Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (11 page)

“Good afternoon, Goon,” said the Inspector.

“G-g-g-g-g-g,” began Goon, and then swallowed hastily. “G-g-g-g-good afternoon, sir, I d-d-d-didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I thought I heard you say you wanted to get your hands on me,” said the Inspector. Goon swallowed hard again, loosened his collar with his finger, and then tried to smile.

“You will have your joke, sir,” he said in a rather trembling voice. “I — er — I — expected to find somebody else. It’s — it’s a great surprise to see you here, sir.”

“Well, these children have paid me the honour of consulting me about this little affair of the stolen cat,” said the Inspector. “Sit down, Goon. It would be good to hear your version of the business. I suppose you haven’t got very far with the case?”

“Well, sir — I’ve got a lot of clues, sir,” said Mr. Goon eagerly, hoping to alter the Inspector’s opinion of him. “I’d like your advice on them, sir, now you’re here, sir.”

He took a white envelope from his pocket and opened it. Out came the two cigar-ends, the blue button, the half hair-ribbon, the peppermint drop, and the brown shoe-lace. The Inspector stared at them in considerable astonishment.

“Are all these clues?” he asked at last.

“Yes, sir,” said Goon. “Found in the place where the crime was committed, sir. In the cat-house itself.”

“Did you really find all these things in the cat-house?” said the Inspector, looking at everything as if he really could not believe they were there. “Was this peppermint drop there, Goon?”

“Yes, sir, everything. Never found so many clues in my life before, sir,” said Goon, pleased to see the Inspector’s surprise.

“Neither have I,” said the Inspector. He glanced round at the five children. They were horrified at seeing Goon show the false dues to Inspector Jenks. A very small twinkle came into the Inspector’s eyes.

“Well, Goon,” said the Inspector, “you are much to be congratulated on discovering so many dues. Er — I suppose you children haven’t discovered any too?”

Fatty pulled out the envelope in which he had put duplicates of the same things that Goon had found. He undid the envelope solemnly and slowly. Bets wanted to giggle, but she didn’t dare to.

“I don’t know if you’d call these clues, sir,” said Fatty. “Probably not. We don’t think they are, sir, either.”

To Goon’s open-mouthed astonishment Fatty proceeded to take from the envelope complete duplicates of the dues that Goon had taken out of his own envelope.

“What’s all this? There’s something funny about all this,” said Goon faintly.

“It is certainly peculiar, to say the least of it,” said the Inspector. “I am sure you children all agree with me?”

The children said nothing. They really did not know what to say. Even Fatty said nothing, though in his heart he applauded Inspector Jenks very loudly for guessing everything and giving away nothing!”

“Well,” said Inspector Jenks, “suppose you replace all these various dues in their envelopes. I hardly feel they are going to help us a great deal, but perhaps you mink otherwise, Goon?”

“No, sir,” said poor Goon, his face purple with rage, astonishment, and shock. To think that his wonderful dues were the same as the children’s — whatever did it mean? Poor Goon! The meaning did eventually dawn on him, but not until he was in bed that night. Then he could do nothing about it; for he knew he would never dare to reopen the matter of his dues again, with Inspector Jenks on the children’s side.

“And now, Goon,” said the Inspector, in a businesslike tone, “I propose that we go to this boy Luke and tell him to come out of his hiding-place and face up to things. We can’t have him hiding away for weeks.”

Mr. Goon’s mouth fell open for the third or fourth time that afternoon. Find Luke? Go to his hiding-place? What in the world did the Inspector know about all that? He gave the children a glare. Interfering busybodies! Now, with the Inspector at his elbow he wouldn’t even be able to scare the life out of that boy Luke when he found him, as he would dearly like to do.

“Just as you say, sir,” he said to the Inspector, and rose ponderously from the ground.

“Come along,” said Inspector Jenks to the children. “We’ll go and have a word — a kind word — with poor old hunted Luke.”

A Great Surprise.

The Inspector led the way over the field and up the lane. Fatty tried to hold a cheerful conversation with Mr. Goon, but the policeman only scowled at him behind Inspector Jenks’ broad back.

“In here,” said Pip, when they reached his gate. They went up the drive and into the garden. Then Pip stopped and looked at the Inspector.

“Should I just go up and explain to Luke that you say he’s to come out and go back to his job?” he said. “You can’t think how scared he is.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Inspector Jenks, “but I think the one to see him and talk to him should be me. Now, don’t you worry. I know how to treat boys like Luke.”

Inspector Jenks went with Pip up the garden to the summer-house. But Luke was not there.

“Oh, there he is, look,” said Pip, pointing to where Luke was busy hoeing the kitchen-garden. “He says he just can’t sit and do nothing, Inspector, and he thinks if he does a bit of weeding for us, it is a small way of returning a kindness.”

“A nice thought, if I may say so,” murmured the Inspector, watching Luke at his work, taking in the boy from head to foot. He turned to Pip.

“Just give him a call, tell him I’m a friend, and then leave us, please,” he said.

“Hey, Luke!” yelled Pip. “I’ve brought a good friend of ours to see you. Come and talk to him.”

Luke turned — and saw the big Inspector in his blue uniform. He went white, and seemed as if he was rooted to the ground.

“I didn’t steal no cat,” he said at last, staring at me Inspector.

“Well, suppose you tell me all about it,” said Inspector Jenks. “We’ll go and sit in the summer-house.”

He took Luke firmly by the arm and led him to the summer-house where the children had so often talked over the mystery of Dark Queen’s disappearance. Luke was trembling. Pip gave him a comforting grin, and then ran back down the garden to the others.

The children all wondered how Luke was getting on with the Inspector. They seemed to be a very long time together. But at last footsteps were heard coming down the gravel path.

All the children looked to see if Luke was with the Inspector.

He was, and he looked quite cheerful too! The Inspector was smiling his usual twinkling smile. Bets ran to him.

“Is Luke going to come out of hiding? What is he going to do?”

“Well, I am pleased to say that Luke agrees with me that it would be better to go back to his job than to hide here any longer,” said the Inspector.

“But what about his unkind stepfather?” said Daisy, who couldn’t bear the thought of Luke being beaten any more.

“Ah!” said the Inspector, “I must arrange about that. I had meant to have a word with him myself — but the time is getting on.” He looked at his watch. “Hm, yes, I must be getting back. Goon, you must go down to Luke’s stepfather at once, and inform him that the boy is not to be ill-treated. You must also go to Mr. Tupping, who, I understand, is the gardener next door, and inform him that Luke is to be taken back, with Lady Candling’s permission, and is to be given a chance in the garden again.”

Mr. Goon looked very taken aback. After encouraging both the boy’s stepfather and Mr. Tupping to treat the boy sternly and hardly, it was scarcely a pleasant job for him to do. Fatty looked sharply at the Inspector.

“I bet he’s making Goon do that to punish him for frightening a young boy,” thought Fatty. Inspector Jenks fastened his eyes on Mr. Goon.

“You have understood my orders, Goon?” he said in a voice that sounded quite pleasant and yet had a very hard note in it. Mr. Goon nodded hastily.

“Yes, sir, perfectly, sir,” he said. “I’ll go to the boy’s stepfather now, sir. Name of Brown. And I’ll make it my business to see Mr. Tupping too, sir.”

“Naturally, if any complaints are made to me of ill-treatment, I shall hold you responsible, Goon,” said Inspector Jenks. “But I imagine you will impress it carefully on these two men that the orders are mine, and that one of your duties is to see that my orders are carefully carried out. I am sure you agree with me in this, Goon?”

“Oh yes, sir, of course, sir,” said Mr. Goon. “And — er — about the stolen cat, sir. About the case, I mean. Are we to drop the case, sir — not make any more inquiries, I mean.”

“Well, you might study those clues of yours and see if they shed any light on the case,” said the Inspector gravely, with a wicked twinkle in his eye.

Mr. Goon did not answer. The Inspector turned to the children, and gravely shook hands with them all.

“It’s been splendid to see the Five Find-Outers — and Dog — again,” he said. “Good-bye — and thanks for a wonderful tea — the nicest I’ve had for weeks, if I may say so.”

The Inspector got out his shiny black car. He roared down the drive, waving to the children. He was gone.

“I’m going to see Mr. Tupping,” said Mr. Goon, with a scowl at the children and Luke. “But don’t you think this case is all dosed and forgotten. It isn’t I’m still working on it, even if the Inspector don’t pay much attention to it. And I’ll get the thief all right in the end — you see if I don’t!”

He gave Luke such a nasty look that the boy knew quite well he was still suspected. He watched Mr. Goon go down the drive on his way to see Tupping.

The children crowded round him. “Luke, did you like our Inspector? Luke, what did he say to you? Tell us everything!”

“He was mighty nice,” said Luke. “Not a bit like that Mr. Goon — all threats and shouts. But how did I ever come to promise I would go back to my job — and go back to live with my stepfather, too? I wish I hadn’t promised that. I’m frit.”

This was a new word to the children. Bets stared at Luke.

“What’s ‘frit’?” she asked.

“He means he’s frightened,” said Fatty. “What a lovely word — frit! I shall aways say that now. Frit!”

“I’m often frit,” said Bets. “I was frit the other night when I had a bad dream. I was frit today when old Clear-Orf stopped to speak to us.”

“And poor Luke is frit, too,” said Daisy, looking at the big boy, with his untidy hair hanging over his brown forehead. “What are we to do about it?”

“If only we could find that cat,” said Pip. There came a sound from the bushes nearby. Buster pricked up his ears, gave a loud bark and flung himself into the bushes. There was a terrific scrimmage, and then something leapt wildly up a tree. The children went to see what the matter was.

They all had a tremendous surprise. Staring down at them from the tree was a beautiful Siamese cat! But it was Luke who gave them the biggest surprise of all.

“It’s Dark Queen!” he shouted. “Can’t you see the ting of creamy hairs in her tail? I tell you, it’s Dark Queen come back! Oh, what a queer thing!”

All the children at once saw the ring of light hairs in Dark Queen’s swinging tail. The lovely Siamese swung it to and fro in anger as she watched Buster jumping up and down below.

“Take Buster away, Fatty,” said Larry in excitement “He’ll scare Dark Queen and she’ll run away.”

Buster was shut up in a shed, much to his indignation. He nearly tore the door down in his eagerness to escape. Dark Queen quietened down when Fatty led the dog away. She sat up there in the tree, purring.

“She’s thin,” said Daisy.

“And look how muddy she is,” said Larry. “Her coat is dirty and tangled. Let’s take her to Miss Harmer. What a surprise she will have!”

Luke has a Better Time.

Dark Queen allowed Daisy to lift her gently down from the tree. Then the five of them made their way with Luke down the drive, and into the garden next door.

They went to the cat-house, and on the way they met Lady Candling. She cried out in surprise when she saw a cat in Daisy’s arms.

“You mustn’t take my cats out of their house! Did Miss Harmer let you?”

“It’s Dark Queen!” said Larry. “She suddenly appeared in Pip’s garden just now, Lady Candling!”

“Good gracious!” said Lady Candling, most astonished. She glanced at Dark Queen’s tail and saw the little ring of light hairs that grew there. “Yes — it’s my beautiful Dark Queen. Wherever has she been? She looks thin and half-starved.”

“Isn’t it a pity she can’t talk, then she could tell us,” said Bets, stroking the purring cat. “Lady Candling, here’s Luke, too. We’ve been hiding him, because we were sorry for him. You’ll take him back, won’t you?”

“Of course,” said Lady Candling. “Inspector Jenks has just been telephoning to me. Well, Luke, you can certainly come back freely now, can’t you — for here is Dark Queen, returned in safety!”

“We’re just taking her to Miss Harmer,” said Larry. “Won’t she be pleased?”

“I’ll come with you,” said Lady Candling. “Oh, there is Miss Trimble. Miss Trimble, what do you think has happened? Dark Queen has come back!”

“Good gracious me!” said Miss Trimble, trotting up in excitement, her glasses falling off at once. “Where did she come from? Who brought her?”

The children told her, and Miss Trimble listened in surprise, putting on her glasses again.

They all went to the cat-house. Miss Harmer was there, petting one or two of the cats, for she was very fond of them. When she saw Dark Queen in Daisy’s arms she was so astonished that she couldn’t say a word. She held out her arms and Dark Queen, with one graceful bound, was into them. The cat snuggled up to Miss Harmer, butting her with its head, and purring deeply and loudly.

“Well!” said Miss Harmer in delight. “Where did you come from, Dark Queen? Oh, how glad I am to have you back!”

Everyone told her at once how Dark Queen had suddenly appeared. Miss Harmer took a good look at the cat.

“I think she must have escaped from whoever had her, and made her way home — for miles probably — through the fields and woods.”

At that moment Mr. Tupping came into sight with Mr. Goon. The policeman had evidently been telling him about the Inspector and his orders, and Topping’s voice was very sour. He gave Luke a scowl, and then saw Dark Queen.