‘I am accustomed to regarding myself as a repository of secrets,’ said the headmistress with a smile.
‘I expect you are. Well, then, do you happen to know whether Miss Faintley was in the habit of collecting parcels from Hagford railway station?’
‘In the habit? That is a little too sweeping. She always collected the school stock from there.’
‘But you have a station here, haven’t you?’
‘Yes, but Hagford is a big junction and we are only on a small branch line, and, after some very important material went hopelessly astray once, it was decided that we would leave it at Hagford luggage office and collect it at our convenience. It helps at holiday times, too, if we know it’s safely stored and just waiting to be picked up.’
‘And Miss Faintley was the collector?’
‘Yes. It should be the caretaker’s job really, but he has nothing but his bicycle, which isn’t any good for the size and number of the packages we get — stationery for the whole school, text-books, art, craft and needlework materials, new hockey sticks by the dozen, and so on – so Miss Faintley, who had her own car, used to act as school carrier. I think the fact that she used to make the journeys in school time made attractive what might otherwise have been a tiresome business. Sometimes she would make the trip three or four times in a single morning, and so, of course, be freed from her classes.’
‘That is extremely interesting.’
‘I suppose I mayn’t ask what makes it interesting?’
‘Why not? You have agreed to be discreet, and, besides, as we are to collaborate, I will be as frank with you as the police case will permit.’ She gave Miss Golightly a concise account of the story told to the police by young Mr Mand-sell. ‘And now you see why I asked you whether Miss Faintley had any particular men friends on your staff,’ she said in conclusion.
‘As to that, neither Mr Rankin nor I seem able to help you. But when school reassembles you had better come along and talk to some of the women on the staff. They will know. And that reminds me of the gap that hasn’t been filled yet – and won’t be until the next meeting of the Staffing Committee.’
‘Miss Faintley’s post, of course. What did she teach?’
‘Nature study to the younger classes and she helped with the girls’ games.’
‘Could you arrange for my secretary to take the post for a couple of weeks? Miss Menzies was trained as a teacher.’
‘I should be very glad to have her. It would tide us over nicely. I’ll ring the office at once and let them know. They’ve already told me they can’t promise me a Supply, so, if Miss Menzies could cope, that would —’
‘Kill two birds with one stone.’
‘Yes, yes, of course.’ But the headmistress did not look happy. ‘I deprecate the choice of metaphor.’
‘I wonder,’ remarked Mrs Bradley conversationally, ‘what school gathering was being held here at the end of the term?’
‘Gathering? Oh, the Leaving Dance, you mean! We hold it at the end of the summer term and invite old scholars, the staff past and present, and the two top forms. It is quite informal.’
‘Yes. Do all the staff turn up?’
‘I have no idea. I’m always extremely busy at the end of the term and although I pop in now and again because the old scholars sometimes like a word and because the children are disappointed if one does not sample the cakes and lemonade, I never inquire who is there or who is not. There is no obligation to attend, as it is not an official school function.’
‘Would Mr Rankin know who was there?’
‘This year Mr Rankin and Mrs Moles were in here with me checking the stock lists and the needlework accounts. They did go into the hall two or three times, but I doubt whether either of them would know whether the whole staff was there. People drift in and out, you know, come late, go early – that sort of thing. It would be difficult to keep a check, particularly as the hall was crowded. The dance is popular with Old Scholars, and then there were fifty boys and girls there as well.’
‘In your opinion, could Mr Rankin have left the building long enough to get to the Park Road telephone-box and back?’
‘Definitely not. It takes twenty-five minutes of brisk walking to get to Park Road from here, and the telephone is half-way down – say another six or seven minutes’ walk – and he possesses neither car nor bicycle.’
‘Thank you. That is most helpful. Was the staff-room in use during the evening?’
‘Oh, yes, of course. There is the cloakroom question, for one thing. And, then, I usually have some special sandwiches and some coffee prepared for the staff. Many of them do not care about cakes and lemonade, and, in any case, need a respite from the revels!’
‘And there is a telephone in the staff-room?’
‘Yes, there is. The Education Committee were not at all co-operative over that, but I insisted. I was not going to have my teachers feel that I did not trust them to put in their threepences without being watched by me! You would be astonished, Mrs Bradley, at the indignities which certain members of local councils will put on their teachers unless the interests of those teachers are closely watched. “A telephone in the staff-room,” I said, “or this is the very last time I make use of mine, and then you will have to write me letters about every little thing.” Hard luck on the office, of course. It was not their decision. However, I obtained their co-operation and the staff obtained their telephone, so that was that.’
‘Admirable!’ said Mrs Bradley. ‘Would you be surprised to learn that Miss Faintley may have made the journeys to bring back the school stock a cover for less reputable activities?’
Miss Golightly looked troubled but not surprised.
