The Priory School - Part One

Mike and Alyssa are always trying to outdo each other.

When Alyssa got a small water bottle, Mike showed up with a four-litre jug.

When Mike started gardening, Alyssa started beekeeping.

Oh, come on.

They called a truce for their holiday and used Expedia Trip Planner to collaborate on all the details of their trip.

Once there, Mike still did more laps around the pool.

Whatever.

You were made to outdo your holidays.

We were made to help organize the competition.

Expedia made to travel.

Come join the Patreon.

It's a huge community now with loads of extra cool stuff.

Patreon.com forward slash Sherlock and Co

Hello and welcome to the adventure of the Priory School.

This case contains some distressing themes and you can find out more in the episode description.

Transcripts live in their little home over at Sherlockandco.co.uk.

Uh, what else?

What else?

Um, oh, become my best friend and join the Patreon too, please.

Thanks.

And yeah, that's it.

Enjoy the adventure of the Priory School.

Hey, listen to me.

What did you do?

Huh?

Where is he?

Tell me where he is.

Don't fucking cry.

Answer the question.

What did you do?

What did you do, you son of a bitch?

What did you do?

Ladies continue Benjamin Duke

Hey, what's up?

What's up?

I'm talking to Benjamin Duke.

All is good in the world.

That's kind of you to say.

We have got a lot of ground to cover, my friend.

Yeah, and actually,

look at me cutting you off right away.

It's fine.

I encourage it.

I encourage it.

I actually...

I have a story,

a real story,

that has just happened to me in England.

And

I gotta share it.

I gotta share it.

Because

it's a story about

love.

about envy, about nature and nurture, about determination,

adventure, perseverance, and and really I think it's about three idiots.

And the dog's an idiot too, so four.

We're not idiots, we're just um we we we need to plan better.

Hello.

Hi there.

Um, we would like to close our membership.

Close your membership.

Okay.

Um, can I ask why?

Well, we can work solely from home, so it's okay.

We just wanted a remote workspace for sanity, really, but now we're just happy to go insane yeah yeah more more than happy to

yeah lose it completely okito you'll get a confirmation email you just follow everything in on that way great thank you and um sorry for quitting

it's no problem bye and bye now

right that is another cost well and truly cut uh what else do i have here um

oh we have an overdue book from the library uh and i have uh genuinely no idea where it is.

What's the charge?

45p and rising.

Okay, maybe we move that down the priority list.

Fair enough.

What else?

Well, a lot of these other expenditures are sharelocks and...

We are not telling him we're struggling.

Exactly.

Even though we are broke, because he just picks cases that he wants rather than the ones that pay.

A little of that, yes, but we could do with cutting back regardless.

Righto, can see one with a light on coming this way.

Yeah, I can spot him just like that, you know, like a moth to a flame.

Or like a moth to a cabby's light.

It's the same principle.

Here you go.

Higher, mate.

Uh, Baker Street.

Yeah.

Uh, uh-uh, no cabs.

Oh, um.

Baker Street.

You don't remember who that was by again, do you?

He was sure he referred to mate.

That's the one.

Thanks.

Alright, well, tube's up that way.

Nope.

You want to walk the whole way home?

Consider it your punishment for relying too much on company expenses.

Like what?

Uh, let me see.

Swindon Town laptop case?

Okay, I need a laptop case.

Yeah, that was made by a Swindon Town fan.

It's not like it was from the club's shop.

Probably where they charged £50.

This here.

That, now that is an important subscription service.

For sandwich deliveries.

Yes?

To the office.

You don't need it.

Oh, what?

All of this stuff.

£280 on shoes?

Ah, no, right.

Okay, I always, always get my shoes ruined on adventures.

I'm

making a net loss on shoes.

And those, they are terrain beast.

You know, terrain beast R8s.

I don't know what that means.

Terrain Beast.

Yeah, they're like

the most hard-wearing, shit and piss-proof shoes you can imagine.

Not all shit.

What do you mean?

What?

What are you expecting?

Dog?

Human?

Because I've done both, unfortunately.

Bull.

I mean bull.

This way.

That's not bullshit.

That's the truth.

They're the best.

They're used by professionals.

Mariana, get back here.

Marie.

My name is Dr.

John Watson, once of the British Army Northumberland Fusilier Regiment.

now a true crime podcaster based in central London.

I don't have much experience in criminology, so this is mostly a record of how I met possibly the most brilliant and bizarre person I have ever and will ever know.

Join me as I document the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

How is this saving money?

It's not saving money, it's saving the whole bloody business.

At a theme park.

He likes roller coasters.

Right?

I brought them up in the pub the other night and he rattled on for about an hour.

About roller coasters?

Yes, yeah, yeah.

And how they're

a fundamentally positive proprioceptive experience for moments of hyposensitivity.

You memorize that, that's sweet.

They said it about ten times, so yeah, they did.

Right, okay, so we take him on the roller coaster, we break the news about the finances, he changes his ways, and we go after the rich clients, and Bosch.

Uh, bosch?

Bosch.

What's Bosch exactly?

Ah, there you are.

Bosch is, um,

just a term to sort of give give a stamp of approval to something.

Roller coaster time?

Absolutely.

Bosch.

Haha, there you go.

Bosch.

Okay, this is getting seriously high.

Yeah, it's weird.

Oh, Jesus, I just got down.

It didn't look that high from down there.

Are we in the clouds?

I feel like we're in the clouds.

Can you not grip my hand, please?

Sorry, very stressful time right now.

It's meant to be fun.

I don't just mean the roller coaster.

Um, not now, no, Mariana.

Well, I want to do it now, okay?

It'll take my mind up.

For God's sake, oh, my palms are sweating.

Sherlock, I spoke with our accountant last week, and the company is in severe financial difficulty, and we need to make some drastic changes.

What exactly do you mean?

It means that

as things stand, we won't be able to pay our V18

bill as we've not got enough cash flow.

How can we not have enough cash flow?

Well, Mariana and I have been going round

and round

on this one, and it's kind of a

change of tact we need to go for as business.

Oh, no, no, it's not like we're trying to turn the whole business upside down.

Fuck, I didn't know it went upside down.

Why is it upside down?

Help me!

I can't help you!

I'm fucking upside down!

Sure, look, we need oh, to serve some uh

some H and N W clients!

Ah!

H N Worth clients!

Exactly!

We do that for a couple of cases, and there will be light at the end of the tunnel!

Have I bankrupted the organization?

No, no, of course not.

Of course not.

And this is absolutely not us implying it's your fault or anything like that.

No, in fact,

we're saying that you can kind of help us get out of it, right?

Because you can pick out the clients that would be able to cover a,

you know, a larger invoice.

Is this why you've both been difficult recently?

Sorry, what?

You're very stressed.

Like when?

Like just then.

Oh, what?

Whilst I was upside down at about 100 miles an hour, mate?

Yeah, sorry about that.

And you've been rather defensive and agitated generally.

Yeah, you have, Johnny.

It's true.

I was talking to you, Mariana.

Get in.

You've been worse.

Oh.

What do you wish for me to do?

Well,

I think we

park a few of the Goodwill cases for a while.

Agreed.

I can manage that.

We go through the emails, maybe pick out

some potentially boring ones, but people that can afford to pay us.

I have a spreadsheet.

There you go.

A spreadsheet awaits, mateymate.

That's exciting, isn't it?

Isn't it?

This is not exciting.

No, yeah, I sort of agree with you on that one.

These cases are all beneath us.

No, no, no, no, come on.

They are.

Sure enough.

Every last one.

Please, I'm asking for just this one time that we take a sensible, business-like, professional approach.

Ah, right, Archie, mate.

You can go upstairs if you're gonna keep farting.

It's rude, it's it's gross, and you know, it's immature.

Right, you're five.

That's like 42 years old.

No, it means he's relaxed.

Well, his arsehole is certainly relaxed.

These cases have been rejected for a reason.

You haven't rejected any of them, you've just ignored them.

Then they have been ignored for a reason.

They are dull.

These clients are a hodgepodge of pedantic bourgeois snobs, goody two-shoe busy bodies, and deranged fantasists.

Which one, exactly?

Dear Mr.

Holmes, my Primark-wearing neighbor is trying to poison my cat by growing excessive begonias.

Bosh.

To be fair, that was kind of all free.

Okay, I know this sucks.

I know this is something that none of us want to do, but please, let's just

power through a few cases like this, and all will be fine.

I promise.

Where are you going?

Well, I'll tell you where I'm not going.

To the begonia-growing Cat, attempted murderer person.

Mate, just hold on.

I can fix this.

You'll see.

Bosch.

Not really how Bosch works.

Okay, he's...

Yep, okay.

What are you thinking?

Oh, well, that's Archie's thoughts.

Great.

Thanks, Arch.

Welcome to Only Murders in the Building, the official podcast.

Join me, Michael Cyril Creighton, as we go behind the scenes with some of the amazing actors, writers, and crew from season five.

The audience should never stop suspecting anything.

How can you not be funny crawling around on a coffin?

Catch Only Murders in the Building official podcast.

Now, streaming wherever you get your podcasts and watch Only Murders in the Building, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers.

Terms apply.

Okay, I saw him so sold.

Let's hear it.

Let's hear the story.

Okay, so

as you know, I've got kids.

I've got a lot of kids.

Of course.

And

one of my boys, just a super sharp kid from

even his first birthday.

My mother said that she saw me in him.

right away, as soon as he was born.

And I thought, well, let's put that to the test so i enrolled him in the same school i attended as a kid in england remote way out in the back and beyond kind of england moorhill it was called

I'm on the couch in 221B.

I've got Archie to the left of me, Mariana to the right.

Sherlock is in his bedroom, and it's time for some late birthday shout-outs from your podcasting pal, who, well, doesn't do enough shout-outs, clearly.

Guess who turned 16 on the 1st of June?

That's right.

Eleda Richter.

Happy late birthday.

Dorian and Lilith from Switzerland, here is your shout-out.

Enjoy it.

Shout-out to Jaylin, a transcriber of our podcast for Chinese listeners.

Hi, China.

But yeah, shout-out to Jaylyn and her dad, who's been in hospital.

So sending you my best, my friend.

Shout-out to Sarah and her friend Philippa in Portugal, who says she will literally scream if she gets a shout-out.

So, yeah, scream away.

Howell from South Wales, you binged the podcast in two weeks.

You get a shout-out.

Suba Subaman is graduating.

Shout-out to Suba.

Hey there to Demi in Taiwan.

Shout-out to Mary.

Hold on.

Not me.

Well, you have done this to me before.

Dear friend to Mary.

Okay, well, shout out to Mary.

Alex in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand is 18, everybody.

Party at Alex's.

Whoop, whoop.

Shout out to Theo.

Happy birthday to Ari for the 17th of June.

Happy birthday, Susie, from Virginia.

Happy late birthday to Ailsa in Croatia's dad, who I assume is also in Croatia.

Hi to Clarissa from Singapore, who sent a lovely email about her trip to London and even got a picture outside my front door.

You get it.

I'm doing shout-outs.

Yeah, but you've probably done too many.

Oh, how convenient for you.

Please get the door.

It's your apartment.

Yeah, but...

But what?

You showed us around the apartment and made us move into it.

So really, this is all your issue when you think about it.

That was a good try.

I thought so, yeah.

But seriously, go get the door.

I'm working on it.

Just stop tweaking the budget.

You know, it drives me crazy.

You're like some old bloke tinkering with his classic car.

Um, hello.

Oh, hi, mate.

It doesn't smell in here anymore, and it will remain that way.

Right, Archie boy?

Door.

Noisy door.

The words you are searching for are somebody is at the door, guys.

Yes.

Quite.

Why are you so nervous?

He's probably ordered a pizza and he's worried they got the order wrong.

Uh-huh.

And what's with the suitcase?

I have a little heads-up on our next client.

Our next client?

Indeed.

Is that who's uh at the door?

I believe so.

Uh, who who gave you the heads up?

A

relative.

What?

Relatively I mean, relatively well-connected individual.

Are you okay?

One moment.

Go pack your belongings for a few nights.

Could be camping or caravan.

So

keep that in mind.

Camping.

Sherlock?

Camping?

Did he say camping?

That's weird, right?

Uh, what are you doing?

Going downstairs to pack my things, like I said.

Wait to see who this person is.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is it?

Coming.

I think you saw me.

Oh.

Oh, sorry.

I didn't realize we we were playing hide and seek.

Act normal.

Don't say that.

That basically makes it impossible to be normal.

Here we are.

Hey, what's chilling?

What, yeah?

Aloha.

Aloha.

Yep.

Right, just in here.

And we will be able to consult with you on this somewhat delicate problem, Mr.

Huxtable.

Thank you, Sherlock.

Very kind.

This is the, um,

my colleagues.

Hi, Mariana Amitatura.

Hello there, Tom Hoxtable.

Senora Ametrazura heralds from San Sebastian, where she graduated with a first-class degree in business and economics.

She is fluent in six languages and proficient in a number of others.

She acts both as a company director and as a senior liaison officer, advising directly with the Metropolitan Police Service here in London and the Home Office of the United Kingdom.

That's me.

This is Dr.

John Watson.

A decorated soldier who has seen frontline action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently on the Eastern Front in the Ukraine War, where he was blown up by a Russian IED.

I'm glad to say he undertook recovery at a clinic in Florida for a few months, returned to London, and conducted his work as a private investigator, and in fact, went on and established himself as a leading broadcasting talent.

Very good to meet you, John.

Yes, hi.

Tom.

Tom Huxtable.

Tom Huxtable.

Right.

Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom.

Can I get you a cup of tea or something?

No, actually, as I was just saying to Sherlock, I really should convey my...

Well, not solely my situation, but the whole picture.

Great, cool.

Well, take a seat.

Thank you.

And thank you all for having me.

This is a very serious and potentially tragic set of circumstances, and I'm so comforted to know I can have this professional team here to rely on.

That's the dog.

Sherlock didn't formally introduce him.

and actually, that's a compliment.

Um, that smell means he's relaxed in your presence.

Right.

Um, yes.

Well, I'm Tom Huxtable.

I am the executive head teacher at Moorhill, a priory school in the lakes.

The lakes, lake district, right?

I appreciate that.

Well, I suppose it's almost a reflex these days to look us up, as you're doing now.

Oh, sorry.

It's fine, honestly, but you won't find us.

You don't have our website?

we do not how come

uh well uh all right brief um prologue for you moorhill was built in 1691 by a reverend local to the area thornycroft forley oh cracking name isn't it just

yes um erected during the anglican consolidation the idea was to raise and build the next ruling class i suppose protestant loyalist enlightened.

Reverend Forley built the school on a fell, on the site of a 13th century Augustinian priory.

Perched on a rise between Black Craggill and Horswater, they call it Forley Fell out there now, but that's just a nod to his work.

A fell is just an elevation in the land, essentially.

But anyway, Moores Pike, it was known as at first, Moores Pike Priory School.

Now, Captain Monmouth Knott, the great explorer of the early 1700s, had come through the school.

He had put all of his successes down to his education there.

His sense of adventure, drive, determination, all, he claimed, because of this priory on a little hill in the remote wilds of the Lake District.

He put the place on the map.

He put half the southern hemisphere on the map, too.

And he changed the name.

exactly that.

Um, the name Moorhill was more palatable to the southern, empire-bound, prospective students.

I suppose you would call it brand building these days, and it worked that and its invitation-only policy, its standards of education and discipline secured it the most up-market client base you can imagine,

and plenty you can't, I would expect.

And that's why you don't have a website.

Invite only.

Invite only.

That scarcity started to turn Moorhill into a bit of a myth, to tell you the truth.

And now we find ourselves with 10 year groups.

12 boys per year group.

12.

Twelve.

Blimey tiny.

In that student body, you've got English nobility, Saudi princes, Chinese wonder kids, European elites, and it's even become a bit of a sought-after spot for the offspring of tech billionaires.

One in particular, Benjamin Duke.

Wow.

Okay, so multi, multi-multi-billionaires.

The super elites.

Yes, that's right.

Doesn't he have like 12 kids?

That's an important customer for you guys.

I believe the exact number is half that, but yes, he does.

But we enrolled just his fourth boy a couple of years ago, Soltire Duke.

Saltire?

Yes.

He names his companies better than he names his children, I'll say that much.

Um, right, so

just making sure I'm precise here.

Last night, Solty left the public breakout areas of the school.

In this instance, a breakout area in Burns' house, where he had been doing some revision, I believe.

He headed up the stairs, onto the first floor, down through the corridor towards his dormitory that he shares with two other boys.

He passed through Ostler dorm to get to his own Raleigh dorm.

A private room.

Could fit two, but we managed with single occupation due to the intake that year.

That was at 10pm.

He went to bed at 10pm?

Correct.

He's not been seen since.

I appreciate it it's a school, but but cameras?

Cameras have him until the dorm rooms.

Then no cameras, of course.

And the dorms were full of other boys?

Correct.

He was the last one to bed.

You see, it's our responsibility to inform the parents first and foremost, so we did so.

When he didn't appear for his first class, we noted it to his house captain who can go into the dorm and what have you.

By the time we went into lunchtime today, and there was still no sign, we contacted the parents.

How did that go?

I was.

Sorry, I was under the impression Benjamin Duke didn't see his kids.

I couldn't possibly say, but

we.

In Master Duke's Soltire's paperwork, the contact was his late mother.

We therefore immediately contacted Benjamin Duke.

And he is.

What, freaking out?

They have a much closer relationship than he has with the other children.

He pays for the fees and whatever else Soltire Duke requires, so he was very concerned.

But he did not wish to utilize the police.

Correct.

He expected a kidnapper, demanding ransoms, and all this sort of thing.

That has not yet materialized.

I appreciate it's early days, and he would like to keep the current

vulnerability of his son under wraps.

The bed.

Hmm?

Slept in?

Yes.

Signs it was slept in.

Uniform?

He dressed himself in the uniform, yes.

His dorm.

Why does he require to walk through another dorm room to get to it?

Soltire has a single room.

A chamber, we call them.

They come off the main dorms in an L-shape.

So he sleeps alone?

Sleeps alone, yes.

But co-shares the dorm, so requires entry and exit through there.

Who was in the main dorm?

Two other boys.

And they heard nothing?

Nothing.

And Cornter was awake from the early hours, Mr.

Holmes.

Indeed.

Wow.

Okay, so, um.

So he vanished from a dorm.

That's that's all we know?

All we know.

We have a number of photographs in the dorm and hallway, and we've actually had the areas mapped so you can do a virtual tour of the scene.

We will visit in person.

Well, Mr.

Holmes, in the interest of haste, as you can imagine, with the individuals involved, we are looking for an immediate resolution.

And that is what there will be, Mr.

Huxtable.

I'm sure Benjamin Duke can arrange for transport.

In the interest of haste, of course.

Well, he arranged for me to get here rather sharpish.

I noticed.

I'm sure he can do the same for you.

Can I get you anything, sir?

No uh no, no, thank you, though.

Thanks.

You alright there, Archie boy?

Flat-nosed dog flying.

This is special treatment, mate.

More water, sir.

There we go.

Uh, hello, listeners.

That was a.

Well, an air steward asking me what I'd like to have.

An air steward that we have

all to ourselves.

Why?

Because we are on a private jet.

That's right, a private jet.

Not actually got a billionaire on board it, but just us lot.

And I can say with some confidence,

never know about Sherlock, to be honest, but some confidence that none of us are anywhere near billionaire status.

If I was, Swindon Town Football Club would have more than just a league cup from 1969 in their trophy cabinet, let me tell you.

You find us, join us even, on our way to investigate the case of the Priory School.

This

secluded school in the midst of the Lake District in the northwest of England is

a public school.

I use that in quotation marks.

This is a

a confusing old English custom.

Public schools are private and state schools are public.

Why do we call them public schools?

Well, why do we do lots of weird stuff?

But way back when, schools were not public, they were

religious institutions or something ran by a private tutor.

Public schools began to sprout up and made themselves open to the public.

Well, the public that could afford it, that is.

The name public school stuck, and Moorhill is one of those, a very,

very exclusive one.

Okay, I will stop saying the word public now as well.

Moorhill, I'm told, also has a prep school attached to it.

That, of course, is a school designed to prepare you for

school.

Yeah, it all seems a bit weird, to be honest, but it seems to work for some people.

So, yeah, exciting, intriguing, concerning.

All the hallmarks of a Sherlock and Co case beckon.

We will be landing in approximately

fifteen minutes or so at Carlisle Lake District Airport.

Then it is a jaunt down the M6 to Penrith and we weave our way through the crags and fens, through those dramatic hills and stretching lakes to our destination, to Moorhill.

Hello.

Hi.

How's he doing?

Yeah, good.

Right, mate?

No farts?

That's good.

Great.

It's

it's kind of bumpy, right?

Do dogs like turbulence?

Yeah,'cause it's small, isn't it?

So it's sort of being thrown around in the sky a bit more.

But it's a private plane.

Yeah.

Shouldn't it be like flawless luxury?

Well, like most things, I think it's more about how it looks.

Mm-hmm, yep.

Now, speaking of great-looking things.

Where is this going?

Uh, no, not you.

These bad boys.

Heyo!

Oh, good lord.

Terrain Beast.

Alright, Sposh.

I will bosh you in the eye.

Come on, look at them.

Look at them.

Look how hardy and rugged they are.

You can tell a lot about the man from his shoes.

Like what?

Exactly.

Hardy and rugged.

You brought these to Trek?

Trek the Lakes, my friend.

Well, he did it.

Yeah, he did it.

Find us a rich client, Sherlock.

Oh, here is one of the richest men in the world, guys.

Yeah, it's

when he delivers, he really delivers.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

What's that out there?

Uh

that would be

probably Liverpool.

Ah, Liverpool, right, right, right.

So, northwest?

Yeah, pretty close now.

What's that out the window on the other side?

Liverpool again?

Uh, no, Manchester.

Oh, wow.

They're they're like.

Yeah, about thirty miles apart, if that.

Oh, that's cool.

Like, um, twin cities.

Uh, yeah.

No, not really.

Why?

They hate each other.

Oh.

Yeah, in fact, somewhere down there, I can't quite see it, I don't think, there is a canal that Manchester built just to bypass Liverpool.

Ooh, petty, you guys, come on.

Yeah, yeah, just so they didn't have to pay money to the Liverpool docks.

During the height of, um,

I'd say British Empire shipping and manufacturing and energy production, those two were

pretty important to that.

The north generally was kind of the the motor of the whole thing.

Oh, yeah, you can see how they've kind of well eaten up all this landscape.

Yeah, yeah, hungry work, fueling the country.

I bet.

Well done for the history lesson on Liverpool and Manchester, without mentioning football the whole time.

Thank you very much.

Very impressive.

Can I talk about football now?

Nope.

A caravan.

The billionaire put us in a caravan.

Yeah, like Huxtable said, they will rearrange our accommodation in due course, but for now, oh wow, this is tight.

Can we please get a move on?

For now, this is home.

It's got a fire pit outside.

Ooh, nice.

We can get some bits from that shop we saw on the main road.

Oh, yeah.

It's basically dinner time now.

No dinner.

Not now.

Yeah, right, but leaving to the school.

I want to be there before nightfall.

Breakfast, it is.

Sounds good.

Wait.

How do we use the bathroom here?

Right there.

Where does it go?

Little septic tank.

Oh, man.

Stupid billionaires.

Up this way.

The luxury of the private plane is well and and truly behind us, as you can hear, everyone.

Welcome to the lake district.

We are not hanging about, just clambering up this steep hill to um to Moorhill.

Oh, boy, is it a hill?

Oh, man, this is steep.

Nearly out of breath.

Yeah.

Probably because you're carrying half a ton in the weight of those shoes alone.

You're just jealous.

You are jealous.

and sad and a loser basically mariana

made myself laugh.

Why?

Because I have trainers.

Ha ha!

Trainers.

Look at me, mate.

I am practically floating.

Oh, shit, slippy.

Slipped again.

That's five times.

Yeah, you have to break them in.

They are elite shoes.

They're like a thoroughbred racehorse.

Yeah, you've got to break them.

Break through the pain of getting them just how you want.

And then whoosh.

What's whoosh?

Exactly.

You falling off the mountain.

No.

These weathered fells, these landscapes carved by ancient glacial flows, are no match for John and his terrain beasts.

Ah, push through the pain, John boy, push through it.

Ah!

Oh, here we are.

Okay, wow.

Oh, yeah.

There it is.

That's uh Moorhill.

Very, very isolated, but uh very chic.

Yes.

It sits up here, collecting the little sun that reaches over these imposing imposing hilltops.

Beautiful.

But

sad.

Yeah.

Look, it doesn't really match.

Quite.

It shines like a splinter of crystal in the darkened brood of its surroundings.

It boasts state-of-the-art facilities, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a combat dojo.

Goodness.

A communication tower there.

And a helicopter landing pad, I see.

Gotta chop it in.

Oh, but what about your shoes?

Don't you need to break them in?

Yeah, good point.

Biometric gatekeeping.

And yet.

They still have a missing boy.

You think he was taken?

What business does he have in Oping into the darkness by himself?

We should probably go find out.

Hmm?

Yes, we probably should.

School

is in session.

And this is the first dorm that he would have walked through.

It's late now, so I'll just um

excuse me, gentlemen, but I'm here with the investigators.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi there.

Hello.

Um, sorry to disturb.

I trust that last night was a little quieter.

Yeah.

You heard him come in?

I did, yeah.

And you did not hear him leave?

No, um,

and I was up from like 2 a.m.

Why?

Girlfriend is in Argentina, so.

Time difference.

Yeah.

Through this way to Soltire's accommodation.

And you see the window here at the end by the bed.

May I?

Please do.

It's not a difficult climb by any stretch of the imagination.

I realise it's only 9 p.m.

and we have more light, but

still would be straightforward.

Absolutely.

Soltire is.

He's on the rugby team, he plays plenty of tennis and paddle.

This would be easy for him.

These buildings out the back here.

Faculty.

Teachers?

Yes.

A couple are temporary staff.

Then we have some NQTs, resident tutors, junior masters.

And the more

superior teachers.

They live

in houses in the surrounding areas.

Right.

What are we getting at?

Sorry?

The less experienced, more junior roles will often live in the accommodation over there for each term.

Only for a couple of years, generally.

But heads of department and so on?

Exactly.

Teachers, senior masters, senior mistresses, directors of studies, and all the more established staff.

They live locally.

In their own houses, usually.

Pays well?

Very well.

And what about them?

Your younger, greener cohort in these chalets?

Well, I mean,

they're looking to learn from the best.

So that's a no, then.

Mr.

Huxtable, do you like my companion's new shoes?

Uh,

I, um,

those?

Yes.

Yes.

I mean, lovely.

Very.

durable.

Waterproof, too?

Great.

Excellent.

He bought them.

Specifically this case.

Good idea.

It can get very windy and boggy up here, so.

Yes, exactly.

Which is probably why

young Soltire took his walking boots with him.

How

wide.

This dried mud here.

Very, very dry, in fact.

It's leached its natural colour.

It's peat-heavy, with bracken root fibres.

So lowland moor, I would imagine there hasn't been a field trip to that area since October, judging by this plant matter in it.

What is that?

Beach, I'd say.

Some beech husks shed through autumn.

So, he's donned his walking boots that he hasn't used in a fair while.

Not the behaviour of someone that was dragged out into the night, rather, someone that hopped out this window willingly.

But this fluttering little fellow is a most significant clue.

What is that?

A moth.

A moth, indeed.

The light was on, and the window was opened last night.

We found it closed.

Then you must have closed it upon exit, Mr.

Huxtable.

I'd like to go over there to your less important residence.

Where?

There.

Our junior teachers are extremely important to us, Mr.

Holmes.

They have outstanding benefits and accommodation.

We do not take advantage of.

Oh, I don't doubt their comforts.

Their safety, however, with not a single camera nor even a security light, from what I can see, protecting their residence.

If I was a young lad at a boarding school ready to escape, and I assure you I was on many occasions, I would embark in that direction.

Wouldn't you?

Um,

we can maybe

that chalet right there.

Which one?

The one with the curtains open that looks straight onto Soltire's room.

I'd like to go in there.

That's Heidegger's room.

Stefan Heidegger, German teacher.

Then lead on.

I would like to wish him Gutenberband.

It was at this point we discovered that Solthire had been targeted.

Targeted by, uh,

I have no doubt, a very sick man.

Who.

His name was Heidegger.

Uh, Stefan

Heidegger.

And he

abducted my son.

Stefan!

Stefan!

Open the door, mate!

Stefan, open the door!

Still nothing.

Stefan!

Nothing.

I can't see him through the window.

Open the door, mate.

Enough, enough.

I've got the keys out the way.

Stefan, I'm coming in, okay?

As we're a little concerned about.

Stefan.

Okay, this feels.

bad.

Like, really bad?

Yes, um,

it does rather.

He has a line of sight on

Soltire's room.

From here, I can see right up to it.

Oh, Jesus.

Perhaps he lured him out.

Lured him out into the darkness and took him.

I should contact his father immediately.

John, are you okay?

No, yeah, this is um could be anything, could be any explanation, right?

Like Sherlock said,

his curtains are open.

This

right here by Soltire's window.

Jesus.

No moths here.

He watched in the darkness and he waited.

Goodness gracious.

What are you thinking, Sherlock?

I'm thinking

Daspiel begin.

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