Mystery of the Vanished Prince (18 page)

They looked at the cleared space and then walked round it to a group of sheds nearby. They talked cheerfully as they went, all of them feeling very happy to think that everything was over.

A sudden noise made them stop. “What was that?” said Larry. “It sounded as if it came from that shed. Is there some animal locked in there? A bull perhaps?”

The noise came again - a loud banging noise, then a series of thuds. The door of the shed shook.

“Better look out,” said the Chief. “Sounds rather like a bull in a temper.”

Snorts and groans and yells came next. “It isn’t a bull,” said Fatty. “Sounds like a mixture of a man and a bull! I’ll look and see - through a window, not through a door!”

The window of the shed was very high up. Fatty ran a ladder up against the wall of the shed, went up it and peered through the window. He came down again, grinning.

“Friend of yours, sir,” he said, cheerfully, and unbolted the door from the outside. It burst open and out came a big, dirty, perspiring, maddened creature, his fists up, and hair standing on end.

“Goon!” said the Chief, almost falling backwards in his amazement. “GOON! What on earth - is it really you? GOON!”

Yes - it was Mr. Goon, and a sorry sight he looked. He was filthy dirty, very angry, and looked as if he had been sitting down in all the messes he could. Straw was caught in his up-standing hair, and he panted like a dog. He stared in astonisbment at the little company before him, and quietened down at once when he saw the Chief Inspector.

“Morning, sir,” said poor Goon, trying to flatten down his hair.

“Where did you disappear to, without leaving any message as to your whereabouts?” asked the Chief. “We’ve been hunting for you everywhere.”

“I - er - got a hunch that something might be going on here,” said Goon, still sounding out of breath. “Caught the last train, sir - and somehow I got lost in these here marshes. I found myself sinking down, and I yelled for all I was worth.”

“Oh, Mr. Goon! How dreadful for you!” said kindhearted Bets. “Did someone rescue you?”

“Rescue me!” snorted Goon, sounding rather like a bull again. “Yes, they pulled me out all right - and pushed me into that cow-shed and bolted me in! What for? They should all be arrested, sir! Mishandling the police! Punching me in the back!”

“Don’t worry - we have arrested them all,” said the Chief. “You missed that bit of fun.”

“Coo, Uncle - you don’t half look funny,” said Ern, suddenly, and went off into a loud guffaw. His uncle appeared to see him for the first time.

“ERN! You here too! What you doing here, mixed up in all this?” shouted Goon. “I’ll teach you to laugh at me!”

“Behave yourself, Ern,” said Fatty, severely. He felt sorry for poor Goon. What a hash he had made of everything - and yet he, Fatty, had given all the information he could!

“It was jolly brainy of Mr. Goon to come here, sir, wasn’t it?” he said innocently to the Chief. “I mean - he got here even before we did. It was just bad luck he fell in the marsh. He might have cleared the whole job up himself if he hadn’t done that.”

Mr. Goon looked gratified. He also felt suddenly very kindly towards Fatty. He wasn’t such a toad of a boy, after all!

The Chief looked at Fatty. “Brains are good, courage is excellent, resourcefulness is rare,” he said, “but generosity crowns everything, Frederick. One of these days I’ll be proud of you!”

Fatty actually blushed. Mr. Goon had heard all this, but hadn’t understood what the Chief meant at all. He came towards them, brushing down his clothes.

“So it’s all over, is it?” he said. “What happened, sir?”

“You’d better go and wash,” said the Chief Inspector, looking at him. “You’ve no idea what you look like, Goon. And if you’ve been shut up all night, you’ll be hungry and thirsty. Ask the woman at the farm-house for something to eat and drink.”

“I could certainly do with something,” said Mr. Goon. “You’ll call me when you want me, sir?”

“I will,” said the Inspector. “We’re just waiting for the police cars to come back.”

“Slong, Uncle,” called Ern, but his uncle did not deign to reply. He disappeared in the direction of the farm-house, an ungainly, peculiar-looking figure, but not at all downcast. Hadn’t he got there before that boy, anyhow? And hadn’t that boy admitted it? Things weren’t so bad after all!

“It was a queer sort of mystery this time,” said Bets, hanging on to the Chief’s arm. “At first there didn’t seem to be any clues or anything - nothing we could get hold of - and then it suddenly boiled up, and exploded all over us!”

Everyone laughed. “Bets quite enjoyed this mystery,” said Fatty. “Didn’t you, Bets? I did too.”

“So did I,” said Ern, thoroughly agreeing. “Not half! Spitty young Sid and Perce weren’t in at the finish.”

“Yes. SPITTY!” agreed every one, chuckling, and the Chief Inspector smiled.

“Well, let me see - when do you have your next holidays?” he said. “At Christmas time? Right. Here’s to the next mystery then - and may it all end as well as this!”

THE END