Mystery Of The Burnt Cottage (11 page)

“Who could have seen him?” she said. “Mrs. Minns and her sister were here in the kitchen. Mr. Hick and the chauffeur were out. There wasn’t any one about; I know there wasn’t.”

“How do you know, if you weren’t here?” asked Larry,

“Well,” said Lily, swallowing a sob. “Well, I’ll tell you. I was here! Now don’t you forget you’ve said honour bright you won’t tell a soul! You see, this is what happened. I rode off to meet Horace, and when I met him he told me he’d left some of his things at Mr. Hick’s, and he wanted them. But he didn’t dare to go and ask Mr. Hick for them. So I said to him, ‘Well, Horace,’ I said, ‘Mr. Hick’s out, and why don’t you come along and get them now, before he comes back?’”

The children listened breathlessly. They were getting the truth at last!

Lily went on, twisting her handkerchief round and round all the time. “So when we’d had a cup of tea, we rode off here, and we left our bikes behind the hedge up the lane. Nobody saw us. We walked down, behind the hedge, till we got to Mr. Hick’s. Then we both slipped into lie bushes and waited a bit to see if any one was about.”

The children nodded. The tramp had said that he had

heard Peeks whispering to some one - and that some one must have been Lily!

“I soon found out that Mrs. Mirhis had got her sister talking to her,” went on Lily, “and I knew they’d sit there for ages. I said to Horace that I’d get his things for him if he liked, but he wanted to get them hihiself. Sol kept watch whilst he slipped into the house by an open window, got his things and came out into the bushes again. Then we went off on our bikes, without seeing a soul.”

“And Horace didn’t slip down the garden to the workroom?” asked Larry. Lily looked indignant.

“That he didn’t!” she said. “For one thing I’d have seen him. For another thing, he wasn’t gone more than three minutes. And for another thing, my Horace wouldn’t do a thing like that!”

“Well - that lets Horace out,” said Larry, saying aloud what every one else was thinking. “He couldn’t have done it. I’m glad you told us all this, Lily. Golly - I do wonder who did it then?”

“It only leaves Mr. Smellie,” said Bets, without thinking.

Bets’s words had an astonishing result. Lily let out a squeal, and stared at Bets as if she couldn’t believe her ears. She opened and shut her mouth like a fish, and didn’t seem able to say a word.

“Whatever’s the matter?” asked Larry, in surprise.

“What did she say that for?” asked Lily, almost in a whisper. “How does she know that Mr. Smellie was here that night?”

Now it was the children’s turn to look surprised. “Well,” and Larry, “we don’t know for certain. We only just wondered. But why are you so astonished, Lily? What do you know about it, anyway? You didn’t see Mr. Smellie, did you? You said that no one saw you aad Horace.”

“That’s right,” said Lily. “But Horace saw some one! When he got in through the window, and went upstairs to get his things, he saw some one creeping in through the garden door. And it was Mr. Smellie!”

“Golly!” said Larry and Pip. They all stared at one another. “So Mr. Smellie did go down here that night!” said Larry.

“No wonder he was so startled when you asked him if he went anywhere near Mr. Hick’s on the evening of the fire,” said Daisy.

“He did it!” said Bets triumphantly. “Now we know. H e did it! He’s a wicked old man.”

“Do you think he did it?” Fatty asked Lily. She looked puzzled and perplexed.

“
don’t know,” she said. “He’s a nice, quiet old gentleman,
think, and always had a kind word for me. It’s not like him to do such a violent thing as set something on fire. But what I do know is - it wasn’t Horace.”

“No - it doesn’t look as if it could have been Horace,” agreed Larry. “I see now why you didn’t say anything before, Lily - you were afraid. Well we shan’t teil any one. It seehis to me that we must now turn more of our attention to Mr. Smellie!”

“No doubt about that!” said Fatty. “Well - we’ve certainly found out a few things this afternoon!”

Clear-Orf turns up at an Awkward Moment.

The children stayed talking to Lily for a little while, and then, as it was getting near tea-time they had to go. The girl was relieved to have told somebody of her troubles, and she saw them off, after they had once more promised to keep to thehiselves all that she had told them.

They were all having tea at Pip’s, which was nice because they could talk everything over. They were very excited indeed.

“Things are moving!” said Pip, rubbing His hands together. “They certainly are moving! I don’t believe Horace Peeks had anything to do with it at all. Not a thing. I think it was Mr. Smellie. Look how scared he was when you and Daisy spoke to him about his walk that evening.

Why should he be scared if he hadn’t done anything

wrong?”

“And we know His shoes are the right size, even if the rubber-soles don’t match the drawing,” said Daisy.

“Maybe he has got a pair that do match,” said Fatty, “but he’s hidden them somewhere in case he did leave footprints behind. He might have thought of that”

“Yes, that’s so,” said Larry. “If only we could find some one with a torn grey flannel suit - that really would settle matters!”

“We really ought to search and see if we can find those shoes,” said Daisy. “I should think they are in His study somewhere. You know he told us that Miss Miggie isn’t allowed to tidy up in there. He could easily pop them into a cupboard there, or behind those rows of books or somewhere.”

“Daisy, that’s a clever idea of yours,” said Larry, pleased. “I believe you’re right Shall I creep in tonight and have a hunt?”

“Are we allowed to get into people’s houses and hunt for their shoes?” said Pip doubtfully.

“Well, we can’t ask anybody that,” said Larry. “We’ll just have to do it. We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re only trying to find out something.”

“I know. But grown-ups are funny,” said Pip. “I’m sure most of them wouldn’t like children creeping about their houses looking for clues.”

“Well, I don’t see what else to do,” said Larry. “I really don’t. Anyway, silly, we’ve got to put back the shoe that Daisy took, haven’t we?”

“Yes,” agreed Pip. “That certainly must be done. Don’t get caught, that’s all!”

“I shan’t,” said Larry. “Sh - here comes your mother, Pip. Talk about something else.”

Pip’s mother asked Fatty how he was after his fall. Fatty was delighted, because the others had quite forgotten to ask about his bruises again.

“Thank you, I’m all right,” he said, “but my bruises

are rather extraordinary. I’ve got one the shape of a dog’s head - rather like Buster’s head, really.”

“Really?” said Pip’s mother,, astonished. “Do let me

seek!”

Fatty spent a wonderful five minutes showing all his braises, one after another, especially the one shaped like a dog’s head. It was difficult to see how he made out that it was shaped like one, but Pip’s mother seemed most interested. The children scowled. How annoying grown-ups were! Here they had been trying to stop Fatty from continually showing off and boasting, and now Pip’s mother was making him ten times worse.

In a few minutes Fatty was telling her all about the braise he had had once that was shaped like a church-bell, and the other that looked like a snake.

“I’m a really marvellous bruiser,” he said. “I shall be a wonderful sight tomorrow when I’m in the yellow stage.”

“Come on,” whispered Larry to Pip. “I can’t stick this. This is Fatty at His worst.”

Leaving Fatty talking eagerly to Pip’s mother, the four children crept off. Buster stayed with Fatty, wagging his tail. He really seemed as much interested in his young master’s bruises as the grown-up!

“Let’s go for a bike-ride and leave old Fatty to hihiself,” said Pip, in disgust. “I can’t bear him when he gets like this.”

So the four of them went for a bike-ride and Fatty was surprised and hurt to find that he was all alone in the garden, when Pip’s mother left him. He couldn’t think why the others had gone, and he spent a miserable hour by hihiself, thinking how unkind they were.

When they came back, he greeted them with a volley of complaints.

“You are mean! Why did you go off like that? Is that the way to behave. Pip, when people come to tea with you? You’re horrid!”

“Well, we thought you’d probably be about an hour boasting to Pip’s mother,” said Larry. “Don’t look so fierce, Fatty. You shouldn’t be such an idiot!”

“Going off like that finding clues and things without me,” said Fatty angrily. “Aren’t I a Find-Outer too? What have you been doing? Seeing Horace Peeks - or Lily again? You are mean!”

“We didn’t see any one,” said Bets3 feeling sorry for Fatty. She had so often been left out of things because she was younger than the others, and she knew how horrid it was to feel left-out. “We only went for a bike-ride.”

But Fatty was really offended and hurt. “I don’t think I want to belong to the Find-Outers any more,” he said. “I’ll take my drawing of the footprints and go. I can see you don’t want me. Come on, Buster.”

Nobody wanted Buster to leave the Find-Outers - and they didn’t really want Fatty to, either. He wasn’t so bad once you got used to him.

Daisy went after him. “Come back, silly,” she said. “We do want you. We want to discuss what to do tonight about Mr. Smellie’s shoes. You come and say what we ought to do, too. I want to go into Mr. Smellie’s house and keep guard for Larry, whilst he is hunting for the shoes we think Mr. Smellie has hidden. But he won’t let me.”

Fatty went back to the others, still looking rather sulky.

“Larry, I do wish you’d let me creep into Mr. Smellie’s house with you,” said Daisy. “Fatty, don’t you think I really ought to keep guard for him?”

“No, I don’t,” said Fatty. “I think a boy ought to go with Larry. I’ll go, Larry. You shall do the hunting and I’ll watch out that nobody discovers you.”

“No, I’ll go,” said Pip, at once.

“You wouldn’t be able to slip out without being seen,” said Larry. “Fatty could. His parents don’t seem to bother about him much. All right, Fatty - you come and help me then. I thought I’d wait till about half-past nine, and then scout about and see if old Smellie is still in His study. It’s no use trying anything till he’s gone to bed. He may be one of these people that stays up until about three o’clock in the morning,, of course. We’ll have to see.”

“Well, I’ll be along about half-past nine,” said Fatty. “Where’s the shoe? In the summer-house? I’ll bring it

with me, in case your mother wants to know where you got it from. It’ll be dark then and no one will see what I’m carrying.”

Fatty cheered up very much when he found that there was something really exciting he could join in. He forgot His sulks, and discussed where to meet Larry.

“I shall climb over the wall at the bottom of the garden,” said Larry, “But you. Fatty, had better go up the road in front of Mr. Smelie’s house, and go into the drive there, and round to the back that way. Meet me somewhere at the back of the house. See ?”

“Right,” said Fatty. “I’ll hoot like an owl to tell you when I’m there.”

“Can you hoot?” said Bets, in surprise.

“Yes, listen,” said Fatty. He put His two thumbs side by side, frontways, and cupped his hands together. He blew carefully between his thumbs, and at once a mournful quavering hoot, just like an owl’s, came from His closed hands. It was marvellous.

“Oh, you are clever, Fatty!” said Bets, in great admiration. Fatty blew again, and an owl’s hoot sounded over the garden. He really was very good at it.

“Simply wonderful!” said Bets. Fatty opened His mouth to say that he could make much better bird and animal noises than that, but caught a look in Larry’s eye that warned him in time to say nothing. He shut His mouth again hurriedly.

“Well,” said Larry, that’s settled then. You meet me at half-past nine behind Mr. Smellie’s house, and hoot like an owl to tell me you’re there. I shall probably be Md-ing in the bushes somewhere, waiting for you.”

The children all felt excited as they went to bed that night. At least, Fatty didn’t go to bed, though Larry did. But then Larry’s mother usually came to tuck Mm up and say good night, and Fatty’s didn’t. So Fatty felt quite safe as he sat, fully-dressed, in His bedroom, reading a book to make the time pass.

At ten past nine he switched off His light and put His nose outside His bedroom door. There was no one about

He slipped along the passage and down the stairs. Out of the garden door he went, and into the hotel garden. In half a minute he was in the lane, and running up it with the shoe tucked under his coat.

At just before half-past nine he came to Mr. Smellie’s house, and stopped outside the front gate. The house was quite dark. Fatty walked up and down outside for a moment or two to make quite certain that there was no one about.

He didn’t see some one standing quite still by one of the big trees that lined the road. He walked down in front of the house once more, making up his mind to go into the drive - and then quite suddenly he felt a strong hand on his shoulder!

Poor Fatty almost jumped out of his skin. “Oooh!” he said, frightened, and the shoe dropped from beneath his coat!

“Ho!” said a voice that Fatty knew only too well. “Ho!” A torch was flashed into his face, and the voice said “Ho!” again, this time more loudly.

It was Clear-Orf s voice. He had been standing quietly beside the tree, and had been astonished to see Fatty come up the lane, and walk softly up and down in front of the house. Now he was even more astonished to find that it was “one of them children!” He bent down and picked up the shoe. He stared at it in the greatest astonishment.

“What’s this?” he said.

“It looks like a shoe,” said Fatty. “Let me go! You’ve no right to clutch me like that.”

“What are you doing with this shoe?” asked Clear-Orf, in an astonished voice. “Where’s the other?”

“I don’t exactly know,” said Fatty truthfully. The policeman shook him angrily.

“None of your cheek,” he said. He turned the shoe upside down and saw the rubber-sole. At once the same thought flashed across his mind as had flashed across Daisy’s when she had first seen it - the markings were like those on the footprint!