Part 5 (1/2)

'Not at all, sir My wife and I are employed by the Society for the Improvement of London's Children' He pointed at a portrait of an aristocratic gentleainst a pillar 'That is the founder, Sir Crispin Ogilvy, now deceased He purchased this faro, and it is thanks to his bequest that we are able to maintain it We have thirty-five boys here, all taken fro oakuive theood, Christian education In addition to reading, writing and basicand tailoring You will have noticed the fields We have a hundred acres and grow almost all our own food In addition, the boys learn how to breed pigs and poultry When they leave here, in a new life We are in contact with a nuive them a fresh start'

'How many teachers do you have?'

'There are just the four of us, along with my wife, and we divide the responsibilities between us You met Mr Vosper at the door He is the porter and teachesafternoon lessons and my other two teachers are in class'

'How did Ross come to be here?'

'Doubtless he would have been picked up in one of the casual wards or night shelters The society has volunteers ork in the city and who bring the boys to us I cansince we had any news of him that I rather doubt we can be of any help'

'We cannot force the boys to stay,' Mrs Fitzsireat row up to be a credit to themselves and to the school But there are the occasional troubleratitude whatsoever'

'We have to believe in every child, Joanna'

'You are too soft-hearted, Charles They take advantage of you'

'Ross cannot be blahterman who came into contact with a diseased sheep and died very slowly as a result His mother turned to alcohol She's dead too For a time Ross was looked after by an elder sister but we don't knohat became of her Ah yes! I remember now You asked how he caistrate took pity on him and handed him to us'

'A last chance' Mrs Fitzsimmons shook her head 'I shudder to think ill becoht be able to find him'

'I am sorry you have wasted your time, Mr Holmes We do not have the resources to search for boys who have chosen to leave us, and in truth, ould be the point of it? ”Ye have forsaken me and therefore have I also left you” Can you tell us what it is that he witnessed and why it is so important for you to find hier'

'All these hoether as if struck by a sudden thought 'But ht it help you to speak to some of his former classmates? It is always possible that hethat he would have preferred to keep froive me an opportunity to show you the school and to explain a little more about our work'

'That would be most kind of you, Mr Fitzsimmons'

'The pleasure would be entirely mine'

We left the study Mrs Fitzsimmons did not join us but rehty toive my wife,' the Reverend Fitzsimmons muttered 'You may think her a little severe but I can assure you that she lives for these boys She teaches them divinity, helps with the laundry, nurses them when they are ill'

'You have no children of your own?' I asked

'Perhaps I have not made myself clear, Dr Watson We have thirty-five children of our own, for we treat them exactly as if they were our flesh and blood'

He took us back down the corridor I had first noticed and into one of the rooly of leather and new heroo on the shoes that were laid out in front of them while the man we had met at the door, Mr Vosper, watched over them They all rose as we came in and stood in respectful silence but Fitzsimmons waved them down cheerfully 'Sit down, boys! Sit down! This is Mr Sherlock Holmes from London who has come to visit us Let us show him how industrious we can be' The boys went on with their work 'All well, Mr Vosper?'

'Indeed so, sir'

'Good! Good!' Fitzsimmons positively beamed with approval 'They have two more hours work and then an hour of leisure before tea Our day finishes at eight o'clock with prayers and then bed'

He set off again, his short legs working hard to propel hi us upstairs to show us a dormitory, a touch spartan but decidedly clean and airy, with beds lined up like soldiers, each one a few feet apart We saw the kitchens, the dining room, a workshop and finally caress It was a square roole, small stove in one corner, a chalk board on one wall and an embroidered text with the first line of a psalm on another There were a few books neatly stacked on shelves, an abacus and a scattering of objects pine cones, rocks and animal bones whichas the classto his fellows from a orn Bible The boy stopped thein three rows, listening intently, and once again they stood up respectfully, gazing at us with pale, serious faces

'Sit down, please!' exclaiive the interruption, Mr Weeks Was that the Book of Job I heard just now, Harry? ”Naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return ” '

'Yes, sir'

'Very good A fine choice of text' He gestured at the teacher who alone had ree, twisted face and a tangle of brown hair that sprawled lopsidedly on one side of his head 'This is Robert Weeks, a graduate of Balliol College Mr Weeks was building a successful career in the city but has chosen to join us for a year to help those less fortunate than himself Do you remember the boy, Ross, Mr Weeks?'

'Ross? He was the one who ran away'

'This gentleman here is none other than Mr Sherlock Holmes, the well-known detective' This caused a certain tre soot hi,' muttered Mr Weeks 'He was not an easy child'

'Were you a companion of his, Harry?'

'No, sir,' the monitor replied

'Well, surely there must have been someone in this room who befriended him and who perhaps spoke with him and can now help us find hireat deal after Ross left here I asked you all where heI beseech you all to consider the matter one last time'

'My desire is only to help your friend,' Holmes added

There was a brief silence Then a boy in the back row put up his hand He was fair-haired and very fragile and I guessed about eleven 'Are you the ht And this is the man rites them' It was rare for me to hear Holmes introduce me in this manner and I have to say I was extremely pleased to hear it 'Do you read the words But sometimes Mr Weeks reads them to us'

'We an to usher us towards the door

But the boy at the back had not finished yet 'Ross has a sister, sir,' he said

Holmes turned 'In London?'

'I think so Yes He spoke about her once Her name is Sally He said that she worked at a public house, The Bag of Nails'

For the first tiry, a dull red patch spreading into the round of his cheeks 'This is very wrong of you, Daniel,' he said 'Why did you not tell otten, sir'

'Had you reht have been able to find him, to protect him from whatever trouble has come his way'

'I'm sorry, sir'

'We'll say no more of it Come, Mr Holmes'