Mystery of the Strange Messages (16 page)

Fatty nodded, and went on reading "Outside the door were
crates with
rangoon
stamped
across them, evidently sent from Burma. Then the back door opened and out came
Mrs. Hicks, and behind her was a Burmese—and he said she could sell me any junk
she liked out of the shed. She told me she did sewing for the Burmese fellow's
wife, and she also said there were two other men staying there—one from Burma,
an Englishman, and another man. very quiet, that she knew nothing about."

"Two men! Were they the two you saw at Fairlin Hall,
Fatty?" asked Larry.

Fatty nodded, and went on reading. "Mrs. Hicks sold

me a brass ornament, four of the Rangoon-stamped crates and a
great bundle of newspapers. I brought them here and examined them. Among them
were some magazines, printed on cheap paper, called
The Rangoon Weekly.
Three
of these were cut about—letters and words had been snipped from them,
especially from the word Rangoon, which, in several cases had had the four
letters 'goon' cut from it."

"Fatty!" shouted Pip. "That's where the 'goon' came
from on those envelopes! Gosh—fancy you getting the very papers they were cut
from!"

"Sheer luck," said Fatty. "Well, there you are—we
know a lot now, don't we! The only thing we
don't
know for certain
is—why did those men want to turn old Smith out of Fairlin Hall? Anyone any
ideas?"

"Yes. What about that diamond robbery? The diamonds were
never found!" said Pip, in excitement. "Fatty, they must be hidden in
Fairlin Hall somewhere! Wilfrid Hasterley must have hidden them there himself,
and then gone to prison hoping that when he came out, he could get them again,
and be rich!"

"Yes—and those two men you saw this morning must have been
the ones who planned the robbery with him!" cried Daisy. "We know
they didn't both go to prison ... one went and hid himself abroad ..."

"In Burma!" said Pip.

"And the other one, the one who was in prison with Wilfrid,
must have some time been told by him that the diamonds were hidden at Fairlin
Hall," said Larry. "Gosh—what a thing to happen! Fatty, what do
you
think about it all?"

"I agree with you absolutely," said Fatty. "And I'm
sure that's why those fellows sent those notes about Smith to Goon, having
first found out that he had a shady past. The thing is, having been away so long,
they didn't know that the name of The Ivies had been changed to Fairlin
Hall!"

"It all begins to fit, doesn't it," said Larry.
"Gosh, to

think how we rushed round looking for ivy-covered houses! If only
we'd known it was Fairlin Hall from the beginning, we could have got going much
more quickly!"

"Fatty," said Bets, earnestly. "What about those
hidden diamonds? Oughtn't you to tell Superintendent Jenks all this?"

"He's away up north," said Fatty. "I
telephoned—only to be told to report everything to Goon! Goon, who thinks that he's
settled the whole affair—why, we're still right in the very middle of it! I
wish I
could
tell the Super."

"Can't you wait till he comes back, before you do anything
else?" said Bets.

"What! And let those two men find the hidden diamonds!"
said Ern, entering into the discussion for the first time. "Coo,
Fatty—let's you and me go and hunt for them! I bet those men will be there as
often as they can, searching everywhere."

"I rather think the diamonds must be in the kitchen
quarters," said Fatty. "Otherwise, why try so hard to turn out the
poor old Smiths?"

"I suppose the Smiths wouldn't know anything about the
diamonds, would they?" said Pip. "No, of course they wouldn't. But
would they know of any secret place, Fatty, do you think? You know—a trap-door
leading downwards—a secret cavity in a cupboard? Mrs. Smith kept the place
jolly clean, you said, and she probably knows every corner of it."

"That's quite an idea. Pip," said Fatty, considering it.
"She's here, you know, helping my mother with the new curtains. I could
easily have a word with her. She might let something drop that would help us.
Yes, that's quite an idea. But we've got to be quick, if we're going to do any
hunting ourselves, because now that the Smiths are out of the way, those two
men will lose no time in getting the diamonds if they can,"

"When do you think of going, then. Fatty?" asked Larry. feeling
excited. "This afternoon?"

"I don't see why not," said Fatty. "I've got the
back door key. Yes, let's. But we'll have to keep a good lookout for the men.
Gosh, there's the lunch-gong! I must go, because I don't want my mother to be
any more annoyed with me than she already is. Look—will you all be at the
corner with your bikes, at three o'clock?"

"You bet!" said Pip, thrilled. "What about
Ern?"

"Fatty's cook has asked me to the kitchen for dinner,"
said Ern, proudly. "Mrs. Smith said some nice things about me, that's why.
I'll be there at three too. with Fatty."

"So long!" said Fatty, shooing them all out. and locking
his shed hurriedly. "Look here, Ern. as you'll be chatting with Mrs. Smith
over your dinner, you try to get a few hints about possible hiding-places,
see?"

"Coo, yes. Fatty!" said Ern, delighted. "I'll do my
very very best. Loveaduck—this isn't half a lark, is it!"

A disappointing afternoon.

Fatty and Ern were at the corner before the others, waiting there
with their bicycles. Buster was safely shut up in Fatty's bedroom.

"Well, did you enjoy your dinner, Ern?" asked Fatty.

"Oooh yes." said Ern happily. "Made quite a fuss of
me they did. Especially Mrs. Smith. She told your cook and Jane all about my
portry."

"You don't mean to say you read them any?" said Fatty,
amused. Ern went red.

"Well—they kept on and on about it," he said. "So I
read them one or two pomes. They liked the one about the Ivies, Fatty—but I
told them you wrote half of it. I wasn't going to let them think I'd written
those
good
lines. Coo, Fatty, I don't know how you let your tongue

go loose, like you say. and spout out portry by the yard, rhymes
and all."

"You do it like this, Ern, as I've told you before,"
said Fatty, and rested his bicycle against the fence. He stood up and opened
his mouth. Ern waited breathlessly. Fatty began to declaim at top speed.

"Oh every time. You want a rhyme. Then let your tongue go
loose. Don't hold it tight. Or try to bite,. That won't be any use! Just let it
go. And words will flow. From off your eager tongue. And rhymes and all. Will
lightly fall. To make a little song!"

"There you are, Ern, that's how you do it." said Fatty,
with a chuckle. "You try it when you're alone. Just think of the first
line, that's all—then let your tongue go loose "

"I don't think I've got your sort of tongue," sighed
Ern, half-inclined to try it there and then. "Coo, Fatty, it's queer, you
know—you don't really care about writing portry, and I do, but I can't. And
I'd
give anything to write it, and you wouldn't, but you can."

"You're muddling me, Ern," said Fatty. "Ah, here
are the others. Good."

Soon all six of them were cycling to Fairlin Hall. They sent Ern
in to make sure the coast was clear. He came back very quickly.

"Okay!" he said. "No car at the front door. Nobody
about at all. as far as I can see."

"Come on, then," said Fatty. "We'll hide our bikes
in some thick bushes round the back, so that they can't be seen. We'll take it
in turns to keep a watch out. Pip, you keep first watch."

"Right," said Pip, at once, though he was longing to go
in with the others. "If you hear me whistling 'Over the Seas to Skyc',
you'll know there's something up."

They put their bicycles behind a thickly-growing bush and went to
the kitchen door. Fatty unlocked it, and looked round. "I think we'll keep
to the kitchen quarters," he said. "Let's see—there's the kitchen—a
small scullery—and a room the Smiths had for a bedroom. Oh, and there's a tiny
bathroom here as well, leading off the bedroom."

"Where exactly do we look?" asked Bets. "I've been
trying to think where I'd hide diamonds away in these rooms, if I had to—and
except for silly places like at the back of a drawer, or on the very top of a
cupboard, I can't think of any."

"Well—the hiding-place is sure to be pretty good," said
Fatty. "A prepared one, perhaps—you know, a hole knocked in the wall
behind a cupboard, and then the cupboard put back again."

"Oh." said Bets. "Well, I'm pretty sure I shouldn't
find
that."

The five began to hunt carefully. Every mat, every scrap of carpet
was turned back. Every bit of furniture was moved. Then Bets went to a chest of
drawers.

"No good looking in the drawers of that chest. Bets, old
thing," said Fatty. "The furniture belongs to the Smiths, you know.
Hallo, what's this?"

Everyone turned at once. Fatty was down on his knees, trying to
peer into a hole that was at the bottom of one corner of the kitchen wall.
"It seems to go back a little way," he said. "Gosh, I can see
something there I Bets, can you get your tiny hand in and feel?"

Bets knelt down and tried to put her hand in at the hole. "I
can feel something!" she said excitedly. She stretched her fingers to the
utmost and tried to get hold of whatever it was, with the very ends of her
fingers. There was a sudden
snap!
and Bets screamed.

"Oh! My finger! Something caught ill"

"It's a mouse-trap, isn't it!" said Pip, with a squeal
of laughter. "I know that
snap!
Mother
put a trap in my bedroom last night, and it went
snap
and caught a mouse."

"Oh, Bets—did it trap your lingers?" said Fatty, in
concern, as Bets stood up, squeezing the fingers of her right hand.

"No. Not quite. The trap part just missed them," said
Bets. "Oh, Fatty—and I thought I was reaching out for a bag of diamonds! and
it was only just a mouse-trap that the Smiths must have put into the
hole!"

Fatty took his torch from his pocket and bent down to make sure,
his check against the ground, as he flashed the light of his torch into the
hole. "You're right. Bets," he said. "It's a trap. What a
disappointment. Still—a bag of diamonds wouldn't be pushed into a mouse-hole,
of course! The hiding-place will be very much cleverer than that! Call Pip in,
Ern, and take his place."

Pip came in, rubbing his hands. "Jolly cold out there,"
he said, stamping his feet. "Shouldn't be surprised if it's going to snow.
Found anything? "

"Not a thing," said Bets. "Except a
mouse-trap."

The hunt was a complete failure. Fatty gave it up after a whole
hour's search. It was getting dark, and he was the only one with a torch.

"No go." said Fatty. "I think probably only
professional police searchers could find the diamonds. They may even be
embedded in one of the walls—a hole could have been made, the plaster put back,
and painted over. Short of pulling the walls to pieces, and taking up the
floor, I don't see that we can do anything else! I vote we go and have tea
somewhere."

"You can come and have it at our house," said Pip.
"Mother's gone out, and she said if we cleared away ourselves and washed
up, she would leave a smashing tea on the table. And if we break anything,
we've got to replace it."

"Jolly nice of your mother," said Larry. "Shall we
go to Pip's. Fatty?"

"Yes. Splendid idea," said Fatty. "I'd have liked
you all to come to my house for tea, but Mother is Very Very Distant to me at
the moment. I really might be some third cousin she hasn't seen for years, and
doesn't want to know. Poor Mother—she'll never get over my going to Mrs.
Henry's disguised as a smelly rag-and-bone man. That overcoat did smell, you
know."

"My word it did," said Pip. "You smell of it a bit
still, Fatty. Ern, you can come to tea, too, of course."

Era beamed. He had been afraid that he might not be asked. What
would Sid and Perce say when he told them how he'd been here, there and
everywhere? He was very happy indeed as he cycled up to Pip's with the
others—but quite horrified when he suddenly met his uncle round the corner!
Goon saw him at once and leapt off his bicycle. He caught hold of Ern's
handle-bars and Ern wobbled and fell off.

"What you doing here in Peterswood, Ern?" he demanded.
"Didn't I tell you to go home? What you been doing all this time? "

"I asked him to stay with me," said Fatty, in what Goon
called his "high and mighty voice." "Don't you want to know what
happened to those poor old Smiths, Mr. Goon—the ones you tried to turn out of
their care-taking job?"

"All I know is they've gone, and good riddance to them,"
said Goon. "Smith was a traitor—didn't ought to be in any responsible job.
The man that wrote those notes to warn me, was quite right."

"Well, Mrs. Smith is staying up at our house, helping my
mother," said Fatty. "And Mr. Smith is in the cottage hospital, very
ill, but Mrs. Smith can see him every day, you'll be pleased to know. At least
I hope you
will
be pleased to know. You were very unkind to her. Goon."