I know—I was rather abrupt with her. I don’t suppose it’s Kitty’s fault. But being the Head of Department has changed certain things between us. She is now officially my superior in the School—Kitty Teague, whom I first met when she was still a teacher trainee. It rankles—I would be a fool not to admit it to myself—and yet, what really hurts is the fact that she believes so sincerely that Harrington is doing what’s best—for me, and for St. Oswald’s.

I was about to go back to my shepherd’s pie, when there came a knock at the door. It was Dr. Devine, looking grim. I ushered him into the parlor, but he declined to take off his coat.

“No, I’m not going to stay,” he said. “It’s just to see how you’re doing, and—” His eyes went to the mantelpiece, where Harry’s gnome was standing. “I see you found a home for your gnome,” he said, in a chilly kind of voice.

I wondered if he’d made a joke, and if so, whether he was all right, but I decided not to ask. I wouldn’t say Devine is my friend—but I have known him a long time, and he has one virtue: integrity. I don’t always share his beliefs, but they are sincere and deeply held, if sometimes a little unfortunate. And he is loyal, in his way. I knew he wouldn’t betray me.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” he said. “Funny kind of business. The Union’s behind you all the way.” He shuffled his feet for a moment. “Fact is, it’s irregular,” he went on. “This Gunderson thing shouldn’t have gone to the Head at all. It was, if anything, a departmental matter.”

His eye fell on a thick stack of Honours Boards propped up against the near wall, covered in a dust sheet but nevertheless unmistakable. Winter had taken some of them down into the cellar, but a hundred and fifty Honours Boards take up even more space than I’d thought. Besides, the cellar is rather damp, and the Honours Boards deserve better.

“Taking up art?” said Devine.

“Burglary,” I told him. “A hundred and fifty Honours Boards that Harrington was planning to sell—to furnish theme pubs and the like.”

That shocked him, as I knew it would.

“Don’t believe it? Report me,” I said.

Devine gave me a quelling look. “You really are trying for martyrdom, aren’t you, Straitley?” he said in his most superior voice. “I’m really just here to tell you that the Union will back you if it comes to any kind of a dispute. It’s clear to me that the Gunderson boy set this thing up with his girlfriend to try and settle a score with you. The Old Head wouldn’t have given a story like this the time of day.”