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It was the jamming of the door that had given the killer those hours to dispose of evidence and let the trail go cold. It was the jamming of the door that said Toby’s murderer was one of them.
Hugo had discovered it early on, quite by accident, in their third year. The doors of Summoner Quad were old and panelled and a little on the rickety side, and when he had slumped against Toby’s one evening and turned the handle, the thing had stuck fast. They had all been rather drunk, so Toby had resorted to Nicky’s sofa rather than complain to the porters’ lodge. The next morning, after much fruitless rattling, they’d found the trick to release the pressure on the old wood, and from then on Toby’s door could be jammed and released at will from the outside. They had kept that fact to themselves, Toby not wishing to spend the rest of the year having to let himself out by the window. But they’d all known how the murderer had jammed the door and prevented the discovery of the body for those crucial hours. And none of them had said.
It ought not to be possible that it was one of them, whatever had passed earlier. But as the nightmare had unfolded around them all, huddled together first in shock at the news and then because the detective inspector had asked for their presence for his enquiries, they had known it, and everything between them had begun to wither and die.
FIVE
Hilary Term, 1894
If Jem’s first year at StAnselm’s was revelatory, his second was magical.
Examinations, at the end of the first year, had been triumphant. Jem took a First and a college prize; Nicky bested that with the top First in the university in his Anglo-Saxon paper, and came third overall. Hugo also claimed a First, though not one of such distinction. Only Toby missed out, with a Lower Second that probably flattered the amount of work he’d done. He laughed about it, as he could because he was going to inherit a title and a fortune, and congratulated the rest of them wholeheartedly.
With nothing but the occasional collection to worry about in the way of examinations, their second year was dedicated to glory. Jem secured his place as cox of the college boat and tried out for the university. Nicky and Hugo both took Blues in fencing; Hugo also represented Anselm’s on the running track along with Aaron, and even the stuffiest of Anselm’s men proved ready to cheer for a champion of the wrong colour but the right prowess. Toby made a good run for Secretary of the Oxford Union, losing narrowly to a man of less charm but more political acumen, while Prudence became Treasurer of the Oxford Women’s Association. Ella made sufficient impact in the lecture theatre that Toby began to be described by some scientists as ‘Ella Feynsham’s twin’. The world was before them, a great sunlit path through pleasant meadows with a glittering city at its end ready for them to conquer.
They were punting along the Cherwell one spring day in Seventh Week of Hilary term when Nicky mentioned the play.
‘That chap Helmsley, the one with the hair, wants to put on a college production ofCymbelinenext term.’
‘I didn’t know we had a dramatic society,’ Jem said idly. They had mostly discarded their hats in a heap at the end of the punt, and he was watching the way the dappled light fell through the green tunnel of willows, turning Nicky’s hair to an inappropriately angelic halo.
‘We don’t,’ Nicky said. ‘Helmsley’s desperate to start one. He has artistic ambitions, so it will naturally be Shakespeare.Ithink he should doSalomeand recruit Ella to do an exotic dance with someone’s head on a platter.’
Prue flicked water at him. Ella ignored him.
‘Don’t OUDS always use professional actresses?’ Toby asked. The Oxford University Dramatic Society was a time-honoured and convention-bound institution.
‘Indeed they do. Helmsley’s secured authorisation from the Master and the Hall to have Anselm’s ladies instead. It will make rather a noise, which is why he’s doing it, I expect.’
‘Oh, I say, that’s jolly good. Ella, you ought to do it. In fact, we should do it. All of us.’ Toby waved his bottle of champagne in a wide circle to encompass the whole punt. ‘It would be marvellous fun. Nicky and I both acted at school. Weshoulddo it, shouldn’t we?’
Prue sat up, eyes bright. Nicky shrugged, in the casual way that meant he was extremely interested. Ella tilted her head in acquiescence. Toby looked around. ‘Jem?’
‘I’ll be on the river a great deal next term, but I don’t mind trying out.’
‘It might be a lark,’ Hugo agreed from his lofty position wielding the pole. ‘I’m in. Aaron?’
‘I can’t act.’ Aaron was sitting at the far end, with Ella. He still wore his straw boater, tipped to keep the sun from his eyes.
‘Nonsense,’ Toby said. ‘Everyone can act.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Of course you can. One just says things convincingly.’
‘I can’t,’ Aaron repeated patiently.
‘You should learn,’ Nicky told him. ‘You’ll need the skill when you’re saying,Of course I’d like to hear about your bad knee, and,Two guineas is a reasonable fee.’
‘Anyway, it’s notOthello, you won’t have hundreds of lines,’ Toby added. ‘Cymbelinehas plenty of parts for spear-carriers and noble captains and things, doesn’t it, Nicky?’
‘You’ve never read it in your life,’ Nicky said. ‘But it does indeed have many small parts. Highly appropriate for an Oxford college production, really.’
Jem clamped his lips together; Hugo had a coughing fit. Prue said, ‘That sounds perfect. I’ve never read it either, I must admit.’
‘Let’s do this,’ Toby said. ‘I really feel like something spectacular.Allof us, Aaron, I absolutely insist. It will be such fun.’
Helmsley, the aspiring director with the hair, looked somewhat daunted at being presented with the Feynsham set en masse, but that year they were unrefusable. They were golden.
