Mystery #03 — The Mystery of the Secret Room

“I’ll go and get him,” said Fatty. “You walk on slowly and I’ll catch you up.”
He ran on down the lane to Milton House. Buster burst into a hurricane of delighted barks as soon as he saw him. “Good dog,” said Fatty, patting him. “Off guard now, old fellow - off guard. Let me get my pullover.”
Buster allowed Fatty to get his pullover and put it on. Fatty, who had not been thoroughly round the house as the others had, thought he would just take a quick look round. Maybe he might see something they had missed. So he trotted round the house and began to look carefully in at every window.
He jumped terribly when a stern voice came across the garden. “Now then! What you a-doing of? Didn’t I send you all off a few minutes ago?”
“Clear-Orf - back again,” thought Fatty, annoyed with himself for being found there. “Blow!”
Clear-Orf wheeled his bicycle over to him. “Now you tell me what you’re doing here,” he demanded.
Fatty looked all round as if hunting for something. “I left the others here,” he said. “But now they’re gone.”
“And you was peeking in at all the windows to see if they’d slipped through a crack!” said Clear-Orf smartly.
“How clever you are, Mr. Goon,” said Fatty. “You always think of such bright things. Do you know where the others are?”
“Maybe I’ve arrested them all for playing on private property,” said Mr. Goon darkly. “You tell me what you’re all so interested in here, and I’ll tell you where the others are.”
“Oh, Mr. Goon - will you really?” said Fatty, edging away. “Will you let them out of prison if I tell you? Have you told their parents yet that you’ve arrested them? What did they say?”
“You stop cheeking of me,” said Clear-Orf. “And you tell me what’s making you hang about here? This house is empty and children aren’t allowed here.”
Fatty went on edging away, and Mr. Goon went on edging after him, growing purple in the face. Of all the Five Find-Outers he detested Fatty most. Fortunately for Fatty he had Buster with him, and Buster, feeling that matters had gone quite far enough, began to growl.
He then went to sniff at Mr. Goon’s ankles and the policeman kicked him away.
“Look here, Mr. Goon, if you kick Buster, he’ll bite you, and I don’t blame him,” said Fatty, angry to hear the yelp that Buster made. “I shan’t call him off either, if he goes for you. You’ll deserve it.”
Mr. Goon kicked at Buster again, and the dog flew at him, growling furiously. Mr. Goon, seeing two rows of sharp white teeth, got on his bicycle and rode off down the drive at top speed, Buster scurrying after him, barking all the way.
“You haven’t heard the last of this!” yelled Clear-Orf, as he swung out of the gate. “I’ll get to the bottom of this, see if I don’t!”
“Good-bye, and send me a post card when you get to the bottom!” yelled Fatty. “Buster, come here!”
 
 
Surprising News from Miss Crump
 
The others were disappointed but not surprised to hear that Fatty had not been able to get the keys of Milton House.
“It seems funny for Miss Crump to buy a house and not move into it,” said Larry. “Why should she just furnish one room at the top, and not tell any one about it? It’s a funny secret to have.”
“We can’t very well go and ask her why she’s got that room at the top of the house like that,” said Daisy. “She’d be wild to think we had climbed the tree and looked in.”
“Of course we can’t,” said Fatty. “But we could quite well go over and see her - think up some excuse, you know - and try to get her talking.”
“What excuse can we give for going to see her in the dead of winter?” said Daisy.
“Oh! - we shall be able to think of something,” said Fatty. “Good detectives can always find some way of getting into talk with people.”
“What’s the address?” asked Pip.
Fatty told him.
“Well - we could easily go over there on our bikes,” said Larry, “I vote we do. I’m longing to get on with this mystery if we can.”
“Yes, but what excuse can we give for going to see Miss Crump?” asked Daisy, who didn’t like the idea of butting in on an old lady without some very well-thought-out excuse.
“Oh, Daisy, don’t fuss so!” said Fatty, who hadn’t yet thought of any excuse. “Leave it to me. We’ll go over there, look around a bit, and then see what’s the best way to get into talk with Miss Crumpet.”
“Miss Crump, you mean,” said Bets with a giggle. “Don’t go calling her Crumpet.”
“We can’t all go and see her,” said Daisy. “She’d be suspicious if five children descended on her to talk about Milton House.”
“Well, I’ve gone to see two house-agents, and Pip discovered the mystery, so it’s your turn, or Larry’s or Bets’ turn to do something,” said Fatty generously. He would have liked to do everything himself, really, but a good leader gives every one else a chance, aad Fatty was a good leader.
“Oh!” said Daisy, not quite liking the idea. “All right. But I think you could do it better than any one, Fatty.”
“Well, I could,” said Fatty, not very modestly. “But then I’ve been training myself for this kind of work all last term. Anyway, it will be quite easy.”
They decided to bike over and see Miss Crump that afternoon. Buster could ride in Fatty’s bicycle basket as it wasn’t very far.
“And for goodness’ sake, Buster, don’t try baling out from my basket,” said Fatty. “You did that last time I took you - saw a rabbit or something, and jumped out of my basket and nearly caused an accident.”
“Woof!” said Buster, looking upset. He always knew when Fatty was telling him not to do something or other.
“Good dog,” said every one at once, and patted Buster. They coutdn’t bear it when he looked sad.
They set off on their bicycles immediately after dinner, meeting at the corner at the top of Pip’s lane. Off they went, ringing their bells at everything they saw, with Buster sitting up straight in Fatty’s basket, his tongue hanging out in excitement.
They got to Little Minton in just under twenty minutes, and began to look for Hillways. An errand-boy directed them.
It was a nice house, old and beautiful, with leaded windows and tall chimneys. The garden was beautifully kept.
“Well, I don’t wonder Miss Crumpet preferred to live here rather than in that desolate, ugly old house,” said Fatty, getting off his bicycle. “Now - what’s our plan?”
Nobody had a plan. It suddenly seemed unexpectedly difficult to find a way to go and talk to Miss Crump about Milton House.
Fatty lifted Buster down from the bicycle basket. Buster was glad to stretch his legs. He ran into the gate of the garden.
Then things happened. A large dog suddenly rushed up the path, barking, and flew at Buster. Buster, astonished, growled and swung around. The big dog growled too and all the hairs on the back of his neck rose up.
“They’re going to fight!” shrieked Bets. “Oh, get Buster, Fatty!”
But before Fatty could get hold of Buster, the big dog pounced on him, and a fight began. Bets howled. The dogs barked angrily and growled furiously. All the children yelled at Buster.
“Come here, Buster - come here, sir! BUSTER, come here!”
But Buster was not going to turn tail and run away in the middle of a fight. He enjoyed a fight, and he hardly ever got one. He didn’t mind about the other dog being bigger than he was - he could bite as hard as he did!
The front door opened and someone came out. It was a pleasant, plump, middle-aged lady, looking very worried. She ran up the path.
“Oh dear! is Thomas attacking your dog?” she said. “Thomas, stop it!”
But neither Thomas nor Buster took the slightest notice. This was their own enjoyable, private fight, and they were going on with it.
Bets cried bitterly. She was very upset at the noise and scuffling, and terribly afraid that Buster might be killed. The plump lady was distressed to hear Bets’ sobs.