Last Seen Wearing

caught with their pants down, and a hell of a lot of others get away with it.'

'What are you getting at, sir?'

'Simply this.' He took a deep breath and hoped it wouldn't sound too melodramatic. 'I think that Phillipson had an affair with Valerie Taylor, that's all.'

Lewis whistled softly and slowly took it in. 'What makes you think that?'

'No one reason — just lots of little reasons. And above all, the fact that it's the only thing that makes sense of the whole wretched business.'

'I think you're wrong, sir. There's an old saying, isn't there — if you'll excuse the language — about not shitting on your own doorstep. Surely it would be far too risky? Her at the school and him headmaster? I don't believe it, sir. He's not such a fool as that, surely?'

'No, I don't think he is. But as I told you, I'm trying to look back further than that, to the time, let's say, before he became headmaster.'

'But he didn't know her then. He lived in Surrey.'

'Yes. But he came to Oxford at least once, didn't he?' said Morse slowly. 'He came up here when he was interviewed for the job. And in that sense, to use your own picturesque terminology, he wouldn't exactly be shitting on his own doorstep, would he?'

'But you just can't say things like that, sir. You've got to have some evidence.'

'Yes. We shall need some evidence, you're quite right. But just forgetting the evidence for a minute, what worries me is whether it's a fact or not; and I think that we've just got to assume that it is a fact. We could get the evidence — I'm sure of that. We could get it from Phillipson himself; and I think, Lewis, that there are one or two other persons who could tell us a good deal if they had a mind to.'

'You mean, sir, that you've not really got any evidence yet?'

'Oh, I wouldn't say that. One or two pointers, aren't there?'

'Such as?'

'Well, first of all there's Phillipson himself. You know he's hiding something as well as I do.' As was his wont, Morse blustered boldly through the weakest points in his argument. 'He doesn't talk about the girl in a natural way at all — not about the girl herself. It's almost as if he's frightened to remember her — as if he feels guilty about her in some way.' Lewis seemed stolidly unimpressed, and Morse left it. 'And then there's Maguire. By the way, I saw him again yesterday.'

Lewis raised his eyebrows. 'Did you? Where was that?'

'I, er, thought I ought to follow your advice after all. You were quite right, you know, about the London end. One or two loose ends to tie up, weren't there?'

Lewis opened his mouth, but got no further.

'When I first saw him,' continued Morse, 'it was obvious that he was jealous — plain miserably jealous. I think Valerie must have dropped the odd hint; nothing too specific, perhaps. And I tackled Maguire about it again yesterday, and — well, I'm sure there was a bit of gossip, at least among some of the pupils.'

Lewis continued to sit in glum silence.

'And then there was George Taylor. According to him it was just about that time — when Phillipson first came for the job, that is — that Valerie began staying out late. Again I agree, nothing definite, but another suggestive indication, wouldn't you say?'

'To be truthful, sir, I wouldn't. I think you're making it all up as you're going along.'

'All right. I'll not argue. Just have a look at this.' He handed to Lewis the document that Baines had so carefully packaged for him. It was a photocopy of the expenses form that Phillipson had submitted to the Governors after the headship interviews. From the form it was immediately apparent that he had not reached home that evening; he had claimed for B and B at the Royal Oxford, and had arrived home at lunchtime on the following day.

'He probably missed his train,' protested Lewis.

'Don't think so,' said Morse. 'I've checked. The last of the interviews was over by a quarter to six, and there was a good train for Phillipson to catch at 8.35. And even if he'd missed that, there was another at 9.45. But he wouldn't miss it, would he? Two and three-quarter hours to get from Kidlington to Oxford? Come off it!'

'He probably felt tired — you know how it is.'

'Not too tired to cock his leg around Valerie Taylor.'

'It's just not fair to say that, sir.'

'Isn't it, now? Well, let me tell you something else, Lewis. I went to the Royal Oxford yesterday and found the old register. Do you know something? There is no entry for any Phillipson that night.'

'All right. He just tried to claim a few extra quid for nothing. He caught the train after all.'

'I bet he wouldn't like me to check up with his wife about that!' Morse was now regaining his momentum.

'You've not checked with her, then?'

'No. But I checked up on something else. I went round to the Station Hotel just opposite. Very interesting. They looked out their old register for me, and I'll give you one guess who the last entry on the list was.'

'He probably just got the names of the hotels muddled. They're pretty near each other.'

'Could be. But you see, Lewis, there's no Phillipson there either. Let me show you what there was, though.'