Proud laughed. ‘Point taken: in that case, here’s the real reason for my visit. I want to ask you about Claude Bothwell.’
‘You mean Adolf?’
‘The staff called him Adolf too?’
‘What else would you call a German teacher with such a damn silly wee moustache? What do you want to know about him?’
‘As much as you can tell me. It’s not him I’m trying to trace, but a woman with whom he was said to be carrying on, a teacher in the junior school, Miss Annabelle Gentle.’
The old man’s thin eyebrows rose. ‘He was, was he?’ he murmured. ‘There was conjecture about that at the time, after they both left.’
‘You didn’t know about it?’
‘Not for a fact. How did this come to your attention?’
‘Through Miss Gentle’s daughter; she’s trying to trace her.’
‘I don’t know if I’ll be much help to the woman.’
‘I don’t know either, but you’re the best lead I have. Can you tell me about the circumstances of their leaving?’
‘It was abrupt; that’s the best I can say about it. You’ll remember yourself, I’m sure, that Bothwell was supposed to be taking your German class that year. Well, he didn’t turn up, damn him. There was no formal resignation, no notice was given or served.’
‘Did you contact him?’
‘I tried to. The school secretary phoned his house to see what was up, but she got no reply. She called several times, with the same result. Eventually I went to see him. The place was deserted: he and his wife had gone. One of the neighbours saw me on the doorstep and told me that they’d left a few weeks before. He’d seen Bothwell loading suitcases into his car, and assumed that they were off on holiday, but they never came back.’
‘They left their house, and all their belongings?’
‘They didn’t have any. The house was rented: I found that out when the landlord’s solicitor rang me at the school looking for him.’
‘What about Miss Gentle?’
‘I didn’t have much to do with that. I left it in the hands of Bessie Stone, head of the junior school. I barely remember the girl, to tell you the truth. I had very little contact with her. She absented herself in the same way that Bothwell did, on the same day.’
‘Did you call on her, or did Miss Stone?’
‘No, Bessie phoned her on the morning she failed to appear, thinking she was sick. As I recall, one of her house-mates answered. Apparently Miss Gentle had gone up north on holiday at the beginning of July, or so she’d led them to believe, but hadn’t come back. She hadn’t given up her room, but they were thinking about letting it.’
‘How did you deal with the matter?’
‘Peremptorily: Bessie gave her until the end of the week to return, then sent her notice of dismissal by recorded delivery.’
‘Where?’
‘At her flat,’ said Mr Goddard. ‘That was the only address we had for her. I gave Claude an extra week’s grace, and then I did the same with him.’
‘Did you ever hear from either of them again?’
‘There was a phone call, I believe, from the girl’s family, looking for her. The secretary told them that she was no longer with us.’
‘What about Bothwell?’
‘Nothing. I thought that someone might get in touch if he applied for a job somewhere else, but nobody ever did.’
‘And you didn’t link the two departures?’
‘Not really. As I said there was conjecture, but it was staff-room talk, that was all, laughter about our Adolf being a bit of a wide boy. There had been no talk about them at all when they were both on the staff, no rumours. These things happen; people behave badly. To me, it was an unfortunate coincidence, but now you tell me they were carrying on after all. Where does that information come from, young James?’
‘From Miss Gentle’s sister. She says that Annabelle told them, the Easter before all this happened, that she and Bothwell were engaged.’
‘Indeed? Mrs Bothwell would have had something to say about that, I’d have thought.’
‘Did you ever meet her?’
‘Of course, and so did you. She gave you a pot at the school sports, as I recall.’
‘Thank you, I thought that’s who she was.’
‘What do you remember about her?’
Proud’s smile had an edge of guilt about it. ‘Quite a bit, actually: I was sixteen then and beginning to notice such things. Tall, dark hair, striking, well built. “Tits like racing airships” was Bertie Stenton’s description, as I recall. We were more impressed by Adolf after we saw her.’
‘Young Stenton always had a way with words,’ the old rector remarked. ‘He still does now he’s on the Bench, from what I read in the
‘Was that her home town?’
‘No, she told me that she was from a place called Torroella de Montgri.’
‘I know it. My deputy has a property not far away. My wife and I go there quite regularly.’
‘The place was very different in those days, though; it was Franco’s time. Mrs Bothwell told me that she was happy to leave Spain because of him. Perhaps they’re still there.’
‘What age would they be now?’
‘The Bothwells? Mid-seventies; he was thirty-six when he left, and she was a couple of years younger. Miss Gentle? I can’t say for sure.’
‘She’d be seventy.’
Mr Goddard refilled his cup and topped up Proud’s. ‘What’s the daughter’s story?’ he asked.
‘Adopted.’
‘I hope she knows what she’s letting herself in for, assuming that you find Miss Gentle, which I doubt you will.’
‘Is there nothing else you can recall about Bothwell? Did he have any particular friends on the staff?’
‘He didn’t have any particular friends at all, from what I could see. That said, I can think of two places you might ask. There’s the pensions people: if he’s still alive he may be claiming one. Then there’s the SSTA.’
‘What?’
‘The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association: Adolf was a staunch member. That did nothing to enhance his popularity in the Academy, I can tell you. Other than that, young James, I can’t be of any more help to you.’
Eighteen
‘ I’m glad you could make it, Dottie,’ said Neil McIlhenney. ‘This is no sort of a hand-over, and we’ll have a longer chat once you get back from London, but the boss and I thought it was important that I should talk you through things before you went away.’ He nodded towards a blonde-tinted woman seated at a desk in the Special Branch outer office. ‘It’s good that you’re having a chance to meet Alice Cowan too: she’s been my eyes and ears in this job. She’s the best back-watcher in the business.’ The young detective constable smiled at the
