No Winding-Sheet

‘So long as I make it good, nobody can complain, and if I did report it I should gain nothing but a name for washing the school dirty linen in public’

‘What do you think has happened to Mr Pythias? Can he have been set upon and hurt?’

‘I think we should have heard if that were the case. I don’t know what to think except, as I say, the one thought I am determined to put out of my mind.’

‘It’s much the most likely explanation, you know. If he had been beaten up and robbed, surely we should have heard of it by now, as you say.’

‘Not if he had been struck on the head and is suffering from amnesia. He may be wandering about, not knowing who he is or where he is supposed to be. Margaret suggested this and it does seem feasible.’

‘Surely the police would have picked him up before this if he were found wandering.’

‘One would think so. Anyway, I shall have to report to them that he is missing. We can’t go on in this state of uncertainty. It’s over three weeks since his landlady saw him last.’

‘That is the trouble, I suppose. The whole of the Christmas holiday and now these early days of the term have had to go by before anybody realised that he was missing. I blame that landlady. She must have known that something was wrong when he did not turn up again at his digs after Christmas. He would have gone to collect his things, even if there had been a row.’

The police took the same view. A plain-clothes detective turned up at the school and introduced himself as Detective-Inspector Routh. He brought a sergeant with him. Mr Ronsonby soon found that he had better revise his plan of saying nothing about the missing money.

‘We have visited the address you gave us, sir. The landlady can be of no help. Says the missing gentleman went away for Christmas and she hasn’t set eyes on him since. Thinks he took umbrage when she refused to accept responsibility for some money he was carrying. Do you know anything about that, sir? Would the money have amounted to anything in the nature of a considerable sum?’

‘I imagine so. I cannot give you any figures. It had been paid by boys, parents and staff to cover a school journey to Greece next summer. Mr Pythias preferred to keep everything in his own hands, as the trip was entirely his own idea. He is of Greek extraction and has travelled widely in his own country. He is also the senior geography master here. I was entirely happy to leave everything in his hands, but as to the actual amount—’

‘May I ask whether you parted from him on amicable terms, sir?’

‘Oh, yes, very much so. The senior staff always pop into my room on the last day of term to say goodbye and Pythias came in as usual with the others.’

‘To the best of your knowledge, did he get on with the other masters?’

‘So far as I know, yes, he did. My staff are a very united and friendly bunch.’

‘Can you tell me anything more about this money the landlady says he was carrying? You cannot name the exact sum, but is there anything else you know about it?’

‘I know people were very slow at paying it in to him. Practically all of it, I believe, came in on his deadline, which was the last day of term. He was occupied during that last school dinner-hour, and that meant that he took the money home with him, no doubt with the intention of placing it in a safe deposit for the weekend, as the bank would not be open to receive it over the counter until the Monday morning. That was too long a time to leave it unprotected.’

‘How many persons had opted to make the trip, sir?’

‘According to the figures I was given, sixty boys, ten parents and six staff. It was a package deal, of course, and three members of staff went free of charge, as each was responsible for twenty boys. The other three opted to accompany them and I imagine there was some arrangement about sharing expenses and all six taking equal responsibility.’

‘But not only those who were to make the journey would have known about the deadline for payment, I take it? The rest of the staff would have known, too, and the rest of the boys. A good many parents, too, whether they were going or not.’

‘Undoubtedly. So far as I am aware, the whole town could have known. It is the first time we have embarked upon quite so ambitious a project, and I have no doubt that, in a town of this comparatively small size, a great deal of general interest has been taken in it.’

‘It’s a pity about the lapse of time before the disappearance of the gentleman was reported, sir.’

‘I agree, but if the landlady did not report it, I hardly see who else could have done so. When the school is on holiday one hardly keeps tabs on the staff.’

‘These friends with whom I understand he was to spend Christmas. You wouldn’t know anything about them, I suppose? The landlady doesn’t seem to have seen anything of them at any time.’

‘I know neither their name nor where they live. My assumption, for what it’s worth, is that Mr Pythias never got to them.’

‘In that case, wouldn’t they have reported him as missing, sir? Presumably they would have been expecting him.’

‘One would think they would at least have made contact with the landlady, although my secretary tells me that she may not have been very anxious to encourage visitors to her rooms.’

‘Well, it’s all rather unsatisfactory, sir. If you don’t mind my asking, haven’t you a senior member of staff who might have his finger on the staff pulse, so to speak, somebody in touch in a different way from yourself with the other schoolmasters? It might be helpful to get his views.’

‘Somebody who is constantly in the staff room with the other men, you mean. Yes, there is Mr Burke, my deputy.’ Mr Ronsonby went to the secretary. ‘Margaret, could you page Mr Burke? He should be with the sixth in the library.’

‘Very good, Mr Ronsonby. Have you decided what I’m to do about this letter from the travel agents which came this morning?’