Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage (12 page)

A thought suddenly struck him. Could the Larkins possibly be hiding the Lorenzos? The couple were apparently unable to get out of the country, and must be on the run, hiding here and there - running the risk of being spotted. It would be a clever thing to do to come and hide in the very place where no one would think they would dare to be!

There didn’t seem anything else to do now but walk away. Now that Poppet was still there, after all, new plans would have to be made, and new ideas thought of. Especially some plan that would bring in the possibility of searching the cottage in case the Lorenzos were hiding there!

‘Larry! Pip! Let’s go!’ called Fatty. ‘Hey, Buster, stop trying to paw down the wall under Poppet’s window. Come on, Bets and Daisy - you coming too, Ern? Let’s go back to my shed and talk.’

They left Poppet still barking happily at the window, her stiff tail wagging hard. There was no sign of Larkin. He was presumably raking out the boiler-fire, still warm from the night before.

They all rode off together, Fatty thinking hard. They piled their bicycles against Fatty’s shed, and went in. Fatty lighted the little oil-stove.

‘Biscuits on that shelf, Larry,’ he said. ‘Lemonade below - or shall we have cocoa? I feel cold.’

Everyone voted for cocoa, and Pip was sent up to the kitchen to ask for milk.

‘We can boil it on the oil-stove as usual,’ said Fatty. ‘Daisy, will you see to it?’

It was soon cosy and warm in the shed, and the milk boiled quickly on the top of the stove. Everyone sat down on boxes or rugs, Ern too. He loved times like this. He gazed round the shed in awe - coo, the things that old fatty had there!

Fatty’s shed was indeed a medley of all kinds of things - old clothes of every kind for disguises - a few wigs hanging on nails - boxes of make-up, with many kinds of moustaches inside, as well as grease-paint and powder. There was no end to the fascinating array. There was even a postman’s hat and uniform! Now how in the world did Fatty get that, Ern wondered.

Once they were all supplied with biscuits and hot cocoa, Fatty began to talk.

‘I think the time has come for a recap,’ he said, ‘We…’

‘What’s a recap?’ said Bets, much to Ern’s relief. He too had no idea what Fatty meant by a ‘recap’ but did not dare to ask.

‘Oh - recap is short for recapitulation,’ said Fatty. ‘I…’

‘Yes, but I don’t know what recapit - pit - whatever you said, is either,’ said Bets.

‘Dunce!’ said Pip, in his brotherly way.

‘All right - you tell her what it is, Pip,’ said Fatty, at once.

‘Well, it’s - it’s - well, I don’t exactly know how to explain it, but I know what it means,’ said Pip.

‘Dunce!’ said Fatty, and turned to Bets. ‘A recap just means I’ll go quickly over all that has happened, so as to give us a clear picture - and then it makes future planning easier. Got it, Bets?’

‘Oh yes,’ said Bets gratefully. ‘Go ahead, Fatty.’

Fatty began. ‘Well, the tale begins when we all saw the Lorenzos that day at the station, being seen off by their friends. Poppet was with them - but was given to old Larkin who had apparently been told to fetch her and take her home when the Lorenzos had departed in the train. He went off with her under his coat. Correct?’

‘Correct,’ said everyone.

‘Right. The next thing we heard was that the police were after the Lorenzos because they had apparently been clever enough to steal a very valuable picture from some picture gallery. They probably meant to leave this country with it and sell it abroad somewhere. Correct?’

‘Correct,’ chorused everyone.

‘They were then spotted here and there, and apparently gave up the idea of trying to get out of the country for the time being. A crate was seen in a car which they stole to get away from one of their hiding-places - presumably containing the picture.’

‘But, Fatty, they only had two little suitcases with them when we saw them,’ said Daisy. ‘No crate at all.’

‘Well, they wouldn’t go off on a journey with an enormous crate!’ said Fatty. ‘I imagine that after they had stolen the picture, frame and all, they got some friend of theirs, someone as dishonest as themselves, to hide the picture for them - and have it crated and put ready for them at some place where they could call for it.’

‘So wherever they go they’ve got to take the picture with them now, I suppose?’ said Pip. ‘A bit of a nuisance, I should think!’

‘A great nuisance!’ said Fatty. ‘But unless they can undo the crate, destroy it, take out the picture and hide it somewhere really safe, they’ve got to carry it around!’

‘And that’s what they’ve been doing,’ said Larry. ‘And I bet they’ve brought it here and hidden it somewhere! I bet they came last night with it!’

‘I was coming to that,’ said Fatty. ‘It does seem to me that if they were seen at Maidenhead they would not have come so near their home if they were not making for it for some reason. And the only reasons that are possible are - to hide the picture, and to take Poppet.’

‘And they didn’t take Poppet,’ said Bets.

‘No they didn’t, so we were wrong there,’ said Fatty. ‘Well, I think perhaps we were silly to think they’d take that little poodle. Once it had disappeared from the Larkins, the police would have been told to keep a watch-out for a couple with a beautiful little poodle - you can’t hide a dog if it’s with you all the time!’

‘They could have dyed it black,’ said Bets.

‘Oh yes - they would certainly have done that,’ said Fatty. ‘But it would still be a poodle - and would arouse suspicion, black, white or red, if the police were looking for one accompanying a couple of people in a hotel, or boarding-house or wherever the Lorenzos went.’

‘I suppose we come now to last night,’ said Pip. ‘Ern’s the only one who really knows about that.’

‘Yes. Ern, relate what you know,’ said Fatty. ‘We already know it, but it might clear things a bit, and make us think of something new.’

Ern cleared his throat and stood up as if he were going to recite in class.

‘Well - I was asleep in the treehouse and a noise woke me up - sort of humming noise, like an aeroplane or car. Then after a bit I heard splashing and I looked out and saw the swans on the river, sailing on the water. Fine they looked, too. Then I went to sleep - and I woke up again thinking I heard voices not far off - maybe outside the Larkins’ cottage - and I heard Poppet barking madly - sort of happy-like. That’s all.’

Ern sat down abruptly, blushing red. Everyone felt as if they really ought to clap, but nobody did. Bets gave him an admiring smile and Ern felt proud of himself.

‘Now we come to this morning, when we all go off expectantly to the Larkins’ cottage, feeling sure that Poppet will be gone - and lo and behold, she is there, as happy as a sand-boy!’ said Fatty.

‘Which is a bit funny,’ said Larry, ‘because the Larkins haven’t been nice to her, as we know!’

‘Yes,’ said Fatty. ‘Well - there’s our recap, Bets. Now - has anyone any remarks to make, or any good suggestions.’

‘I’m sure the Lorenzos were there last night, because Poppet is so happy this morning,’ said Pip.

‘I thought that too,’ said Bets. ‘But now I’m wondering! If they had come and gone last night wouldn’t Poppet be down in the dumps again?’

‘You’ve got a point there, Bets,’ said Fatty.

‘I say! Perhaps they’re still there!’ said Pip. ‘Hiding in the cottage!’

‘Yes. Or perhaps in the house,’ said Daisy, ‘the big house, I mean. They would have keys, wouldn’t they?’

‘Oh yes,’ said Fatty. ‘Actually it did cross my mind that the Larkins might be hiding the Lorenzos. It would make the cottage very crowded though - and the Larkins would be scared in case the police came to search. But Poppet is so very happy that I can’t help thinking they are still somewhere about. Mrs. Lorenzo anyhow!’

‘Fatty! Can’t we somehow manage to look in the cottage?’ said Bets. ‘Oh, do think of some way. It would be too marvellous if me discovered the Lorenzos, after the police have been looking for them for ages!’

‘Right. That’s a good plan,’ said Fatty. ‘Does anyone happen to know if the cottage has got electric light? I didn’t notice. Very remiss of me!’

‘Yes. It has,’ said Larry, surprised. ‘Fatty! What are you going to do? I know you’ve got a plan. What is it?’

Fatty certainly had a plan. That was quite clear. His eyes shone and he looked excited.

‘Yes! I’ll tell you what I’ll do! I’ll dress up as an electricity man, and go to the Larkins’ cottage to read the meter!’ He looked round at the others with a broad grin.

Larry slapped him on the back. ‘Wizard! You can get right in then and it wouldn’t take you a minute to see if there was any place for people to hide in that tiny cottage. There can only be three rooms at the most - all downstairs. There’s no second storey.’

‘It’s a pity Mrs. Larkin is ill, or you could have gone today,’ said Bets.

‘Blow!’ said Fatty. ‘I forgot that for the moment. I can’t very well go blundering into the cottage if she’s sick in bed.’

‘I’ll watch from the treehouse,’ said Ern, excited. ‘If I see her about I’ll nip along and tell you, Fatty. I’ll sit up there all the afternoon.’

‘Right,’ said Fatty. ‘Well - anyone else got any suggestions or brain-waves?’

‘I was wondering how the Lorenzos arrived last night,’ said Daisy. ‘If they came by car - which would be rather a silly thing to do, I should think - wouldn’t the car be hidden somewhere in the grounds? That’s if the Lorenzos themselves are still in hiding there, I mean. Unless, of course, someone drove them there and dropped them. It might have been the car that Ern heard.’

‘That’s a point, too,’ said Fatty. ‘We could go up to the grounds this afternoon, and have a look at the drive entrances. If we see recent tracks we’ll know a car came last night - and we’ll look for it!’

‘Another thing,’ said Pip, ‘can we find out if the big house has been entered by the Lorenzos? They might even have been daring enough to go into it and hide the picture there. The house has been already searched for that - so it might be a jolly good hiding-place.’

‘Yes. We can find that out too,’ said Fatty. ‘I could ring up the Superintendent to ask him if he’s had any report about it.’

‘Well - we’re getting on!’ said Pip. ‘My mind is certainly a lot clearer since our recap!’

‘I don’t see that there’s anything more we can suggest,’ said Larry. ‘At the moment we are going on the hope that the Lorenzos came by car last night, hid it in the grounds, got into the big house, hid the picture there, went to the Larkins and woke them up, and persuaded them to let them into the cottage to hide till all the hoo-ha has blown over.’

‘Right!’ said Fatty. ‘You put that very well, Larry, This has been a very good conference - real detectives couldn’t have had a better one! Now let me see - my first job is to ring up the Superintendent and ask if he knows whether the house was entered last night or not. Next, we must go up this afternoon and examine the drive entrances. Third, I must disguise myself as a meter-reader, and see if I can examine the cottage.’

‘Meter-readers carry a kind of card backed by a board with elastic round, don’t they?’ said Daisy. ‘I know ours does. And a peaked cap - and a torch to read the meter. That’s all. Ours doesn’t have a uniform.’

‘I’ll find out from our cook,’ said Fatty. ‘But I don’t think it much matters what I wear really, so long as I produce a card and flourish a torch, and announce “Come to read your meter, Mam!” in a loud voice.’

They all laughed. ‘You’ll get into the cottage all right if you say it like that!’ said Bets.

‘I say! What about you dressing up in whatever you’re going to wear, and coming with us to examine the drive entrances,’ said Larry. ‘You can put your torch and cap and card into your pocket to use if we find out that Mrs. Larkin is out and about again. Otherwise you’d be sitting at home waiting for Ern to nip down and fetch you as soon as he saw any sign of Mrs. Larkin. And if he doesn’t see anything of her, you’ll be moping at home all alone!’

‘Yes. That’s an idea,’ said Fatty. ‘Ern, listen - you can do what you suggested this afternoon, and sit up in the treehouse, with a whistle - and if you see anything of Mrs. Larkin, just whistle three times, because we shall be somewhere snooping around the grounds.’

‘Whistle twice if you want to warn us about anything - Goon or strangers and so on,’ said Larry. ‘Three times for Mrs. Larkin.’

‘And I’ll then come up to the cottage and do my meter-reading act,’ said Fatty. ‘Well - is that all understood?’

‘Yes,’ said everybody.

‘Be here at two-thirty,’ said Fatty. ‘We’ll all go together - except you, of course, Ern. You’ll be up in the tree as soon after your dinner as you can, won’t you?’

‘Yes, Fatty,’ said Ern importantly. Then he leapt to his feet with a yell that startled everyone considerably and set Buster barking madly.

‘Coo - look at the time! Twenty to one and my Aunt Woosh said I was to be back by half-past twelve. I won’t get no dinner at all! So-long, everybody!’

Ern disappeared up the garden path at top speed, Buster running excitedly beside him. Everyone laughed. Good old Ern!

That afternoon at half-past two everyone but Ern was outside Fatty’s house with their bicycles. Fatty, looking rather peculiar, came out with his, Buster with him.

‘Are you going to take Buster?’ said Bets, pleased. ‘I didn’t think you would.’

‘Well, I can leave him with you if Ern gives the signal for me to go and do some meter-reading!’ said Fatty. ‘He does so badly want to come - don’t you, Buster?’

‘Wuff!’ said Buster joyfully. He couldn’t bear it when the children went off without him. He ran beside the bicycles as they all rode off. Fatty said the run would take off some of his fat, and it wasn’t too far for him to run all the way to the river.

‘Wait - we’re not going to the river-path this time!’ said Larry, as they all turned down the river-road. ‘We’ve forgotten - we’re going to the drive-gates that open on to the lane that leads out of the main road.’

‘So we are!’ said Pip, and they all swerved the other way. Bets looked at Fatty and giggled.

‘You don’t really look respectable enough to come riding with us,’ she said. ‘Did you have to make yourself so untidy, Fatty?’