"Dexter, Colin - Inspector Morse 11 - Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories (b)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dexter Colin)

The Governor reached for the phone. It was 9.12 a.m.

The examinee and the invigilator had already been introduced by Stephens when Jackson came back and shouted to McLeery through the cell door.

"Can you come outside a minute, sir? You too, Stephens."

Jackson quickly explained the Governor's worries, and McLeery patiently held out his arms at shoulder level whilst Jackson lightly frisked his clothes.

"Something hard here, sir."

"Ma reading glasses," replied McLeery, looking down at the spectacle case.

Jackson quickly reassured him, and bending down on the landing thumb-flicked the catches on the suitcase. He picked up each envelope in turn, carefully passed his palms along their surfaces and seemed satisfied. He riffled cursorily through a few pages of Holy Writ, and vaguely shook The Church Times. All right, so far. But one of the objects in McLeery's suitcase was puzzling him sorely.

"Do you mind telling me why you've brought this, sir?" He held up a smallish semi-inflated rubber ring, such as a young child with a waist of about twelve inches might have struggled into.

"You thinking of going for a swim, sir?"

McLeery's hitherto amiable demeanour was slightly ruffled by this tasteless little pleasantry, and he answered Jackson somewhat sourly.

"If ye must know, I suffer from haemorrhoids, and when I'm sitting down for any length o' time ' "Very sorry, sir. I didn't mean toer .. ."

The embarrassment was still reddening Jackson's cheeks when he found the paper-knife at the bottom of the case.

"I think I'd better keep this though, if you don't mind, that is, sir."

It was 9.18 a.m. before the Governor heard their voices again, and it was clear that the examination was going to be more than a little late in getting under way.

McLeery: "Ye've got a watch?"

Evans: "Yes, sir."

McLeery: "I'll be telling ye when to start, and again when ye've five minutes left. A' right?"

Silence.

McLeery: "There's plenty more o' this writing paper should ye need it."

Silence.

McLeery: "Now. Write the name of the paper, 021-1, in the top left-hand corner."

Silence.

McLeery: "In the top right-hand corner write your index number 313. And in the box just below that, write your centre number 271. A' right?"

Silence. 9.20 a.m.

McLeery: "I'm now going to ' Evans: "E's not goin' to stay 'ere, is 'e?"