“Good morning, Mrs. Karpenko,” said the senior mathematics master. “My name is Arnold Sutton, and I’m delighted you were both able to join us today. I’ll be conducting the examination.”
“How nice to meet you, Mr. Sutton,” said Elena as they shook hands.
“You must be Sasha,” he said, giving the boy a warm smile. “Please, take a seat and I will explain what we have planned.”
“Meanwhile, Mrs. Karpenko,” said the headmaster, “perhaps we should return to my study while the test is taking place.”
Once the headmaster and Elena had left the room, Mr. Sutton turned his attention to the young applicant.
“Sasha,” he said, opening a file and extracting three sheets of paper, “this is the mathematics examination that was taken by those pupils who wished to enter the sixth form of Latymer Upper.” He placed the three pages on the desk in front of Sasha. “The time allocated for the test is one hour, and I suggest you read each question carefully before answering it. Do you have any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.” The schoolmaster checked his watch. “I’ll warn you when you have fifteen minutes left.”
* * *
“You do understand, Mrs. Karpenko,” said Mr. Quilter as they walked back down the corridor, “that the exam your son is sitting is not only for pupils hoping to enter the sixth form here at Latymer, but also for those preparing to go on to university.”
“That’s no more than I would want for Sasha,” said Elena.
“Yes, of course, Mrs. Karpenko. But I must warn you that he will have to get sixty-five percent to pass. If he does, we would be delighted to offer him a place at Latymer Upper.”
“Then I must warn you, Mr. Quilter, that I couldn’t afford the school uniform, let alone the fees.”
The headmaster hesitated. “We do offer places for pupils in, shall we say, straitened circumstances. And of course,” he added quickly, “we award academic scholarships for exceptionally gifted children.” Elena didn’t look convinced. “Can I offer you a coffee?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Quilter. I’m sure you must be very busy, so please go back to work. I’m perfectly happy to read a magazine while I’m waiting.”
“That’s most considerate of you,” said the headmaster, “Yes I do have rather a lot of paperwork to be getting on with. But I’ll return just as soon as—”
The door was flung open and Mr. Sutton burst in even before the headmaster could finish his sentence. He walked quickly across to Mr. Quilter and whispered in his ear.
“Would you be kind enough to wait here, Mrs. Karpenko?” said the headmaster. “I will be back shortly.”
“Is there a problem?” asked Elena anxiously, but the two men had already left the room.
“You say he finished the exam in twenty minutes? That barely seems possible.”
“What’s even more incredible,” said Sutton, almost on the run, “he scored a hundred percent, and frankly looked bored.” He opened the door of his classroom to allow the headmaster to enter.
“Karpenko,” said Quilter, after he’d glanced at a long row of ticks, “can I ask if you’ve ever seen this paper before?”
“No, sir.”
The headmaster studied the pupil’s answers more carefully, before asking, “Would you be willing to answer a couple of oral questions?”
“Yes, of course, sir.”
The headmaster nodded to Mr. Sutton.
“Karpenko, if I throw three dice,” said Sutton, “what is the probability that the result will be a total of ten?”
The would-be scholar picked up his pen and began to write out various combinations of three number
s. Four minutes later, he put the pen down and said, “One in eight, sir.”
“Remarkable,” said Sutton. He smiled at the headmaster, who, as a classicist, was none the wiser. “My second question is, if you were offered odds of ten to one that you couldn’t throw ten with three dice, would you accept the bet?”