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something else: they had
luck on their side and that’s going to turn. You know about this?’ He waved some documents. ‘Came in yesterday – a full report from Taunton. Black-and-gold blazers in a
Travellers’ Sleepeasy – before the night’s out, the place is on fire. An articulated lorry carving up the traffic, smashing up a roadside cafeteria – and what’s at the
wheel? A black-and-gold blazer. Vandalism, intimidation, and carnage. I tell you what: they’re on borrowed time.’
    ‘Why aren’t you arresting them, then? They’re living it up at school thinking they’ve got away with it!’
    ‘Ah, but it’s not my patch. All that happened in Somerset.’ Cuthbertson leaned further forward and lowered his voice. ‘But it’s all going into that safe,’ he
whispered. ‘Every shred of evidence I get, I put it in the file. I lock it up at night and I tell you something – that headmaster’s got a shock coming. Every crime, every mistake,
every accident he has . . . When I get him, it won’t be for a traffic violation. It will be for the whole catalogue! That school will close and he’ll do ten to fifteen years. I know
prison officers and that man will suffer.’
    ‘I can’t believe the school is still open. From what I’ve seen in the last few days, all they do is have parties.’
    ‘You’ll see a lot more yet.’
    ‘You could close it today, man! There’s no discipline, no care. I don’t believe they’re even qualified to teach! And the zoo animals!’
    ‘Give them the rope – they’ll hang themselves.’
    ‘But if you closed them down now , it would make the job so much easier! We could get people in, turn the place upside down—’
    ‘Oh no, no! Listen. If that school closes, you won’t have any business on the premises, will you? The only reason you’re in there is because you have a job to do. No school, no
chaplain. If the old woman died, it would be a different story, but—’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘When she dies, all the leases automatically come to an end – everything would close down and then it would be easy. We’d get the Brethren out and we could take our time . .
.’ He paused. ‘In any case, they’ve got an H.O. And you can’t touch someone with a government H.O. I’ve been told that, in no uncertain terms.’
    ‘An H.O. is what? A health order?’
    ‘Hands Off. It’s an official leave-them-alone-at-all-costs, we-don’t-want-any-more-bad-publicity . They could turn cannibal and eat each other and we’d have to
stand back – especially me. That’s why we go gently and that’s why you’re so important. How’s the boy?’
    Father O’Hanrahan looked blank.
    ‘Whatsisname, the youngster you brought over? Is he going to help us?’
    ‘Doonan? He’s an idiot.’
    ‘Then what did you bring him for? I told you—’
    ‘They wanted a younger chaplain! It was all a big compromise. Doonan had just failed his exams, the college didn’t want him—’
    ‘So how’s he doing?’
    ‘He’s loving it. He’s been there a week and thinks it’s wonderful!’
    The policeman struggled to stay calm. ‘So it’s just the two of us, is it? Have you told him anything?’
    ‘He knows nothing. So yes: it’s just the two of us.’
    ‘Have you spoken to the Brethren?’
    ‘Not yet.’
    Father O’Hanrahan squirmed with embarrassment and the blood rose in his face.
    The two men stared at each other and dislike crackled between them.
    ‘The Brethren,’ said Father O’Hanrahan, ‘are on a vow of silence. Which doesn’t end till July. The timing could not be worse.’
    ‘You mean they won’t speak a word? Not even to you?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘What about pencil and paper?’
    ‘A vow of silence is a devout act in which you commit to prayer and meditation. It is undertaken precisely to avoid communication on . . . external matters. To make things worse, they are
very hard to track down – they run like rabbits.’
    ‘But your disguise! I thought you’d be on the