Sherlock Holmes and the Ghosts of Bly Read Online Free PDF Page B

must be done.”
    â€œThe facts? Yes, Mr Winter. I hoped we should come to the facts. Pray let us hear them.”
    â€œYou are a man who judges by evidence, are you not, Mr Holmes? I believe you are well known for it. Very good. Listen to this. First of all, unknown to my colleagues and me, Riley and other boys sometimes played games in their leisure time which involved practising one another’s signatures. They admit it. Riley and Porson were in the same class. They sat next to one another. As I am told, they became proficient at writing each other’s names. Riley was one of our Engineer Cadets and had the hand of a draughtsman.”
    â€œAnd so, Mr Winter, when Porson’s postal order was cashed on that Saturday week with a forged signature, Riley the Engineer was suspected as the copyist simply because he was a draughtsman? From what document did he copy when he was in the post office? He could hardly carry in his head a perfect image of John Learmount Porson’s signature, for that is what draughtsmanship would suggest.”
    â€œVery far from it, sir. Were you not told that the exeat permit for that afternoon, with Porson’s signature and that of the duty master, was in the locker with the postal order? Both of them were stolen, Mr Sherlock Holmes.”
    I confess this was a blow. Why had we—or Fisher—not been told of the additional theft of this permit? The headmaster had unexpectedly scored a point and was at ease again. Winter went over to his desk and came back with a small pad of yellow paper, whose pages might be torn off in succession. Printed at the top of each was the school name, followed by a space for the name of the boy and another for the signature of the master on duty. He handed it to Holmes, who riffled through the flimsy yellow leaves and handed it back. Reginald Winter resumed his fire-guard perch and smiled down at us once more.
    â€œEach boy is given a small pad of forms at the start of term. Should he wish to leave the school grounds to visit the village on Saturday afternoon, he fills in his name, signature and the date. He then tears off this exeat permit and at one-thirty he goes to the master-on-duty that day, who signs in the space at the bottom—or sometimes simply puts his initials on it.”
    â€œHow do the boys draw money?” I asked.
    Winter looked pleased to have been asked.
    â€œAs to cashing postal orders, doctor, we are careful to prevent boys having too much money in their hands. It leads to borrowing and lending or buying items which are not permitted in the school. Each boy is allowed to draw two shillings a week from a sum deposited with his house master at the beginning of term. If there is a special reason, he may draw more on a single occasion. Within the same rules, he may cash a postal order, provided it is sent from his parents. To go to the post office he must have an exeat permit and also use this to identify himself at the post office.”
    â€œAnd Riley had such an exeat permit signed for him on Saturday week, did he?”
    â€œNo, Mr Holmes he did not. That is the whole point. He denies leaving the school grounds.”
    Holmes looked at him as Winter was about to continue.
    â€œWhere was Patrick Riley at two-thirty?”
    The headmaster summoned up an indulgent smile.
    â€œOf course he insists that he did not leave the grounds, let alone with a permit in Porson’s name. How could he do otherwise? He claims that he spent an hour alone in the art room, between two and three o’clock. It is an alibi which a thief might choose because no one other than a type like Riley would skulk off there, for whatever purpose. He could be sure of being alone. His story would not be disproved.”
    â€œWhy not, Mr Winter?”
    â€œStrictly speaking, the art room is out of bounds outside teaching hours. In practice we would take a lenient view of a boy found there, but Riley was not so found. What normal