Mystery Of The Missing Necklace (17 page)

The Inspector put down
his
receiver
with
an impatient click. Really, Goon was too idiotic at times! The Inspector sat looking at his telephone, thinking deeply. He had had reports from all kinds of people about this Case
—
but not from one person, who appeared to know quite a lot about it
—
and that was Master Frederick Trotteville! .The Inspector made another telephone call. Fatty answered it.

"I want you to cycle over here this morning and answer a few questions, Frederick," said the Inspector. "Come straight along now."

So, with Buster in his basket, Fatty rode off to the next town, wondering a little fearfully what the inspector wanted to know. Would he think he had been mixing himself up in this Mystery a bit too much? He had

warned the Find-Outers not to get mixed up, because it might be dangerous.

The Inspector was friendly, but business-like, and he listened ito the whole of Fatty's tale with the greatest interest, especially to the tale of Fatty's various disguises.

"Most interesting," he said. "You've got a gift for that kind of thing, I can see. But don't over-do it. Now
—
you've heard all about (the arrests, I suppose
?
"

"I only know what's in the paper this morning, sir," said Fatty. "I knew it was no good asking Mr. Goon anything. I'm a bit fed up that he managed the Mystery after all, whilst I was locked up in the cupboard."

"He should have let you out," said the Inspector shortly. "Very remiss of him. Not the kind of thing I expect from a police officer. Well, Frederick, three arrest were made
—
as you know
—
but the man on guard in the garden below escaped. And, most unfortunately, he appears to have escaped with the Cast
l
eton pearls!"

"But the papers said they were found in one of the arrested men's pockets!" said Fatty.

"We've got later news," said Inspector Jenks. "Those pearls were only cheap ones, bought by one of the men as a gift for his wife
—
or stolen from somewhere else probably. They're only worth a few pounds. The real pearls have gone."

"I see," said Fatty, and he cheered Up considerably. "So
—
the Mystery isn't quite over, sir. We've got to find out where the pearls are? Can you find the man who escaped, do you flunk? He might split, and tell where he put the pearls."

"We
have
got him," said
the Inspector grimly. "The news came in ten minutes ago. But he hadn't got the

pearls, and won't say where he's put them
!
But
we
h
appen to know that Number Three of the gang is usually the one who disposes of the stolen jewels
—
and its likely that this fellow we've just arrested has put the pearls in some agreed place, for Number Three, whoever he is, to fetch when all the hue and cry dies down."

"You don't know who Number Three is, do you sir?" asked Fatty.

"Haven't any idea," said the Inspector. "We more or less had our suspicions of the other four
—
but Number Three we've never been able to guess at. Now, Frederick, I'm not altogether pleased at
th
e way you mixed yourself up in this, when I warned you not to, because it was dangerous
—
now you just see if you can't solve the rest of the Mystery, and find those pea
rl
s before Number Three does. There's no danger now
—
so you Five Find-Outers can go ahead."

"Yes, sir," said Fatty, looking rather subdued. "Well do our best. We've got just a few things to go on. I'll work them out and see what can be done. Thanks for giving us a chance to solve the Mystery of the Missing Pearls! Good-bye, sir!"

Number Three Again
.

Fatty went straight to Pip's. He felt sure he would find the rest of the Find-Outers there, waiting for him. They were outside the summer-house, making Larry tell them over and over again all that had happened.

"Here's Fatty!" cried Bets. "What did the Inspector say, Fatty? Wasn't he angry with Goon for leaving you in that cupboard?"

"He wasn't very pleased with him
—
at least he didn't
sound
very pleased," said Fatty. "He didn't sound very pleased with me either! Seemed to think I oughtn't to have got so mixed up in this Mystery. But how
could I
keep out of it?"

"I expect he (thought it was dangerous," said Bets, "and so it was, last night. Oh, Fatty, I knew you were in danger. I really, really did."

"Good old Bets!" said Fatty, giving her a hug. "I'm jolly glad you had one of your funny feelings about me
—
if you hadn't sent Pip to Larry, and Larry hadn't come along to the Waxworks Hall, goodness knows how long I'd have been shut up in that cupboard. By the way
—
the Mystery is still not
quite
ended!
”

Every one sat up at once. "What do you mean?" said Daisy.

Fatty explained about the missing pearls and Number Three. "The Inspector thinks that Number Five, who escaped with the pearls last night, had time to put them in some safe place, before he was caught this morning. He will probably try and get a message to Number Three
—
the gang member who wasn't there last night and so is still at large
—
and till Number Three gets that message about the pearls and finds them,
any
one might find them! And it's up to us to do it!"

"I see," said Larry slowly. "But how in the world can any one find them if they don't even know where to look? It's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible to a really good detective," said Fatty. "I agree that it's a frightfully difficult mystery to solve
—
but I think if only we can get hold of Number Three somehow, and shadow him, he might lead us to the necklace!"

"What do you mean
—
shadow him?" asked Bets.

"Follow him, silly
—
always keep him in sight," said Pip. "Spot where he goes, or where he hangs about. He's sure to hang about the place where the pearls are, waiting for a chance to get them."

"That's right," said Fatty. "The thing is
—
who
is Number Three and how can we get hold of him
?
"

There was a silence. Nobody knew the answer.

"What do we know about Number Three?" said Fatty, considering. "We know he rides a bike that has a hooter on it. We know he has odd eyes, one blue and one brown. And we know he rows a boat. I rather think, as we've seen him in Pet
er
swood twice that he must
li
ve here."

There was another silence. None of the things they knew about the odd-eyed man seemed to be of any help in finding him. Then Pip suddenly gave an exclamation.

"I think I know what to do!"

"What? " said every one eagerly.

"Well, we're sure that Number Five hid the pearls somewhere, and we're pretty certain he'll get a message to Number Three,
somehow
—
has probably sent one already, in case he himself got caught by the police and put into prison. Now who would he send that message to, to deliver to Number Three? "

"The old man, Johnny, of course!" said Fatty. "He's the one they always use, apparently, when
they want to send messages to one another. So
—
if we watch old Johnny again
—
sooner of later we'll see Number Three go quietly up to him...."

"Sit down beside him
—
a
nd receive the message!" said L
arry. "And if we shadow him, after that, we shall

spot where he goes. Maybe hell lead us straight to the necklace!"

Every one felt much more cheerful and hopeful. "That's a brain-wave of yours, Pip," said Fatty. "I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself. Very good."

All the Find-Outers loved a word of praise from their leader. Pip went quite red with pleasure.

"I suppose that means we must go and sit in that smelly little lemonade shop again," said Daisy. Fatty considered.

"Only one of us had better shadow Number Three closely," he said. "If he sees five of us tailing him he's bound to get a bit suspicious. I'll do the shadowing
—
if you don't mind, Pip, though it
was
your idea
—
and you can all follow me at a safe distance."

"I don't mind a bit," said Pip generously. "I'm sure you'll be much better at shadowing than I shall. Where will you wait? And shall we have bikes or not?"

"Better have bikes," said Larry. "He was on a bike last time he went up to the old man. If he's walking we can always leave our bicycles somewhere, and walk after him."

"Yes, that's a sound idea," said Fatty. "What's the time? Almost dinner-time. The old fellow doesn't come out till the afternoon, so well meet just before two, at the bottom of my lane, with bikes."

"But, Fatty, do you think the old man will come out and sit on your seat, after your warning, and after what he will have read in the papers today?" asked Larry. "Wont he be afraid?"

"Yes,
probably
he will," said Fatty. "But if he has a message to deliver, I think he'll risk it. I bet the gang pay him we
ll
for this go-between business."

Now that there was something to do
;
Outers felt very cheerful. They went to their dinners pleased that there was still a Mystery to solve. If only they could find those pearls before Goon did!

Mr. Goon, of course, was exercising his mind too, about the missing pearls. He too knew that if only he could spot Number Three, he might be led to the pearls. But he had not got as far as reckoning out that it would be a good idea to watch old Johnny again, to see if Number Three came to receive a message!

That afternoon four of the Find-Outers sat in the little sweet-shop, on the opposite side of the road to the bench where the old man so often sat. Fatty was not with them. He was leaning against a tree not far off, apparently deep in a paper, his bicycle beside him. He was watching for the old man to come. How he hoped he would!

The bicycles belonging to the others were piled against the side of the sweet-shop. The four children in the shop were eating ices, and watching the bench opposite as keenly as Fatty was.

Some one came shuffling round the corner. Hurrah! It was the old man, complete with sniffle and pipe and cough. He sat himself down gingerly on the bench with a little groan, just exactly as Fatty used to do.

Then he bent himself over his stick-handle and seemed to go to sleep. The children waited, whilst their ices melted in the saucers. Had Johnny got a message to deliver from Number Five to Number Three?

A noise made them jump violently. It was the sound of a hooter
!
Fatty jumped too. He lifted his head cautiously from his paper, and saw a man riding down
the High Street on a
bicycle.. It had a hooter instead
of
a bell.

The man rode to the bench, hooted, and got off his bicycle. He stood his machine against the kerb and went to sit down on the bench close to the old man.

The old fellow did not even look up. How would he know if it was Number Three or not then? He was deaf and would not hear a whisper. Fatty puzzled his brains to think.

"Of course!" he thought suddenly. "That loud hooter always tells the old man when Number Three is coming to sit on the bench beside
him. Of course! Gosh, that's clever."

The old man took absolutely no notice of the other man. Fatty watched very carefully, but he could not see any movement of the old man's mouth, nor could he see the giving of any paper-message.

For a few moments the two men sat together, and then old Johnny sat up a little straighter, and began to draw patterns in the dust with the end of his stick. Fatty watched more carefully to see if the old man was talking, under cover of his movements. But he could not make out that he was
—
unless he could talk without moving his lips, as a ventriloquist can!

After a minute or two the other man got up and went to his bicycle. He got on it, hooted, and rode slowly over to the sweet-shop. The four children in there stiffened with excitement. What was he coming over there for?

Bets gave a gasp as he came in, and Pip kicked her under the table, afraid she might give them away. Bets took one look at the man and then began to finish her ice, making rather a noise with her spoon.