Dorcas appeared not to notice his discomfort. “Research into genetics, Joe. Inheritance of physical and intellectual qualities. That’s my special interest. ‘Psychology’ is a bit of an umbrella subject and they’re still trying to define its borders. Sir James is keen on exploring and expanding them. We’re encouraged to study widely for our first degree and then, if there’s any prospect of continuing, specialise after that. That’s when the real work starts.”
“And where did you spend your term out?”
“Not far from here. In Sussex. I was based at St. Raphael’s Clinic in the North Downs. A lovely spot. A wonderful establishment. I was lucky to get the placement. I’m writing up my findings at the moment-getting together my thesis for finals. That’s why I’m down here at the moment-we’re all on home leave until Easter.”
Joe sipped his whisky with pleasure. She’d remembered the drop of iced water. Should he feel flattered? He was sure he was meant to, as he was meant to notice she was using the perfume he’d given her. He was uneasy that he still fell for it. He told himself that this was ever her way-she’d deliver a pat on the head which would be followed by a kick in the shins. He took a discreet look at the confident and beautiful young woman at his side. He noted the purity of the profile, the brilliance of the dark eyes, the slenderness of the neck with its simple decoration of a single strand of tiny pearls and swallowed uneasily. He told himself that the annoying child he’d known was probably still there under the silk dinner gown, waiting to make use of him.
“So, I won’t hear of any attempt to do him down. Sir James is very … caring … Joe. He came out several times to supervise the work I was doing at the hospital. He’s a busy man; he didn’t have to do that-he was just interested. And knowledgeable. He made some rather useful suggestions which put me right on track for a good result. Well he would know, wouldn’t he? His father did some splendid work with peas. You know-verifying and expanding on Mendel’s experiments. If I’m to declare an interest here I ought to add that.…” Dorcas’s firm tone faltered for a moment and, to cover her sudden loss of confidence, she took a defiant gulp of Joe’s whisky. “… to add that … he did hint … and at this stage of course it could never be more than a hint … that … I’m just the kind of researcher he would think of employing in the family concerns when I graduate.”
Marcus hurried to support her. “Well, there is life beyond the degree ceremony, you know, Joe. Doesn’t all end with a mortarboard and a scroll. What’s her father going to do about her once she’s graduated and at large again, eh? Orlando doesn’t have a clue! She’s not the marrying kind, she tells us. And I, for one, believe her,” he said thoughtfully. “No-the openings for a woman are not many and not good. With Truelove’s backing she could get somewhere.”
“So, on the whole, Joe, I’d be obliged if you could hold off confounding him.” Her smile was dazzling but was swiftly followed by a frown as she turned her attention to the table. “Now, who’ve we got here? Will someone tell me why the table’s spread with photographs of small boys?”
“Better tell her, Joe,” Lydia said.
“I’m keeping an open mind.”
Joe remembered that these words always prefaced a decided personal opinion from Dorcas.
“But I think I can reassure you that if molestation of a sexual nature is clouding your minds, you can forget it. At least as far as Jackie’s concerned. For these others,” She gestured to the photographs, “who can say?”
“Dorcas, how would you know?”
“Come off it, Joe! Sexual exploitation is probably the first suspicion that came to mind. Everyone’s mind. But especially a policeman’s. After that ghastly business the Yard had to deal with a couple of years ago! And when a boy is so unhappy he runs away from school it’s something you have to consider. So I asked him.”
“Good Lord! How on earth did you find the words? Did he understand what you were getting at?” Joe wanted to know.
“I try not to be deliberately mystifying. I used words a nine-year-old uses. And they have a surprisingly wide vocabulary. Jackie’s no fool. And he’s honest. He gives you a straight answer. If he doesn’t understand, he expects an explanation.” She smiled. “Come to think of it, he probably learned more from me than I did from him in our little chat.”
“Dorcas, have you been trained to.…”
A scathing look cut him off. “No. I’m not concerned with psychiatry. I’m not and never intend to be a meddler with people’s minds. I use my common sense to find out what they’re thinking. That’s all.”
“So you established that no master laid an evil hand on him?”
“Yes. Sexually speaking, no advances whatsoever. There’s the usual skirmishings between pupils in the dorm after lights out, but Jackie didn’t seem to be worried by this. He puts it down to the temperature.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been very cold. You must have noticed. Joe, their dormitory would have challenged Captain Scott of the Antarctic! The radiators go off in the afternoon and they have to sleep under quite inadequate bedding. Do you know what they’re reduced to? They pick up their bedside mats from the floor and put them on top of their coverlets to keep the cold out. Sometimes the littlest ones cry all night and can’t get to sleep for shivering. Often a boy will creep into his friend’s bed and snuggle up for warmth. Jackie hasn’t got a best friend. And he arrived late at the school, so he got the last vacant bed. You can guess where that is! Right at the end under the window. And Matron makes them keep the window open all day and all night.”
“If I’d thought about it I might well have guessed as much, Dorcas. That’s the usual practice in English schools,” Joe said. “Jackie hadn’t brought it up as a reason for flight. He was rather more concerned with the bleeding corpse that he found he had on his hands.”
“Well, he wouldn’t complain-not for himself. He may look as soft as a marshmallow, but I suspect young Jackie is made of stern stuff. He’s more worried about the lads less able than he is to withstand the rigours. They seem to go down like ninepins with flu, measles, ear infections and even pneumonia. And he assumes, like all the other poor mites-because that’s what his elders and betters have always told him-that this bad treatment will toughen him up … make a man of him, don’t you know.” Dorcas shuddered. “The last goal any reasonable human being would be working towards!”
“Dorcas, we’ve all survived such schooldays,” Marcus began to say gently. “Joe and I have, each in our own time, been the new bug under the window.”
“Marcus, if you say ‘It didn’t do me any harm,’ I shall be obliged to reveal exactly what harm it did do!” Lydia threatened.
“I agree with Dorcas for once,” Joe broke in to avert the revelations and to keep his promise to strive for a peaceful household. “The British public school can be a bit Spartan. But most survive. Those who don’t go about shoving stolen foxes up their jumpers, that is.”
“Well, I mention it because Jackie tells me you’re going down to St. Magnus with him and you’re staying on to sort things out. While you’re down there, you might be able to work your way through to acquiring a position of leverage with the Headmaster and you might be able to use your weight to do some good.”
“Oh, a little moral and physical coercion you mean? ‘Look here Farman, old chum,’ I snarl in a sinister way as I twist his arm a further inch up his back. ‘Which is it to be? Either I reveal you’ve been caught with your left hand in the till and your right up Matron’s skirt or you turn on the heating in the junior dorm’?”
“I think that’s blackmail but it will do very well.” Dorcas beamed over the table at Lydia. “So good to hear the old bruiser’s not lost his edge. I wouldn’t want to be letting myself in for a week of boredom down in Sussex.”