Mrs. Pargeter's Principle by Simon Brett

Author:Simon Brett
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780106533
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2015-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

She was back in the Chigwell house that Friday evening, looking with distaste at the pink and white china cat on the mantelpiece and wondering how she could get rid of it without hurting Gary’s feelings, when she had a call from Erin Jarvis. ‘I’ve found out quite a lot about your husband’s schooldays.’

‘Wow! That was quick.’

‘I am quick.’ The claim wasn’t boastful. It was just a statement of fact. ‘He went to Cheesemongers’ First School till he was eleven and then moved on to Cheesemongers’ Hall.’

‘That sounds very grand.’

‘It wasn’t at all. Both schools were in the East End – been knocked down years ago and replaced with tower blocks. And they provided state education in its most basic form. None of the pupils went on to any kind of college or university. All left at sixteen … and many much earlier. The truancy rates were very high, and a lot of them were working full-time in family businesses by the time they were fourteen. Anyway, I managed to track down the attendance registers and other records for both schools.’

Mrs Pargeter had a strong temptation to ask how on earth Erin had managed to do that so quickly, but she restrained herself. The girl’s professional secrets must be respected.

‘Well,’ Erin went on, ‘what the registers reveal is that your husband and another boy called Richard Smirke—’

‘That must be Holy.’

‘I reckon so. Anyway, they were together through both schools. Actually started on the same day.’

‘Oh, it’s very frustrating not being able to talk to Holy, isn’t it? I do hope nothing terrible’s happened to him.’

‘If Napper Johnson’s on the case, he’ll find him,’ said Erin firmly, ruling out less attractive possibilities.

‘I hope so. Sorry, Erin. You were saying that the two of them went through both schools together …?’

‘Yes, and their reports suggest that neither of them …’ The girl chose her words carefully. ‘That neither of them were particularly interested in their studies.’

‘Ah.’

‘But they were always together, and it was like they had their own little gang.’

‘Really?’

‘In fact,’ Erin went on boldly, ‘one of their teachers said that in her view both of the young men were destined for a life of crime.’

‘What a strange thing to say,’ Mrs Pargeter observed innocently.

‘Yes. But the interesting detail is that there was a third member of their gang as well.’

‘And his name wouldn’t, by any chance, have been Normington Winthrop?’ asked Mrs Pargeter eagerly.

‘Wouldn’t that have been neat? But no, the third member of the gang was called Tony Hardcastle.’

‘Never heard the name. Just a minute.’ Mrs Pargeter reached into her handbag. ‘Wait while I check whether there’s a Tony Hardcastle in my husband’s little black book.’ She flicked through the pages. ‘Oh yes, there is something here. Tony Hardcastle. Under “Armourers”.’

‘And is it one of the first names in the category?’

‘No. That’s “Normington Winthrop”, as we know. Tony Hardcastle comes quite a long way down the list. The ink’s a lot less faded than on the names above him. Also there’s a line through him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.