Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (15 page)

The Inspector came in and shook hands with Lady Candling. He smiled at the children, and nodded to Mr. Goon.

“I think we’d better all sit down,” he said. Everyone sat down. Mr. Goon looked important and stern. He gave Bets and Fatty a severe glance. Aha! those interfering children were going to get into Very Serious Trouble now! Tupping had reported to him that they had actually taken the key and been found inside the cat-house.

“Well, Goon,” said the Inspector, “I got a rather mysterious message from you this morning — sufficiently serious for me to think of coming over.”

“Yes, sir. It is serious, sir,” said Mr. Goon, swelling up with importance. “I have reason to believe, sir, that these here interfering children know more about the disappearance of that valuable cat than we think. I think, sir, they’re in for Very Serious Trouble, and a good warning from you will do them a World of Good.”

“Well, I think it is quite possible that these children do know more about this mystery than you think, Goon,” said Inspector Jenks. “We’ll ask them, shall we?”

He turned to Fatty. “Perhaps you, Frederick Trotteville would like to say a few words?”

There was nothing that Fatty wanted more. He swelled up almost as importantly as Goon had done.

“I should like to say, Inspector, that we Five Find-Outers know who stole Dark Queen,” said Fatty, very loudly and clearly. Tupping gave one of his snorts, and so did Goon. Luke looked thoroughly scared. Miss Trimble’s glasses fell off, much to Bets’ delight.

“Go on, Frederick,” said the Inspector.

“I should like to explain, sir, exactly how the theft was committed,” said Fatty. The others looked at him admiringly. Fatty always knew the right words to use.

“We should like to hear you, if I may so,” said the Inspector gravely, with a little twinkle in his eyes.

“Well, Inspector, Dark Queen was stolen twice, as you know,” said Fatty. “Both times Miss Harmer was out, and Mr. Tupping was in charge of the cats.

Mr. Goon’s mouth fell open, and he stared at Fatty in astonishment.

“Now that…” he began — but Inspector Jenks stopped him.

“Don’t interrupt, Goon,” he said. And old Clear-Orf dared say no more.

“I’ll tell you how it was all done,” said Fatty, enjoying himself immensely. “The thief stole Dark Queen out of the cage in the morning; but he cleverly painted a ring of hairs a creamy colour in another cat’s tail, so that to anyone not knowing the cats extremely well that other cat seemed to be Dark Queen!”

There was a chorus of exclamations. Miss Trimble’s glasses fell off immediately.

“Well,” went on Fatty, “you can see that anyone coming to see the cats in the afternoon would think Dark Queen was there — but she wasn’t. Then, when the right moment came, the thief hopped into the cage, rubbed the paint off the cat’s tail with a rag soaked in turps, and then announced that Dark Queen was missing! So, of course everyone thought the cat must have been stolen in the afternoon, whereas she had been taken in the morning.”

“And that’s why everyone thought it was me that took the cat,” broke in Luke. “Because I was the only one near the cage in the afternoons, and no one came near but me.”

“Yes,” said Fatty. “That was part of the plan, Luke. The blame was to be put on to you.”

“Who was it?” demanded Luke, his face going scarlet with rage. “Just let me get my hands on him, that’s all!”

The Inspector sent a glance at Luke and the boy sat back saying no more.

“How do you know all this?” asked Mr. Goon, his face a mixture of amazement, disbelief, and scorn. “It’s just a silly make-up. You got to have proof of these things before you can say them.”

“We have got proof,” said Fatty triumphantly. He put his hand into his pocket. “Look! here is the bottle of turps. It was hidden down a rabbit-hole, with a tin of light-brown paint, used for the cat’s tail, and an old paint-brush. Larry, get the other things. They’re outside the door.”

Fatty brandished the bottle of turps and the paint-brush for everyone to see. Miss Trimble’s glasses fell off again, and she was too nervous to replace them. She stared at the clues with short-sighted eyes, and looked at Fatty as if he was the greatest detective in the world.

Larry brought in the rubber boots and the tin of paint. He set them down before Fatty. Tupping’s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw his own boots there.

“Now,” said Fatty, picking up the tin of paint, “here’s the paint that was used.”

“These boots were worn by the thief,” said Fatty, and he pointed to the drops of light-brown paint on them. “And this is the handkerchief he soaked with turps, and used to wipe off the paint as quickly as possible from the cat’s tail when he went into the cage — first time with Mr. Goon, second time with Miss Harmer.”

“May I see that handkerchief?” said the Inspector with great interest He took it and smelt it. The smell of turps was still very strong on it. Fatty took the stone from his pocket, the one with the smear of light-brown paint on it. He handed it to the Inspector too.

“We found that just outside the cage, sir,” he said. “That was one of our clues. The other clue was the smell of turps in the cat-house. Little Bets spotted that. She was a splendid Find-Outer.”

Bets went red with joy. The Inspector beamed at her. He looked again at the handkerchief.

“This handkerchief has someone’s name on it,” he said. “I imagine it is the name of the thief?”

Fatty nodded. Luke leaned forward.

“Who is it?” he said. “Go on! you tell me who it is.”

“Yes, whoever is it?” said Miss Harmer.

The Inspector looked gravely round the little company. Tupping had gone pale, and he kept swallowing hard. All his insolence and conceit had gone. One by one the others looked at Tupping and knew who was the thief.

“Tupping, what have you to say about all this?” said the Inspector in a voice gone hard as iron.

“What, it’s Tupping!” said Mr. Goon in a half-choked voice, and he glared at the gardener with hatred and scorn. “You! Sucking up to me: taking me into the cage with you; telling me a pack of lies and making me look foolish like this!”

“Well, Bets told you we had two clues, a smell and a stone with paint on,” said Fatty. “And you only laughed.”

“Tupping, where is the cat?” said the Inspector, still in the same hard voice. “You understand that there is no possibility of the charge made against you being false. There are other things, in your past, which fit in very well with this.”

Tupping crumpled up completely. From a harsh, cruel, bad-tempered man he turned into a weeping coward, and it was not a pleasant sight.

“Bullies are always cowards,” Fatty whispered to Larry.

Suddenly Tupping began to pour out a confession. Yes, he had stolen Dark Queen. He had owed money to someone, and he had thought of taking the cat. He’d tell who had got it and the police could get it back. He had tried to put the blame on Luke. He had painted the other cat’s tail, and he had used turps to get off the paint quickly. He’d done it twice, because the first time the cat had escaped and come back. He was sorry now. He’d never do a thing like that again.

“You certainly won’t, for some time at least,” said Inspector Jenks grimly. “You will be in a safe place, out of harm’s way, and I don’t think anyone will be sorry. Goon, take him away.”

Goon put a heavy hand on Tupping’s shoulder and jerked him to his feet He looked with great scorn at his prisoner.

“You come-alonga-me,” he said in a fierce tone. The Inspector spoke to Goon in an icy voice.

“You do not seem to have shone at all in this case, Goon,” he said. “You appear to have made enemies of those who were on the right track, and to have actually made friends with the thief himself. I hope in future you will be a little more careful. I trust you agree with me?”

“Er — yes, sir; certainly, sir,” said poor Goon, looking very woeful all of a sudden. “Did my best, sir.”

“Well, very fortunately these children did better than your best, Goon,” said the Inspector. “I think we can be very grateful to them for their work in solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. I hope that is your opinion too, Goon?”

“Oh yes, sir,” said Goon, purple in the face now. “Very clever children, sir. Pleasure to know them, sir.”

“Ah! I’m glad you agree with me,” said Inspector Jenks in a more amiable voice. “Now, please remove that man.”

Goon removed Tupping. The children heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, he’s gone!” said Daisy. “And I hope he never comes back.”

“He will certainty not come back here,” said Lady Candling, who had listened to everything in the greatest astonishment. “As for poor Luke, I hate to think of all he has gone through because of that wicked Tupping.”

“That’s all right, your Ladyship,” said Luke, beaming all over his face. “If you’ll keep me on, Madam, I’ll work hard for you till you get a new gardener. And I’ll never forget these here clever children — it fair beats me how they solved that mystery.”

“It was really Bets who put us on the right track,” said Fatty. “Good old Bets!”

“Oh, we all did it together,” said Bets. “Buster too. Well, I am glad everything’s turned out all right, and I expect you’ll get your cat back, won’t you, Lady Candling?”

“We’ll see to that,” said Inspector Jenks, getting up. “Well, I must go, and once more, allow me to say that I am very pleased to have had the help of the Five Find-Outers — and Dog! I trust I may have your help again in the future. I hope you agree with me?”

“Oh yes!” said all the Find-Outers, going out to the car with the big Inspector. “We’ll let you know at once if we’ve got another Mystery to Solve!”

Another Mystery? Well, I expect they’ll have one all right. I must tell you about that another time!”