"But... how did it get in there?" "Well, the bathroom window's open. I expect she came in through that." Richard looked at him, not for the first and certainly not for the last time, through eyes that were narrowed with suspicion. "You're doing it deliberately, aren't you?" he said. "Doing what, my dear fellow?" "I don't believe there's a horse in your bathroom," said Richard suddenly. "I don't know what is there, I don't know what you're doing, I don't know what any of this evening means, but I don't believe there's a horse in your bathroom." And brushing aside Reg's further protestations he went up to look. The bathroom was not large. The walls were panelled in old oak linenfold which, given the age and nature of the building, was quite probably priceless, but otherwise the fittings were stark and institutional. There was old, scuffed, black-and-white checked linoleum on the floor, a small basic bath, well cleaned but with very elderly stains and chips in the enamel, and also a small basic basin with a toothbrush and toothpaste in a Duralex beaker standing next to the taps. Screwed into the probably priceless panelling above the basin was a tin mirror-fronted bathroom cabinet. It looked as if it had been repainted many times, and the mirror was stained round the edges with condensation. The lavatory had an old-fashioned cast-iron chain-pull cistern. There was an old cream-painted wooden cupboard standing in the corner, with an old brown bentwood chair next to it, on which lay some neatly folded but threadbare small towels. There was also a large horse in the room, taking up most of it. Richard stared at it, and it stared at Richard in an appraising kind of way. Richard swayed slightly. The horse stood quite still. After a while it looked at the cupboard instead. It seemed, if not content, then at least perfectly resigned to being where it was until it was put somewhere else. It also seemed... what was it? It was bathed in the glow of the moonlight that strearned in through the window. The window was open but small and was, besides, on the second floor, so the notion that the horse had entered by that route was entirely fanciful. There was something odd about the horse, but he couldn't say what. Well, there was one thing that was clearly very odd about it indeed, which was that it was standing in a college bathroom. Maybe that was all. Douglas Adams Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency ISBN 0 330 30162 4 http://pcbo.dcs.aber.ac.uk/hhgttg/temp/dirk1.txt via http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:pcbo.dcs.aber.ac.uk/hhgttg/temp/dirk1.t xt horse, in the bathroom I:8/60,62;10/72;18/139; 21/161;28/206. The Ultra-Complete Index to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency http://www.atomiser.demon.co.uk/mh/faq/guide2.htm