Summary

In Chapter 5, the narrator begins his story by describing a time in his own school years at the Spinoza Lyceum, when “the teachers were dropping like flies” (28). There were, over a period of months, a series of random and sudden deaths that afflicted the faculty of the Lyceum at an alarming rate. Mr. Van Ruth (Math) suddenly died, Mr. Karsten (Physics) left behind two growing boys, Miss Posthuma (English Literature) had to have her door broken open with a crowbar before the police could get to her body, and Harm Koolhaas (Social Studies) had been attacked in his car while on a trip to Miami. The body count culminated in the disappearance of Jan Landzaat, a History teacher who was known for his good looks and tendency to flirt with his female students.

The narrator remembers the evening during a school trip to...