“Charming! Charming! Really, my dear James, you must have spent a great deal of your leisure-time on this extremely beautiful manuscript,” said Gascoigne.
“A pleasure, sir, I assure you. If you will read aloud, I will identify the objects as we come to them. I think I can remember where I placed each one.”
“Methodical in the extreme, James. By all means let us begin.”
One item, and one only, was missing from the tally.
“Strange,” said Hamish. “I know the javelin was here when I made my list. I remember noticing it particularly. I even remember exactly where I placed it.”
“Strange,” said the Warden. “Even the maid who dusts and polishes is only allowed in here under my own direct supervision. I suppose you have never inadvertently left the key in the lock when you vacated this room?”
“I have only been in the room twice, except for the time when you yourself introduced me to your museum at the beginning of term, sir, and you will remember that I handed you back the key each evening after I had made my list. I can assure you that the key was never otherwise out of my possession.”
“Of course not. Well, no doubt we have students here who are quite capable of picking a lock. Whoever it was must have had hopes of getting his hands on something of intrinsic value, I suppose. There are solid silver cups among the collection. In his disappointment at finding that everything valuable (in that sense) had been placed in the safe, I suppose he impounded the javelin as an act of defiance. A strange item to choose, but some of the people here are not very well-balanced, I’m afraid. If they were, the chances are that they would not be here, of course. Oh, well, I must look into the matter, I suppose. What a nuisance it all is!”
“Have I your permission to go, sir? I am due down at the pool fairly shortly.”
“Oh, by all means, my dear fellow. I may say, James, that I am delighted with the way you have taken to your duties here.”
“Thank you, sir. They are very pleasant ones.”
“You would not think of changing your plans and joining us on a permanent basis, I suppose?”
“You are very kind, sir, but I fear my mamma would oppose the scheme. She has set her heart on the diplomatic service for me, and I should not wish—in fact, between ourselves, I should not dare—to thwart her.” (When she read this preposterous statement later on in a letter which her son wrote to her, Laura Gavin laughed sardonically).
From outside the Warden’s office Hamish dashed downstairs and out on to the field. He was more than anxious to find out what had happened to Jones. The fact that the Warden’s javelin was missing disquieted him more than a little, although he could hardly imagine that it was dangerous enough to become a lethal weapon.
chapter
6
Joynings jumps the Gun
« ^ »
Henry had not yet collected his search party. The College enjoyed its after-lunch break and was disinclined to go roaming the woods on what the majority thought would be a fool’s errand.
“Who wants to find bloody Jonah, anyway? Good riddance if he has gone,” was the consensus of opinion. Hamish, faced with this conclusion, left the tennis courts and went on to the field where the gymnasts, singly or in small groups, were stretched out in the sunshine, secure in the knowledge that for them there would be no class that afternoon. He spoke crisply to one and another.
“You a gym man? Well, there’s no gym this afternoon, so go on to the tennis courts and report to Henry. Why? Because I shall scrag you if you don’t.”
As the gymnasts, on the whole, tended to be small-boned and amenable rather than hefty and belligerent, this policy worked well, particularly as the men’s gym squad, owing to Jones’s slackness, were known to be lethargic and out of condition. They groused and slouched, but they obeyed. Henry addressed them.
“You’ll be looking for Jonah. He may be injured. He must be found. I’d rather we found him than the police. That’s all. We’ll quarter the woods inch by inch. It shouldn’t take long.” He indicated a heap of hockey sticks which some of the girls had been asked to bring over from their games shed. “These will help you to prod the undergrowth and shove brambles out of your way, and all that. Shout out if you find him or if you find anything which will help us to trace him. If he’s hurt, of course don’t attempt to move him. O.K.? Off we go, then.”
“Do you think there are enough of us to search the woods thoroughly, Henry?” asked a slim youth wearing a singlet and grey flannels. “When I’ve seen films where the police do it, they fan out and beat every bit of bracken.”
“Trouble is that everybody except you blokes has a coaching session in about half-an-hour’s time, Gil.”
“What about the long-jump squad, then? There’s been a sort of hoodoo placed on the pit since Colin’s accident and what with Barry being on leave until recently, and all that. Why shouldn’t they be given something to do, as well as us?”
“Barry is going to give them a blackboard lecture with slides of Klaus Beer, Ralph Boston and Lynn Davies—oh, and Mary Rand and Viorica Viscopoleanu, of course. I’m afraid Barry is not very keen on using the pit even yet. He can’t get over Colin’s accident, any more than the long-jump squad can. You cut along and start looking for Jonah, and don’t worry about the long-jump fellows.”
“It’s a bit morbid of Barry, don’t you think, to boycott the pit like this?” asked Hamish, as he and Henry cantered after the students. “After all, accidents do happen, and Colin seems to be going on all right.”
“Barry will get himself sorted out in time. He’s very fond of Colin, you know. Besides, he blames himself for the accident in the most unreasonable way. Says that if he hadn’t gone on leave, the thing would never have happened. Well, of course it wouldn’t, but you can’t argue in that sort of way.”
“How thoroughly do you think this lot will search?” asked Hamish, as they caught up with the last of the gymnasts and passed them.
“I don’t think they’ll put themselves out, but the woods are not very extensive. We’d better separate, I think. You take the left side and I’ll do the rest. How much time can you spare?”
“Not a lot, I’m afraid. Got a swim-session with some learners. I want everybody in College to be able to swim.”
“All right, then. Do you know that old hut in the clearing?”
“No, but I can find it.”
“All right. Take that path there. It leads to it. If the hut seems to be locked, kick it in. The timbers are sure to be rotten.”
“If it’s locked, Jones can’t be there.”
“Somebody may have a key. They got one to the stoke-hole, remember.”
Hamish found the hut. It was locked, but he had no difficulty in kicking in two or three boards and entering the musty premises. There were two rooms. The building must have been a temporary shelter for a gamekeeper when the estate had been in private hands. Hamish looked around. The rooms were bare, except for cobwebs, and smelt damp. There was no sign of Jones. On his way out of the woods he encountered Henry again.
“Not in the hut,” he said.
“No? It was just a possibility,” said Henry. “We haven’t had any luck, either. Well, I’m going to leave the students to it now. I feel I’ve shown willing and I ought to be back in College in case Gassie wants me. Miss Yale has just met me and mentioned the stoke-hole, so I think I’ll take another look at it just in case there’s another something which I’ve overlooked.”