‘You’ll want Lewis, of course?’
‘Thank you, sir. Couple of frogmen, too.’
‘How many extra men?’
‘Well-er-none; not for the minute, anyway.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘I wouldn’t quite know what to ask them to do, sir,’ had been Morse’s simple and honest explanation.
And, indeed, as he looked at his wrist-watch (7.30 p.m.-’Blast, missed The Archers), he was not at all sure what to ask himself, either. On his desk lay the soddenly promising letter found on the corpse; but his immediate preoccupation was a throbbing toothache which had been getting worse all day. He decided he would do something about it in the morning.
As he sat there, he was conscious that there was a deeper reason for his refusal of the Superintendent’s offer of extra personnel. By temperament he was a loner, if only because, although never wholly content in the solitary state, he was almost invariably even more miserable in the company of others. There were a few exceptions, of course, and Lewis was one of them. Exactly why he enjoyed Lewis’s company so much, Morse had never really stopped to analyse; but perhaps it was because Lewis was so totally unlike himself. Lewis was placid, good-natured, methodical, honest, unassuming, faithful, and (yes, he might as well come clean about it!) a bit stolid, too. Even that afternoon, the good Lewis had been insistently anxious to stay on until whatever hour, if by any chance Morse should consider his availability of any potential value. But Morse had not. As he had pointed out to his sergeant, they might’pretty soon have a bit of luck and find out who the dead man was; the frogmen might just find a few oddments of identifiable limbs in the sludge of the canal waters by Aubrey’s Bridge. But Morse doubted it. For, even at this very early stage of the case, he sensed that his major problem would not so much be who the murderer was, but who exactly had been murdered. It was Morse’s job, though, to find the answer to both these questions; and so he started on his task, alternately stroking his slightly swollen left jaw and prodding down viciously on the offending double-fang. He took the letter lying on the desk in front of him, pressed it very carefully between sheets of blotting-paper, and then removed it. The paper was not so sopped and sodden as he had feared, and with a pair of tweezers he was soon able to unfold a strip about two inches wide and eight inches long. It was immediately apparent that this formed the left-hand side of a typewritten letter; and, furthermore, except for some minor blurring of letters at the torn edge, the message was gladdeningly legible:
Dear Sir,
This is a most unusua
realize. But please re
because what I am pro
both you and me. My wa 5
College has just take
final examinations in G
in about ten or twelve
an old man and I am de
how she has got on ah 10
The reason for my r
ridiculously impatient
to America in a few
able to be contacte
want to know how J 15
this. I have spent a
education, and she is
I realize that this
only that you should g
to such an impropriet 20
publication of the cl
July.
If you can possibly se
shall be in a positi
unconventionally. You s 25
most select clubs, sa
give you a completely
delights which are as
Please do give me a r
may be, at 01-417 808 30
you feel able to do
result, I shall give
able to enjoy, at no c
the most discreet er
ever imagined. 35
You
Morse sat back and studied the words with great joy. He’d been a lifelong addict of puzzles and of cryptograms, and this was exactly the sort of work his mind could cope with confidently. First he enumerated the lines in 5’s (as shown above); then he set his mind to work. It took
Dear Sir,
This is a most unusua l letter as I know you’ll
realize. But please re ad it with great care
because what I am pro posing can benefit
both you and me. My wa strel daughter at _
College has just take n (without much hope) her
final examination in G eography, and will get the result
in about ten or twelve days time. Now I am
an old man and I’m de speratly anxious to know
how she has got on ah ead of the official lists.
The reason for my r equest is that I am
ridiculously impatient, and in fact I am off
to America in a few dfays time where I may not be
able to be contacte d for some while. All I
want to know is how J -got on, if you can tell me
this. I have spent a great deal of money on her
education, and she is the only child I have.
I realize that this is a improper request. I ask
only that you should g ive a thought to stooping
to such an impropriet y. I think the official date for
publication of the cl ass list is-
July.
If you can possibly se e your way to this favour
I shall be in a positi t to pay you very well if
ununconventionally. You s ee I manage some of the
most select clubs, sa unas and parlours and I will
give you a completely free access to the sexual
delights which are as sociated with such places
Please do give me a r ing whatever your decision
May be at 01-417-808 -. If it so happens that
You fell able to do what I ask about J
Result I shall give you details about how you’ll be
Able to enjoy at no c ost at all to yourself,
The most discreet er otic thrills you can have
Ever imagined
You rs sincerely
Morse was reasonably pleased with the draft. It lacked polish here and there, but it wasn’t bad at all, really. Three specific problems, of course: the name of the college, the name of the girl, and the last bit of the telephone number. The college would be a bit more difficult now that almost all of them accepted women, but…
Suddenly Morse sat at his desk quite motionless, the blood tingling across his shoulders. Could it be that “G- “? It needn’t be Geography or Geology or Geophysics or whatever. And it wasn’t. It was Greatsl And that “J-”? That wasn’t Judith or Joanna or Jezebel. It was Jane-the girl the Master had indiscreetly mentioned to him! And that would solve the college automatically: it was Lonsdalel
Phew!
The telephone number wouldn’t be much of a problem, either, since Lewis could soon sort that out. If it was a four-digit group, that would only mean ten possibilities; and if it was five digits, that was only a hundred; and Lewis was a very patient man…
But the tooth was jabbing its pain along his jaw once more, and he made his way home, where doubling (as he invariably did) the dosage of all medical nostrums he took six Aspros, washed them down well with whisky, and went to bed. But at 2 a.m. we find him sittingup in bed, his hand caressing his jaw, the pain jumping in his gum like some demented dervish. And at 8a.m. we find him standing outside a deserted dentist’s premises in North Oxford, an inordinately long scarf wrapped round his jaw, waiting desperately for one of the receptionists to arrive.