-32070-9
All correspondence to:
Puffin Books
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
9. THE SECRETS OF SKINNER’S YARD
fn1 We might have known this before. Did you guess, gentle reader? Anyway, try biting a half-crown – your teeth won’t leave any marks on it at all. [Author.]