Much to the surprise of everybody, not one of this second set of parents had been told about the consequences of their daughters being summoned to his office. It then became necessary to interview a median group of parents whose daughters were middling achievers but still were unlikely to be serious or serial misbehavers. Once more, not a single parent verified Mr Ings statement.
The Deputy and Senior Master were now interviewed. Both were adamant that the punishment record would show correctly which canings they had witnessed, and all would be written in black except the number of strokes, if more than 4, which Mr Ing always insisted must be entered by him in red at the time, to mark severe canings, as these always entailed more strokes. The Chief Inspector had previously spoken to Mr Ing, but told no one else of this.