‘You must be Cardilini?’

‘Detective Sergeant Cardilini. This is Constable Salt. And you must be Joe Braun.’

‘Dr Joseph Braun.’

‘Okay, we all seem to be present. Shall we stop calling each other names and get to business?’ Cardilini said as he sat in the chair opposite the principal.

The principal, taken aback, gestured Salt to the other chair.

‘He likes standing,’ Cardilini said. ‘Now about this murdered teacher.’

‘Murdered?’ The principal reacted as if slapped.

‘Take notes here, Salt,’ Cardilini directed.

‘No, no, no. It was a stray shot from across the river,’ the principal stammered.

‘No, no, no. It was a marksman’s shot from less than two hundred yards,’ Cardilini replied emphatically.

The principal’s phone rang. He hurriedly picked it up and said he was busy.

‘Detective Sergeant Cardilini, I am not sure where you’re getting your information from, but this matter’s been cleared away and I was told you were simply coming here to finalise the report.’

‘Let me see the notes on the case, Salt.’ Cardilini put out his hand while he stared fixedly at the principal. Salt placed his notebook in Cardilini’s hand. Cardilini flipped pages of the notebook back and forth. The principal’s phone rang again.

‘No,’ the principal shouted into the mouthpiece immediately on picking up the phone, ‘Miss Reynolds, no.’

‘Bull ants,’ Cardilini mouthed to Salt.

‘Now . . .’ the principal started.

‘Now, Dr Braun,’ Cardilini handed the notebook back to Salt and gave the principal an exaggerated wink. ‘I am sure you understand that if an ironclad report is to be made, correct procedure must be followed?’

The principal’s brow furrowed and he turned his questioning gaze to Salt, who studied his notebook.

‘Shall we?’ Cardilini stood and gestured towards the door. ‘I thought we should start in the room where the body was found.’

The principal after some hesitation stood, ‘Are you sure this is the right thing to do?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘If . . .’ the principal hesitated ‘. . . if you would wait in Miss Reynolds’ office, my deputy, Dr Robson, shall attend to you. He discovered poor Captain Edmund. There are some important calls I must make, you understand.’ Then he added with renewed confidence, ‘Please see yourself out.’

Cardilini raised his eyebrows at Salt and they left the principal’s office.

Miss Reynolds’ cheeks were flushed as she sat rigidly at her desk. Cardilini leant against it, lit a cigarette and offered the packet to Salt who declined. Finally, the telephone on Miss Reynolds’ desk rang. Picking it up, she listened a moment then uttered a sharp, ‘Yes,’ and hung up.

‘Dr Robson, the deputy principal, will see you outside,’ she said briskly and gestured towards the door.

‘Charming,’ Cardilini said with another wink as they left. ‘You’re taking real notes,’ Cardilini stated to Salt while they stood outside.

‘Yes, sir,’ Salt replied as Cardilini shrugged his shoulders.

A middle-aged man wearing a threadbare grey suit hanging from bony, stooped shoulders approached reluctantly. His ashen face hung like his suit.