“Interestingly, our college kitchen knew all about ‘the goings-on,’ yet denied any involvement. They huffed and puffed their disapproval. ‘That bunch o’ loonies!’ were a law unto themselves. They operated in secrecy, and no more than once a term at irregular times somewhere up in the Cromwell wing. At the other end of the college premises. The chefs they used, men imported from the town’s best restaurants and occasionally up from London by train, operated within the confines of the top residential floor. A grand set of rooms up there—one of the best in college—is occupied by a long-established member of Jude’s. The mad diners were only a bother when they ran out of implements or ingredients and sent a runner down to the main kitchen for a slab of butter or a cream whisk. Was the master, my head of the pantry wanted to know, aware of the risk of fire in Cromwell? Since the college had been electrified, newfangled stoves of some description had been put to use on the club dinner nights. That couldn’t be legal, could it?

“The man’s objections were valid, and I told him so. Enquiries, I said, would be made at once. And they were.”

“But no immediate action to close them down?” Redfyre said carefully.

“Oh no! I wanted to catch them at it! Breaking a few regulations, even boring ones like the fire rules, would be the very best method of putting a stop to activities. No one argues with the fire regs! If I were to pull out their plugs on the grounds of—what? The running of a drinking club in the style of the ancient Athenian ‘andron’? By the world’s authority on ancient Greeks? The suborning of the young men of Jude’s, perhaps? The unlicensed entertainment of assorted people of the town? I’d have been laughed out of college, Redfyre.

“I held off and pursued my enquiries. I have to admit I was disturbed by what I initially found. And, with my daughter’s help, I was to discover much worse. Have you any idea what these men are up to? No? I think I have an inkling, though I may just have glimpsed the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know whether to give a world-weary laugh or howl with despair for mankind. You shall judge! And, I hope, advise.