Rich had brought in the beautiful people?’
‘Don’t think so. My impression is that pre-Rich the house was used for just slightly better-off students who could pay a bit more for the privilege of studying in groups of eight rather than twenty.’
Pooley stopped pacing, sat down and poured himself a modest brandy. ‘Now from what we can gather, Rich arrived about three years ago, but we don’t know from where, and was quickly taken into partnership — to the disgruntlement of Wally Armstrong, who had been working with Ned for some years.’
‘I don’t know anything about that. It’s way before Jenn’s time.’
‘Central got this from one of Wally’s kids. It was very vague. The junior Armstrongs didn’t seem much interested in their dad.’
‘So Wally presumably had it in for Rich rather than vice versa.’
‘Well, yes. Although you reported Jenn as saying Wally was always trying to muscle in on the scene in the house.’
‘Rich would hardly have knocked him off for being a bore at their cocktail parties.’
‘Well, hardly. But it might have involved more than that. He sounds like the kind of man who could be an awful nuisance.’
‘Whatever Rich is,’ said Amiss, ‘I really don’t see him as the kind of raving psychopath that murders someone rather than sacking him. But then I’ve a vested interest in believing that.’
Pooley was up and pacing again. ‘Christ, Ellis, don’t you ever relax?’
‘Later, later. Now Rich starts to attract a totally new kind of business and a kind of apartheid grows up between house and garden.’
‘You’re not kidding. I’m surprised us wog-teachers aren’t required to use the garden entrance along with the students. I think Rich really would murder one of them if they turned up in the house except at the time appointed.’
‘Which is?’
‘The publicity material is very specific about enrolments. Just the first Saturday morning of the month. Each course starts the following Monday and lasts for four weeks.’
‘Now according to Central’s information, the beautiful people—’
‘Let’s call them the BP’s, Ellis.’
‘OK.’
‘— the BP’s are students from abroad who come to the school for highly intensive courses in conversational English. According to Jenn, most of them are here as much to have a high old time as to improve their English. At the moment they’re taught exclusively by Rich, Cath and Gavs, while Jenn stands in to show them videos, television programmes and that sort of thing. Her main work is as a kind of social secretary cum escort. And of course she’s a reserve teacher for the prefabs.’
‘That’s right. She went on about her important work in arranging what she termed “extra activities” and as I said earlier, the wink, nod and nudge she then produced led me to suppose she organises more than opera tickets.’
‘Although as you also said, she might well be a bit of a fantasist.’
‘I’d say exaggeration rather than fantasy.’
‘Right.’ Pooley picked up his notebook. ‘Now here are the questions I think we need to have answered. How did Rich get in on the act? How did he and Wally really get on? Did Rich have a serious motive for murder? What is the legal nature of the partnership between Ned and Rich? Are they lovers? Does Rich stand to gain if Ned dies? (We know he had an alibi for the night Ned was attacked, but of course he could always have hired someone.) What are these extra activities?—’
‘Stop, stop, for God’s sake,’ yelled Amiss. ‘How in hell am I supposed to keep up with all that?’
‘Oh sorry, Robert, I got carried away. I’ll write them all out for you before you go.’
‘And you’d like the answers after work on Monday.’
‘Well, you will have lots more time, won’t you?’ Pooley looked at him innocently. ‘After all you said that as a full-timer you only had to do twelve shifts a week.’
‘Quite true. The only snag is that I’ve very little access to
‘Don’t think so. My impression is that pre-Rich the house was used for just slightly better-off students who could pay a bit more for the privilege of studying in groups of eight rather than twenty.’
Pooley stopped pacing, sat down and poured himself a modest brandy. ‘Now from what we can gather, Rich arrived about three years ago, but we don’t know from where, and was quickly taken into partnership — to the disgruntlement of Wally Armstrong, who had been working with Ned for some years.’
‘I don’t know anything about that. It’s way before Jenn’s time.’
‘Central got this from one of Wally’s kids. It was very vague. The junior Armstrongs didn’t seem much interested in their dad.’
‘So Wally presumably had it in for Rich rather than vice versa.’
‘Well, yes. Although you reported Jenn as saying Wally was always trying to muscle in on the scene in the house.’
‘Rich would hardly have knocked him off for being a bore at their cocktail parties.’
‘Well, hardly. But it might have involved more than that. He sounds like the kind of man who could be an awful nuisance.’
‘Whatever Rich is,’ said Amiss, ‘I really don’t see him as the kind of raving psychopath that murders someone rather than sacking him. But then I’ve a vested interest in believing that.’
Pooley was up and pacing again. ‘Christ, Ellis, don’t you ever relax?’
‘Later, later. Now Rich starts to attract a totally new kind of business and a kind of apartheid grows up between house and garden.’
‘You’re not kidding. I’m surprised us wog-teachers aren’t required to use the garden entrance along with the students. I think Rich really would murder one of them if they turned up in the house except at the time appointed.’
‘Which is?’
‘The publicity material is very specific about enrolments. Just the first Saturday morning of the month. Each course starts the following Monday and lasts for four weeks.’
‘Now according to Central’s information, the beautiful people—’
‘Let’s call them the BP’s, Ellis.’
‘OK.’
‘— the BP’s are students from abroad who come to the school for highly intensive courses in conversational English. According to Jenn, most of them are here as much to have a high old time as to improve their English. At the moment they’re taught exclusively by Rich, Cath and Gavs, while Jenn stands in to show them videos, television programmes and that sort of thing. Her main work is as a kind of social secretary cum escort. And of course she’s a reserve teacher for the prefabs.’
‘That’s right. She went on about her important work in arranging what she termed “extra activities” and as I said earlier, the wink, nod and nudge she then produced led me to suppose she organises more than opera tickets.’
‘Although as you also said, she might well be a bit of a fantasist.’
‘I’d say exaggeration rather than fantasy.’
‘Right.’ Pooley picked up his notebook. ‘Now here are the questions I think we need to have answered. How did Rich get in on the act? How did he and Wally really get on? Did Rich have a serious motive for murder? What is the legal nature of the partnership between Ned and Rich? Are they lovers? Does Rich stand to gain if Ned dies? (We know he had an alibi for the night Ned was attacked, but of course he could always have hired someone.) What are these extra activities?—’
‘Stop, stop, for God’s sake,’ yelled Amiss. ‘How in hell am I supposed to keep up with all that?’
‘Oh sorry, Robert, I got carried away. I’ll write them all out for you before you go.’
‘And you’d like the answers after work on Monday.’
‘Well, you will have lots more time, won’t you?’ Pooley looked at him innocently. ‘After all you said that as a full-timer you only had to do twelve shifts a week.’
‘Quite true. The only snag is that I’ve very little access to
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