by John Hall
‘Holmes?’
‘Sorry, Watson, merely musing aloud. Yes, if Greville did not fall, then he was pushed, and a young fellow like Carstairs would be an ideal candidate for the man who did the pushing.’
‘I think you’re wrong, Holmes. If he had anything to hide, he’d have hidden it. He was quite frank with me, even as to his motive for originally concealing the fact that he met Greville. But I agree that it would need a strong man, especially if Greville were unconscious, let us say, or put up a struggle, when he was taken up the tower. That would appear to eliminate Monsieur Legrand, who is too old and weak. And Donaldson, for the same reason.’
‘Unless one or both were acting in concert with a younger man? Or some of the older boys? I know the suggestion is repellent, but if we postulate an evil society, we must allow for that possibility.’
‘Like the Assassins, you mean? Or the Thugs?’ I shuddered. ‘I hardly like to think of schoolboys behaving in that fashion, Holmes. But then some of them are young men, so it is perhaps not so very fanciful.’
Holmes knocked out his pipe on the table. ‘Our best course is, as you say, to ask where the masters were last night,’ he said. ‘That should enable us to limit our enquiries.’ And he called the landlord, paid our modest reckoning, and led the way outside.
By the time we reached the school, the first lesson of the afternoon was under way. Holmes seemed disposed to fret at this, but I insisted that we should not interrupt the school curriculum any more than necessary. We could, I told him, question the masters when the day’s duties were over.
‘We can talk to Carstairs, at any rate,’ he muttered. ‘And the head, too.’ He led the way to Carstairs’s office, tapped on the door and went in.
‘Hullo!’ said Carstairs. ‘Want to see Dr Longton again? He’s in, but I’ll have to ask if he’s busy.’
‘We wanted a word with both of you,’ said Holmes.
‘Oh? Sounds serious.’
‘Not at all. I merely wished to ask where you were last night, at, say, five o’clock?’
‘Oh, is that all?’ Carstairs looked relieved. ‘I was in my own rooms, as a matter of fact.’
‘Alone?’
‘No, I was talking to Mr Donaldson. Or he was talking to me, rather. He has a bit of a bee in his bonnet about the old organ, you know, wants to restore it and so forth. Dr Watson will tell you the same. Anyway, he was wanting to ask me whether funds would permit of his beginning the restoration work this term or not. Ask him, if you like.’
‘Thank you,’ said Holmes. ‘Do they, by the way?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Do funds permit a beginning on the restoration work?’
‘Lord, I don’t know!’ Carstairs laughed aloud. ‘That’s not up to me, you know. As I told him, but he didn’t listen. Just went on about his pet undertaking, how much better morning prayers would be if the organ were restored, all that sort of thing. Truth to tell, I didn’t really listen most of the time.’
‘I see. Well, perhaps we might see Dr Longton, if it is not inconvenient?’
‘Of course.’ As before, Carstairs tapped on the inner door, spoke briefly to the headmaster, and showed us in.
‘Well, gentlemen?’ Dr Longton’s words were civil enough, but there was a tinge of impatience in his tone.
‘It is a small matter,’ said Holmes. ‘We merely wish to eliminate all the members of staff from our enquiries by determining where they may have been at five o’clock last night.’
‘You suspect me?’
Holmes raised a hand. ‘Merely a matter of form, sir, I assure you.’
‘Well, then, I was in here, talking to the chairman of the school governors. I can give you his name and address, if you think it necessary?’
‘No, sir, it will not be necessary,’ said Holmes. He stood up and smiled. ‘By giving the lead so readily in this respect, you have assisted us considerably, for the rest of the staff will not now refuse to answer us,’ he said.
‘I see. Pleased to help in any way, of course,’ said Dr Longton, somewhat mollified.
Holmes nodded a farewell, and we returned to our rooms. The fire had been lit, and the place was pleasantly warm. Holmes curled up in a chair, and took out his pipe. ‘With your permission,’ he said, ‘I shall think over what we have achieved so far. Not that it will take very long,’ he added cynically. ‘And we can resume our questions when the rest of the masters have finished the day’s teaching.’
I nodded, and set off for the bedroom to find a book which I had brought with me, for there was no mistaking Holmes’s meaning; he wanted to be allowed to muse in silence. As I reached the inner door I recollected that I had been reading the book the day before, and had left it on a little table by the outer door. I retraced my steps, then, but when I got to the table I forgot about the book, for there lay a medium sized parcel, wrapped in brown paper and addressed in pencil to ‘Dr John Watson, The Abbey School.’
Considerably puzzled, I picked it up, and tore off the outer wrapper, to reveal a box of twenty-five Havana cigars. I could not repress a laugh.
‘What have you there, Watson?’
‘Cigars, Holmes. A decent brand, too. I fancy I could name the two little rascals who bought these!’
‘Indeed?’
‘Yes, Holmes. Caught young Watson and his pal smoking some revolting things the night before last, and gave them a couple of decent smokes. Not that they agreed with ’em, mind you.’
‘And you think they have bought these as a way of thanking you?’
‘Can’t see why anyone else would send me cigars, Holmes,’ I said, wondering what he was talking about.
‘I hardly think the village shop stocks this particular brand,’ he said.
‘No, I suppose not. They most likely ordered them from London, from the merchants used by one of their fathers, or something.’
‘There is no postmark. The address, you see, is in capitals.’
‘The shopman, Holmes!’
‘And the absence of a postmark?’
‘Sent by carrier, dear chap!’
‘And when did they learn that you were not Mr Harris, but Dr Watson?’
‘Oh.’
Very gently, Holmes took the box from my hand, and examined it closely. ‘Have the goodness to open the window, Watson.’
No less puzzled than before, I did as he asked.
‘Anyone out there?’
‘No-one at all, Holmes.’
‘Then stand clear.’ And before I could stop him, or even ask what he proposed, he had thrown the box through the open window! I watched as it sailed in a neat arc, to land in the very centre of the empty quadrangle. As it struck the ground, it exploded with a bang that broke a couple of ground floor windows.
Nine
‘The old exploding cigar trick, eh, Holmes?’ was the best I could manage as I leaned for support against the window sill.
‘Remarkable, Watson,’ he said with some admiration. ‘Most men would not be able to treat so grave a matter quite so lightly. I think we had better examine the wrapper of your curious parcel more closely.’
‘And I think I had better check to see if anyone was hurt in the blast, Holmes.’
‘Oh, do you think so?’ Holmes thought for a moment, then nodded. ‘I am sorry, Watson. You are right, of course, although I do not think any harm has been done.’ If he seemed a touch disappointed at the prospect of not being able to pursue his own line immediately, it was merely a touch, and I ignored this and made my way down to the ground floor. As you may imagine, the explosion had not gone entirely unremarked. Boys and masters alike were wandering into the quadrangle, and there was much speculation as to what exactly had happened. But there was no sort of panic, and no injuries beyond the predictable nervous shock experienced by those who had been in the classrooms nearest the blast. One or two boys had been obliged to brush bits of glass from their desks, or their persons, but although the explosion had sufficient force to break a couple of windows
it had been insufficient to propel the glass fragments at a truly dangerous speed.
When once I had found that my medical skills were not required, I very naturally became the focus of attention with regard to what had happened. I tried to fend off the many questions addressed to me – for it was assumed that the occurrence was in some way connected with Holmes and me – and I was relieved when Holmes strolled casually up and dismissed the whole thing with an airy wave of his hand, and some story about a chemical experiment that had not worked out entirely as intended. With this excuse, pathetic though it patently was, the enquirers had to be satisfied.
Holmes nodded to me to join him. He sought out the porter, who was expressing some incoherent views as to just what had happened, and steered him to a quieter spot.
‘Bit of a rum do, this, sir,’ ventured the porter.
‘It is indeed. Tell me,’ said Holmes, producing the brown paper wrapper from his pocket, ‘was it you who left a parcel for Dr Watson in his rooms?’
The man hesitated, then nodded. ‘But ’twas the doctor himself gave it me, sir,’ he added.
‘The doctor? You mean Dr Longton?’
The porter nodded.
‘Dr Longton brought the parcel to you?’ I asked, unable to believe that such was the case.
‘No, sir. I had occasion to go along to Dr Longton’s room, a small matter of reporting a little trouble with the main boiler in the kitchens. Trouble is, you see, that boiler is near as old as the school itself, and –’
‘And Dr Longton gave you the parcel for Dr Watson here?’ Holmes cut in.
‘That ’e did, sir.’
‘I see. Thank you.’ Holmes nodded, and turned back to the crowd, which was now beginning to thin out slightly. Dr Longton was still there, though, looking not so much puzzled as angry at this further disturbance to the even tenor of the school’s life. ‘Dr Longton, may we have a word with you?’
‘You may, sir, if it embraces some sort of apology for this disgraceful episode,’ said Dr Longton.
Holmes regarded him severely. ‘Watson and I have but narrowly escaped death or serious injury,’ he said. ‘There was some infernal machine contained in a purported box of cigars, which I understand you caused to be sent to the doctor’s rooms?’
‘Was that what caused the explosion, then?’ Dr Longton’s surprise was unfeigned, I was sure of that.
‘It was, sir.’
‘Well,’ said Dr Longton, ‘That casts a slightly different light upon matters. But I can assure you that I know nothing whatever about the parcel. It is true that I saw it upon Carstairs’s desk after luncheon. In the ordinary way of things, I should simply have left it there, for Carstairs sees to the post and what have you as a rule, but, since the school porter chanced to call upon me about some minor domestic mishap, the details of which I cannot now even recall with any accuracy –’
‘A complaint as to some old boiler, I think?’ I ventured.
‘Possibly so,’ agreed Dr Longton. ‘As I say, the porter was there, and Carstairs was not, so I indicated the parcel when the porter left, and asked him to be so kind as to deliver it.’
‘I see. And where was Carstairs?’ asked Holmes.
‘He had gone to the bank immediately after luncheon, and not returned.’
‘I see,’ said Holmes again. ‘And can you recall seeing the parcel there before luncheon?’
‘I cannot, sir. But then I may well not have noticed it, so I cannot say that it was not there earlier.’
‘Is Carstairs back, do you know?’
‘He was here somewhere.’ Dr Longton looked round the quadrangle, now all but empty of sightseers. ‘He has very likely returned to his duties, and with your permission I shall do the same.’ And he nodded a farewell and set off back inside.
‘We had better see Carstairs,’ Holmes decided, ‘although I do not expect that he will be able to tell us very much more.’ And he followed Dr Longton at a discreet distance.
Carstairs was at his desk when we reached his office. He looked up and raised an eyebrow. ‘A bit of a fuss there, what?’ he said.
‘Watson’s life, and mine, have been put at risk by a device concealed in a cigar box,’ said Holmes.
‘Oh? Is that what the commotion was?’
‘The cigar box was delivered to Watson after Dr Longton had seen it upon your desk.’
‘Was it, by Jove? Well, it wasn’t here before lunch, I promise you that.’
‘You took your luncheon at the usual hour?’
Carstairs nodded. ‘And then I had to go into the village, do some school business at the bank. You can ask Dr Longton, if you like.’
‘Thank you, that will not be necessary. And there was no parcel here when you left, you say? You did not, I take it, see anyone outside when you went to your luncheon?’
‘Lurking with a parcel under their arm? No, sir, I did not.’ Carstairs frowned. ‘Anyone might have left it here, though, for I have only just properly got back.’
‘Did anyone know you were going to the bank?’
‘Only Dr Longton. The porter sometimes goes with me, partly to act as an escort, and also to do some shopping or similar errands if needed, but the nature of today’s business meant that I would be quite safe alone. But anyone might have left it in here, the parcel I mean, throughout the lunch interval. Once the meal itself is over, people drift off for a smoke, or a short walk, or a chat, you know.’
‘H’mm.’ I could tell that Holmes was far from satisfied. ‘Thank you,’ he told Carstairs, and then he ushered me out into the corridor and along to our rooms.
‘Less than helpful,’ I said.
‘Indeed.’
‘Shall we resume our questioning of the masters as to their whereabouts?’ I asked him.
‘I feel that it will probably be quite useless,’ he answered shortly. Then he laughed, and threw his cigar case over to me. ‘Those won’t explode! You see, Watson, I fancy that our man, or men, will have a decent alibi,’ he went on. ‘After all, it was just after the conclusion of the day’s work, so what more natural than that the teachers should be in their own rooms, having a bath, or a smoke, or just closing their eyes in their armchairs? It would be impossible to prove otherwise. And where two men claim to have been in one another’s company, who is to say that they are not the men we seek, and that they have concocted the tale to rule themselves out as suspects? We are dealing with clever men, Watson. And dangerous men.’
‘We might eliminate any who have a provable story, though.’
‘That is true. We shall do what we can later.’ Holmes smoked thoughtfully in silence for a time. ‘It does rather prove one thing, though. I had wondered if Tromarty might have been killed on purpose, to prevent his telling something he had found out. This attempt on both our lives makes it more likely that you were, in fact, the intended victim.’
‘And now they – whoever “they” may be – want you out of the way as well. That will not make for a very pleasant time, Holmes, for they might very well decide to try again!’
‘Yes, indeed. I think I might have a word with Dr Longton, explain that we shall take up our quarters in the village inn for a time. I imagine he will not be too sorry to see us go.’ And Holmes left me for a few minutes, telling me on his return that all was arranged, and that we should leave once we had spoken to the rest of the masters.
We were then obliged to possess our souls in patience, or as much as we could decently summon up. I fretted somewhat, and would have taken a long walk to pass the time, but my nerves were rather shaken by the events of the afternoon, and I thought it safer to remain where I was. Holmes, of course, seemed completely indifferent to what had occurred, and curled up in an armchair with his pipe and his own thoughts.
After a couple of hours, which seemed to me more like a couple of weeks, the final bell sounded, and Holmes stood up with a grunt of satisfaction. ‘We can get some work done, now,’ he said, setting off at a good pace down the corridor.
We q
uestioned each of the masters in turn. I do not propose to set down all the conversations, but our investigations may be summarized thus: Mr Reed could be eliminated, for he had talked to a couple of the villagers on his way home, and then the local doctor had called that evening regarding the Reeds’s baby, which had some childish ailment. Herr Wieland said he had been talking to a couple of the older boys. ‘We cannot cross him off, though?’ I pointed out, ‘for they might all three be involved.’
‘H’mm. Agreed. By the same token, we cannot eliminate Dr Longton.’
‘But he was with the chairman of the school governors!’ I said.
‘True, but what of that? If the older boys are suspect, then why should the chairman of the governors not be suspect as well? After all, if we can picture the respectable Dr Longton as being involved in some as yet undefined skullduggery, why should he not be in concert with the equally respectable chairman?’
‘Unlikely, Holmes. Though I agree we must be careful. What of Donaldson and Carstairs? They were together, according to Carstairs.’
‘According to Carstairs. Again, we must leave them on our list.’
And that, if you will believe me, was all the result of our questions! The other masters claimed, as Holmes had predicted, to have been alone in their individual rooms, with no witnesses to say yea or nay. Still, we had eliminated Reed, so I suppose it might be called progress of a kind.
Once this dismal work was concluded, Holmes and I took such essentials as we must and decamped for the village inn, where we spent but a poor evening. Holmes was not disposed to engage in idle talk, and I was reduced to playing a form of indoor skittles with an old fellow whose conversation, though sprightly enough in content, was somewhat impeded by his almost complete lack of teeth. This did not, however, preclude his beating me at every game. All in all, I was not sorry when I could excuse myself and seek my bed.
I slept fitfully, my nerves shaken by the incident earlier that day, and I woke with a thick head and in no very sweet temper. The morning dragged intolerably, and it was with very considerable relief that I looked out of the inn door at half past eleven, to see a trap come to a halt, and a distinguished man step down, followed by a lad of twelve or thirteen.