The silent world of Nicholas Quinn

Colin Dexter

The Remorseful Day

'Morse's last case is a virtuoso piece of plotting . . . by quitting the game on the top of his form

[Dexter] has set his fellow crime-writers an example they will find hard to emulate'

Sunday Times

Death Is Now My Neighbour

'Dexter has created a giant among fictionaldetectives and has never short-changed his readers'

The Times

The Daughters of Cain

'This is Colin Dexter at his most excitingly devious'

Daily Telegraph

The Way Through the Woods

'Morse and his faithful Watson, Sergeant Lewis,in supreme form . . . Hallelujah'

Observer

The Jewel that Was Ours

'Traditional crime writing at its best; the kindof book without which no armchair is complete'

Sunday Times

The Wench Is Dead

'Dextrously ingenious'

Guardian

The Secret of Annexe 3

'A plot of classic cunning and intricacy'

Times Literary Supplement

The Riddle of the Third Mile

'Runs the gamut of brain-racking unputdownability'

Observer

The Dead of Jericho

'The writing is highly intelligent, the atmospheremelancholy, the effect haunting'

Daily Telegraph

Service of All the Dead

'A brilliantly plotted detective story'

Evening Standard

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn

'Morse's superman status is reinforced by anending which no ordinary mortal could havepossibly unravelled'

Financial Times

Last Seen Wearing

'Brilliant characterization in original whodunnit'

Sunday Telegraph

Last Bus to Woodstock

'Let those who lament the decline of the Englishdetective story reach for Colin Dexter'

Guardian

THE SILENT WORLD OF

NICHOLAS QUINN

Colin Dexter graduated from Cambridge University in 1953 and has lived in Oxford since 1966.

His first novel,
Last Bus to Woodstock,
was published in 1975. There are now thirteen novels in the series, of which
The Remorseful Day
is, sadly, the last.

Colin Dexter has won many awards for his novels, including the CWA Silver Dagger twice, and the CWA Gold Dagger for
The Wench Is Dead
and
The Way Through the Woods
. In 1997 he was presented with the CWA Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature, and in 2000

was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

The Inspector Morse novels have been adapted for the small screen with huge success by

Carlton/Central Television, starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately.

THE INSPECTOR MORSE NOVELS

Last Bus to Woodst1ock

Last Seen Wearing

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn

Service of All the Dead

The Dead of Jericho

The Riddle of the Third Mile

The Secret of Annexe 3

The Wench Is Dead

The Jewel that Was Ours

The Way Through the Woods

The Daughters of Cain

Death Is Now My Neighbour

The Remorseful Day

Also available in Pan Books

Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories

The First Inspector Morse Omnibus

The Second Inspector Morse Omnibus

The Third Inspector Morse Omnibus

The Fourth Inspector Morse Omnibus

First published 1977 by Macmillan

First published in paperback 1978 by Pan Books

This edition published 2007 by Pan Books

an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd

Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Basingstoke and Oxford

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-45124-6 in Adobe Reader format

ISBN 978-0-330-46882-4 in Adobe Digital Editions format

ISBN 978-0-330-46885-5 in Microsoft Reader format

ISBN 978-0-330-46884-8 in Mobipocket format

Copyright © Colin Dexter 1977

The right of Colin Dexter to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www. panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you're always first to hear about our new releases.

for Jack Ashley

'WELL? WHAT DO you think?' The Dean of the Foreign Examinat1ions Syndicate

addressed his question directly to Cedric Voss, the Chairman of the History

Committee.

'No, no, Dean. I think the Secretary should be the first to have his say. After all, it's the permanent staff who'll have to work with whoever we appoint.' In slightly less

distinguished company, Voss would have added that he didn't give two monkeys

which of them got the job. As it was, he reassumed a characteristically somnolent

posture in his comfortable blue-leather chair, and prayed they'd all get their fingers out.

The meeting had already lasted almost three hours.

The Dean turned to the person sitting on the immediate left, a small twinkling man in

his middle or late fifties, who blinked boyishly behind his rimless spectacles. 'Well, Dr.

Bartlett, let's hear what you've got to say.'

Bartlett, permanent Secretary of the Foreign Examinations Syndicate, glanced good-

naturedly round the tables before looking down briefly at his neatly-written notes. He

was used to this sort of thing. 'It seems to me, Dean, that generally speaking, by and

large' (the Dean and several senior members of the Syndicate visibly winced) 'and on

the whole, we would all agree that the short-list has been a very good one. All the

applicants seemed pretty competent, and most of them sufficiently experienced to take

on the work. But—' He looked down again at his notes. 'Well, to be truthful, I would not

myself wish to appoint either of the two women. The one from Cambridge was, I

thought, a little, er, a little
strident
, shall we say?' He beamed expectantly round the Appointments Committee and a few heads nodded fairly vigorous assent. 'The other

woman I thought just a
little
inexperienced, and I, er, didn't feel much inner surge of conviction about some of her answers.' Again there was no visible sign of dissent from

the silent tables, and Bartlett stroked his ample belly with mild satisfaction. 'So. Let's come to the three men. Duckham? Just a little vague, I thought. Nice chap and all that,

but I wonder if he's got quite the snap and zip that I'd welcome in the Humanities

Department here. He's third, in my book. Then there's Quinn. I liked him: honest,

intelligent fellow; firm views; clear brain. Not quite the ideal experience, perhaps, and then— Well, let me be quite honest about it I think that, er, I think his, er—
handicap
may be a bit too much of a liability here. You know what I mean: phone calls,

meetings, that sort of thing; It's a pity, but there it is. Anyway, I'd put him second. That leaves Fielding, and he's the man I'd go for every time: damn good schoolmaster;

excellent results from his pupils; just the right age; modest; likeable; and a first in

History from Balliol. References quite outstanding. I don't honestly think we could

have hoped for a better applicant, and he's my first choice, Dean, without the slightest