The Mystery of the Grey Heron

By Julie Heginbotham

CHAPTER 1: A HOT SUMMER'S DAY

"Three weeks of the summer hols almost gone, and not even a sniff of a mystery," said Pip, chewing on a blade of grass, looking around at the other Find-Outers, as they all lay on the grass in Pip and Bets' garden. Buster had found a shaded spot just by the summer house and was enjoying a long snooze. "The village is pretty busy at the moment, though," said Larry, sitting up, and looking at everyone with a smile on his face. "There's a sort of boat extravaganza on down by the river, with heaps of boats of all sizes!" "Yes, I saw some more boats arriving last night, when I took Buster for his last walk along by the river," said Fatty. "It was quite a spectacular sight with their lights shining along the water in different colours." "I bet it was a lot cooler than it is now!" said Daisy, taking off her hat for a moment to waft it before her face, in an effort to cool down a little.

"I had my bedroom windows flung wide open last night, and there was hardly any cool breeze coming in at all," grumbled Bets. "It would have been cooler for Fatty down by the river," said Pip, with a frown at his sister. "It's always cooler by the river!" "Did Buster jump in to try and cool off, Fatty?" said Daisy, with a grin, looking over at Buster, who had lifted his head on hearing his name, before lying back down again. "He would have liked to," said Fatty, with a nod, "but he was on his lead, as I didn't want him running off chasing rabbits that were out." Hearing the word 'rabbits' Buster not only lifted his head but sat up alert, looking all around him, then looking over at Fatty with wide innocent 'doggy eyes'. "Sorry, Buster," said Fatty, with a sorrowful shake of his head. "There are no rabbits in this garden! Not when they can sense a dog around anyway!" "Isn't it your turn, to go and get the lemonade, Pip?" said Bets, glancing over at her brother. "I'm feeling hotter and hotter and dryer and dryer!" "Yes, come on Pip," said Larry. "I went into your kitchen and asked for the last lot we've drunk." Fatty gave Pip a gentle nudge with his foot, as Pip showed no sign of moving. "And make sure there's plenty of ice in it too," he said, with a slight frown. "Okay," said Pip, reluctantly, getting up from the grass and making his way across the garden to the kitchen door. "Has anyone seen old Clear-Orf lately?" said Daisy, suddenly thinking of Mr. Goon, the village policeman. "I wonder if he's working on a case at the moment." "I saw him in the village yesterday morning when I went to post a letter for Mother," said Larry. "He didn't look busy though, he was in the front garden of the police house, cleaning his bicycle." "Are you going to put on a disguise these hols, Fatty, and have a bit of fun with old Clear-Orf?" asked Bets, with a little giggle. She loved to see Fatty dressing up as either an old man or an old balloon woman, and fooling Mr. Goon. "You really must, Fatty, and it's all practice for the next mystery that comes our way." "Yes, you've got to dress up in a disguise, Fatty," encouraged Larry. "It'll be fun fooling old Clear-Orf!" Fatty's face brightened at the prospect of fooling Mr. Goon. "Well as a matter of fact, I have just bought one or two more disguises which I'd like to try out," said Fatty, swelling up a little with pride. "And I am a bit taller too, and I've got stronger muscles now in my arms." "Same old Fatty," said Larry, with a grin, "boasting as usual! I suppose you were the top of your class in everything too!" Fatty grinned good-naturedly. "Well I did get a glowing report that I'm really quite proud of," he said, trying to look quite modest. "So tell us something we don't already know," said Pip, with a grin and he put the tray of glasses and a jug of iced lemonade onto the grass. "I work harder and harder each term at school, and still struggle to be anywhere near top of the class!"

Fatty grinned, whilst pouring out glasses for everyone, of the iced lemonade. "Well some of us have got brains, and some of us haven't!" he managed to say, before Pip and Larry threw themselves on him and a friendly scuffle ensued, which brought shrieks of pleasure from the children, that had Buster rushing over to join in the fun, barking excitedly, as he jumped around the children in excitement, knocking over the jug of lemonade and the five tall glasses. The noise they made was so loud that no one saw the approach of Mrs. Hilton, as she marched down the garden path and stood before the tangled bodies of happy laughing Find-Outers on the grass. "Well really, this is no way to behave on a hot day like this, when I am entertaining a few of the ladies from the Women's Institute! Why you children engage in such boisterous games is beyond me!" she said, impatiently. Everyone extricated themselves from Fatty, and sat on the grass, allowing Fatty to sit up and straighten his clothes, and smooth down his hair. Buster immediately stopped barking, and went to sit behind the children, knowing when someone sounded cross. "Sorry Mother," said Pip, in apologetic tones. "We were just having a friendly scuffle, that's all." "I would have thought it was much too hot to engage in such games," said Mrs. Hilton, firmly. "And is that lemonade that's been spilt?" Everyone nodded, and Fatty apologised in his most grown up voice. "Sorry Mrs. Hilton, we really didn't mean to disturb you and your guests." "Maybe not," came the curt reply, "but you have done, and so will you all kindly remember your manners in future when you are a guest on someone else's property. Pip, you may go and get your guests another jug of lemonade, and make sure you all drink it this time and not spill it." With that Mrs. Hilton then turned and walked back up the garden path to her guests. "I'd forgotten Mother had guests this afternoon," said Pip, picking up the jug that had fallen over. "I'll just go and get this refilled, and then we'd better think of some quieter game to play." Pip walked off in the direction of the kitchen, and the others settled down once more on the grass, Fatty stroking Buster's head, who was still panting from the vigorous game he'd been enjoying. "We could go to the dairy for some ices and see if there's any sign of Mr. Goon," said Daisy. "Let's discuss what disguises you're going to put on to fool Mr. Goon," said Larry, brightly. "Then we can go to the dairy later for some ices." "Oh yes. What will you be, Fatty?" asked Bets, in excitement. "A dirty old tramp again?" "How about we go out one evening looking like a pair of ruffians up to no good?" said Larry, with a grin, wanting so much to join in the fun of deceiving Mr. Goon. "We did that once to fool P.C. Pippin. You remember, Fatty?" Fatty nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, and we more or less put him in the centre of a mystery by doing so!"

"Put who in the middle of a mystery?" said Pip, just arriving with another jug of lemonade. "P.C. Pippin," said Bets. "Larry and Fatty might disguise themselves as ruffians one evening to fool Mr. Goon." "I'll come too," said Pip, indignantly, as he poured out glasses of lemonade for everyone. "I don't want to be left out. After all, I am a bit taller now than when you did that trick on Pippin." "Okay, we'll make some plans tomorrow," said Fatty, taking a drink of lemonade from his glass. "Gosh that's a lovely refreshing drink, Pip. Your cook knows how to make great lemonade." "Yes, she makes great cakes and biscuits too," said Bets. "But you didn't think to bring out any for us!" said Daisy, with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Cook hasn't made any today," said Pip, defensively, glaring at Daisy. "Otherwise I would have!" "You wouldn't," said Fatty, trying to look solemn, "because you and Bets want them all to yourselves." "That's not true!" Pip almost shouted, and then turned slightly red, as he saw Bets trying to stifle a giggle, and the others looking on amused. Fatty was pulling his leg and having a little joke. "Fatty, you almost had me fooled then," Pip finished off good-naturedly. "Oh I do wish some mystery would crop up soon," said Larry, pulling on a blade of grass. "We've had a good time these last three weeks going cycling, walking and swimming in the river, but there's nothing like a good juicy mystery to solve." "I agree," said Fatty. "We need something to keep our brains well oiled. I can't believe nothing unusual has turned up yet. I hope we don't go through the whole of the summer holidays with no mystery to solve! At least if we make some plans tomorrow about disguising ourselves that will at least keep our brains working until something turns up." "Let's go and have some ices at the dairy," said Daisy. "I'm feeling hot and tired just sitting and lazing around in the garden all afternoon." "Okay," everyone agreed, getting up and stretching themselves, which immediately made everyone feel less tired and weary and a little more alert that hot afternoon. "We'll stop off at my house and I'll leave Buster home so he can have a drink, and cool off in the kitchen," said Fatty, calling to the little black Scottie who was sniffing around the edges of the lawn. Everyone left Pip and Bets' garden by the rear gate, and walked to Fatty's house, where he took Buster inside and after making sure the dog had a large dish of cool water by his basket, he left him begging tit-bits of chicken from cook, who was preparing the evening meal. Fatty re-joined the others who were waiting for him by the garden gate, then the Find-Outers set off for the High Street and the dairy, their mouths almost watering as they thought of the delicious ices they were going to tuck into. As they approached the dairy, they saw Mr. Goon just coming out of his garden gate, pushing his bicycle, looking hot and tired in his dark

blue uniform. He spotted them at exactly the same time the FindOuters spotted him, and they could see his face turning the usual colour of purple on seeing them all. "Hello Mr. Goon," said Fatty, with a smile, and in a voice that he knew angered the policeman. "Off to see Superintendent Jenks to report the latest mystery?" "Where I'm going is none of your business," retorted Mr. Goon, puffing himself out with importance. "And if there is a mystery going on, you kids are not involved nor will be. So just clear-orf and let me get about my business." "But Mr. Goon," said Fatty, sounding hurt. "You know how clever we all are, and how much we like to help you solve all the mysteries." Mr. Goon looked around at the Find-Outers and then at Fatty. "I do know that you are a conceited interfering kid who should stay out of things that don't concern him," began Mr. Goon, angrily. "And just because you are all friends of Superintendent Jenks, it doesn't mean that I have to put up with your cheek and interference. So stay out of trouble these holidays and don't interfere with things that don't concern you, otherwise I'll be speaking with all your parents." And on that note, Mr. Goon pushed his bicycle onto the roadway, and set off at a steady pace, muttering what sounded like 'Gah!' to their ears! "Well, he looks like he's got something to solve to me," said Larry, turning to look at the others. "I hope he hasn't," said Fatty, sounding bemused. "If he has we'll have to find out what it is. Come on everyone, time for a few ices at the dairy whilst we think!"

CHAPTER 2: IN THE DAIRY AND BY THE RIVER

"We've got to find out if old Clear-Orf is working on a mystery," said Fatty, starting on his second vanilla ice, as they all sat at a table in the dairy by the window, with a perfect view over the road at the police house. Fatty couldn't bear to think that Mr. Goon, the village policeman had a mystery all to himself to work on, and that he, Fatty, knew nothing about! "And how will we do that?" asked Pip. "We can't just ask him!" "He wouldn't tell us if we did," said Daisy, with a slight shrug of her shoulders, watching Fatty starting to eat his second ice. She was

feeling full just after one! "How can you eat two ices, Fatty? Just the one was enough for me." "I can always find room for another ice," said Fatty, with a grin. "Besides, I was so pre-occupied thinking about Mr. Goon that I hardly tasted the first one at all. This one I'm savouring every mouthful." Everyone laughed at Fatty, as he over exaggerated his pleasure at eating the second ice as it went down. He loved the attention his audience gave him and played to their pleasure. The waitress over at the counter grinned at the children as she'd seen them in the dairy on many occasions. She walked over to their table with a few flyers for a circus over in Marlow, thinking that they may wish to see the show. "Just in case you're interested," she said, putting them on the table before going back to the counter to serve another customer. "A circus," said Bets, picking up one of the flyers. "I hope they haven't got any lions or tigers. It would be frightening if any of them escaped." "Baby," snapped Pip, looking at a flyer. "Of course they haven't." He read aloud from the flyer. "Acrobats, dancing horses, tight-rope walkers, performing dogs, and fun and laughter from the clowns." "I'd like to go one afternoon," said Larry, looking hopeful. "Anyone else like to?" They all agreed if should be a fun show if their parents allowed them to see it. "I'd love to see the performing dogs," said Fatty, with a smile. "I'll have to leave Buster at home otherwise he'll be rushing into the ring to join in the performance!" Everyone laughed at the thought of Buster, racing around the circus ring, trying to join in with the performing circus dogs. "We can always go over to Marlow and have a look around the circus anyway," said Bets. "Then if it looks like being a good show, we can book." "Yes, good idea, Bets," said Fatty, with a smile. "It'll be fun having a look around first." The others all nodded in agreement, just as the waitress came over to their table, and smiling at them all said. "Can I get you children anything else?" "No thank you," said Fatty, "we're just going to walk off your lovely ices down by the river." "Enjoy yourselves," she said, with a cheery smile, giving them a small wave as they left the dairy. They all made their way through the village, and over the level crossing, that led to the riverside. Many locals and visitors were enjoying the hot afternoon sunshine, as they strolled along the river path or were having a picnic on the grass, or just sunbathing by the water, hoping for a gentle breeze to cool them down. Many boats were cruising along the river and some were moored to the river bank, with their owners sitting on the deck, eating and drinking or lazing in the sunshine, watching the many visitors walking by.

"I don't think I've ever seen the river quite this busy before," said Larry, looking around at the scenery on and off the water. "There are some lovely boats going by." "Oh, look at the name of this one!" said Bets, in sheer joy. "It's called 'Bets' Delight'." They stopped and looked at the small moored cruiser, its name painted in large red letters on the bow. "Fancy calling a boat, 'Bets' Delight'," said Pip, scornfully. "It's a lovely name," said Bets, looking pleased. "If I had a boat that's what I'd call it!" Pip frowned at his sister, shaking his head. "It's fortunate, you've not got one then!" "I think it's a lovely name," said Fatty, sticking up for the little girl, as he usually did against her brother. The Find-Outers walked slowly along the river path way, stopping now and then to look at the tethered boats along the way. "This is a lovely one," said Daisy, stopping at a canal barge painted bright red with black trimmings, and with pots of brightly coloured flowers sitting all along the roof of the barge. Its name The Sweet Sue was painted in yellow letters between the windows of the long cabin and brightly coloured painted flowers encircled the name. The owners were sitting on the front deck drinking from tall glasses and smiled at the children as they stopped to admire their barge. "I bet you don't see many canal barges on the water around here," said the woman, to the children. "No, we don't," said Fatty, a note of admiration in his voice. "Your barge is lovely. Do you actually live on the barge all year round?" The woman smiled. "Indeed we do, young man. We normally moor her during the winter months, on a spot we've used for many years, then during the summer we travel around on the canals visiting places along the way." "That sounds a grand life," said Larry, in awe. "I'd love to do that when I'm older." "We see a lot of the countryside," said the woman, with a smile. "But we are retired and this is the retirement we chose." "Do you have a cooker and bathroom on board, then?" asked Bets, thinking that if they lived on the boat it would have to be like a small house. "Oh yes. We have our lounge area, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom," said the woman, with a sudden grin at Bets. Bets' eyes widened in delight. How she wished she could live on a barge like this one, and cruise along the river and canals all day long, and not even go to school. The couple looked at each other and grinned. "Come aboard and have a look inside," said the man, with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're all just about the same age as our grandchildren and they love the barge when they come for a visit." The Find-Outers all smiled in glee and Fatty said. "That's really kind of you both. We'd love to look around. I've never been inside a barge before."

The man helped the children aboard and the woman showed them inside their floating home. The children were amazed at how cosy it all was inside. The settees, the curtained windows, a log burning stove and a lovely kitchenette, and two bedrooms, one with a double bed and the other with bunk beds, and the bathroom had a toilet, washbasin and a shower. "Oh I wish I lived on a boat like this," said Bets, looking around her in sheer delight. "Don't you, Daisy?" "Oh yes," she said, just as delighted at being shown around. "How long are you both in Peterswood for?" Pip asked the woman, who was looking really pleased at the children's admiration of her home. "Just a few days," she said. "We've come because we heard about the extravaganza and thought we might just bump into boating people that we've met on our travels." "Well it's a lovely boat and a lovely way to live," said Pip. "Something I'd love to do, too." The woman smiled. "You've all got many years ahead of you before your retirement. Do you all live here in Peterswood?" Fatty nodded. "Yes, my name's Frederick Algernon Trotteville and my friends are Pip and Bets Hilton and Larry and Daisy Daykin." "Well we're very pleased to meet you all," said the woman, with a smile. "My name is Mrs. Susan Lawson and my husband is Mr. Bill Lawson." "Oh, so The Sweet Sue is named after yourself," said Daisy, with a bright smile. "How lovely!" "Yes, it sounded better than Sweet Bill," said Bill Lawson, with a grin. "Well thank you for showing us around," said Fatty. "And I hope you both enjoy your few days here in Peterswood. I can recommend the dairy for the best ices, macaroons and chocolate clairs around." "We'll certainly give the dairy a visit," said Mrs. Lawson, with a wide smile. The Find-Outers said goodbye as they left the barge, and after waving to the couple they walked on further up the river pathway. "What a lovely couple," said Larry. "I'd love to do what they do all day." Everyone said the same, as they strolled along looking at more boats that were moored by the riverside. They all stopped to marvel at another cruiser, and as the owners didn't appear to be on deck, Bets tried to look inside one of the windows. As she did so a boy inside the boat suddenly appeared at the window and looked straight at her, causing Bets to step back in sudden shock, with a slight gasp, which had the others turning to look in her direction. Then as quickly as he'd appeared he was gone, and the curtains were pulled across the window. Still totally startled Bets looked at the others who were still watching her as she walked towards them and Fatty said, "What's the matter, Bets?"

"I was just looking in through that window," she turned and pointed to the one in question, before carrying on, "when a boy suddenly appeared looking back at me, and then he was gone, as though someone had quickly pulled him away, and the curtain was pulled across." "Probably whoever is inside doesn't like nosy parkers peering in through their windows," said Pip, curtly, at his sister. "Or maybe whoever is inside has something to hide," said Daisy, with a raised enquiring brow. The Find-Outers all turned to look at the boat, but no one was coming out from the closed door, and they could still see the closed curtain at the mentioned window. On Fatty's indication, they all walked further along to a vacant bench just by a tree and sat down to talk. "Can you remember what the boy looked like?" said Fatty. "Did he look frightened?" "I don't know," said Bets. "I didn't think anyone was in the boat, that's why I peered inside the window. I couldn't really see much at all, as it was quite dark inside, then this boy's face was suddenly there looking back at me, and as I stepped back startled, it appeared as though he was quickly pushed out of the way, and then the curtain was drawn across." "Maybe whoever that boy is he could be in hiding," said Larry, in a quiet mysterious voice. "He could have been kidnapped." A tiny shiver ran through Bets. "Come to think of it, he did look a bit scared!" "Fatty just asked you if he looked frightened," said Pip, with a frown. "And you said you didn't know. So did he looked scared or not?" "I think maybe he did," said Bets, squeezing up her face and trying hard to remember. "I don't think there's been any mention in the papers or on the news of a boy being kidnapped or one that's missing," said Larry, trying to recall. "All the same, it was a bit odd what Bets has seen," said Fatty. He took out a notebook and pencil from his pocket, which he always carried. He started to write and the others waited until he'd finished, then Daisy said, "What have you written, Fatty?" "I've made a note of the time that this happened and the name of the cruiser Grey Heron," he said, sounding important. "And what's more, Find-Outers, I have a feeling that our next mystery has just begun!"

CHAPTER 3: IS IT A MYSTERY?
Fatty's words sent a shiver of excitement through the others. "What's our next step, Fatty?" asked Larry, with wide eyes. Fatty glanced quickly at his watch. "We haven't got much time to do anything at the moment, as I have to visit an aunt soon with Mother, and if the cruiser does leave here later, at least we have the name of the boat." He cast a glance over at the cruiser, but all was quiet, as it bobbed gently on the still river. "Bets, you try and keep the image of that boy in your mind, if you can, as that would be a great help." Bets looked a bit worried. She really hadn't taken much notice with being so startled. "I'll try, Fatty," she said, softly. Fatty rose from the bench and the others followed. "We'll have to set off back home now, but we'll meet in my shed at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. If any of you can listen to the news on the radio, then do so, and if you see anything in the paper tomorrow, then let me know at the meeting." Everyone nodded and the Find-Outers slowly made their way home, each determined to see if there was anything they could find out. Fatty spent the rest of the late afternoon and early evening trying to look happy and interested in what his mother and aunt were talking about. Buster was snoozing at his feet, obviously as bored as poor Fatty was. He had tried to make up an excuse for staying home and not going visiting with his mother, but she was adamant he should go. "Don't be so selfish, Frederick," his mother had said, sounding cross. "Your aunt has invited us both over for late tea and you should be grateful and willing to go. Living alone she doesn't get many visitors, so consider it your duty, Frederick!" "Yes, Mother," Fatty had conceded with grace, calling for Buster, who was sitting outside in the garden enjoying the sunshine. If he had to sit in a stuffy, hot house, for a few hours, then so would Buster! Fatty's aunt had glanced over at Fatty occasionally, guessing he was wishing he was somewhere else, and said, "So Frederick, are you working on one of your mysteries at the moment?" Fatty's face brightened on the change of subject. "Not yet," he said, lightly. "Peterswood is rather quiet at the moment, but we do have a boat extravaganza on by the river." His aunt smiled and Mrs. Trotteville said, "I'm glad he's not working on a mystery. The last thing I need is that pompous village policeman, Mr. Goon, calling around to complain about Frederick." Fatty's aunt gave them both a smile and said, "Pity you can't help with some of the robberies that have been happening around the London area. I was reading about them in the newspaper this morning. One or two large houses along the Thames have been visited by a cat burglar, who has successfully got away with stealing jewellery."

"Really," Fatty's eyes widened in excitement. "I wonder if the burglar will make their way up river to our district!" "I sincerely hope not," said Mrs. Trotteville, looking horrified at the thought. "If they did, Mr. Goon certainly wouldn't be able to handle such a case!" "Superintendent Jenks would though," said Fatty, in admiration, knowing deep down inside that he and the Find-Outers could probably solve the case between them. "Well I hope those robberies stay outside of our area," said Mrs. Trotteville, with a sigh. "I'll go and see if our tea is almost ready," said Fatty's aunt, bringing the subject of robberies to a close, and the look Fatty's mother gave him suggested that he'd better not bring up the subject over tea. The following morning all the Find-Outers listened intently to the morning news and Fatty scoured the newspaper once his father had read it and left for work. He read a small piece about the cat burglar his aunt had mentioned, but the robbery was thirty miles from Peterswood not in the surrounding area. At ten o'clock sharp, he heard the others coming down the garden pathway and then they appeared at the opened shed door. Buster greeted everyone with his usual exuberance and after they'd all made a fuss of him he was happy to settle back down beneath the table in Fatty's shed. Fatty had a large jug of lemonade ready for everyone and poured out five glasses. "So has anyone got anything to report?" he said, before taking a large refreshing drink. The others all shook their heads. "I looked in the paper and there's nothing in there about a boy missing or any kidnapping," said Larry, sounding a little disappointed. "And Daisy listened purposely to the news and there was nothing on there either." Daisy shook her head. "And I was listening closely too, but nothing." "Same for Bets and me," said Pip. "No news at all!" Fatty looked thoughtfully at the others. "Maybe we've got it wrong, then!" He sounded disappointed and was rather upset to think that their planning may come to a full stop. "Maybe there's no mystery at all!" "Let's go and see if the Grey Heron is still moored by the bank," said Larry, on a brighter note. "We may just get a glimpse of the boy." Fatty was thinking along the same lines and nodded. "Yes, come on Find-Outers; let's go for walk down by the river before it gets too hot. Come on, Buster, walkies!" They set off down the road which led over the level crossing then onto the river pathway. Buster was walking sedately along, sniffing the hedgerows in his usual way. Although it was still morning the sun was hot and the afternoon promised to be even hotter. A few more boats were moored along the river bank, with their owners up on deck, sitting in the sunshine, some were cleaning their boats, and some were inside obviously cooking, as the smell of bacon and eggs kept drifting towards the children's noses.

"The smell of cooking is making me hungry," said Pip, sniffing the air. "Bacon delicious!" "I'm feeling hungry myself now," said Fatty, feeling his tummy rumble. "How inconsiderate of the boat owners to start cooking, just as we're walking by!" Everyone roared with laughter at Fatty's expression and Buster danced around their heels wanting to join the excitement. They came upon the red barge 'The Sweet Sue' and saw Mr. and Mrs. Lawson sitting out eating breakfast and drinking tea. "Hello children," she said, with a smile. "Nice to see you all again. Would you all like a bacon sandwich?" The Find-Outers all glowed with delight at the thought of an extra breakfast. "That would be lovely," said Fatty, politely. "Come aboard," said Mr. Lawson. "I didn't see the dog yesterday, is he with you?" Fatty nodded. "Yes, this is Buster. We left him at home yesterday as he can get too hot." "Sit yourselves down and I'll pop some more bacon in the pan," said Mr. Lawson, disappearing inside the barge. It wasn't long before everyone was tucking into bacon sandwiches and Mrs. Lawson was pouring out glasses of fresh orange juice for them all. "How was your night on board?" said Fatty, giving Buster a bit of his sandwich, as the dog was looking longingly up at his master. "Fine," said Mrs. Lawson. "Everyone we've met from the other boats seems pleasant enough." "There's a lovely cruiser further down the river called 'Grey Heron'," said Larry, innocently. "Have you met her owners?" Mrs. Lawson shook her head. "No, we haven't yet, but there's still time. We'll walk along past the boats today and probably get to meet some of the owners." "Was it quiet on the river last night?" said Daisy, wondering if the Lawsons had heard anything unusual. Fatty gave Daisy a smile of approval, as he guessed why she had asked the question. He had taught the Find-Outers well, as they were using their own initiative to ask the right questions. "Well sounds do travel at night," began Mr. Lawson, "and we could hear some of the owners laughing and enjoying themselves, but when it gets late most respect each other and the noises do tend to die down." "Is there going to be a party as all these boats are here for an extravaganza?" said Bets, hoping there would be. A big party would be fun down by the river. Mrs. Lawson smiled at Bets. "Not really," she said, gently. "It's really just a friendly gathering my dear, like a gathering of vintage vehicles in a rally. I believe a few stall holders will be arriving today, and on the last evening there's going to be a firework display on the water, so that should be really exciting to see. You must remember to come down for that."

"Oh we will," said Fatty, in excitement. "But I'll leave Buster at home as he doesn't like fireworks." "Very wise, young man," said Mr. Lawson. "We don't want your dog bolting off in fear and getting lost!" "Well thank you for the extra breakfast," said Fatty, rising from the chair, watching the others doing the same. "It was very kind of you." The others all followed Fatty's lead and thanked the elderly couple. "You're all very welcome and must call again," said Mrs. Lawson. "It's always a pleasure to talk to well behaved children like yourself, and Buster too of course." She gave the dog a gentle pat, and he returned the favour with a small lick of her hand. They all left the barge, waving happily to the elderly couple, just as Mr. Goon came walking by pushing his bicycle along the pathway. He'd already seen the children leaving the barge and frowned in annoyance. Then Buster suddenly saw his enemy at the same time as Mr. Goon saw the dog. With a delighted bark he rushed at Mr. Goon's ankles, snapping around them excitedly, almost causing Mr. Goon to over-balance as he tried to hold onto his bicycle. "Clear-orf!" the angry policeman shouted at Buster, as he barked defiantly around his ankles. The others rushed to Mr. Goon, leaving the Lawsons watching the little scene from their barge. "Keep that pest of a dog under control," shouted Mr. Goon to Fatty. "Vicious he is!" Fatty called to Buster, who reluctantly left Mr. Goon's ankles to obey his master, and Fatty took hold of his collar and producing a lead from his pocket he clicked it onto Buster's collar. The others were standing watching the little scene, grinning at Mr. Goon's predicament. Once Buster was safely on his lead, Mr. Goon walked towards them, with an angry snort, and gave the Find-Outers one of his angry glares. "You kids are a nuisance; I'll have to complain to your parents. What were you all doing on that boat? Pestering the owners, I'll be bound." "We were invited aboard," said Fatty, in his most polite voice, knowing it would annoy the already angry Mr. Goon. "They've been having breakfast with us," said Mrs. Lawson, firmly, glaring at the angry policeman and not liking his attitude. "And they are welcome aboard whenever they like." "Gah," said Mr. Goon, forgetting himself for a moment, and then turning slightly red, as he saw the couple looking at him with instant disapproval. "If I'd have known you were on the pathway, I'd have put Buster on his lead, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, innocently. "See, a genuine mistake," said Mr. Lawson firmly; looking at Mr. Goon with a raised brow that almost dared him to argue. "And the boy's apologised so let's hear no more about it!" The children looked at Mr. Lawson with a grateful smile, then at Mr. Goon who was still fuming inside. "Don't let these pests fool you with good manners," snapped Mr. Goon, walking away with a determined stride and pushing his bicycle at his side.

"What an extremely rude policeman," said Mrs. Lawson, looking at his back as he walked away. "He doesn't like us very much," said Larry, to the couple, who were still watching the policeman as he walked up the river path. "Well, thanks again," said Fatty. "We'd better continue our walk." They all said goodbye once more to the Lawsons, and started to walk in the direction that Mr. Goon was taking. When they were out of ear-shot of the couple, Fatty said to the others, "Doesn't it strike you all as odd that old Clear-Orf is walking by the river? I wonder why? That's what I'm asking myself."

CHAPTER 4: THE GREY HERON

"How do you mean?" said Bets in puzzlement. "Try using your brain sometimes, Bets," said Pip, in exasperation. Bets looked hurt, and Fatty felt sorry for her, and said gently, "We're suspicious of the Grey Heron, Bets, after what you saw yesterday, and my guess is that old Clear-Orf is onto a case we know nothing about, and today we see him on the river path walking in the very direction of the Grey Heron." Bets' eyes widened in excitement. "So there is a mystery after all. Oh I do hope we solve it before old Clear-Orf manages to." "The cruiser is just ahead," said Larry, "still moored. I can't see old Clear-Orf though, unless he's on board." "We'll soon know when we get a bit nearer," said Fatty, hurrying along, and gently pulling Buster as he had stopped to sniff along the hedgerows. Everyone followed Fatty and hastened their pace, looking at the cruiser as it got nearer and nearer. It bobbed gently on the river as the children stopped beside it, but there was no sign of Mr. Goon. The cabin door was open and just as Fatty pointed this out to the others a boy stepped out from the cabin and onto the small deck. They were all so surprised at this sudden appearance of the boy that they stood open-mouthed just looking at him. As he turned he saw them all and came to stand by the boat's rails, and with a smile said, "Hello, a few people have stopped to admire the Grey Heron." The Find-Outers were still slightly shocked to see the boy, whom they had been convinced was in hiding, but his appearance on the deck showed they must be mistaken. How could that be? His sudden

disappearance from the window yesterday was certainly very odd. Fatty was the first to speak. "Yes, the cruiser is lovely. Do your parents own it?" "My father does," said the boy, lightly, leaving the boat and coming to stand by the others on the pathway. He stooped down and started to make a huge fuss of Buster who was extremely delighted with the boy's attention. "He's a lovely dog. What's his name?" "Buster," said Fatty, looking pleased. He liked people who liked his dog. "I wish I had a dog," said the boy, standing up, and looking at the Find-Outers. "But me and Father live in an apartment, and it's not really suitable to keep a dog in an apartment, with no garden." "Are you on holiday?" said Larry, instantly liking this boy. "Yes, for two weeks, and we'll be meeting up with friends in a few days' time, here on the water." "Where's your mother?" said Bets, wondering why the boy had only mentioned his father. Pip looked at Bets with a frown, and gave her a gentle nudge. "Don't ask such insensitive questions like that," he whispered, fiercely. The boy over-hearing smiled. "I don't mind really. Mum died when I was very young and when my father has to travel for his job I stay with my grandparents." "What does your father do?" said Daisy, feeling sorry for this likeable boy. It must be awful to have no mother to love and care for you, she thought. "He's in the jewellery trade. Sells and buys precious stones. He has a shop in London, Mayfair, which is where we live. My name's Thomas Selby. Do you all live here near the river?" "Yes, just in the village," said Fatty, with a smile. He introduced himself and the others. "Nice to meet you all," said Thomas. "Come aboard. Father is out at the moment, and I'm here all alone. I've got some ginger beer we can have." The Find-Outers were eager to see inside the cruiser and excitedly climbed on board. Fatty picked up Buster as it was a little more difficult for the dog to climb on board, as the sides were much higher off the bank than the barge had been. The sides of the barge had been almost parallel to the bank and easy to step from one to the other. Once everyone was on deck and seated at the bench that skirted the bow, Thomas went into the cabin to get the ginger beer and glasses. Quickly glancing around them, Pip said, "His father must be awfully rich to afford a boat like this." "Exactly what I was thinking," whispered Larry. "Thomas seems a nice enough boy, though." "Is Thomas the boy you saw yesterday, Bets?" Fatty whispered by her ear. Bets screwed up her face thoughtfully and said, "I think he is, Fatty." Before anyone could say anymore, Thomas came back up on deck carrying a large tray containing a jug of ginger beer and six glasses.

He popped the tray down on the table before them and said, "Help yourselves." Daisy picked up the jug and said she'd pour out for everyone, and as she did so, Thomas said he'd get some ice from the cooler just by the cabin door. Lifting the lid he picked up the scoop which was sitting on the ice cubes in the small boxed cooler and took them over for everyone to pop into their glasses. "That's a handy item to have," said Pip, looking across at the boxed cooler. "Yes, we keep it there so it's by the table. We keep it filled with ice and sometimes I keep tubs of ice-cream in there too, it saves keep going back and forth into the kitchen which is the furthest away from the lounge area." "How many bedrooms have you got on board?" said Larry, after taking a long drink of the iced ginger beer. "Only two, small ones," said Thomas. "The settee in the lounge area can convert to a bed, but as it's only Father and me, we don't use it as such." "This is a lovely boat," said Pip. "It must be nice cruising up and down the river, visiting all the villages along the way." Thomas smiled with a nod. "It's nice meeting up with other boat people too. And this hot weather makes it more enjoyable. I was contemplating having a swim in the river, but it's so busy with boats at the moment, I didn't think it very safe." "We often swim in the river on hot days," said Daisy. "But with the boat extravaganza being on at the moment, the river is busier than usual. And I hear that some stalls will be arriving soon. It will get even busier when they all arrive." "Pity there isn't a fair," said Bets, joining in the conversation. "We've had a fair by the river a few times, and it's really good fun. One year we had a waxwork show, and that was really good." "It all sounds very exciting," said Thomas. "Maybe we could all meet up a bit later on this afternoon when most of the stalls have been erected and we could have a good look around them together." The Find-Outers looked at Thomas, all nodding their heads. "Sounds like a good idea to me," said Larry. "We haven't got anything else planned for later, have we Fatty?" Fatty shook his head. "No, nothing. We were going to go and have a look around the circus that is on over in Marlow, but we can do that tomorrow." "Oh that sounds exciting too," said Thomas, with wide excited eyes. "Would you all mind if I came along with you tomorrow?" The others looked at Fatty. Thomas seemed a nice boy, but they weren't sure whether Fatty would want him to join them over at Marlow. Fatty too wasn't certain whether he wanted Thomas to join them, after all, they'd only just met, and besides he'd probably have to get permission from his father first. "Your father may not want you to go with anyone he doesn't know," said Fatty, evasively. And we're not sure yet exactly what our plans will be."

"I'll ask him when he gets back," said Thomas, obviously not wanting to be put off at the prospect of spending time with the others. The Find-Outers nodded gently, beginning to feel a little awkward that Thomas was quite eager to invite himself along. He must be feeling a little lonely; to want to join a group of children he didn't really know, thought Bets. "I hope Bets didn't scare you too much when she peered in at the cabin window yesterday," said Fatty, quickly changing the subject. Thomas looked at little blankly at Fatty, and then said, "Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about that. Father was having a lie down and asked me to close the curtains." "I thought you'd been pulled away from the window," said Bets, with a grin. "It quite shocked me." Thomas looked at Bets blankly. "Really, sorry about that!" Before anyone could say anything else Thomas said, looking out from the boat. "My father's back." Just as the Find-Outers turned to see where Thomas had been looking, a man was climbing aboard the Grey Heron, holding onto a large plastic bag. He looked at everyone quite surprised and then said, "You've found some friends, Thomas." He gave a slight frown at Buster who had suddenly started to bark at his sudden entrance, and Fatty took hold of his lead and quietened the dog down. "Sorry," said Fatty, in apologetic tones. "You startled him that's all." Thomas's father gave a small nod of his head, and said to Thomas was he going to introduce his new friends. Thomas did so, and after saying a cheery 'hello' to them all, he said, "I'll just take the supplies inside," upon which he disappeared through the cabin door closing it behind him. "We'd better be going now your father is back," said Fatty. "I'm sure he doesn't want a lot of children and a dog disturbing him." Everyone stood to leave, following Fatty's example. "Don't forget to come over later this afternoon so we can all look at the stalls," said Thomas, cheerfully. "We won't forget," said Fatty, picking up Buster, and climbing from the boat. The other Find-Outers followed Fatty, all saying a cheery 'goodbye' to Thomas. As they walked away and out of earshot of the boat, Bets said, "He seems a nice enough boy." "Pity there's no mystery though," said Larry, sounding disappointed. "The last thing I expected to see was the boy and the cabin door open after what Bets had seen." "Yes, that was a surprise," said Fatty, and everyone agreed. "Well Thomas did at least explain about that," said Daisy, looking at the others as they walked along the river path. "Yes, he did, but somehow he didn't sound quite convincing," said Fatty, in surprising tones, and with a raised brow. Everyone looked at Fatty, quite surprised to hear him saying so. "What makes you say that?" asked Pip, puzzled.

"I don't really know," said Fatty, sounding vague. "Just a gut instinct I had. And Buster didn't seem to like Mr. Selby much either! And he's an excellent judge of character." "That's true," said Pip, sounding convinced. "But some people don't like dogs and maybe Mr. Selby is one of those people and Buster could sense that!" Fatty nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe!" "You're probably just feeling a bit disappointed that there's no real mystery now, Fatty," said Daisy, lightly. "After all, Thomas did invite us aboard and so he can't have anything to hide and Mr. Selby didn't seem to mind us being there." "Daisy's right, Fatty," said Larry, with a slight nod. "We all set out to sort out a mystery that doesn't exist." "Yes, you're both probably right," said Fatty, still sounding unconvinced. "We'll call on Thomas later this afternoon and have some fun looking at the stalls. There may be one or two with games we can have a go at." "Oh you mean like the hoopla stalls, Fatty," said Bets, in excitement. She loved trying to throw the rings over objects and winning that object if she managed to ring it. "There's Mr. Goon," said Daisy, suddenly surprised to see the policeman as he mounted his bicycle and started to ride away. "He's obviously been to see those stall holders," said Pip, pointing over to the large grassy area, where some people were already setting up their stalls and displaying their wares. And as luck would have it, Bets could see a hoopla stall too. "He's probably been checking that everything is in order and that they've all got permission to be there." "Well at least we now know why old Clear-Orf was down here by the river," said Larry, with a shrug. "Another mystery that's been cleared up!" "So it looks like there's not going to be a mystery these hols, after all," said Bets, sounding disappointed. "Spitty," said Fatty, with a cheerful grin. "We'll have to have some fun with old Clear-Orf instead."

CHAPTER 5: AT THE STALLS AND GOON IS ON A CASE

At three o'clock, the Find-Outers with Buster attached to his lead, which he wasn't really very happy about, called by the Grey Heron and found Thomas eagerly waiting for them on the deck. His father was sitting back reading a newspaper. "Be back before five, Thomas," said Mr. Selby. "We have to go out later." Thomas promised he would as he climbed from the boat, and joining the others they all set off to the wide grassy area by the river where all the stalls were grouped together, with their colourful striped canopies, keeping the stall holders sheltered from the hot sun. "This all looks rather exciting," said Thomas, with enthusiasm. "I've never seen anything as exciting as this!" "You must have been to a fair before," said Larry, quite surprised. "Not like this," said Thomas. "I've heard of villages having a fete or a fair, but where I live in the city we don't have things like this." The others looked at Thomas, who was really enjoying himself immensely, each of them thinking how sad that he hadn't even been to any kind of village gathering like this one, which was still relatively small compared to some of the fairs the Find-Outers had been to. "We've had much more fun things going on here in Peterswood than just a few stalls," said Bets, brightly. "We've been to some super fairs, haven't we Fatty?" "Yes, and even here by the river one year there were side shows and even a waxworks," Fatty replied. "A waxworks," repeated Thomas in glee. "Wow, how fantastic! I wish I'd been here to see that." Fatty smiled, he was almost tempted to tell him of how he, Fatty, had even dressed up as the wax figure, Napoleon, but refrained from doing so as he would have had to explain all about the mystery that the Find-Outers had solved and Fatty still wasn't certain enough of Thomas to give out any such information about themselves. "Let's go over to the hoopla stall," said Bets, excitedly, spotting it over by the hedgerow. "I want to see what I can ring." "You and hoopla stalls," grumbled Pip, as everyone followed Bets, as she raced over to the stall. Fatty handed over Buster's lead to Daisy, as he bought himself and Bets three rings each to try whilst the others watched intensely. Bets didn't get to ring anything at all, and sighed in disappointment, as she was really trying very hard to get a very small glass vase to put on her dressing table. "It would have gone lovely with my brush and comb set," she said, sadly. Seeing Bets looking so crestfallen, Fatty was determined to ring the little glass vase for her and everyone squealed in delight, causing Buster also to bark in excitement, when his third ring managed to wrap itself around the object. The stall holder gladly handed it over to Fatty, whereupon he gave it to Bets with a smile. "Oh Fatty, thank you so much," said Bets, in delight. "It's so lovely. I'll really take good care of it."

"Just like Fatty to be so generous," said Daisy, good naturedly. "What would we do without him?" Fatty glowed with pleasure and pride and shrugged modestly. Suddenly not wanting to be outdone, Thomas said, "I'll have a go too, it can't be that difficult" The others grinned mischievously as they watched Thomas buy three rings, and on each throw he missed the items completely. He frowned in annoyance at not being able to achieve something that had looked relatively simple. "You have to know how to throw them exactly," boasted Fatty to Thomas, secretly glad that the boy had failed the task. "I know what I'll be better than you at," suddenly said Thomas, looking across at the firing range. "I go clay shooting with my father." He ran over to the firing range and the others followed, each casting sly glances between themselves, at this sudden competitive behaviour on Thomas's part. Thomas paid his money and was given a small rifle, which he aimed at the metal ducks that were moving along a track in two rows across the stall. Crack! He aimed at one duck and it fell over, at the same time as Buster went and hid by Daisy's legs as he didn't like the loud sound the pellets made. Thomas took aim again and knocked down a further three ducks. "There!" he said, with pleasure, as he handed back the rifle to the stall holder. "I told you I was the best at shooting!" The stall holder handed Thomas a small gift which he took without a word of thanks. "I didn't realize we were in competition with each other," said Pip, with sarcasm. "There's nothing wrong in competing against someone," said Thomas, flippantly. "It's what sports people do all the time!" "In a sports event, yes," snapped Larry. "But Fatty wanted to win that vase for Bets, not to prove anything else." Thomas blushed slightly. "I don't see what difference that makes." "Well if you can't see that it's better to achieve something for the benefit of others too, then there's nothing more to be said!" said Fatty, firmly and taking Buster from Daisy, with a smile of thanks at her, he said, "I think it best we set off home now." Everyone sent the startled Thomas a look of disdain, and saying a swift 'cheerio' started to walk away. Suddenly realizing they were all leaving, and that they were obviously not very happy with him, he said urgently, "Hey wait! I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted to prove to you all that I was good at something." They all turned to look at Thomas, and Fatty said, "We don't judge our friends on what they can achieve. They are friends because we like them, not for what they're capable of doing." Looking rather sheepishly, Thomas said, "I'm sorry. It's just that the boys at my school like to compete with each other." "Well they don't sound like the sort of boys I would want to be friends with," said Pip, with a shrug.

"Come on, let's go and have a look at the cake and sweet stalls," said Daisy, trying to avoid any arguments. They all nodded slightly, and with Buster tugging on his lead, they walked aimlessly along the rest of the stalls, Bets carrying her little glass vase very gently, so as not to drop it. Thomas seemed on his very best behaviour after the little disagreement, and even bought everyone a bag of sweets of their choice from one of the sweet stalls. Buster wasn't allowed sweets, but one of the stalls had put out a large drinking bowl for any thirsty dog on that hot summer's day, and thankfully Buster took a long satisfying drink. At around four-thirty, Fatty said it was probably time for them all to set off home, and reminded Thomas that his father had requested for him to be back before five. Thomas looked rather sulky that time had gone by so quickly with his new friends, and tried to persuade them to stay a little longer, but they were all adamant that it was time to get back, and so reluctantly, Thomas waved them a cheery 'goodbye'. As the Find-Outers headed off back to the village, Larry said, "I was rather surprised by Thomas this afternoon. He seemed so nice when he invited us aboard the boat. Now, I'm not so sure I really want to see him again." "Yes, I feel the same," said Pip. "The school he attends must be quite a competitive one, by the sounds of it." "He's probably just a bit lonely," said Bets, always ready to see the good in everyone. "Well I'm not very keen on him," said Daisy. "I prefer us being the Find-Outers and Dog, without anyone else." Fatty was listening intently, and agreed. "Yes, I think we'll give the river a miss tomorrow, so we won't bump into Thomas." As they neared the dairy, they saw Mr. Goon, coming out from the police house, and he seemed to be in quite a hurry, pushing his bicycle out of the garden. Buster on seeing his enemy gave a volley of frantic barks, desperately trying to free himself from his lead. Fatty had to hold him firmly, and stopped him barking. "Old Clear-Orf, is looking busy again," said Fatty, to the others. "I can't help thinking that he's got some mystery he's working on!" "It looks like he has," said Larry, in agreement. Spotting the children watching him, and noticing that Buster was safely on a lead, Mr. Goon cycled towards the Find-Outers, stopping beside them. "I'm glad to see you've got that pest of a dog on a lead," he said, looking most important. "Off to try and solve the latest mystery, Mr. Goon?" said Fatty, with a grin, and hoping his remark would cause the policeman to make a slip and tell them of the case he was working on. "I wouldn't tell you if I was," said Mr. Goon, bursting with importance. "You're just an interfering toad and the less you know of this mystery, the better. I'm in charge, not you and it's going to stay that way."

Fatty looked at Mr. Goon feeling quite startled. So there was a mystery on that he and the others knew nothing about! Not wanting Mr. Goon to know that he Fatty and the others knew nothing of the latest mystery, he said, brightly, "Yes, it's quite a mystery how this cat burglar gets around without being noticed." He gave Mr. Goon a knowing look, feeling pleased that he'd suddenly remembered what his aunt had told him, and the small piece he'd read in the papers only that morning. "How do you think he does it, Mr. Goon?" "You just keep your nose out of this mystery," bellowed Mr. Goon, suddenly looking angry. "If you interfere with this mystery of the cat burglar, I'll go along and complain to all your parents, whether you're a friend of Superintendent Jenks or not, so there!" And with those closing words, Mr. Goon mounted his bicycle and rode away looking very important indeed, leaving the children watching his departure. "Well, at least now we know that there really is a mystery on," said Fatty, in satisfaction. "Though I must admit, mentioning the cat burglar was just a stab in the dark." The others looked at Fatty, puzzled. "How did you know about this cat burglar?" said Larry, in bewilderment. "We'll go and have ices in the dairy and I'll explain," said Fatty, leading the way. Once inside and the ices had been ordered, Fatty told the others about what his aunt had told him the day before, and the small piece of news he'd read in the paper only that morning. "Hey, look at this," suddenly said Pip, picking up a discarded afternoon newspaper that a customer had left on the seat beside him. He showed the paper to Fatty, who read aloud the heading that read, 'Cat Burglar targets house in Marlow.' Fatty looked at the others feeling pleased. "So the mystery has come to our area, after all," he said, with a bright smile. "That must be where old Clear-Orf is heading off to." "What's a cat burglar?" asked Bets, suddenly. "Is it someone who dresses up as a cat and burgles houses?" The others all looked at Bets and roared with laughter. She blushed under their gazes, wondering why on earth her comment had brought such hilarity. "You really are a baby sometimes," said Pip, still trying to hold back his laughter. "A cat burglar is someone who is light and agile on his feet, Bets," said Fatty, beginning to explain. "He can climb ropes and drainpipes effortlessly, and is very sure footed. Just like a cat is, and normally dresses in black so as not to be seen at night." "Oh, I see," said Bets, with a good humoured grin. "So it could be someone from a circus then!" The others started to laugh lightly at Bets again, but Fatty just gazed at Bets, with wide excited eyes. "Well done, Bets," he suddenly said, surprising the others into silence. "Bets has hit the nail on the head, Find-Outers. This cat burglar could very well be someone from a circus. And what has just arrived in Marlow?"

"A circus," said Larry, nodding his head and knowing what Fatty was now getting at. "And they've got acrobats and tight rope walkers, too!" "Exactly," said Fatty, looking pleased. "So Find-Outers, our next mystery has begun. Tomorrow we'll meet at ten o'clock in my shed, and we'll make some plans about going over to Marlow for the full day, and seeing what we can discover about this circus." Everyone looked at Fatty feeling really pleased. A mystery they could get their teeth into at last!

CHAPTER 6: MAKING PLANS AND OFF TO MARLOW

"So what is the plan, Fatty?" said Larry, eager to get started on this new mystery. "There was a piece about the burglary in Marlow in this morning's paper." "Yes, I read that too," said Pip. Fatty too had read not only the late afternoon paper that Pip had found in the dairy the day before, but that morning's paper which had a few more details about the burglary. "The story in the paper yesterday was only a brief report," began Fatty. This morning's paper had more information, and says the house in Marlow was one of the large ones by the river, and the thief only takes jewellery. And that's exactly the same as all the other burglaries miles away. Only jewellery was taken!" "Does the paper mention the circus?" said Bets, looking excited. "Of course not!" snapped Pip. "That's just one theory that we're going to investigate." "Do you think we should go and see if we can talk to the people whose house was burgled?" said Daisy. "They may be able to tell us something that wasn't reported in the paper." Fatty looked thoughtfully at Daisy and nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea, Daisy, we could try." "How will we be able to do that, Fatty?" said Pip, puzzled. "Those big houses along the river have high gates that are locked and high walls. We can't just go in ask like we've done in other mysteries." "Yes, Pip's right," said Larry, thoughtfully. "That's going to prove difficult."

Fatty was silent for a moment, and then said, "We could go by boat and row along the river until we get to the right house and then somehow think of an excuse to enter their garden by the river bank." "How will we know which is the right house?" said Daisy. "It doesn't give any address in the paper." "We'll have to use our brains on this one," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "The first step I think will be to cycle over to Marlow, and head for the local newsagent, who sells papers. They're bound to have a bit of village gossip about the burglary." "Yes, we'll try and talk to as many people as we can," said Larry, in excitement. "Grown-ups are always happy to talk freely in answer to children's questions. I bet Mr. Goon won't find anyone as easy to talk to as we will." "Yes, but a policeman has the right to interview people," said Fatty, on a serious note. "And if he's already been interviewing people in Marlow, it will make it more difficult for us to ask any questions." "Well let's just hope that Mr. Goon hasn't spoken to everyone yet," said Bets, sounding fierce. She didn't like the thought of Mr. Goon getting ahead of the Find-Outers on this latest mystery. "Maybe this house will have a gardener and a boy helping," said Daisy, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "I'm sure the boy would be more than happy to talk to us and he'd be bursting with the news." "Good idea!" said Fatty, looking hopefully at Daisy. "It's good that you're all using your brains of how we can get some information about these burglaries." Everyone felt pleased. They all loved praise from their leader. "What about Buster?" said Pip, looking down at the dog who was chewing on a large bone. "Will we take him, Fatty?" "Yes, said Fatty, with a nod, and looking at his dog. "He's part of the Find-Outers and I'll put him in my bicycle basket when we cycle over. Buster may be useful when we get near the house, if we can find out which one it is. He can run into the garden from the boat, a good excuse for us all to go in and fetch him." "Good idea," said Larry. "Make sure you play your part well, Buster," he finished, with a grin. Buster glanced up momentarily before getting back to chewing his bone, which he was thoroughly enjoying; nothing was going to interrupt this appetising bone. Especially the children talking about nothing he understood! "I told Mother we'd be out for most of the day," said Pip, suddenly changing the subject. "I think she was quite pleased as she has a few friends over this afternoon and they're having tea in the garden." "Yes, we told our mother we wouldn't be in to lunch," said Daisy. "She did ask where would we be going and to make sure we get something to eat for lunch!" "There's bound to be a caf or a dairy somewhere in Marlow," said Fatty, looking at the others. "If not we can always buy some sandwiches and cakes and eat them on the river bank." "Oh yes," said Bets, suddenly excited, her eyes shining brightly. "I think I'd prefer that, Fatty. It would be like a picnic."

"Yes, I prefer that too," said Daisy, in agreement. "Shall we all do that instead? I don't really fancy sitting in a caf or dairy on a hot day like today. I'd much rather be sitting by the river." Everyone agreed, and Fatty suggested that before they left for Marlow, they'd stop off at the dairy and buy some sandwiches and cakes to take with them for a picnic. "I suppose we should have all brought a packed lunch with us," said Pip, suddenly remembering that they needed money to buy sandwiches and cakes. "I haven't got much pocket money left." He dived into his trouser pocket and pulled out a few coins to see exactly what was left. He put the coins onto the table in front of them all, and said with a frown, "That won't even buy us one sandwich!" "Don't worry," said Fatty, good naturedly. "I've got plenty of money and can treat us to whatever we fancy eating." He looked down at Buster, who'd just given a huge sigh. "We'll take your bone too, Buster. And you can chew away at your bone when we're in the boat." "Take my few coins, Fatty," said Pip, wanting to contribute to their lunch. "It's not a lot but I'd rather you take it anyway." Larry dived into his pockets too and put some money on the table. "Take mine too, Fatty. It's only fair that we all contribute what we can for the food." Fatty didn't want to take the money at first, but Pip and Larry were adamant he should. Fatty was always treating them to ices, or macaroons, or chocolate clairs at the dairy. He was always very generous, but always said that he had a lot of aunts and uncles who were generous with giving him money too, and he liked to share with the other Find-Outers. It wasn't long before they all rode their bicycles over to the dairy, Buster sitting happily in Fatty's bicycle basket, and looking down his nose at any other dog that they passed. Leaning his bicycle against the wall of the dairy, Fatty went inside and bought a selection of sandwiches, cakes and drinks, which the assistant behind the counter popped into a small carrier bag for him. Coming out of the dairy, Daisy took the bag from Fatty and popped it into her bicycle basket, as there was no room in Fatty's with Buster sitting in there. "Right, Marlow it is," said Fatty, when they were all ready to set off once more. It was about three miles or so to Marlow and was a very pleasant bicycle ride, with the sun shining down on them, and a nice warm breeze keeping the children from getting too hot. Buster sat proudly in the basket of Fatty's bicycle, it would have been much too far for the little dog to run beside their bicycles on a hot day like today. Once at Marlow they cycled through the High Street and headed towards the river. Once there Fatty rode over to a wide expanse of grass and dismounted from his bicycle, and the others did the same, placing their bikes up against a small group of trees. "Why have we stopped here, Fatty?" said Bets. "I thought we were going to ask around the village first."

"I thought it might be a good idea to have lunch first," said Fatty, who was feeling hungry after the bicycle ride. "Then after we've eaten we can ask around the village and see what we can discover." "Good idea," said Larry. "I'm feeling hungry myself now." Daisy took the small carrier bag from her bicycle basket and the FindOuters sat down in the shade of the large trees, where she carefully unwrapped the sandwiches and placed them down on the grass for everyone to help themselves, along with the drinks and the cakes, which she kept wrapped in their little paper bags. Fatty took Buster's bone out from his pocket and give it to the little dog, but he turned his nose up at the bone, and sat looking longingly at the sandwiches that everyone was starting to eat. "Keep your nose away, Buster," said Daisy, firmly, as he tried to take one of the sandwiches. Fatty gave a grin, and ordered Buster to sit beside him whilst they ate. "Sandwiches always taste better out of doors," said Bets, feeling happy that she was sitting in the sunshine, by the river, with the other Find-Outers. "Don't you all think so?" "A sandwich is a sandwich, wherever you eat it!" said Pip, bluntly. "You do say such silly things, sometimes, Bets." "Well I think they do too," said Fatty, always ready to side with her against her brother. "I'm going to savour every taste and enjoy it." The others laughed at Fatty as he over exaggerated eating his cheese and onion sandwich, with many 'ooohs', aaahs and mmmms'! Buster unable to resist the different smells of cheese, ham and eggs, walked amongst the children, eagerly waiting for them to give him bits of their sandwich. "Do I bother you when you're eating your smelly bone?" said Daisy, with a sigh, pulling a piece off her sandwich to give to the little drooling dog. "Now go away and pester your master!" It was very pleasant sitting by the river, eating and drinking the bottles of juice, whilst watching the boats go sailing by. Larry looked across the river at some of the large houses they could just about see through the trees and wondered which one of them was the house that had been burgled. He mentioned this to the others and they all gazed across the river wondering the same thing too. "Let's hope that someone in the village is eager to talk to us about the burglary," said Pip. "I'd hate to think that we go away without learning anything about the cat burglar." "We're bound to find something out," said Larry, on a positive note. "When something like this happens everyone is eager to talk about it, especially in a village where normally nothing ever happens." "Yes, that's true," said Fatty, starting to tuck into his chocolate clair, and watching the others doing the same. "We've never had trouble before interviewing people and finding things out. That's why we're always ahead of Mr. Goon in our investigations." The others nodded in agreement, feeling happy that by the end of the day, they'd know a lot more about the burglary. As they were just finishing off their second clairs, they saw a young woman with a colourful shoulder-bag sit down not far from the Find-

Outers, obviously having the same idea as them to sit beneath the large trees for shade. She took out from her shoulder-bag a packet of sandwiches and started to eat her own lunch, after sending a quick glance over at the children with a smile. Buster, whose nose could sniff out a nice tasty sandwich a mile away, made his way over to the young woman, and sat down politely before her, watching her eating her ham and tomato sandwich. "Buster! Come here, boy," called Fatty. He looked at the young woman, and smiling apologetically, said, "I'm sorry. I'll put him on his lead so he won't bother you." The young woman smiled, and said, "I don't mind dogs. He's doing no harm. He's lovely. Can I give him a bit of my sandwich?" Fatty smiled. "Yes, of course." Everyone watched the young woman, giving the excited Buster a bit of her lunch, and then Fatty called him over and told him not to make a nuisance of himself. "Are you here for a day out?" said the young woman, looking over at the children. "Yes, we've just cycled over from Peterswood," said Larry. "It's lovely by the river. Do you live here in Marlow?" "Yes, I live in one of the small cottages just off the High Street," she said, with a smile. "I'm just on my lunch break and thought I'd get out for a bit. The house where I work was burgled and the police are there again at the moment, having another look around and speaking to the owner, my employer, Mrs. Morton." All the Find-Outers suddenly felt excitement running through them. What a stroke of luck for sitting not far away was someone from the very house that had been burgled. Fatty smiled suddenly at the others, their excitement uppermost on their faces, and then turning to the young woman, said, "Would you like to sit and join us? We'd love to hear all about the burglary."

CHAPTER 7: A STROKE OF LUCK

The young woman was delighted to be asked to sit with the children and picking up her colourful shoulder-bag, came and sat on the grass next to the Find-Outers. Fatty introduced everyone in his most polite voice. With a smile at the children, she said, "Nice to meet you all, my name's Gillian Brown."

"How interesting that you work at the very house that was burgled," said Daisy, looking surprised. "Have you been working there for long?" "Coming up for almost two years now," said Gillian. "I do the housework for Mr. and Mrs. Morton, and make all the beds, and do their shopping. I was lucky to get the job as they said at interview they wanted someone much older with a lot more experience in housekeeping, as I was only seventeen at the time. But I told them I'd always looked after our house, and my younger brother and sister, with Mum not being so well, and so they took me on, and I've been there ever since. I love it, and they're a lovely elderly couple. It's really sad that they've had this burglary, as it's really upset them." "Which house was burgled?" said Fatty, asking the question to which the Find-Outers were longing to know the answer. He was determined not to miss anything that Gillian said, and wished he could write it all down in his notebook as she spoke. With bated breath they all looked at Gillian, waiting for her to speak. "The Willows," she said, pointing to one of the large houses on the opposite bank. "The one with the weeping willow trees almost touching the water." The children looked to where Gillian was pointing across the water and saw through the trees glimpses of a large red brick house, with a huge expanse of garden reaching down to the river and surrounded by fencing. "How did the thief get in?" said Larry, in wonder. "Through the bathroom window at the rear of the house," said Gillian. "With this hot weather the windows upstairs have hardly been closed." "So did the cat burglar climb up one of the drainpipes?" said Pip, thinking that maybe there was one close by seeing as he gained entrance through a bathroom window. Gillian nodded. "I believe he did. He must have been very quiet for the Mortons never heard a thing. It's awful to think that they were sleeping in their beds, when all this happened!" The others shivered, as they could quite well imagine how frightening it all sounded. "What was stolen?" said Bets, wanting to do her bit with asking questions too. "Jewellery, that had precious stones within the settings," said Gillian, enjoying all this attention and interest the children were showing. "A full description has been given to the two policemen who called over yesterday. One of them said he was from Peterswood!" The Find-Outers remembered how Mr. Goon was looking extremely pleased with himself when he spoke to them all yesterday. "Yes, that was our village policeman, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, with a slight grin. "He seemed very pompous," said Gillian, with a frown. "I didn't really like him very much. He kept trying to interrupt when our own policeman was asking questions. He seemed very full of himself."

The Find-Outers laughed, and Buster gave a small bark. Gillian stroked the dog's head, and tickled him under his chin, obviously taken with the little dog. "I expect Superintendent Jenks sent both policemen over so that nothing would be over-looked," said Fatty, thinking aloud, forgetting that Gillian was there for a moment. "Superintendent Jenks?" repeated Gillian, puzzled. Fatty thought quickly and said, "I believe he's quite an important police-officer in the next town, or so I've heard." Gillian smiled with an "Oh," obviously satisfied with Fatty's answer. "Was The Willows the only house to be burgled?" said Larry, inquisitively. "Yes, I believe so," said Gillian, with a nod. "There're a few large houses along that lane, but only the Mortons' was touched." "How strange!" said Bets, screwing up her face. "How do you mean?" said Gillian. "Well I was just wondering why the cat burglar didn't visit any other houses?" said the little girl. "I expect the cat burglar weighs up the houses a few days before during daylight," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "Then he knows which house he wants to target at night." Gillian looked at Fatty quite impressed. "How clever of you to work that out, that's exactly what one of the policemen said yesterday." "I bet it wasn't Mr. Goon," said Pip, with a mischievous grin. Gillian smiled. "No it wasn't." "Did the police look all around for clues?" said Bets, wishing that they too could look around The Willows for clues like they had done in their other mysteries. "Yes, but they didn't find anything to my knowledge," said Gillian. "The jewellery box that had been broken open was tested for fingerprints, and everything in that area, but there were only Mrs. Morton's prints visible." "She didn't keep her jewellery in a safe, then?" said Fatty, wondering why. Gillian shook her head. "No, not what I call a real safe. Her locked jewellery box was in one of these small mobile safes which she kept in a locked cupboard, in her dressing room. The couple have a high wall all along the front of the house and high gates that can only open with a code, so I guess they thought everything was safe enough." "Did the thief go straight to that locked cupboard, do you know?" said Fatty, slightly puzzled. "I don't really know," said Gillian. "As the Mortons didn't hear anything, they really don't know how long the thief was in the house. But they managed to break open the little safe and the box. Besides, how could any thief possibly know where to look?" "Yes, that's what I was just thinking really," said Fatty, with a slight puzzled frown. The others had seen that look on their leader's face before, but didn't like to ask exactly what he was thinking in front of Gillian.

Glancing at her watch Gillian said, "Well, I'd better be getting back to the house. The Mortons are going over to their daughter's this afternoon, and will have left by now, and the policeman who called just wanted another quick look around, so he would have left too, and I don't mind admitting that I'm getting slightly nervous at being in the large house alone for a few hours." Fatty couldn't believe his ears at what Gillian had just said. The Mortons wouldn't be home! What a great opportunity for the FindOuters to have a look around the grounds of The Willows. Smiling, he suddenly said, "We can walk you back if you're feeling nervous. I'll even check around the grounds for you with Buster. He'll soon sniff out if anyone is hiding." Gillian's face lit up. "Would you really? Oh, I'd be ever so grateful to you all if it's not too much trouble. I don't want to keep you from your plans this afternoon." "We'd be happy to," said Larry, standing up and brushing his clothes down, feeling happy at Fatty's suggestion. He cast him a quick glance and an amused smile, and everyone followed Larry's lead and got up ready to go. With waste paper packed into Daisy's bicycle basket, and Buster safely on a lead, the Find-Outers left the river with Gillian and pushing their bicycles, followed her as she led the way to The Willows, chatting happily along the way. Once on the lane where the house stood, they followed Gillian to a large gated property, which was surrounded by a large red brick curved wall, and they watched as Gillian put in a coded number onto a box on the wall which then opened the gate. Once through, the gate closed automatically and they followed Gillian up the driveway. "Just leave your bikes against the wall," she said, turning to look at them all. "They'll be safe here now." She then unlocked the front door, and they all stepped inside a large hall, with a beige marble floor. They all stood and looked in awe at the beautiful surroundings, unable to speak for a few moments. Gillian grinned at their faces and said good-naturedly. "I was like that when I first stepped into the house. It's beautiful isn't it? And I love keeping everywhere spick and span for the Mortons." "I've never been in such a beautiful house," said Daisy, almost breathlessly. "It would be a great place to have a game of hide and seek." Everyone laughed, and Gillian said, "I'll show you all around if you like." "I'd like to see where the cat burglar broke in, if that's okay," said Fatty, preferring to see if the police had by any chance over looked something in their investigation. "Of course," said Gillian. "I'll take you upstairs. Keep Buster on his lead though, as the Mortons have two cats and I wouldn't like him to chase them and cause them any stress as they're quite old now." "Daisy, you keep hold of Buster for me," said Fatty, handing the lead over to her. "I won't be more than a few minutes."

"Can I come with you, Fatty?" said Larry, suddenly thinking that it would be better for both of them to check out where the burglar entered through the window. Fatty knew what Larry meant by asking, and said, "Yes, of course." As they walked behind Gillian up the wide curving stairway, Fatty whispered to Larry, "Two heads are always better than one!" Once at the bathroom, Fatty and Larry walked into the room and over by the window, which was now closed and locked. Fatty asked if he could unlock it for a few moments, and Gillian nodded. "Yes, of course, as long as you lock it up again." Fatty unlocked the catch with the small key on the window ledge and opened the window wide. He looked out over the back lawn and noticed the drainpipe not too far away from the window itself. "So the burglar did climb up the drainpipe to gain entry," he said, turning to look at Gillian. "The police thought so," she said. "I'll just pop back downstairs and pour you all a glass of iced lemonade." "Thank you," said Larry, with a smile. As Gillian left the bathroom, Larry said, "Can you find any clues, Fatty?" Fatty was looking all around the window sill and again leaned out from the window, rubbing his hands along the outside ledge. He suddenly felt an indentation, and looked closely at where he'd felt it. "I wonder what this is?" he said, turning to Larry. "Have a look and see what you think." Larry looked at where Fatty had indicated and he too ran his hand along the sill. "I don't know," he said. "It's just a tiny sort of nick in the wood. Could the burglar have caught it with something when he climbed in?" Fatty was thoughtful for a moment, and said, "I don't know. I think we'll take a look outside in the garden and just under this window, and see what we can find." Fatty locked the window, but before heading downstairs, he popped his head around one of the bedroom doors, and as luck would have it, he saw the little safe sitting on the dressing table, and pointed it out to Larry. "Look," he said to him, walking into the bedroom, "I wondered about the size of the little safe Gillian told us about." He lifted it up to see how heavy it was. It was quite heavy but could be carried easily from one place to another without too much difficulty. "So at least we now know what a mobile safe looks like," he said to Larry, with a raised brow. He and Larry then made their way downstairs, and followed the sounds of the others talking to Gillian in the kitchen. "Here you are boys," she said, pouring out a tall glass of lemonade for each of them. "Did you find anything of interest at the window?" "Not really," said Fatty, after taking a long drink. "Would it be okay if we had a look in the rear garden, and see if we can find out anything else?" "Yes, of course you can," said Gillian. "It's nice to have you all as company. You take as long as you like."

"I'm sure no one is hiding in here now," said Fatty, with a reassuring smile at Gillian. "Buster would be barking if he could hear someone else." "Yes, I'm sure he would," she said. "He's a lovely dog. If the Mortons had a dog I'm sure they wouldn't have been burgled." Finishing their drinks, the Find-Outers put the glasses back on the tray, and Gillian opened the large French windows for them all to go into the rear garden. "You can take Buster off the lead once outside," she said, to Fatty. "He can't get out, it's very secure." "Thanks," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll just have a look around the garden and then we'll leave you to your work." "Don't you worry about time," said Gillian, looking quite happy to have their company. "Before you go you must all try some of my chocolate cake!" The children smiled with delight, and made their way out into the rear garden. "Okay, Find-Outers," said Fatty, his eyes gleaming, "get to work and see if any of you can find any clues. It's a stroke of luck being able to look around like this. What a blessing that Gillian was feeling scared and the Mortons are out. So let's make the most of this given opportunity. Go to it Find-Outers and hunt around!"

CHAPTER 8: LOOKING FOR CLUES

Feeling excited the Find-Outers started to do what they did best, and hunt around for anything that could possibly be a clue to the cat burglar in the garden. Daisy and Bets headed down to where the garden sloped towards the river, as that was probably where the burglar had entered from. Pip and Larry looked all around the sides of the garden, Buster was happy to run around the wide expanse of lawn taking advantage of being off his lead, and Fatty made for the drainpipe that was sitting by the bathroom window. He looked up at window, and followed down the drainpipe trying not to miss anything. Nothing was noticeable, he couldn't even see the slight indentation on the wooden window sill, from down in the garden. He stooped down just below the level of the window and examined every inch of the curved paving that followed the line of the lawn. He suddenly spotted a small fragment of wood and picked it up, wondering if it had come from that small indentation on the window sill above. Taking out the note-book from his pocket, he

carefully placed the small find and closed his book to keep it safe. It could be a clue, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to over-look anything at this stage of the mystery. With a last look around he turned and started to walk across the lawn to where the others had suddenly grouped together beside a large summer house, with a wooden veranda, that looked out across the river through the fencing. "Has anyone found anything?" said Fatty, as he approached. "I have, Fatty," said Bets, in excitement, her eyes gleaming brightly, as she produced a green sweet wrapper in her hands. "I've told you that can't be a clue," said Pip, sounding annoyed. "The couple who live here have probably dropped that wrapper when they've been sitting here in the summer house watching the river!" "You don't know that for certain," said Bets, almost in tears that the clue she'd found may be nothing at all. "Pip's right," said Larry, kindly. "I really don't think that's a clue." Daisy put her arm around Bets. "At least you've been looking around and spotting that wrapper shows you've done a good job, Bets." Fatty looked at Bets' disappointed face, and said, "We'll keep that wrapper as a clue, just to be on the safe side." He took out the notebook from his pocket once more and taking the wrapper from Bets, popped it safely into his book. "There, so that's two clues we've found," he said, popping the notebook back into his pocket. "Oh goody," said Bets, feeling happier now that she knew her clue was being taken seriously. "What else have you found, Fatty?" "A small fragment of wood, just below the bathroom window," he said. "I think it may be from that small indentation we found on the sill, Larry." Larry's eyes widened with excitement. "Oh smashing, so that small indentation could be a clue after all, Fatty. But what could have made it?" The others looked at Larry and Fatty in puzzlement. "What indentation?" said Pip. Fatty told them how he had run his hand along the outside window sill, and had felt and seen a very small indention where the wood had obviously fallen away for some reason. "It's got to be a clue," said Daisy, thinking hard about what could possibly have caused a piece of wood to fall away. "Do you think something was dragged up by a rope once the burglar was inside the bathroom?" she said, the thought suddenly occurring to her. Fatty stared at Daisy for a few moments, and then a smile appeared on his face. "That's a very good point, Daisy. That slight groove could well have been caused by a rope. The burglar could have leant through the window and started to pull something up attached to the rope, which was probably heavy!" "But what could he have been pulling up?" said Larry, looking puzzled. "Maybe he was lowering something down." Fatty's eyes widened with excitement, and then he suddenly gave a whoop of delight and did a little jig up and down, which had the others watching him in amusement.

"Okay, Fatty, what's so exciting?" said Pip, with a grin. "Larry's just solved the indentation puzzle," he said, his eyes gleaming in delight. "Don't you all see? It was the little safe that was being lowered down through the bathroom window, which means that the cat burglar wasn't alone! Someone else was down in the garden, waiting for the safe to be lowered, and it was them who managed to break open the safe, take out the jewellery, and when that was done, the person in the bathroom pulled the safe back up with the opened jewellery box inside and put it back into the cupboard, therefore keeping all the noise to a minimum." "Of course," said Pip, his eyes shining brightly. "There's nothing else it could be really. I say, Fatty, do you think the police have worked that out?" Fatty pondered on that for a moment, then said, "I don't really know, Pip. Trouble is we haven't really any proof as such, and I'm not sure if I should go and see Superintendent Jenks with just a theory." The others nodded quietly. "That's true, Fatty," said Daisy. "The police may say that the cat burglar probably worked alone. He could quite easily have lowered down the safe, then let the rope drop, and shinned down the drainpipe, broken it open as you suggested, then holding onto the rope climbed back up again." "I think it would be pretty difficult to climb up the drainpipe with a rope that's got a small safe attached to it," said Larry, dryly to his sister. "Even for a cat burglar!" Fatty grinned. "At least you're all thinking about possible scenarios. And that's good, Find-Outers." "Fatty, how can a safe be attached to the rope?" said Bets, puzzled. "Wouldn't it slip off?" "I would have thought that it was probably put into a sack, or some kind of strong net, then lowered, Bets," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "But of course this is all guess work on my part." "We could go and see Superintendent Jenks and ask him about the other burglaries outside of the area, and see if they compare to this one," said Larry, keenly. "Maybe old Clear-Orf already knows the answer to that," said Pip, sounding slightly down-hearted. "He's bound to have been informed about those other burglaries by the Super, and let's face it; he's not going to tell us!" The others all agreed that was the last thing that Mr. Goon would be informing them about. "At least old Clear-Orf doesn't have any idea that we've been lucky enough to look around The Willows, and he's not got that small piece of wood as a clue, either," said Fatty, feeling pleased. "Well what shall we do now?" said Pip, quickly glancing at his watch. "We haven't really got time to go and investigate the circus." Fatty agreed, they needed a full afternoon or morning to look around the circus and get into conversation with the performers. "We'll go and have that cake that Gillian offered us," said Fatty, "and then take a leisurely cycle ride back to Peterswood." He called to Buster, who

came racing over to them all, and putting him back on his lead, they walked back to Gillian in the kitchen. "Are you all ready for some cake and lemonade?" she asked them, with a smile. "Oh, yes please," they almost chorused together. "Sit yourselves down at the table," she said, cutting enormous slices of chocolate cake, which she put onto a large plate, and brought over to the table. "Help yourselves. I'll pour Buster a drink; he looks as if he's in need of one." They all looked at Buster who was panting heavily with his tongue hanging out. Fatty rubbed the dog's head. "I expect he's actually drooling over this excellent chocolate cake," he said, with a grin. "There you go, Buster," said Gillian, putting a large bowl of water down by his side. "You can take his lead off if you like as the cats are safely in the other room." Fatty unclipped Buster's lead, and treated him to a small piece of chocolate cake. "Do Mr. and Mrs. Morton use that lovely summer house much?" asked Fatty, suddenly remembering the green toffee wrapper that Bets had found. "Oh yes, all the time," said Gillian, with a smile. "They love sitting there watching the boats going up and down on the river." "It must be lovely sitting there in the sunshine, eating ice-cream and toffees," said Fatty, with an inquisitive smile. "Yes, they love their ice-cream," said Gillian, "but they don't eat sweets or toffees of any kind." Bets gave Fatty a satisfied smile, then glancing slightly at her brother Pip, she gave him a knowing look that said I told you it was a clue! Once the children had finished eating cake and drinking lemonade, they got up to leave, thanking Gillian. "Your cake is delicious," said Fatty, politely. "Thank you so much for allowing us to have a look around." "You're most welcome," said Gillian, smiling at them all. "And thank you for walking me back here. I felt a lot safer with you all around." Putting Buster back on his lead, they followed Gillian to the front door and collected their bicycles. "I'll open the gate when I see you've got there," she said, pointing to a small switch sitting on the wall in the hall just by the front door. The Find-Outers wheeled their bikes up the drive, shouting 'goodbye' once more to Gillian. As they reached the gate it opened to allow them through, and once through it started to close again. They were soon cycling along the river enjoying the sunshine and feeling happy at what they'd discovered that afternoon, and before they realized they were back in Peterswood and cycling past the familiar boats that were there for the extravaganza. As they approached the Grey Heron, Thomas was on deck, and called to them as they drew nearer. "Hello," he yelled. "Where have you all been today?" "A bicycle ride to Marlow," said Fatty, stopping by the boat, with the others.

"Come aboard," said Thomas. "Father is out this afternoon, and I'm getting a bit fed up on my own." "Well just for a short while," said Fatty, evasively, getting off his bicycle and propping it against the bushes. He picked up Buster and climbed aboard the boat, followed by the others. Thomas seemed pleased to have the company, and said he'd go below and bring out something for them to drink. He was soon back, carrying a large jug of lemonade with six glasses. "Shall I get the ice from the box?" said Bets, being nearer to the ice box than the others were. "Thanks," said Thomas, pouring out six glasses. Opening the ice-box, Bets was suddenly startled by a large fish that was placed on the pieces of ice and shrieked, causing everyone to jump. Thomas glanced over at her looking shocked, then blushing slightly, said, "I'm sorry. I forgot my father had put a fish in there." He moved Bets slightly out of the way, and closed the lid. "I'll get some more ice. I won't be a minute." He quickly disappeared back into the cabin, and Bets lifted the lid of the ice-box once more and took a closer look at the large fish, not feeling so foolish now she knew it was there. She prodded it gently. "It's quite a fat fish," she said, turning to look at the others. "Come and look." "No thanks," said Pip, bluntly. "I know what a fish looks like." "Close the lid, Bets," said Larry, as Buster went up to explore the box. "We'll have the smell of fish reaching us soon, either that, or Buster will steal it," he finished, with a grin. Bets closed the lid and sat back at the table just as Thomas arrived with the ice. "Sorry about that," he said, again. "Help yourselves to ice." "Does your father do a lot of fishing?" said Fatty, taking a sip of his drink. "No, it's not his fish," said Thomas, rather vaguely. "A friend of ours in one of the other boats moored just a short way down river, caught it, and Father is taking it to a friend he knows to have it stuffed and mounted on a board. Anyway, how has your day been? I wish I had a bicycle here so I could have ridden over to Marlow with you all." Secretly the Find Outers were pleased he hadn't. They didn't want Thomas in on their investigations with this latest mystery! They wanted to solve it themselves before Mr. Goon did!

CHAPTER 9: ANOTHER BURGLARY

The following day the Find-Outers met up in Pip and Bets' garden at ten o'clock, to discuss their findings of the day before. "I couldn't believe our luck when Gillian said she worked at the very house that had been burgled," said Fatty, looking delighted. "Not only did it save us the job of asking around in the village, but I really don't think we'd have been able to have a look around The Willows as we did if we hadn't met her." "I'm still not sure if Bets' toffee wrapper is really a clue," said Pip, looking uncertain. "Even though the Mortons don't eat sweets, it could easily have been blown into their garden from the riverside." "You're just jealous, Pip, because it was me who found the clue and not you," Bets snapped at him. "Well it is a clue, isn't it, Fatty?" "I really think it is," said Fatty, positively. "I don't think it could have blown into the garden from the riverside either, Pip, mainly because there is no walkway on that side of the river. The gardens of those houses go straight down to the edge of the river, with just fencing between them and the water." "Fatty's right, Pip," said Larry. "You'll just have to face it, Bets found that clue, which makes her smarter than you, old thing!" Everyone laughed, and Buster joined in with a sudden bark, causing Pip to blush slightly. "What's the plan now, Fatty?" said Daisy, eager to get going again with the mystery. Before Fatty could answer, Luke from next door appeared at the fencing, and looking at them all called them over. "Have you heard?" he said in urgent tones, as they approached. "Heard what?" said Fatty, looking puzzled. "Lady Candling has been burgled," he said, anxiously. "She's ever so upset. She discovered some of her jewellery missing just under an hour ago. It must have happened during the night, though she says she never heard anything. The police have been called and are on their way over here." The Find-Outers looked at Luke, stunned to hear what he had to say. "That means Mr. Goon will be on the case before us," said Fatty, sounding disappointed. "Has Lady Candling discovered how the thief got in, Luke?" "She's not sure, she's so upset. Most of the upstairs windows were open during the night anyway, so I guess the thief could have climbed through any of them." "Is it just jewellery that is missing?" said Larry. Luke nodded. "Yes, some of her expensive jewellery. Obviously the thief knew what to take." "Was any of it locked away?" said Daisy, thinking of the safe that the Mortons had.

"I really don't know," said Luke, shaking his head. "Miss Harmer told us when she came out to see to the cats." Miss Harmer was the kennel-girl who was hired to look after Lady Candling's prizewinning Siamese Cats. "I wonder if we've got time to have a quick look around before old Clear-Orf gets here," said Fatty, desperate to see if they could find any clues. "I shouldn't think so," said Luke. "Lady Candling phoned the police a while ago, so they should be almost here by now. I came to tell you because I heard you all laughing in the garden." "Thanks for that, anyway, Luke," said Fatty, sounding grateful. "I'd better go," said Luke, making a move. "Just in case I'm wanted, not that I can be of any help to the police, as I went home early yesterday afternoon. Cheerio!" Luke left them all staring after him as he walked over to the greenhouses. "Well that's a turn up for the books," said Fatty, still rather shocked at what Luke had told them, as they made their way back to sit on the lawn. "The thief is now in our area. If only we'd known about the burglary sooner!" "We'll be able to go in and have a good look around once old ClearOrf has left," said Larry, sounding cheerful. "I know, but if there are any clues to be found, Mr. Goon would have found them before us," said Fatty, with a sigh. "What jolly bad luck, and after the luck we had yesterday, too!" "Don't look so downhearted, Fatty," said Bets, not liking seeing Fatty looking so sad. "We managed to find a few clues yesterday, so we could still find the odd clue that old Clear-Orf has missed." Fatty brightened up. "Fancy Lady Candling being burgled though, right next door to you and Bets, Pip. Did you hear anything yourselves last night? Pip and Bets glanced at each other, both shaking their heads. "Not a thing," said Pip, "but the houses are quite a distance apart." "True," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "It's a bit frightening to think that the burglary was so close to us, though," said Bets, looking quite alarmed. "I do hope the burglar doesn't come back tonight and break into our house. I'm keeping my window firmly locked tonight." Fatty smiled at Bets' worried expression. "Don't worry," he assured her. "I doubt very much that the thief will come back again tonight." "Mother's jewellery isn't all that expensive anyway," said Pip, with a shrug. "So there's nothing worth stealing." Fatty looked at Pip silently for a long moment, tense concentration on his face. The others had seen that look on Fatty's face before, and Pip said, "What are you thinking about, Fatty?" "Something that you've just said, Pip," he answered slowly. "You've not been burgled, nor are you likely to be as your mother's jewellery isn't expensive. You know that, but how does the burglar know? And why is he only targeting those houses where there is expensive jewellery? It's almost as if he knows, or has been told which houses to target!"

"I think you're right, Fatty," said Larry, with wide excited eyes. "I wonder if Superintendent Jenks would be able to answer that for us. He must know if he's read up on the reports on the other burglaries, even though they were outside his area." Fatty nodded. "Yes, that connection must surely have been made." "I wonder if old Clear-Orf is next door yet," said Bets. "I wish we could go and see, Fatty." "We'll just have to wait until he leaves," said Fatty, thinking the same thing. "I'm sure Luke will tell us when the coast is clear." "We'll have to think up a good excuse to visit Lady Candling and get her to tell us about the burglary," said Daisy. "She may not even want visitors today!" "That may be true," said Fatty, wondering what the best cause of action would be. "I think the best plan would be for you to say you have a message from your mother, Pip and Bets." "But what message?" said Pip, suddenly looking alarmed. "I don't want to get into trouble with Mother if she finds out!" "Maybe she isn't yet aware of the burglary next door," began Larry, thoughtfully. "You could go and tell her, Pip, then ask her if she wants you to deliver any message from her." "That's a good idea," said Bets, excitedly. "Go and tell Mother now, Pip, and see what she says." "Okay," said Pip, rather reluctantly, and set off indoors, the others watching him as he walked down the garden pathway. No sooner had Pip walked away, than they heard Luke whistling for them over by the garden fencing. They walked over, wondering what news he had. "Mr. Goon will be out soon, looking around the grounds," said Luke, to the eagerly awaiting children. "And you'll never guess who is also interviewing Lady Candling!" Luke was looking at them all with wide excited eyes. "I bet I can guess," said Fatty, with a satisfied nod. "Superintendent Jenks." "Yes," Luke confirmed. "I've not seen him since he was an ordinary Inspector, when Mr. Tupping was arrested for trying to steal Dark Queen. He's a real high up policeman now." "I wonder why he's come along too," said Larry, with a raised puzzled brow. "Probably because it's Lady Candling that's been burgled," said Fatty. "And it is in his area now." The others nodded, feeling quite excited that Superintendent Jenks was just next door. "I do hope we'll be able to see him before he goes," said Bets. She liked the very high up policeman. "Well I must get back," said Luke, turning to go. "I just wanted to let you know." "Thanks," said Fatty, as Luke walked away. Pip returned just then, wondering why they were all looking over the garden fencing into next door. "What have I missed?" he asked, looking over the fencing.

"Old Clear-Orf will be out in the garden soon," said Fatty, with a grin. "We'll keep an eye open for him, and the good news is that Superintendent Jenks is next door talking to Lady Candling." "Excellent news," said Pip, wide eyed. "We'll be able to speak to him now before he leaves." "What did your mother say?" said Fatty, looking at Pip. "She was ever so surprised and said she would give Lady Candling a ring this evening, as she's already got a prior engagement this afternoon, and so won't be able to call." "That's the excuse we'll give when we call on Lady Candling once Mr. Goon and Superintendent Jenks have left." "Here's Mr. Goon," said Larry, suddenly, looking over to the rear of Lady Candling's house, and watching Mr. Goon as he walked slowly around, obviously looking for any clues the burglar may have left. They all peered over the fence, watching Mr. Goon who was going about his duty, totally unaware of the five faces that were watching him. Buster glanced over at the children to see what they were up to, and as nothing much seemed to be going on, he curled himself up again and went back to sleep in the sunny spot on the lawn. They watched Mr. Goon for what seemed like ages, as he walked around, stooping down now and then as if examining the area, then walking around again. He suddenly glanced over to the far side of the garden where the Find-Outers were peering at him over the fence, and his face turned its usual colour of purple in anger. Those pests again, he thought to himself. Why did they have to live in his village! "Found anything interesting, Mr. Goon?" called Fatty, with a wide smile. Mr. Goon walked over to the fencing, puffing himself out to look important. "You pests just stay away from this garden and this mystery. The police are dealing with this, and we don't want you kids poking your noses into anything that doesn't concern you. And what's more you'd better all watch out as the Superintendent is indoors talking to Lady Candling." "Really?" said Fatty, feigning surprise. "Well you'd better be on your best behaviour then Mr. Goon, and make sure you find lots of clues, otherwise the Super will want to know why not!" Mr. Goon's face turned even more purple with anger, as he shouted, "Just you clear-orf, and let me get on with my bounden duty, otherwise I'll report you all to Mrs. Hilton when I call on her later to see if she heard anything last night!" Pip suddenly looked worried; he didn't want Mr. Goon complaining to his mother about them all. Fatty noticed Pip's look and beckoned the others to move away, as he didn't want Mrs. Hilton to suddenly stop any of them from helping to solve this particular mystery. Just as the children were moving from the fence, Bets suddenly said, "Oh, Mr. Goon, have you by any chance found a green toffee wrapper?" The others all looked at Bets with a frown, but couldn't say anything to her as Mr. Goon who had started to walk away came back to the fence looking decidedly angry once more. "I should have known you pests would go planting false clues just like you've done before," he

almost shouted, causing Buster to suddenly wake up at hearing the sound of his enemy's voice, and come racing over to the fence barking frantically. Fatty quickly quietened the dog down, just as Mr. Goon pulled the green toffee wrapper from his pocket and threw it at Fatty. "Superintendent Jenks will get to hear about this right now, leaving false clues when a serious crime has been committed. You'll all get into trouble now, and it's about time too!" With that he walked away towards the house, looking very pleased with himself indeed. "Bets, you idiot!" said Pip, really angry. "What made you ask that?" "I wanted to know if he'd found the same clue as I had," said Bets, almost in tears. "I thought that if he had found the same clue then we wouldn't find it." "Now we're in deep trouble with Mother," said Pip, still angry. "And it looks like Mr.Goon will definitely call on her anyway, to ask if she heard anything last night!" The others all looked concerned, whilst Fatty picked up the toffee wrapper that Mr. Goon had thrown at him. "At least we now know that old Clear-Orf had found this wrapper," he said, looking quite pleased. "And the good news is we have the clue and he doesn't." "Well it proves the wrapper Bets found is definitely a clue," said Daisy. "And it proves the cat burglar also likes the toffees that have this wrapper around them." "But what will we do now?" said Pip, looking concerned. "Mr. Goon thinks we planted it there as a trick, and he'll be telling just that to Superintendent Jenks right now." "Don't worry," said Fatty, suddenly looking pleased. "It means that Superintendent Jenks will now pay us a visit as he knows we're here in Pip and Bets' garden. And we'll tell him the truth that we didn't plant that wrapper, and that we have one just like it which we found in the garden at The Willows. So cheer up, Find-Outers, we won't get into trouble and we can ask the Super to tell us as much as he's allowed to about the other burglaries that have taken place, so we can compare them to the one in Marlow and the one here last night." The others cheered up slightly. "I hope you're right, Fatty," said Pip, looking slightly relieved. "The last thing we need is to get into trouble with Mother and be forbidden to have anything to do with this mystery, and all because Bets has to put her foot in it and ask such a stupid question!" Bets began to look downhearted again, and wish she hadn't said anything. Fatty glanced over at her and said, lightly, "Don't worry, Bets. It was just a silly mistake. At least we can look forward to Superintendent Jenks calling here to see us as I'm sure that's exactly what he'll do."

CHAPTER 10: A VISIT FROM SUPERINTENDENT JENKS

Fatty was right, for within the hour, Mrs. Hilton was walking down the garden path with Superintendent Jenks. Everyone smiled at their approach and Bets rushed over to him for a big hug. Mrs. Hilton smiled, and said, "I was a bit concerned when the Superintendent called on me, but he has assured me this is just a courtesy call. So I hope you'll all stay out of trouble." She smiled at the Superintendent and walked back through the garden. "Well, it's lovely to see the Find-Outers once more," he said, with a twinkle in his eye. He sat down on the grass by them all and Buster rolled over and over, just as excited to see him, and the Superintendent tickled his belly. "You're not angry with us are you?" began Bets, almost in tears. "Of course not," said the Superintendent, giving Bets another hug. "But I would like to know if you have been leaving Mr. Goon any false clues!" "It wasn't a false clue, sir," said Fatty, politely. "We haven't been in Lady Candling's garden and we didn't even know of the burglary until Luke told us earlier." "I see," said Superintendent Jenks, with a nod, "so Mr. Goon has actually handed you a vital clue, as it were!" "Yes, sir," said Fatty, showing the toffee wrapper to the Superintendent. "When he threw it at me I knew it was a clue, as we too have one which we found in the grounds of The Willows, over at Marlow." "Really?" the Superintendent's eyes suddenly lit up brightly. "Would you like to tell me about that, Frederick?" Fatty nodded and, with the others listening intently, he proceeded to tell the Superintendent of them hearing about the burglary in Marlow, and how they had cycled over there the day before to see if they could learn anything more. And how, by a stroke of luck, a young woman called Gillian had sat next to them by the river and mentioned she worked at the very house that had been burgled, and because she was nervous about going back to the house alone, they had walked her home and seen her safely indoors. Superintendent Jenks smiled at them all on hearing those last words. "So you all took advantage of that particular situation, I expect, and had a good look around to see if the police had left any clue behind," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I didn't expect to find any, sir," said Fatty, truthfully, "but I did find this small piece of splintered wood just below the bathroom window." He took out his notebook, and showed the Superintendent his clue, and told him where he expected it had come from after examining the bathroom window sill. "Bets also found this green toffee wrapper over by the summer-house." He produced the wrapper, showing it to be the same as the one Mr. Goon had handed over just a short while before. "Well done, young Bets," said Superintendent Jenks, with a bright smile. "You're a very good Find-Outer." Bets blushed under his gaze and gave a small smile. As the Superintendent was examining the small piece of splintered wood, Fatty said, "I also have a theory sir, of how that fragment could have been torn from the window sill." "Please do tell me, Frederick," he said, looking interested. "Well sir, when Larry and I examined the window sill in the bathroom where Gillian said the burglar had entered, and I felt that small indentation, it puzzled me as to what could have caused it. It wasn't until I found that piece of wood that I realized it had to be a clue of some kind. It then suddenly occurred to me that the burglar after entering had pulled something up with a rope, something that was heavy and caused the rope to cut into the window sill." "Well thought out, Frederick, if I may say so," said Superintendent Jenks looking impressed. "But then, Larry said that it could also have been made by something heavy being lowered down to the ground by a rope," said Fatty, with wide eyes. "And that something could quite easily have been the small safe containing the jewellery, and it was being lowered so that it could be opened without causing too much noise by someone else who was waiting just below the window. Then when it was empty, the safe was pulled back up and replaced." Fatty was breathing heavily in excitement and the others were all looking just as excitedly at the Superintendent, waiting for his reply to Fatty's theory. He looked at their excited and anxious faces and, smiling widely and nodding his head, he said, "Well done, Frederick, and you too Larry. I think that's exactly what must have happened. We've had our suspicions from previous burglaries outside of this area that these burglars are working in a pair. That's a very good piece of detective work, Find-Outers, if I may say so." Everyone was pleased. Praise from Superintendent Jenks himself was praise indeed. "There's something else we'd like to ask you sir, if we may?" said Pip, evasively, not really sure whether he should be asking this particular question or not. Superintendent Jenks raised a questioning brow and said, "Fire away, Pip. What's on your mind?" "Well, sir," began Pip, slowly. "Lady Candling had her expensive jewellery stolen, but we next door weren't burgled at all, but as Mother has said to me, she hasn't really anything valuable worth stealing. Then Mr. and Mrs. Morton at The Willows had their

expensive jewellery stolen, so how did the thieves know which houses to target? It seems as though they knew which houses to choose." The Superintendent smiled and nodded his head. "And I'm suspecting that you have an idea on that score, Find-Outers," he said, beaming around at all of them. "Yes, sir," said Fatty, with a grin. "The thieves know which houses to target because they are getting their information from some other source." "Exactly," said Superintendent Jenks. "This we've known since these burglaries started a while back. Inside information is being passed to these thieves, probably from insurance companies who are insuring these stolen items, and that is being investigated also by other members of the police force." "Gosh, this sounds like a really big operation," said Larry, almost in awe. "Probably far too big for us to solve," he finished, feeling a little down-hearted. "I think you're right on that score, Larry," said the Superintendent, with a smile. "These thieves are highly professional, and have outwitted the police force so far." "We can still keep our eyes and our ears open, though," said Daisy, not wanting their mystery to come to a sudden end. "Of course you can," said Superintendent Jenks, with a smile. "Keep alert, and keep your ears to the ground, as the saying goes, but I think it's the police that will solve the mystery this time, and not the FindOuters." He suddenly saw their faces fall in disappointment, and said, "But well done for what you've found out so far, and that really is a great bit of detection work at The Willows, Frederick. Something the two police-officers overlooked, I'm sorry to say. So that's going to be my next port of call, driving over to Marlow to see the Mortons." "Will you need to take our clues, sir?" said Fatty, not really wanting to give them up, but thinking that he may have to in the circumstances. "Not at this precise moment in time, Frederick," said Superintendent Jenks, much to Fatty's relief. "I know you have them if I require them, and as for the toffee wrappers, well, there will be so many fingerprints all over them now, it will really be too difficult to decipher them all." Fatty blushed slightly. How idiotic of him not to think of fingerprints when he was handling those clues. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's my fault, I should have been more aware of fingerprints." The Superintendent smiled. "Don't be too harsh on yourselves. You've done an excellent job so far." He stood to leave, and after thanking them again, he said a cheerful 'goodbye' then left to drive over to his next port of call, The Willows. "Well I don't know about any of you, but I feel a bit flat now," said Daisy, looking at everyone. "We've done so well so far and yet this is one mystery we'll not be able to solve."

"We're not giving up that easily," said Fatty, with a strong determination. "We managed to solve The Mystery of the Missing Necklace, didn't we, and that involved a well-organized group of criminals, so there's no reason why we can't solve this mystery." Everyone suddenly felt a bit better, hearing Fatty's words. "Come on, Find-Outers, we'll call and see Lady Candling and give her the message that your mother will ring her this evening, Pip." So with renewed vigour, and Buster firmly on his lead, due to Lady Candling's prize-winning cats, the Find-Outers headed up the driveway next door, and on reaching the front door knocked sharply on the large knocker. "I do hope Lady Candling won't mind us calling," said Pip, sounding worried. "She may tell Mother we called." Before anyone could answer him, the door was opened by Miss Trimble, Lady Candling's companion, and on seeing the children standing before her, she smiled and immediately her glasses fell off her nose, and dangled on the long chain to which they were attached. The children all gave a smile, and Bets once more made up her mind to silently count how many times the glasses fell off Miss Trimble's nose as she'd done on many an occasion. "We called to see Lady Candling," began Fatty, "and to tell her that Mrs. Hilton will ring her this evening and how sorry she is to hear of the burglary." "Oh yes, it was a dreadful shock," said Miss Trimble. "I'm all of a tremble still." "Yes, you must be," said Daisy, in sympathetic tones. "I'm afraid you can't see Lady Candling," said Miss Trimble, her glasses suddenly falling again from her nose, so that she had to pop them back before carrying on again. "She's in bed with the most dreadful headache. She's taken the shock really badly." "I'm sorry to hear that," said Fatty, in a polite grown up voice, which caused Miss Trimble to smile. "It must have been terrible for you both. Did the thief break open Lady Candling's safe?" "Oh no, nothing like that," said Miss Trimble. "Lady Candling doesn't have a safe, her jewellery is always kept in her jewellery box in her dressing room. She didn't expect to be burgled, so never locked it away." "How did the thief get into the house?" said Pip. "We didn't hear anything at all next door." "Apparently he climbed in through the upstairs landing window," said Miss Trimble, her glasses falling once more from her nose, so that she had to put them back on. "We leave it open most evenings when the weather has been as hot as it is now. It's not a very large window, so we thought it was safe enough to leave open. I wouldn't have thought a man could get through it, as I told Mr. Goon and the Superintendent." "Would you mind if we walked around the garden and had a look?" said Fatty, with a polite smile. "No, of course not, but don't make too much noise in the garden, as I don't want Lady Candling disturbed, and please keep your dog on the

lead because of the cats," she said, popping her glasses back on her nose as they'd fallen off once more. The Find-Outers said goodbye to Miss Trimble and made their way around the side of the house and into the rear garden. "Interesting what Miss Trimble said about the window being quite a small one," said Larry. "The thief must be a small man, Fatty." "We'll take a look," said Fatty, walking around the sides of the house. They came to what they hoped was the window of the first floor landing, and looking up they could see that it was quite a narrow window. "The thief must be quite thin, too," said Daisy. "So at least we now know we are looking for a small, thin man." "The drainpipe isn't all that close to the window," said Pip, looking at the distance. "He must be really sure footed to be able to manoeuvre from that pipe onto the window sill." "Yes, I was thinking that too," said Fatty, looking at the distance. "Well let's have a good look around whilst we're here, Find-Outers, and see if Mr. Goon may have missed anything." The Find-Outers set to work, searching around for anything that could possibly be a clue. Bets and Daisy walked further away towards the trees, saying that the thieves may have been waiting in that area until they were sure the coast was clear. As it was they both found two more of the toffee wrappers, which proved that the thieves had indeed been waiting by the trees. "Good work," said Fatty, looking pleased, and putting the wrappers inside his notebook. "That proves they did wait for a while making sure the coast was clear." "What shall we do now, Fatty?" said Pip, as they made their way from Lady Candling's garden. "I think we should pay a visit to the circus this afternoon, over at Marlow," said Fatty, with a mysterious expression. "Let's see if any of the performers are on the small and slim side. If they are, then they could be our thieves."

CHAPTER 11: A VISIT TO THE CIRCUS

After their lunch, the Find-Outers set off on their bicycles to Marlow. Buster was left at home in the kitchen with cook, much to his annoyance, but as soon as cook put him down a large plate of chicken scraps he looked very happy indeed.

They took the river path passing all the boats, and waved happily to the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, who were sitting on the deck of 'The Sweet Sue' enjoying their lunch. Passing the Grey Heron they looked out for Thomas, but the Grey Heron looked deserted and the cabin door was firmly closed. "I wonder where Thomas and his father have got to," said Larry, as they cycled by, quite surprised that Thomas at least wasn't there. "Probably off somewhere themselves," said Daisy. "After all, it is a lovely day. Maybe they've gone for a walk." "There are a lot more boats about too," said Bets. "There won't be room for any more on the river soon!" The others grinned at Bets, and cycled along, enjoying their ride, and were soon in Marlow whereupon they followed the signs for the 'circus' which took them just on the outskirts and into a large green field. Dismounting their bicycles, they walked through the large open gate and put their bicycles along the hedging just behind a group of large circus lorries. "They should be safe enough here," said Fatty, looking at the others. "Come on, let's go and see what we can find." They headed over to the large circus tent, looking around at all the activity going on around them. Horses were being exercised around the field, all following each other in an orderly line. "Those must be the dancing horses," said Bets, with a smile. "Don't they look lovely?" Then they saw a group of dogs, chasing after each other in a large pen, having a great time playing their game of chase, and so the FindOuters stopped for a few moments, laughing at their playful games. "Good job Buster isn't here," said Fatty, with a laugh. "He'd have wanted to join in all the fun." They others all agreed, and turning to walk on, they saw a couple of circus performers coming towards them, each riding a unicycle, sitting quite high up, and balancing perfectly as they came towards the children. The Find-Outers stopped in awe, marvelling at their balancing abilities, and the two performers did a bit of their routine for the children, ending by riding in a circle both holding hands. The Find-Outers clapped in admiration and excitement and, giving a slight bow, the performers both jumped down from their unicycles and, smiling at the children, a young woman said, "Thanks, kids. If you want to book for the show the booking tent is closed at the moment, but should be open soon, ready for the three o'clock show." "Thanks," said Fatty. "Will it be okay if we have a look around the circus whilst waiting?" "Of course," said the other performer, a young man, with very fair hair. "My family own the circus so be my guest. If anyone questions you, just say Boris said it was okay." The Find-Outers smiled. "Thanks," said Larry, with a small grateful nod. The performers gave another small bow, and getting back onto their unicycles they rode off. "They were fantastic," said Daisy, excitedly. "Let's see how much it costs to see the show. I'd love to see it."

"We'll do that before we leave," said Pip, wanting to explore more of the circus. "Let's go and see if we can get into the large tent." "I don't think we'll be able to," said Bets. "The show doesn't start until three o'clock. That young woman has just told us so!" "There's no harm in going to look," snapped Pip. So everyone walked over to the large tent, and going through the small entrance canopy, they saw a thick rope across the entrance which had a 'closed' sign attached to it. Bets felt slightly pleased that she had been proven right, but didn't say anything, as she could see disappointment on her brother's face. They were just about to turn to go away, when four performers, three men and a young woman, walked into the ring, and started to effortlessly shin up some rather thick-looking poles that went straight up to the ceiling of the tent. The Find-Outers stood and watched, as the performers reached the small landing platform they were heading for, and then each in turn started to walk across the tight rope that reached across to the other side, which was also supported by another thick-looking pole with a landing platform. Bets caught her breath a couple of times, when one of the performers couldn't quite get his balance and started to wobble slightly, and by doing so the rope started to wobble too, and seemed to get worse as the performer fought for his balance. Suddenly he fell from the rope, and landed safely in the high net that was beneath them all. "Gosh, that looks really terrifying," said Larry, hardly able to take his eyes off the performers, who were so high up. The others all nodded, just as the performer who had fallen into the net did a sort of somersault out of the net and landed back onto the ground. Suddenly spotting the five children watching their practicing, he called out to them, and started to walk over. "You kids shouldn't be in here," he began, in a slow drawl. "The sign says closed. Can't you read?" Rather taken aback by the bluntness of his words, Fatty said in apologetic tones, "Sorry, we thought it would be okay to watch, as we've just been talking to Boris, and he said it would be okay." The tight rope walker eyed the children up and down rather suspiciously and said, "Did he really? Well, you can't come in here! If you want to watch the show, go and buy yourselves a ticket." With that he threw them an angry glare and walked back to the pole, and started to climb effortlessly back up once more. "What an unpleasant fellow," said Bets, as they walked from the tent. "Yes, and did you all notice that he fits perfectly the requirements of our burglar?" said Fatty, with a raised brow. "He was quite small for a man and very slim." "And we know that climbing and balancing isn't any great effort for him," said Daisy. "I didn't notice though if any of the other performers had the same build." "They all looked on the small side, except for one of the men," said Larry. "He was quite tall, but really thin."

"It's a pity we didn't bring any of those sweets with us that have the green wrapper," said Bets. "We could have offered them all one to see who liked them." "You do say such silly things," said Pip, scornfully. "Lots of people like those toffees, I like them myself, they're a mint caramel. Besides, how were we to offer them any when they were high up in the air?" "It was only an idea," said Bets, looking hurt. "It was a good idea, Bets," said Fatty, always ready to stick up for her. "But Pip is right, if we were looking for somebody who loved those particular toffees then that would probably be half the population of Peterswood." "Let's go and see how much it is for a ticket to watch the circus performance," said Daisy, looking over towards the booking tent and seeing a queue already forming. "I'm longing to see it." Agreeing, they all headed over towards the queue of people and fortunately didn't have to wait long as two people were selling the tickets behind the counter. Fatty asked for a price for the five of them and after a quick chat amongst themselves he bought five tickets for the following afternoon's performance, which started at three o'clock. "We'll bring a picnic and have that before the performance," said Fatty, looking at the tickets before putting them safely into his pocket. "I'm really looking forward to it," said Bets, in excitement. "I do hope Mother will let us go." "We'll tell her that Fatty has already bought the tickets," said Pip. "But I think she's out tomorrow anyway, and so wouldn't mind at all. We'll pay you back for the tickets tomorrow, Fatty." "I'll treat you all," said Fatty, generously. "My aunt whom I went to see the other day gave me quite a bit of spending money, so I used that to pay for the tickets." Fatty always seemed to have quite a bit of spending money in his pockets, but he was always generous with it too. Everyone thanked Fatty for treating them to the circus tickets, and then Daisy said, "Are we going to have a look around the circus field, just in case anyone else could possibly be the burglar?" "Yes, I think it's important to get into conversation with as many of the circus folk as we can," said Fatty, with a nod. "Look," said Pip, suddenly pulling on Fatty's arm. "There's one of the tight rope walkers." He pointed to a small caravan not too far away from where they were walking, where the young man was sitting on the steps of the caravan, drinking water from a plastic bottle. "Good," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll go over and try and get into conversation." They all walked over to the caravan, and the young man looked up at them on their approach. "Hello," said Fatty, with a polite smile. "We saw you practising a short while ago in the ring. You're very good. We've booked to see tomorrow's performance." "Good for you," said the young man, with a grin. "You should enjoy the show. We've had a full house daily since we opened."

"Aren't you afraid of being up so high off the ground?" said Larry, with an innocent smile. "No," the young man shrugged. "I love it up there, it's part of my performance, to look down on the crowd and see them gasp in awe!" "Can you climb up anything as easily as when you climbed that pole?" said Pip. "Climbing is easy," the young man returned. "I can climb up anything, to any height, as easy as anything. It's keeping your balance on the tight rope that is skilful." "I've tried to climb up a drainpipe," said Larry, "but found it really difficult." "A drainpipe?" said the young man, with a laugh. "That's so easy. I've been climbing for years and years, even long before your age I was climbing." "It must be so exciting being in the circus and touring around," said Daisy. "Has the circus travelled far to get here to Marlow?" "We've travelled about thirty miles or so," he said, with a shrug, finishing off his drink. "Well, I must get some more practice in for this afternoon's performance." He stood to leave, and the children noticed he wasn't much taller than Fatty, but much slimmer. "Do you like those sweets in a green wrapper?" said Bets, suddenly. "They're a mint caramel." The young man looked at Bets and gave a small laugh. "I love them. Why, have you got any?" Bets blushed and shook her head. "No, I just wondered, that's all!" He gave another laugh, and shaking his head walked off towards the circus tent. "Fancy asking him that," said Pip. "He must have thought you were silly." "Well he did say he liked them," said Bets, with a frown. "And he is only small, and he can climb anything too." "That's true," said Daisy, as they walked on around the circus field. "In fact, many of the circus performers are on the small side, which means the burglars could be any one of them." "Yes, this is going to be quite a difficult mystery to solve," said Fatty, with a sigh, "but somehow the circus has to be tied into those burglaries, especially as we now know from what that man has just told us, that the circus was in the same area as the other burglaries." "Yes, that's a really big clue," said Larry, looking pleased. "I bet old Clear-Orf hasn't worked that part out yet!" As they walked on towards a group of caravans, Fatty suddenly indicated for them to stop, and pointed over towards a large caravan further up the field, where three people were just going inside. "Look," he said, sounding surprised, "isn't that Thomas and his father? I wonder what they're doing here!" Everyone looked to where Fatty was pointing. "We could go over and wait for them to come out and ask them," said Daisy, not seeing why not.

"No, I think we'll bring up the subject casually next time we meet them," said Fatty, sounding mysterious. "My instincts are telling me that something isn't what it seems with those two!"

CHAPTER 12: TEA AND A TALK

The Find-Outers were surprised at Fatty's words but agreed anyway as they all felt that there was something strange about Thomas and his father. "We'll go and have afternoon tea in that nice little caf in Marlow High Street," said Fatty. "The one we went into when we were solving The Mystery of Holly Lane, and then when we cycle back home, hopefully Thomas and his father will be back at their boat and we'll see if they mention coming here this afternoon." "Good idea," said Larry, sounding pleased, whilst the others nodded, looking forward to some macaroons or chocolate clairs. Arriving at the caf they stood their bicycles just below the caf window and once inside took a table over in the window bay. Fatty ordered macaroons and chocolate clairs and a large jug of iced lemonade. "We really must give you some money back for treating us like this, Fatty," said Larry. "I've got a bit of pocket money saved, so that can pay for this tea." "Only if you're sure," said Fatty. "I like to treat my fellow FindOuters." The iced lemonade was extremely refreshing on that hot day, and the macaroons and chocolate clairs tasted just as good as they looked. Feeling full and satisfied, Fatty paid the bill, and then they all set off on their bicycles along the river path back to Peterswood. Approaching the Grey Heron, they saw Thomas on deck and he smiled and waved joyfully to them, asking them to come aboard. All eager to speak anyway with Thomas, they all nodded and leaving their bicycles just along the hedgerow opposite the boat, they all climbed aboard and sat around the small table on deck. "Have you all been for another cycle ride?" said Thomas, looking at them all with envy. "I do wish I had my bike here." "Yes, we've all been over to book tickets for the circus tomorrow afternoon in Marlow," said Fatty, watching Thomas for any reaction at the mention of Marlow. "How fabulous," he said, looking pleased. "I wish I could go."

"You'll have to get your father to take you over there," said Larry, also watching Thomas for any reaction. "Yes, I could do," he returned, vacantly. Then suddenly changing the subject he said, lightly, "I've got some small tubs of ice-cream, in the kitchenette. "Would you like some?" The others all nodded with a smile, and watched as Thomas disappeared into the cabin. "Well he's not mentioned about being in Marlow," whispered Larry, to everyone. They all shook their heads. Bets who was looking over at the ice box by the door, was curious as to whether the fish was still inside and went over quickly, lifting the lid. Studying the fish she thought it looked a little different, but didn't quite know why. "Close the lid," Larry whispered over to her. "We don't want the smell of fish on board." Bets closed the lid and re-joined the others, saying, "It just fascinates me, that's all. And I wondered whether it was still in the box." Thomas returned just then, with six tubs of ice-cream which he handed out to each of them, and they all tucked into the ice cream, scraping it out with little plastic spoons. "Where's your father?" asked Fatty, enjoying the ice-cream and letting it melt in his mouth before swallowing. "He's in the bedroom lying down. The heat gives him a headache sometimes," said Thomas, scraping every last drop of ice-cream from the tub. "You should both go for a nice long walk along the river path," said Pip, looking at Thomas. That should help to clear your father's headache." "Dad prefers to relax on board," said Thomas. "He works hard in his business and likes to just relax when on the river." "When we passed earlier going to Marlow, you weren't on board," said Daisy, lightly, "and the cabin door looked locked." "That must have been when we popped into the village shop," said Thomas, with a smile. "Have you been to Marlow?" said Larry, waiting to see whether Thomas would own up to them both being there only that afternoon. "Not this trip," said Thomas, "but I have been to Marlow on a few occasions." The Find-Outers glanced quickly at each other. Thomas was obviously lying, but why would he want to lie about a visit to the circus in Marlow? "We had a good look around the circus field," said Fatty, watching Thomas closely, hoping his face would at least give something away. "How nice," said Thomas, looking blankly at Fatty. "I hope you all enjoy the circus tomorrow afternoon." "Thanks, I'm sure we will," said Larry, suddenly not really liking Thomas anymore, for being so deceitful. "I think we'd better all be getting back," Larry looked over at Fatty, hoping he'd back him up. "Yes, Buster will be waiting for his walk," he said, standing up and looking at the others. "Come on everyone, just a short cycle home

now. Thanks for the ice-cream, Thomas. It was just what we needed after the bicycle ride from Marlow." "You're welcome," he said, watching them all climbing from the boat and collecting their bicycles. "See you all soon." He gave them all a cheerful wave as they cycled away. The Find-Outers were soon off the river path and back in the village which was quite deserted, being so hot. Approaching the wooden bench in the centre of the village, Fatty slowed them all down and dismounted from his bicycle. They all followed suit, and placing their bikes down on the ground they sat for a little conference on the wooden bench. "I wonder why Thomas wasn't telling us about him being at the circus this afternoon?" said Fatty, thoughtfully. "We all saw him and gave him ample opportunity to say he was there too. So why did he want to keep it such a secret?" "I don't like him much," said Larry. "He's a bit odd." "Yes, I feel the same way about him," said Pip, nodding his head. "I wonder what it is they've got to hide!" "You don't think we were mistaken?" said Daisy, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "Maybe he didn't say he was there because he actually wasn't there!" Everyone looked at Daisy. "But we all saw them both," said Fatty, bemused. "Maybe the two people we saw looked like Thomas and his father," said Daisy, with a slight shrug. The Find-Outers were silent for a moment, pondering on what Daisy had said. "Well it looked awfully like Thomas and his father to me," said Fatty, firmly. "I wonder why that fish is still in that cooling box?" said Bets, suddenly remembering. "It looked a bit different too, when I looked at it." "What do you mean, Bets?" said Fatty, sounding puzzled. "I don't really know," said Bets, with a sigh. "It was the same fish as I recognised a slight marking just by the gill of the fish, but I can't quite put my finger on why it looked a bit different." "If it's the same fish it's not going to look different," said Pip, with a frown. "It's probably another fish." Bets silently shook her head. "No, it was definitely the same fish." "Well let's not worry too much about the fish," said Daisy. "We really need to know why Thomas isn't telling us the truth." "Yes, that's a real puzzle," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he and his father have anything to do with the mystery!" "Well his father does deal in jewellery," said Bets, suddenly remembering what Thomas had told them. Fatty looked straight at Bets as though he had suddenly been struck. His eyes widened brightly. "Clever Bets!" he almost shouted in excitement. "Well remembered, Thomas did tell us exactly that!" The others gaped in surprise. "So what shall we do, Fatty?" said Larry, at last.

"We'll have a meeting in the morning," said Fatty, feeling excited at the thought of following another lead, "and we'll make some plans." "Daisy and I won't be able to come tomorrow morning," groaned Larry. "We have an aunt calling for a couple of hours, and Mother wants us to be there, and then in the afternoon we have the circus." "Blow," said Fatty, sounding disappointed. "Okay, we'll meet tomorrow as mentioned for the picnic over at Marlow before watching the circus performance. "We can have our meeting then." "What if Thomas and his father move out of Peterswood before then?" said Daisy, suddenly thinking that if they moved their boat somewhere else, the Find-Outers wouldn't know where to find it. "Well the gala is on for a few more days yet," said Pip, "so hopefully they'll stay on the river." "Yes, and we know the name of the cruiser if we do have to mention all this to Superintendent Jenks," said Fatty. Everyone looked a bit more hopeful that the Grey Heron would stay moored where it was for a few more days, and got up from the bench to make their separate journeys home. Just as they were about to mount their bicycles, Mr. Goon came cycling along through the village and, seeing the children by the bench, came over and stopped at the kerb beside them. "What are you pests up to?" he said to them all, looking suspicious. "I hope you're not interfering in this latest mystery. The Superintendent is also on this case, so you lot can just keep your noses out!" "We don't poke our noses in," said Fatty, sounding offended. "We help where we can as well you know, Mr. Goon." "Here, I don't want no cheek from you!" said Mr. Goon, in a deep sinister voice. "Just because you're a friend of the Super's doesn't mean you can go around looking important." "How are you getting on with the mystery, anyway, Mr. Goon?" said Fatty, with a questioning raised brow. "That's no concern of yours," came Mr. Goon's firm reply. "Hopefully there will be an arrest soon and the less you kids know about it, the better!" The Find-Outers grinned at Mr. Goon which angered the policeman even more and, throwing them an angry glare, he mounted his bicycle ready to set off again. Before he moved off, Fatty said, flippantly, "Well at least we all know that any arrest you make Mr. Goon won't be of the right culprit, so I don't think we've got anything to worry about there!" The Find-Outers then all rode off laughing loudly, leaving Mr. Goon staring after them, and muttering under his breath of all the things he would love to do to those pests, especially that fat boy called Frederick Algernon Trotteville!

CHAPTER 13: MAKING PLANS AND AN ENJOYABLE AFTERNOON

The following morning, Fatty decided to check out some of his disguises in his shed. He felt more certain now that somehow the circus and Thomas along with his father were connected to these burglaries. Buster sat and watched Fatty pulling out his wigs, false eyebrows, cheek pads and teeth to see which disguise he would choose. His latest new disguise, which he hadn't as yet told the other Find-Outers about, was a postman's uniform, complete with post bag. "This will really fool everyone," he said to Buster. "Even Mr. Goon won't see through this disguise!" Buster wagged his tail at the mention of his enemy, Mr. Goon, but it didn't matter to Buster what disguise his master put on as he always knew it was him. "The others will be pleased that I'm going to put on a disguise," he said, looking at Buster, and rubbing the dog's head. "The question is when should I disguise myself and where? Should I go over to the circus this evening after this afternoon's performance and have a good scout around, or should I wait around by the river and keep my eye on the Grey Heron?" Buster listened intently, his tail wagging joyfully. The only thing he didn't like about his master putting on a disguise was that he wasn't allowed to go with him on these occasions. Fatty began to feel excited about the prospect of dressing up again, and couldn't wait to see the others when they met up later. Just before two o'clock the Find-Outers were once again cycling over to Marlow along the river, waving once again to Mr. and Mrs. Lawson on 'The Sweet Sue', but not seeing any sign of anyone on the Grey Heron. Arriving at the circus field they put their bicycles by the hedgerow, behind the large circus lorries once again, and taking out the picnic from their bicycle baskets they headed over to a nice quiet spot where they wouldn't be disturbed, and away from the already gathering crowd arriving to see the afternoon performance. "Thomas and his father weren't on the Grey Heron," said Larry, voicing what the others had been thinking. "Do you think they could be around here somewhere, Fatty?" "We could have a brief look around before the performance," he said, looking at the others with a raised brow.

Daisy glanced at her watch. "We don't want to be late for the performance though," she added, quickly. "I would like a front row seat if we can get one!" "We'll get a good seat, don't worry," said Fatty, with a smile, and taking one of the ham sandwiches. "Now, we'd better start our meeting, whilst we eat this lovely picnic." The Find-Outers had each brought something along, and Bets happily spread out an old table-cloth she had begged from cook, to place their picnic on. Between them they'd brought ham sandwiches, sardine ones, slices of cake and bottles of ginger beer, and Pip proudly put down a bag of mint caramel sweets all individually wrapped in a green wrapper, identical to their clues. Fatty grinned when he saw Pip putting down the bag of sweets. "Are you going to offer all of the circus performers a toffee, Pip, to see who likes them?" he couldn't help but tease Pip. The others all laughed, and good-naturedly, Pip chuckled too. "I went and bought these at the village store this morning. You never know, they might just lure out our thief!" "That depends if there are any left after we've tucked into them during the circus performance," said Daisy, with a grin. "Right, our meeting," said Fatty, on a serious note. "I thought it would be a good idea for me to disguise myself and come over here this evening and have a scout around!" "That's a good idea, Fatty," began Larry, "but I'd like to come too, just in case you get into any sort of danger." Bets suddenly looked alarmed. "I don't like to think of you getting into anything dangerous, Fatty. Couldn't you just come over tomorrow morning, when it might be safer?" Fatty was silent for a moment, and then said, "I'll be more noticeable during the day, Bets. If I come over this evening when it gets dark, Larry and I can move around without being noticed, and if we do get spotted, we can just say we were looking for a bed for the night." Larry's eyes widened excitedly. "That sounds brilliant. I'm sure I could get away without being noticed. What disguise should we wear, Fatty?" Fatty thought for a long moment, then said, "It might be an idea to dress as a couple of circus looking people. If we suddenly bump into anyone, then we might not look as suspicious." "Sounds exciting," said Larry, looking forward to the coming evening. "And if Larry doesn't arrive home, I know you are both in trouble," said Daisy, "and I'll contact Superintendent Jenks." "I'm sure we'll both be fine, Daisy," said Fatty, with a chuckle. "If we can get talking to a few of the circus people we will. We've got to find out as much as we can whilst disguised." "Couldn't I come over and watch you both disguising yourselves?" said Pip, feeling a little left out. "In fact, why can't I come too? I'm sure I could get away without being seen!" "No, Pip!" said Bets, in alarm. "If Mother suddenly comes upstairs and finds you've gone I won't know what to say!"

"I'm sure you could think of something," snapped Pip, looking hopefully at Fatty. "If you can get away and watch us both getting ready, that's fine, Pip," said Fatty, "but I don't want you getting into trouble with your mother for being out, as she could stop you and Bets from getting involved with this mystery!" Pip looked a little downhearted and then said slowly, "Yes, I think maybe it would be better if I stayed home, as you say, Fatty, we don't want Mother getting suspicious of anything we do." "The next thing we must plan is to watch the Grey Heron," said Fatty, importantly, quickly finishing off his sandwich before carrying on speaking. "I can't help thinking that maybe Thomas and his father are somehow involved with this mystery, but as yet, I don't know how, so the next best thing would be to keep an eye on them both without their knowing." "It's going to be difficult watching the boat," said Daisy. "There aren't many places along the river that would shield us from view. Even if we sat on the bench further along from the boat, we'd still be seen." Fatty pondered a moment and nodded. "Yes, I think you're right, Daisy. The best vantage point would be Mr. and Mrs. Lawson's barge as from there we could clearly see the Grey Heron, and if either Thomas or his father left their boat they wouldn't pass by The Sweet Sue to leave the river path. Then we could just follow at a safe distance." Fatty felt pleased with his idea and looked at the others, waiting for them to agree. But Pip said, "We can't just wait on the barge for hours on end waiting to follow either of them. What would Mr. and Mrs. Lawson think?" "How about we watch from a boat on the river?" said Bets, suddenly coming up with the idea and feeling excited. "We could borrow a small rowing boat and keep it out of their view point, and then when they leave their boat we could row to the side and follow." "And by the time we'd climbed from the boat and tied it to a mooring, Thomas and his father would have disappeared," said Pip, impatiently. "What if only two of us were in the boat, and three of us were hiding somewhere, but in view of the rowing boat?" said Daisy, suddenly, with wide excited eyes. "Then when Thomas and his father leave their boat, the two on the water signal to the other three, who will then be able to follow them both!" Daisy smiled, looking pleased with her idea. Fatty almost shrieked in delight. "Excellent, well done, Daisy! Go to the top of the class, that's a brilliant idea." The others all agreed, and even her brother Larry slapped Daisy on the back, saying, "Well done, old thing!" "We'll plan that out tomorrow morning," said Fatty, finishing off a slice of the cake and quickly glancing at his watch and feeling quite amazed to see that the time had flown by really quickly. "It's time we were heading over to the circus tent."

Feeling full, happy and excited with the plans they'd made, the FindOuters collected up what was left of their picnic and took it over to pack away in their bicycle baskets, and then walked over to the large circus tent to join the rest of the queuing people who in turn were showing the young girl at the entrance their tickets. As Fatty promised, they had good seats and watched the circus performance with astonishment at the acts. The tight-rope walkers were indeed very agile and strong and even courageous, thought Larry, watching them so high up on the tight rope that almost touched the ceiling of the tent. Bets felt herself holding her breath on a couple of occasions and couldn't help gripping onto Fatty's arm, as she looked up at the act hoping the performers wouldn't fall. Fatty loved the performing dogs and took note of some of their tricks, intending to teach Buster one or two of them. "Buster could easily do that," he whispered to Larry, who was sitting the other side of him. Larry chuckled. "I doubt that!" he whispered in amusement. Bets loved the dancing horses along with Daisy, and they loved the skill and grace with which they pranced around the ring, their feathered head-sets swaying gracefully as the horses moved along. Pip was enthralled by the acrobats and whispered to Larry that any one of them could be the burglar as some were small, slim and extremely agile. But the clowns gave everyone the greatest laugh, with their amusing antics and slap-stick comedy that brought a huge round of applause throughout the large circus tent. Once the performance was over everyone filed out of the entrance, chatting away excitedly about what they'd all seen. Reaching their bicycles, Pip said, "Any one of those circus performers would find it extremely easy to climb up a drainpipe and enter through a window. It's going to be difficult to find out who the thief could be!" "Let's just hope that Larry and I can discover something this evening," said Fatty, hopefully. They all mounted their bicycles and set off back to Peterswood along the river path. As they approached the Grey Heron, the boat once more looked deserted and Fatty indicated for them all to slow down, and then stopped by the boat. "Let's check and see if Thomas and his father are on board," said Fatty, dismounting and propping his bicycle up against the hedgerow, whilst the others did the same. They all climbed on board and Fatty called out to Thomas, but there was no answer. Pip tried the cabin door but it was securely locked. "There're not here," said Fatty. "I wonder where they are?" "They've not taken that cooling box inside," said Bets, noticing it by the door and lifting the lid to see if the fish had been taken away yet. "The fish is still here," she said, turning to look at the others. About to close the lid back down, she suddenly stopped, and turning to look around at everyone again, said, "The fish looks different again!" "You and that fish," said Pip, in exasperation. "If it looks different it's not the same fish." "It is," said Bets, adamantly.

Fatty walked over to Bets and, looking at the fish sitting on the ice, said, "How do you mean, Bets?" "It sort of looks thinner," she said, in puzzled tones. "The first time I looked it was fat. Then on the other occasion it looked different, and I wasn't sure how, now I know, it was even fatter than the time before. But now, it looks thin again!" The others laughed, and Larry said, "How can a dead fish look fatter one minute, even fatter the next and thinner the next?" Fatty was silent, and looking puzzled picked up the fish to examine it carefully. It felt cold and smelt a bit but he couldn't see anything unusual about it. "Seems just like a dead fish to me, Bets." He replaced it back onto the ice and closed the lid. Then turning back to look at the others, said, "Well as Thomas and his father aren't here, we'd better head off back." They climbed from the boat and mounting their bicycles rode back to the village, to go their separate ways. "Don't forget to be at my shed by eight-thirty, Larry," said Fatty, before they all parted. Larry nodded in excitement. He could hardly wait. He really hoped they would learn something exciting that would put them on the right track of these burglaries and then they could solve the mystery before old Clear-Orf.

CHAPTER 14: TWO UNDESIRABLES

At precisely eight-thirty, Larry was in Fatty's shed, looking excited and watching Fatty pulling out all sorts of disguises for them both to try on. "Did you have any trouble getting away?" asked Fatty. "No, fortunately my parents are out and Daisy said she'd creep down later when they've gone to bed and unlock the garden door for me." "Good old Daisy," said Fatty, with a grin. He handed Larry a few old clothes for him to change into and a raggedy-haired wig, whilst he sorted out something similar for himself. Once dressed, they looked at each other and grinned, and Fatty popped in his mouth a set of false teeth that slipped over his own. "How do we both look now?" he mumbled. "Like a couple of undesirables," said Larry, with a grin. "Let's not forget to dirty our hands and fingernails either."

Once their disguises were fully complete, dirty faces and all, they set off on their bicycles and rode over to Marlow, going by the main road. It wasn't quite dark yet, as the sun was still setting over to the west, making beautiful colours in the sky, of blue, red, purple and yellow. Once at the circus field they placed their bicycles in the same place as earlier that afternoon. "Now, keep close to me, Larry," whispered Fatty, "and we'll wander around between the caravans, and if questioned we'll just say we were looking for somewhere to bed down for the night." Larry nodded, feeling excited, his heart racing against his chest, but glad that he wasn't alone. The sun had sunk further west causing eerie dark shadows around the circus caravans. They kept as close to the shadows as they could for some of the circus folk were still outdoors, some chatting in small groups by their caravans, and the dogs could be heard barking over the other side of the field. "Hey Laura, have you fed your dogs yet?" They suddenly heard someone yelling, close by, making both boys jump and move back closer to the shadows. A caravan door opened and a woman came out carrying a large basket. "I'm off over there now, and letting them out for their last run. They'll soon settle down then." Larry and Fatty heard a few of the men joking with her, saying she was getting later and later each evening, and receiving a few stern words back for their banter. "Can you remember which caravan we saw Thomas and his father going into?" whispered Fatty, as they moved slowly away from one caravan to another. "Not really," whispered back Larry. "Everything looks different in the dusk." They walked on amongst the vans and suddenly bumped into one of the circus folk, whom they both instantly recognised as the tight-rope walker who had moved them off from watching the practicing the day before. "What do you want?" he said, in a gruff voice. Larry was too shaken to speak, and thankfully he heard Fatty saying, "We're just looking for a bed for the night, mate. We can help with the circus in return for a good night's sleep." The circus performer looked them both up and down and seemed to accept their explanation. "Go over to the third van along. Stella has horses and I'm sure she'll let you bed down in their tent on some straw." "Thanks mate," said Fatty, touching a finger to his forehead which he'd seen some adults do. "Take a sweet for your help," said Larry, suddenly surprising Fatty, as he saw Larry taking out of his pocket one of the mint caramels. "Cheers," said the circus performer, with a grin. He unwrapped the toffee and, popping it into his mouth and throwing the paper onto the ground, he walked away.

Fatty picked up the discarded wrapper and popped it into his pocket. "Good idea about offering the sweet, but a pity we can't check for fingerprints." "Pip gave me the toffees we hadn't eaten from this afternoon," said Larry, with a grin. "I'll offer one to everyone we meet. At least we know that performer likes them!" Fatty nodded. "Let's go and see Stella, we may learn something else." They both walked over to the third caravan along, which had its curtains drawn back and a light shining from the windows. Fatty tapped on the door. It was opened by a young woman who looked at them both suspiciously, until Fatty spoke and then her expression softened. "We were told by one of the tight-rope walkers that you may allow us both to bed down for the night where you keep your horses," said Fatty, politely, with a smile, showing off his false teeth, which made his mouth look too full. Stella looked at them both for a silent moment, and then said, "You can bed down on the straw that's in their tent, but stay out of their compartments. I wouldn't want you both to get kicked in the night." "We won't disturb your horses," Fatty reassured her. "Have you both had anything to eat?" she asked, looking at the two undesirables. Fatty glanced at Larry, before he said, "We've always got room for a little more!" Stella grinned. "I'll bring you both out some of my stew. You can eat it at the table just over there." She pointed to a small table with two chairs not far from her caravan. They both gave her a grateful smile before she went back inside her van. Larry followed Fatty over to the small table and they sat down. "We'll try and get into conversation with her if we can," said Fatty. Larry nodded. "These circus folk seem really friendly, Fatty, even offering us a meal. It must be a great life going from place to place." Fatty nodded just as Stella came out from her caravan carrying a tray with two bowls on it and a plate of bread and butter. "Eat that," she said, placing it down on the table, "then when you've finished, I'll show you where I keep my horses." "You're very kind," said Larry. "Thanks." She gave a smile and went back inside the caravan. The stew was surprisingly delicious and Fatty and Larry ate it all along with the bread and butter. When finished they tapped on the caravan door and, after taking back the tray, Stella walked them over to where her horses were bedded down for the night. "Everyone has been very kind," said Larry, as they neared the tent. "We're used to helping travelling people, and tramps," she said, with a smile. "You can repay me by mucking out the makeshift stables in the morning." She gave them both a sudden chuckle and walked away before the two boys could reply. "Pity we won't be here," said Fatty, with a grin, watching Stella disappearing into the dark shadows. "Come on, let's have a wander

around now it's dark. If anyone asks us what we are doing we'll say we're having a walk before retiring to the tent with Stella's horses." "Okay," nodded Larry, really enjoying this little adventure now. The walked between the caravans, some with their curtains closed, some open. Many had their windows open or doors, due to the warm evening. As they approached one of the vans, Fatty pulled on Larry's arm and whispered, "This is the caravan where we thought we saw Thomas and his father go inside." Larry's eyes widened in excitement and he whispered, "There's someone in as the lights are on. Let's go around the rear and see if we can hear anything." Fatty nodded and they walked around to the rear of the caravan, to find an open window, but the curtains were pulled across. Suddenly the sound of voices had the two boys listening intently just below the window. "The property is in Peterswood, and it will be weighed up sometime tomorrow to see how accessible it is. Hopefully the job should be done sometime after that." Larry and Fatty looked at each other in excitement, hardly daring to breathe, their hearts racing madly. It sounded as if another burglary was going to take place in Peterswood and planned for the following evening! "That will have to be the last one for a while," came another voice, sternly, "or the police will soon work it out and come hunting around!" "We move off anyway in a few days, so no one will be the wiser," was the reply. "All the same it has to be the last!" The other voice sounded really angry. "It will be the last when we say it's the last!" was the angry reply. "So we'll hear no more about it!" "You promised it would only be a few jobs." The other voice had softened, almost with desperation, thought Fatty, as he strained his ears to listen. "Promised?" The reply was almost a shout. "Promises can be broken. You're a fool to think otherwise. We're onto a good racket here, so don't think we're going to let you get out this easy!" "Then don't say I didn't warn you," came the reply. "And don't underestimate the police. It wouldn't surprise me if they've worked it out already, and will be on the look-out." "You're guessing, and I'm prepared to take that risk!" The window just above the boys was suddenly banged shut and it sounded like it was being locked. Then the two boys heard the caravan door open and bang closed. Silently they looked at each other, and made their way cautiously to the front of the van. Peering around from one of the sides, they saw no one was about, and a quick inspection by Fatty showed all the other windows were closed and the curtains pulled across. They moved away from the caravan to a quiet spot in the shadows, and Fatty said, softly, "That's a bit of interesting news, there'll be

another burglary tomorrow evening, by the sounds of that conversation, but I wonder where? If we knew that we could warn Superintendent Jenks and prevent it." "Someone is going to weigh up the house tomorrow," whispered Larry. "I wonder who's going to do that!" "I wish I knew," said Fatty. "If we did we could follow them and see which house they are interested in. What a feather in our cap that would be when we passed the information over to the Superintendent." "The other person in the caravan didn't sound as if he wanted to do the next job," said Larry, remembering the conversation. "There was a sort of desperation in the man's voice. Didn't you think so, Fatty?" Fatty nodded slowly, looking at Larry. "Yes, I did. There was something strange about that conversation, I thought." Fatty was silent for a few moments, trying to recall what they'd both heard. He suddenly pulled on Larry's arm, and said, "Let's just pop back to that caravan, and see if anyone is around." Slowly they walked back keeping to the shadows, and approaching the caravan they could see no one was close by, and the windows were still closed with the curtains drawn across. Fatty looked all around him, and whispered, "Have you noticed anything strange about this caravan, Larry?" Larry looked at the caravan, and turning back to Fatty shook his head. "No!" "Look around us," said Fatty. "It's quite dark here as there are no other caravans close by with lights on to light up this area of the field." Larry suddenly saw what Fatty meant, and whispered, "Probably whoever owns this caravan wants a bit of privacy." Fatty thought for a moment and whispered, "Or maybe there is something or someone inside they want hidden." Without giving it another thought, and to the surprise of Larry, Fatty slowly approached the door, and turned the handle slowly and quietly to see if the door would open easily. It wouldn't open and was firmly locked. Fatty walked back to Larry, who had been holding his breath, almost in terror, getting ready to run if anyone came out from the caravan. "Whoever is inside has either locked the door, or they have been locked in," whispered Fatty, with wide excited eyes. "We don't know that for sure, Fatty," said Larry, not really convinced. "And I don't think we should hang around anymore waiting for something else to happen! We've learnt quite a bit from that conversation, and I think we should go before we're seen." Fatty nodded. There was really no point in looking around any further, and no point in getting into any kind of trouble. Keeping once more to the shadows they both made their way silently back to their bicycles, and pushed them quietly out from the field. Once on the road, they switched on their bicycle lamps and headed back to Peterswood, both feeling satisfied that their visit to the circus field had been a successful one, and they could hardly wait to meet up with the others to tell them of their night adventure.

CHAPTER 15: WATCHING AND WAITING

When Larry arrived home he was slightly disappointed to see that Daisy was sleeping soundly. Now he'd have to wait for morning until he could tell her what he and Fatty had discovered. They all met up at Fatty's shed just after ten o'clock, Pip and Bets eager to hear about the previous evening. Daisy had heard all about it from Larry over breakfast, but she was still eager to hear once again all that had happened. Buster was excited to see everyone and rushed between them all, bumping into the table and chairs in his excitement. The morning was very warm and the rest of the day looked like it would be a scorcher, once more. Fatty kept the door of the shed open so they wouldn't get too hot and Buster was happy to roam about the garden and keep checking the shed to see if the children were all still inside. "So, come on," said Pip, in excited tones. "Let's hear all about last night!" Fatty and Larry between them related how they firstly had disguised themselves as two undesirable looking people, and then had cycled over to the circus field in Marlow. They told how they had bumped into the tight-rope walker and how he had told them to see Stella for a bed for the night, and how she had also kindly given them a meal before showing them to the makeshift stables. "Weren't you tempted to sleep in the tent on the straw?" said Bets. "It would have been fun." "Yes, but in return we'd have had to clean out the stables," said Larry, with a grin. "We would have probably been seen leaving on our bicycles too," said Fatty, "and that would have looked suspicious." "We did find out that the tight-rope walker likes the sweets, from our clue," said Larry, looking pleased. "That's interesting," said Pip, "so he could be a suspect!" "Carry on with what else happened," said Bets, longing for Fatty to tell them all about last night. "Well," said Fatty, taking up the tale again and looking pleased that the others were hanging on to his every word, "after Stella had left us at the horses' tent, we wandered around the caravans and we found the one into which Thomas and his father had gone." Everyone's eyes lit up in excitement, and Pip said, "Were they there?" "Not that we knew of," said Larry, "as the curtains were drawn across the opened windows, but we did hear quite an interesting conversation." Larry's tone had lowered mysteriously as he looked at the surprised and eager faces of Bets and Pip. "You tell them, Fatty!"

Fatty happily told them of the conversation that had taken place inside the caravan, enjoying the reaction of the others once he had finished the tale. "So there will be another burglary," said Pip, with wide eyes. "If only we knew which house in Peterswood they are going to burgle!" "If we knew we'd have to go straight to Superintendent Jenks and tell him," said Larry, firmly. "It wouldn't be right to keep that kind of information from the police." The others nodded in agreement. The police would definitely have to be told so they could prevent such a burglary and arrest the culprits in the act. "But who is going to go along and weigh up this house today?" said Fatty, thinking aloud. "It could be any one of a number of people!" "It could be someone from the circus," said Daisy, thinking for a moment. "One of them goes along and looks over the house, and then he or even she tells the other two who then go along during the night and do the job!" Fatty debated Daisy's words for a moment. "But there's something we're all forgetting about," he said, in serious tones. "We know that the thieves know which house to target, and the police are aware of this, and are looking into the insurance companies according to what Superintendent Jenks told us. So how is that connected with the circus?" Everyone was silent for a few moments thinking on Fatty's words and, breaking the silence, Bets said, "Don't let's forget that we're also unsure about Thomas and his father, as he deals with jewellery too, and we did say we would watch them today to see where they go." "Bets is right," said Daisy, gleefully. "I think if we watch those two today, they might lead us to whoever is the ring leader in these burglaries, especially as we saw them at the circus." "Yes, I agree," said Fatty, looking pleased. "We'll watch the Grey Heron and see what happens." "We'll have to borrow a boat or hire one," said Pip. He suddenly remembered Fatty's old boatman friend whom they had met when they were solving The Mystery of the Strange Bundle. "We could call at old Spicer's shed and see if he can let us have one of the small rowing boats." "Yes, good idea," said Fatty, suddenly remembering old Spicer too. "If he has a boat then I think you and Bets should take it out on the river and watch the Grey Heron from the other side of the bank, Pip. Then if you see Thomas and his father leaving their boat, row back to the mooring that can be the sign. Daisy, Larry and I will be watching out of sight, and the minute we see you starting to row back, we'll follow them at a safe distance." "Hadn't we better get over there as soon as possible?" said Larry, in urgent tones. "We don't want them to leave before we get there." "Yes, we'll go now," said Fatty, rising from his chair and calling to Buster who was sniffing around outside in the garden. "Come on, Buster, a nice walk for you today!" Full of excitement, Buster danced around their legs, as he understood the word 'walk'!

Entering the village, the Find-Outers spotted Mr. Goon, coming out from his garden gate, pushing his bicycle. He glanced over at the Find-Outers and muttered "Gah" under his breath. Everywhere he went he saw those pests, he thought to himself. "Do you think we should mention the burglary that's being planned, to Mr. Goon?" said Bets, in a low voice. "I don't think he'd believe us," said Fatty, suddenly grabbing hold of Buster's collar as the dog spotted his enemy and started up a volley of excited barks. He pulled at his collar, wanting to go over and prance around the ankles of his enemy, but Fatty had a firm hold of him. "Let's mention it, and if he doesn't believe us, then at least we've passed on the information," said Daisy, feeling that they must at least try. Fatty nodded and called over to Mr. Goon, who pushed his bicycle over to the Find-Outers, looking at them with disdain. "You keep hold of that there dog," he growled, getting ready to kick out at Buster if he escaped from Fatty's grip. "We've heard some information that might be of interest to you, Mr. Goon," began Fatty, politely. "Whilst at the circus yesterday, we heard someone saying they're planning another burglary!" Mr. Goon looked at the children suspiciously and said, "Gah," in disbelieving tones. "Don't think I'm falling for any of your stupid tricks!" he almost exploded, turning his usual colour of purple. "It's true, Mr. Goon," said Larry, in convincing tones. "It was being planned for this evening!" "Oh really," glared Mr. Goon, angrily. "If you think I'm going to go out tonight, waiting for a burglary that's not going to happen, just because you kids think it's fun to make up a lot of silly lies, then you're more stupid than you all look! And if you give me any more lies I'll report you all!" With that he mounted his bicycle and rode off down the road, wishing for the umpteenth time that those pests lived somewhere else and not in his village. "Well, we knew he wouldn't believe us," said Fatty, with a shrug. "If we are fortunate enough to find out which house is to be the next target, then we'll have to report it to Superintendent Jenks himself." Agreeing with Fatty, the children walked on, over the level crossing and onto the river path. Buster ran ahead happily, sniffing here and there along the hedgerows. The river looked busier than usual with many boats on the water and quite a few still moored along the water's edge. They came upon old Spicer sitting outside his shed watching the boats go by, and he looked up at the children as they approached and smiled. "Hello, youngsters, I've not seen much of you these holidays!" He made a great fuss of Buster, who was happy to lap up the attention old Spicer was giving him. "It's busy with this gala going on along the river," began Fatty, smoothly, to the old man. "We were just wondering if there was a small rowing boat we could borrow." "I've got one small boat left that's ready for the water, just over by the jetty," said Spicer, "but it won't hold all of you."

"Only two of us want the use of it," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll take great care and bring it straight back." "I know you will," said the old man, good naturedly. "Just take care on the river, as there are a lot of motor boats going by." The Find-Outers thanked the old man, and walked over to the small jetty, where the rowing boat was bobbing about on the calm river. Fatty untied the rope and held the boat still whilst Pip and Bets climbed in. "Moor up just the other side of the river, a short way from the Grey Heron," said Fatty, to them both, "but not close enough for Thomas or his father to recognize you. If you see either of them leaving their boat, remember, the signal is to start rowing back here to the jetty." "Okay, Fatty," said Pip, taking up the oars and feeling quite important to be doing his bit in this mystery, especially as Larry and Fatty had had their own little adventure the evening before. Bets waved excitedly to the others as Pip rowed slowly away, towards the Grey Heron, and Fatty, Larry and Daisy made their way along the river path looking for somewhere they could sit and wait out of sight of the Grey Heron, but in full view of Bets and Pip in the rowing boat. They soon realized they were nearing The Sweet Sue, and just a few boats further along was the Grey Heron. "I think it would be better if we went and watched by the jetty," said Daisy, not seeing anywhere suitable they could sit and wait unnoticed. She looked across to the other side of the bank, to see Pip mooring the little rowing boat alongside the bank. "Daisy is right, Fatty," said Larry. "We don't want Thomas and his father to suddenly spot us. It's only taken a few minutes to walk this far, we could easily follow and catch them up when either of them leave their boat." Fatty nodded. "Okay, let's walk back to the jetty and wait there." He called to Buster who was just a few paces ahead before they turned around and headed back for the jetty. "I do hope they won't walk in this direction," said Daisy, once at the jetty and sitting down on the boards. "They'll be able to see us if so." "If they do we can easily hide in old Spicer's shed," said Fatty. "Buster has gone over there anyway, to see the old man again." "This path leads back to the village though," Larry pointed out. "If they come this way, they won't be heading towards Marlow and the circus." After they'd been watching Pip and Bets in their boat for about half an hour, Daisy began to feel a little bored and said, "I wish we'd thought to bring something to eat with us. We don't know how long we'll be waiting here for and we'll have to get back for lunch in a couple of hours." "One of us can always take a trip to the dairy soon and buy some sandwiches," said Fatty. "And if you all have to get back for lunch, then I'll wait here and watch until you return." He glanced over at the small rowing boat only to see Pip suddenly taking up the oars and rowing back towards the jetty. "Pip's on the

move," Fatty told the others in urgent tones, jumping to his feet. "That's the sign that Thomas or his father have left their boat." He shouted urgently for Buster, who came racing over, and Fatty popped him on his lead, as he didn't want Buster to get the scent of Thomas or his father whilst they were following them, and go racing ahead trying to catch them up. Once off the jetty they quickened their step to see Thomas and his father a little way ahead. "Looks like they are off to the circus after all," said Fatty, "going in this direction towards Marlow." "That'll take us about an hour to walk," said Larry, not relishing the walk on such a warm morning. "Don't worry too much," said Fatty, as they quickened their pace. "Once we find out who they are going to get in touch with, we can take the bus back to Peterswood, so we won't be late for lunch!" "At least we'll be a bit further on then with this mystery than old Clear-Orf" said Larry, cheerfully, "especially if Thomas and his father do lead us straight to the cat burglars, then we can go straight to Superintendent Jenks and tell him we've solved the mystery!"

CHAPTER 16: A BIT OF LUCK AND THE POSTMAN

Keeping at a safe distance, Larry, Daisy, Fatty and Buster on his lead followed Thomas and his father as they walked with determined strides along the river path, passing the many stalls that were still on the wide grassy area near the river bank. "They're going at quite a pace," said Daisy, almost breathlessly, as they all endeavoured to keep them both in view. "They must be in a hurry to get to Marlow." They'd only walked on about half a mile past the gala stalls when Thomas and his father slowed their pace and started to look over the hedgerows on their right, at a large house whose garden backed onto the river path itself. "We'd better keep out of sight," said Fatty, suddenly startled, and not wanting Thomas or his father to suddenly turn around and see the three of them with Buster getting closer. Fortunately, they were standing beside a thick clump of bushes of evergreen box, and so all three were able to disappear around them and were well hidden from the pathway. Buster was quite surprised to

find himself suddenly pulled behind the hedge, but as long as he was with Fatty, he thought it was yet another fun game his master liked to play. Whispering to the others to keep perfectly still and quiet, Fatty then popped his head out slowly, trying to see what the pair were doing. He saw that they had walked a little further on, to where the hedging to the property wasn't as thick, and they were peering over. Fatty popped back behind the bushes and whispered to Larry and Daisy, in excitement. "They're weighing up the house behind the river path, and it's my belief that they're checking it out because that must be the next house to be burgled!" "So they are involved after all," whispered back Larry, with wide excited eyes. "I wonder what the lane is called that the house sits on?" "I think it's Hedgerow Lane, just as you leave the village," whispered Fatty. "There are one or two large houses along that lane and they all back onto the river path." "Had we better make our way back before they return this way?" said Daisy, softly. "If we do that we may miss a vital clue," whispered Larry, fiercely. "Thomas and his father could set off to the circus too and we wouldn't know who they meet!" Fatty nodded. "That's true. We'll wait here quietly and keep a look out!" Once more, Fatty popped his head from behind the bush to see if Thomas and his father had started to walk away, but they were still looking at the house with great interest and quietly talking to each other. Suddenly Fatty saw them turning around and quickly popped back behind the bush with the others, warning them to keep quiet as the two were once again on the move. Hidden well behind the large bush, the three suddenly heard them both walking by, chatting quietly to each other. Fatty kept his hand firmly on Buster, warning him not to give away their hiding place. Making sure they were safely well ahead on their way back to the Grey Heron, Fatty and the others then left the safety of their hiding place and started to walk back towards the jetty. They had to pass by the Grey Heron, and thankfully they could see that the boat was quiet with the door closed, so they quickly hurried by, just in case the couple were below and looking out through the windows. "That was a bit of luck not seeing Thomas or his father," said Fatty, sounding relieved as they walked on past the Grey Heron. "It would have been a bit awkward if they'd spotted us and asked where we'd been!" They all gave Mr. and Mrs. Lawson a wave, as the couple were sitting on the deck of The Sweet Sue, and the children had to decline an offer of something to eat, saying they were on their way to meet up with Pip and Bets. Approaching the jetty, they saw them both waiting for them, and Buster raced over, happy to see them once more. Bets laughed at

Buster and said, "Anyone would think you'd not seen us for days, Buster!" "So how did you go on?" said Pip, eager to hear all the news. Between them, Fatty, Larry and Daisy told of how they had only gone a short way along the river path, after the gala stalls, when Thomas and his father had stopped to weigh up a large house nearby. "One which we think now could be the next house to be burgled," said Fatty, earnestly. "So we were right to be suspicious of them both," said Pip, looking pleased. "Should we tell Superintendent Jenks, Fatty?" "We'll have to," he replied, thoughtfully. "But we need to find out properly which house it is and the name, so that it can be guarded tonight." "We think it's one on Hedgerow Lane," said Daisy, to Pip and Bets. "Are we going to see if we can find it, Fatty?" Fatty quickly glanced at his watch. "Yes, I think we should go now," he said, firmly. "We've got time before we have to get back home for lunch." The Find-Outers left the river and made their way through the village and onto a narrow lane with hedges along one side and just a few large houses on the other side which backed onto the river. They walked along until Fatty thought they were at the house which was the next to be burgled. Buster was happily walking a little way ahead. He was thoroughly enjoying his walk today, but stopped to turn back when he saw the others were not going any further. "I think this is the house," said Fatty, looking at the others. "It's called 'Riverside'. What do you think, Larry?" "I think it is the one," he nodded. "At least we can now give the Superintendent the name of the house." "Will you ring him when you get home?" said Bets to Fatty, suddenly thinking how pleased he'd be to think that the Find-Outers had prevented another burglary. "Yes, I'll do it straight after lunch," he replied, with a smile. "We'd better get back as we don't want any of us getting into trouble for being late." After his lunch, Fatty rang the police station in the next big town and asked to speak to Superintendent Jenks. "I'm sorry, but he's away and won't be back until tomorrow," came the reply from down the telephone. "Can I leave him a message?" Fatty was disappointed and said, "No, thank you." He replaced the receiver and looked down at Buster, sitting by his feet. "Now what do I do?" he said to his little dog. "Old Clear-Orf won't believe me if I go and see him." "Woof," said Buster, as if he understood, looking up at his master. Fatty walked solemnly down to his shed, with Buster following. He always knew when his master was feeling down-hearted. Looking around at some of his disguises, Fatty spotted his new one, hanging up against the wall, his postman outfit. He was silent for a moment sitting at his table, thinking of an idea that was suddenly forming inside his head. With a sudden whoop of delight, he sprang to his feet

and did a jig around the shed. Buster, watching, joined in the fun with a volley of barks. "I'll dress up as a postman, Buster," Fatty said, in excited tones to the little dog. "I'll write an anonymous note to Mr. Goon, telling him of the expected burglary, and I'll deliver it as a postman on his rounds, and old Clear-Orf won't know it's me!" Buster watched as Fatty disguised himself as a postman, and he filled the post bag with lots of newspapers that were inside the shed, so that the bulging sack would look as though he was carrying many letters. Fatty then quickly wrote out a letter to Mr. Goon and popped it inside an envelope from a little pile of stationery he always kept inside the shed for such emergencies as this one. He sealed up the envelope, and gave a long sigh of satisfaction. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here, Buster," he told the little dog. "Having you with me will be a giveaway!" Leaving Buster safely inside the shed, Fatty made his way out of the garden gate and headed into the village towards the police house. After making sure no one was around, and there was no sign of Mr. Goon at the windows of the police house, he walked briskly up the garden path and quickly popped the letter in his hand, through the letter box. Feeling satisfied that things had gone well so far, he quickly turned to make his way from the garden, only to spot the real postman walking down the road and approaching Mr. Goon's. Fatty froze for a moment, trying to think quickly, and spotting the large overgrown shrubbery at the far side of the garden, he quickly made his way over there to hide behind it, hoping that he wouldn't be spotted. He was only just in time, for he suddenly heard the latch of the garden gate and the sound of the postman's footsteps walking up to the door, then the sound of the letter box snapping shut as the letters had been posted. Peering through a small gap he saw the postman turn to leave, as the door of the police house was opened by Mr. Goon, who said, loudly, "You're a bit late today. I've been waiting for some very important letters from head office!" "Sorry Mr. Goon," came the reply. "One of the other postmen phoned in sick and I've had to do his round as well!" "Can't be helped then, obviously," grumbled Mr. Goon, before closing his door. Fatty waited for a few more moments then, making sure the coast was clear, he quickly made his way from the garden and hurried back to the safety of his shed, thinking that it was quite a stroke of luck the real postman suddenly arriving as he had done. Now Mr. Goon would think that the postman had written the anonymous note that had been delivered. Fatty was right. When Mr. Goon opened the letter and read it, he automatically thought that the postman had written it himself. He stared at it for a few moments, and picked up the envelope that had no stamp on it, just the letters MR. GOON, written in capitals. Mr. Goon read the letter again, slowly, digesting every word. He read:-

Mr. Goon, on overhearing a private conversation, I think it right that you should be informed of a burglary that is about to take place this evening at a house called Riverside on Hedgerow Lane. Mr. Goon read the letter a few times more. He thought back to what Frederick Trotteville and the others had been telling him only that morning. Now how on earth had those children learned of such a thing, he thought to himself. And now the postman had heard something too! It seemed that he, Mr. Goon, was the last to hear about the so-called expected burglary, when he was supposed to be the first! Mr. Goon then started to feel angry that he was the last to hear about the expected burglary and in his village too! The more he thought about Frederick Trotteville knowing, the angrier he felt. Well, he'd show them all that he, Theophilus Goon, was on the case and he was going to lie in wait for that cat burglar tonight, and catch him red handed, as it were. Mr. Goon smiled to himself. The Superintendent would be really pleased with him then, and it would probably mean promotion too. Mr. Goon swelled up with importance at the thought of promotion, something he thought he vastly deserved. He would solve this case first and beat those pests that called themselves The Find-Outers! Suddenly thinking of the Find-Outers, Mr. Goon sobered a little. He really must talk to that fat boy and ask him where he had got the information from the same information that the postman had given him. Brushing down his uniform and swelling out with his own importance, he picked up the telephone and phoned Mrs.Trotteville's number and asked to speak to Master Frederick, but was told that he and the other children were in the garden at Mr. and Mrs. Hilton's. Mr. Goon wasn't very happy to hear this news, as he would have preferred to speak to that pest of a boy over the telephone, then he wouldn't have had to look at his smug fat face! But he had his bounden duty to do, he thought with a sigh, and so pushing his bicycle out from the front garden, he set off for the Hiltons' house.

CHAPTER 17: MR. GOON ON THE CASE

The Find-Outers were surprised to see Mrs. Hilton walking down the garden path with Mr. Goon and, thankfully for Mr. Goon, he could see that the pest of a dog was not there with the children.

"I do hope you won't keep the children talking for long, Mr. Goon," said Mrs. Hilton, firmly. "I have a few friends coming over soon and I've told the children they'll have to go and play in Frederick's garden." "I won't keep them long, Mrs. Hilton," said Mr. Goon, meekly. He was rather in awe of Mrs. Hilton. "I just want a quick word with Master Frederick here." Mrs Hilton seemed satisfied, and turned to walk back up the garden pathway. "Well this is a pleasant surprise, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, in mocking tones. "What did you want to speak to me about?" Mr. Goon looked at the children and, trying to be pleasant, said in a puzzled tone, "It's about what you told me this morning. I'd like to know where you heard the conversation about there being another burglary this evening!" Fatty was quite astonished at Mr. Goon's words, as were the others who were wondering how Fatty was going to answer the question, knowing that he wouldn't want to admit to the little adventure that he and Larry had had the night before. "It was something we over-heard, that's all," said Fatty, lightly, trying to shrug off the question. "You must remember where you were!" said Mr. Goon, more firmly, sensing that the children were holding something back. "And I should say that withholding vital information is against the law!" finished off Mr. Goon, looking and feeling extremely important. Fatty glanced quickly at the others and then said, "Larry and I were at the circus, Mr. Goon, and as we were walking around we heard someone saying there was to be a burglary in Peterswood. We didn't even see who was speaking," said Fatty, adamantly. "I see," said Mr. Goon. He thought back to the letter he'd received and said, "Did you hear which house was mentioned?" "No," said Larry, with a shake of his head. "There was definitely no mention of which house," he finished off with conviction. After all, at the time when they did overhear the conversation, there had been no mention of which house. The Find-Outers had discovered that by being good detectives! Mr. Goon seemed satisfied with their answers and said, "Right, well in future if you hear anything vital to a mystery, you come straight to me and report it!" "We did this morning," said Fatty, indignantly. "It's not our fault you chose not to believe us, Mr. Goon." The policeman suddenly turned purple at Fatty's words. Trust that fat boy to remind him of that, Mr. Goon thought, feeling annoyed. "You just keep me informed, that's all," he said. Then, full of his own importance, Mr. Goon turned and stormed back up the pathway. "Phew! I'm glad he didn't persist with that enquiry," said Larry, feeling relieved. "I certainly didn't want him to know about our night adventure, Fatty. He'd have gone straight to our parents and complained."

Fatty too gave a sigh of relief, glad not to have been asked too many awkward questions. "Won't old Clear-Orf go over to the circus now and start to ask questions?" said Bets, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "Yes, I very much think he will," said Fatty, feeling a bit downhearted that he'd had to mention the circus, knowing that would put Mr. Goon on the right track of the mystery. "And he'll probably find out who the cat burglar is now," said Daisy, beginning to feel down about that too. "He's got the power to investigate and search the caravans." "Blow," said Fatty, in exasperation. "We've not been very good with this latest mystery at all! And I'm beginning to think we really should have told him the name of the house too." "Oh don't say that, Fatty," said Bets, almost in tears. She hated to think that the Find-Outers wouldn't solve this mystery after all. "I've got a bit of an idea," said Larry, suddenly brightening up. "We know that Mr. Goon is going to go over to the circus, so why don't we go too, only you and I Fatty will go as those two undesirables we went as last night."

The Mystery of the Grey Heron

By Julie Heginbotham

CHAPTER 1: A HOT SUMMER'S DAY

"Three weeks of the summer hols almost gone, and not even a sniff of a mystery," said Pip, chewing on a blade of grass, looking around at the other Find-Outers, as they all lay on the grass in Pip and Bets' garden. Buster had found a shaded spot just by the summer house and was enjoying a long snooze. "The village is pretty busy at the moment, though," said Larry, sitting up, and looking at everyone with a smile on his face. "There's a sort of boat extravaganza on down by the river, with heaps of boats of all sizes!" "Yes, I saw some more boats arriving last night, when I took Buster for his last walk along by the river," said Fatty. "It was quite a spectacular sight with their lights shining along the water in different colours." "I bet it was a lot cooler than it is now!" said Daisy, taking off her hat for a moment to waft it before her face, in an effort to cool down a little. "I had my bedroom windows flung wide open last night, and there was hardly any cool breeze coming in at all," grumbled Bets. "It would have been cooler for Fatty down by the river," said Pip, with a frown at his sister. "It's always cooler by the river!" "Did Buster jump in to try and cool off, Fatty?" said Daisy, with a grin, looking over at Buster, who had lifted his head on hearing his name, before lying back down again. "He would have liked to," said Fatty, with a nod, "but he was on his lead, as I didn't want him running off chasing rabbits that were out." Hearing the word 'rabbits' Buster not only lifted his head but sat up alert, looking all around him, then looking over at Fatty with wide innocent 'doggy eyes'. "Sorry, Buster," said Fatty, with a sorrowful shake of his head. "There are no rabbits in this garden! Not when they can sense a dog around anyway!" "Isn't it your turn, to go and get the lemonade, Pip?" said Bets, glancing over at her brother. "I'm feeling hotter and hotter and dryer and dryer!" "Yes, come on Pip," said Larry. "I went into your kitchen and asked for the last lot we've drunk." Fatty gave Pip a gentle nudge with his foot, as Pip showed no sign of moving. "And make sure there's plenty of ice in it too," he said, with a slight frown. "Okay," said Pip, reluctantly, getting up from the grass and making his way across the garden to the kitchen door. "Has anyone seen old Clear-Orf lately?" said Daisy, suddenly thinking of Mr. Goon, the village policeman. "I wonder if he's working on a case at the moment." "I saw him in the village yesterday morning when I went to post a letter for Mother," said Larry. "He didn't look busy though, he was in the front garden of the police house, cleaning his bicycle." "Are you going to put on a disguise these hols, Fatty, and have a bit of fun with old Clear-Orf?" asked Bets, with a little giggle. She loved to see Fatty dressing up as either an old man or an old balloon woman, and fooling Mr. Goon. "You really must, Fatty, and it's all practice for the next mystery that comes our way." "Yes, you've got to dress up in a disguise, Fatty," encouraged Larry. "It'll be fun fooling old Clear-Orf!"

Fatty's face brightened at the prospect of fooling Mr. Goon. "Well as a matter of fact, I have just bought one or two more disguises which I'd like to try out," said Fatty, swelling up a little with pride. "And I am a bit taller too, and I've got stronger muscles now in my arms." "Same old Fatty," said Larry, with a grin, "boasting as usual! I suppose you were the top of your class in everything too!" Fatty grinned good-naturedly. "Well I did get a glowing report that I'm really quite proud of," he said, trying to look quite modest. "So tell us something we don't already know," said Pip, with a grin and he put the tray of glasses and a jug of iced lemonade onto the grass. "I work harder and harder each term at school, and still struggle to be anywhere near top of the class!" Fatty grinned, whilst pouring out glasses for everyone, of the iced lemonade. "Well some of us have got brains, and some of us haven't!" he managed to say, before Pip and Larry threw themselves on him and a friendly scuffle ensued, which brought shrieks of pleasure from the children, that had Buster rushing over to join in the fun, barking excitedly, as he jumped around the children in excitement, knocking over the jug of lemonade and the five tall glasses. The noise they made was so loud that no one saw the approach of Mrs. Hilton, as she marched down the garden path and stood before the tangled bodies of happy laughing Find-Outers on the grass. "Well really, this is no way to behave on a hot day like this, when I am entertaining a few of the ladies from the Women's Institute! Why you children engage in such boisterous games is beyond me!" she said, impatiently. Everyone extricated themselves from Fatty, and sat on the grass, allowing Fatty to sit up and straighten his clothes, and smooth down his hair. Buster immediately stopped barking, and went to sit behind the children, knowing when someone sounded cross. "Sorry Mother," said Pip, in apologetic tones. "We were just having a friendly scuffle, that's all." "I would have thought it was much too hot to engage in such games," said Mrs. Hilton, firmly. "And is that lemonade that's been spilt?" Everyone nodded, and Fatty apologised in his most grown up voice. "Sorry Mrs. Hilton, we really didn't mean to disturb you and your guests." "Maybe not," came the curt reply, "but you have done, and so will you all kindly remember your manners in future when you are a guest on someone else's property. Pip, you may go and get your guests another jug of lemonade, and make sure you all drink it this time and not spill it." With that Mrs. Hilton then turned and walked back up the garden path to her guests. "I'd forgotten Mother had guests this afternoon," said Pip, picking up the jug that had fallen over. "I'll just go and get this refilled, and then we'd better think of some quieter game to play." Pip walked off in the direction of the kitchen, and the others settled down once more on the grass, Fatty stroking Buster's head, who was still panting from the vigorous game he'd been enjoying. "We could go to the dairy for some ices and see if there's any sign of Mr. Goon," said Daisy. "Let's discuss what disguises you're going to put on to fool Mr. Goon," said Larry, brightly. "Then we can go to the dairy later for some ices." "Oh yes. What will you be, Fatty?" asked Bets, in excitement. "A dirty old tramp again?"

"How about we go out one evening looking like a pair of ruffians up to no good?" said Larry, with a grin, wanting so much to join in the fun of deceiving Mr. Goon. "We did that once to fool P.C. Pippin. You remember, Fatty?" Fatty nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, and we more or less put him in the centre of a mystery by doing so!" "Put who in the middle of a mystery?" said Pip, just arriving with another jug of lemonade. "P.C. Pippin," said Bets. "Larry and Fatty might disguise themselves as ruffians one evening to fool Mr. Goon." "I'll come too," said Pip, indignantly, as he poured out glasses of lemonade for everyone. "I don't want to be left out. After all, I am a bit taller now than when you did that trick on Pippin." "Okay, we'll make some plans tomorrow," said Fatty, taking a drink of lemonade from his glass. "Gosh that's a lovely refreshing drink, Pip. Your cook knows how to make great lemonade." "Yes, she makes great cakes and biscuits too," said Bets. "But you didn't think to bring out any for us!" said Daisy, with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Cook hasn't made any today," said Pip, defensively, glaring at Daisy. "Otherwise I would have!" "You wouldn't," said Fatty, trying to look solemn, "because you and Bets want them all to yourselves." "That's not true!" Pip almost shouted, and then turned slightly red, as he saw Bets trying to stifle a giggle, and the others looking on amused. Fatty was pulling his leg and having a little joke. "Fatty, you almost had me fooled then," Pip finished off good-naturedly. "Oh I do wish some mystery would crop up soon," said Larry, pulling on a blade of grass. "We've had a good time these last three weeks going cycling, walking and swimming in the river, but there's nothing like a good juicy mystery to solve." "I agree," said Fatty. "We need something to keep our brains well oiled. I can't believe nothing unusual has turned up yet. I hope we don't go through the whole of the summer holidays with no mystery to solve! At least if we make some plans tomorrow about disguising ourselves that will at least keep our brains working until something turns up." "Let's go and have some ices at the dairy," said Daisy. "I'm feeling hot and tired just sitting and lazing around in the garden all afternoon." "Okay," everyone agreed, getting up and stretching themselves, which immediately made everyone feel less tired and weary and a little more alert that hot afternoon. "We'll stop off at my house and I'll leave Buster home so he can have a drink, and cool off in the kitchen," said Fatty, calling to the little black Scottie who was sniffing around the edges of the lawn. Everyone left Pip and Bets' garden by the rear gate, and walked to Fatty's house, where he took Buster inside and after making sure the dog had a large dish of cool water by his basket, he left him begging tit-bits of chicken from cook, who was preparing the evening meal. Fatty re-joined the others who were waiting for him by the garden gate, then the Find-Outers set off for the High Street and the dairy, their mouths almost watering as they thought of the delicious ices they were going to tuck into. As they approached the dairy, they saw Mr. Goon just coming out of his garden gate, pushing his bicycle, looking hot and tired in his dark blue uniform. He spotted them

at exactly the same time the Find-Outers spotted him, and they could see his face turning the usual colour of purple on seeing them all. "Hello Mr. Goon," said Fatty, with a smile, and in a voice that he knew angered the policeman. "Off to see Superintendent Jenks to report the latest mystery?" "Where I'm going is none of your business," retorted Mr. Goon, puffing himself out with importance. "And if there is a mystery going on, you kids are not involved nor will be. So just clear-orf and let me get about my business." "But Mr. Goon," said Fatty, sounding hurt. "You know how clever we all are, and how much we like to help you solve all the mysteries." Mr. Goon looked around at the Find-Outers and then at Fatty. "I do know that you are a conceited interfering kid who should stay out of things that don't concern him," began Mr. Goon, angrily. "And just because you are all friends of Superintendent Jenks, it doesn't mean that I have to put up with your cheek and interference. So stay out of trouble these holidays and don't interfere with things that don't concern you, otherwise I'll be speaking with all your parents." And on that note, Mr. Goon pushed his bicycle onto the roadway, and set off at a steady pace, muttering what sounded like 'Gah!' to their ears! "Well, he looks like he's got something to solve to me," said Larry, turning to look at the others. "I hope he hasn't," said Fatty, sounding bemused. "If he has we'll have to find out what it is. Come on everyone, time for a few ices at the dairy whilst we think!"

CHAPTER 2: IN THE DAIRY AND BY THE RIVER

"We've got to find out if old Clear-Orf is working on a mystery," said Fatty, starting on his second vanilla ice, as they all sat at a table in the dairy by the window, with a perfect view over the road at the police house. Fatty couldn't bear to think that Mr. Goon, the village policeman had a mystery all to himself to work on, and that he, Fatty, knew nothing about! "And how will we do that?" asked Pip. "We can't just ask him!" "He wouldn't tell us if we did," said Daisy, with a slight shrug of her shoulders, watching Fatty starting to eat his second ice. She was feeling full just after one! "How can you eat two ices, Fatty? Just the one was enough for me." "I can always find room for another ice," said Fatty, with a grin. "Besides, I was so pre-occupied thinking about Mr. Goon that I hardly tasted the first one at all. This one I'm savouring every mouthful." Everyone laughed at Fatty, as he over exaggerated his pleasure at eating the second ice as it went down. He loved the attention his audience gave him and played to their pleasure. The waitress over at the counter grinned at the children as she'd seen them

in the dairy on many occasions. She walked over to their table with a few flyers for a circus over in Marlow, thinking that they may wish to see the show. "Just in case you're interested," she said, putting them on the table before going back to the counter to serve another customer. "A circus," said Bets, picking up one of the flyers. "I hope they haven't got any lions or tigers. It would be frightening if any of them escaped." "Baby," snapped Pip, looking at a flyer. "Of course they haven't." He read aloud from the flyer. "Acrobats, dancing horses, tight-rope walkers, performing dogs, and fun and laughter from the clowns." "I'd like to go one afternoon," said Larry, looking hopeful. "Anyone else like to?" They all agreed if should be a fun show if their parents allowed them to see it. "I'd love to see the performing dogs," said Fatty, with a smile. "I'll have to leave Buster at home otherwise he'll be rushing into the ring to join in the performance!" Everyone laughed at the thought of Buster, racing around the circus ring, trying to join in with the performing circus dogs. "We can always go over to Marlow and have a look around the circus anyway," said Bets. "Then if it looks like being a good show, we can book." "Yes, good idea, Bets," said Fatty, with a smile. "It'll be fun having a look around first." The others all nodded in agreement, just as the waitress came over to their table, and smiling at them all said. "Can I get you children anything else?" "No thank you," said Fatty, "we're just going to walk off your lovely ices down by the river." "Enjoy yourselves," she said, with a cheery smile, giving them a small wave as they left the dairy. They all made their way through the village, and over the level crossing, that led to the riverside. Many locals and visitors were enjoying the hot afternoon sunshine, as they strolled along the river path or were having a picnic on the grass, or just sunbathing by the water, hoping for a gentle breeze to cool them down. Many boats were cruising along the river and some were moored to the river bank, with their owners sitting on the deck, eating and drinking or lazing in the sunshine, watching the many visitors walking by. "I don't think I've ever seen the river quite this busy before," said Larry, looking around at the scenery on and off the water. "There are some lovely boats going by." "Oh, look at the name of this one!" said Bets, in sheer joy. "It's called 'Bets' Delight'." They stopped and looked at the small moored cruiser, its name painted in large red letters on the bow. "Fancy calling a boat, 'Bets' Delight'," said Pip, scornfully. "It's a lovely name," said Bets, looking pleased. "If I had a boat that's what I'd call it!" Pip frowned at his sister, shaking his head. "It's fortunate, you've not got one then!" "I think it's a lovely name," said Fatty, sticking up for the little girl, as he usually did against her brother. The Find-Outers walked slowly along the river path way, stopping now and then to look at the tethered boats along the way. "This is a lovely one," said Daisy, stopping at a canal barge painted bright red with black trimmings, and with pots of brightly coloured flowers sitting all along the roof of the barge. Its name The Sweet Sue was painted in yellow letters between the windows of the long cabin and brightly coloured painted flowers encircled the name.

The owners were sitting on the front deck drinking from tall glasses and smiled at the children as they stopped to admire their barge. "I bet you don't see many canal barges on the water around here," said the woman, to the children. "No, we don't," said Fatty, a note of admiration in his voice. "Your barge is lovely. Do you actually live on the barge all year round?" The woman smiled. "Indeed we do, young man. We normally moor her during the winter months, on a spot we've used for many years, then during the summer we travel around on the canals visiting places along the way." "That sounds a grand life," said Larry, in awe. "I'd love to do that when I'm older." "We see a lot of the countryside," said the woman, with a smile. "But we are retired and this is the retirement we chose." "Do you have a cooker and bathroom on board, then?" asked Bets, thinking that if they lived on the boat it would have to be like a small house. "Oh yes. We have our lounge area, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom," said the woman, with a sudden grin at Bets. Bets' eyes widened in delight. How she wished she could live on a barge like this one, and cruise along the river and canals all day long, and not even go to school. The couple looked at each other and grinned. "Come aboard and have a look inside," said the man, with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're all just about the same age as our grandchildren and they love the barge when they come for a visit." The Find-Outers all smiled in glee and Fatty said. "That's really kind of you both. We'd love to look around. I've never been inside a barge before." The man helped the children aboard and the woman showed them inside their floating home. The children were amazed at how cosy it all was inside. The settees, the curtained windows, a log burning stove and a lovely kitchenette, and two bedrooms, one with a double bed and the other with bunk beds, and the bathroom had a toilet, washbasin and a shower. "Oh I wish I lived on a boat like this," said Bets, looking around her in sheer delight. "Don't you, Daisy?" "Oh yes," she said, just as delighted at being shown around. "How long are you both in Peterswood for?" Pip asked the woman, who was looking really pleased at the children's admiration of her home. "Just a few days," she said. "We've come because we heard about the extravaganza and thought we might just bump into boating people that we've met on our travels." "Well it's a lovely boat and a lovely way to live," said Pip. "Something I'd love to do, too." The woman smiled. "You've all got many years ahead of you before your retirement. Do you all live here in Peterswood?" Fatty nodded. "Yes, my name's Frederick Algernon Trotteville and my friends are Pip and Bets Hilton and Larry and Daisy Daykin." "Well we're very pleased to meet you all," said the woman, with a smile. "My name is Mrs. Susan Lawson and my husband is Mr. Bill Lawson." "Oh, so The Sweet Sue is named after yourself," said Daisy, with a bright smile. "How lovely!" "Yes, it sounded better than Sweet Bill," said Bill Lawson, with a grin. "Well thank you for showing us around," said Fatty. "And I hope you both enjoy your few days here in Peterswood. I can recommend the dairy for the best ices, macaroons and chocolate clairs around." "We'll certainly give the dairy a visit," said Mrs. Lawson, with a wide smile.

The Find-Outers said goodbye as they left the barge, and after waving to the couple they walked on further up the river pathway. "What a lovely couple," said Larry. "I'd love to do what they do all day." Everyone said the same, as they strolled along looking at more boats that were moored by the riverside. They all stopped to marvel at another cruiser, and as the owners didn't appear to be on deck, Bets tried to look inside one of the windows. As she did so a boy inside the boat suddenly appeared at the window and looked straight at her, causing Bets to step back in sudden shock, with a slight gasp, which had the others turning to look in her direction. Then as quickly as he'd appeared he was gone, and the curtains were pulled across the window. Still totally startled Bets looked at the others who were still watching her as she walked towards them and Fatty said, "What's the matter, Bets?" "I was just looking in through that window," she turned and pointed to the one in question, before carrying on, "when a boy suddenly appeared looking back at me, and then he was gone, as though someone had quickly pulled him away, and the curtain was pulled across." "Probably whoever is inside doesn't like nosy parkers peering in through their windows," said Pip, curtly, at his sister. "Or maybe whoever is inside has something to hide," said Daisy, with a raised enquiring brow. The Find-Outers all turned to look at the boat, but no one was coming out from the closed door, and they could still see the closed curtain at the mentioned window. On Fatty's indication, they all walked further along to a vacant bench just by a tree and sat down to talk. "Can you remember what the boy looked like?" said Fatty. "Did he look frightened?" "I don't know," said Bets. "I didn't think anyone was in the boat, that's why I peered inside the window. I couldn't really see much at all, as it was quite dark inside, then this boy's face was suddenly there looking back at me, and as I stepped back startled, it appeared as though he was quickly pushed out of the way, and then the curtain was drawn across." "Maybe whoever that boy is he could be in hiding," said Larry, in a quiet mysterious voice. "He could have been kidnapped." A tiny shiver ran through Bets. "Come to think of it, he did look a bit scared!" "Fatty just asked you if he looked frightened," said Pip, with a frown. "And you said you didn't know. So did he looked scared or not?" "I think maybe he did," said Bets, squeezing up her face and trying hard to remember. "I don't think there's been any mention in the papers or on the news of a boy being kidnapped or one that's missing," said Larry, trying to recall. "All the same, it was a bit odd what Bets has seen," said Fatty. He took out a notebook and pencil from his pocket, which he always carried. He started to write and the others waited until he'd finished, then Daisy said, "What have you written, Fatty?" "I've made a note of the time that this happened and the name of the cruiser Grey Heron," he said, sounding important. "And what's more, Find-Outers, I have a feeling that our next mystery has just begun!"

CHAPTER 3: IS IT A MYSTERY?
Fatty's words sent a shiver of excitement through the others. "What's our next step, Fatty?" asked Larry, with wide eyes. Fatty glanced quickly at his watch. "We haven't got much time to do anything at the moment, as I have to visit an aunt soon with Mother, and if the cruiser does leave here later, at least we have the name of the boat." He cast a glance over at the cruiser, but all was quiet, as it bobbed gently on the still river. "Bets, you try and keep the image of that boy in your mind, if you can, as that would be a great help." Bets looked a bit worried. She really hadn't taken much notice with being so startled. "I'll try, Fatty," she said, softly. Fatty rose from the bench and the others followed. "We'll have to set off back home now, but we'll meet in my shed at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. If any of you can listen to the news on the radio, then do so, and if you see anything in the paper tomorrow, then let me know at the meeting." Everyone nodded and the Find-Outers slowly made their way home, each determined to see if there was anything they could find out. Fatty spent the rest of the late afternoon and early evening trying to look happy and interested in what his mother and aunt were talking about. Buster was snoozing at his feet, obviously as bored as poor Fatty was. He had tried to make up an excuse for staying home and not going visiting with his mother, but she was adamant he should go. "Don't be so selfish, Frederick," his mother had said, sounding cross. "Your aunt has invited us both over for late tea and you should be grateful and willing to go. Living alone she doesn't get many visitors, so consider it your duty, Frederick!" "Yes, Mother," Fatty had conceded with grace, calling for Buster, who was sitting outside in the garden enjoying the sunshine. If he had to sit in a stuffy, hot house, for a few hours, then so would Buster! Fatty's aunt had glanced over at Fatty occasionally, guessing he was wishing he was somewhere else, and said, "So Frederick, are you working on one of your mysteries at the moment?" Fatty's face brightened on the change of subject. "Not yet," he said, lightly. "Peterswood is rather quiet at the moment, but we do have a boat extravaganza on by the river." His aunt smiled and Mrs. Trotteville said, "I'm glad he's not working on a mystery. The last thing I need is that pompous village policeman, Mr. Goon, calling around to complain about Frederick." Fatty's aunt gave them both a smile and said, "Pity you can't help with some of the robberies that have been happening around the London area. I was reading about them in the newspaper this morning. One or two large houses along the Thames have been visited by a cat burglar, who has successfully got away with stealing jewellery." "Really," Fatty's eyes widened in excitement. "I wonder if the burglar will make their way up river to our district!"

"I sincerely hope not," said Mrs. Trotteville, looking horrified at the thought. "If they did, Mr. Goon certainly wouldn't be able to handle such a case!" "Superintendent Jenks would though," said Fatty, in admiration, knowing deep down inside that he and the Find-Outers could probably solve the case between them. "Well I hope those robberies stay outside of our area," said Mrs. Trotteville, with a sigh. "I'll go and see if our tea is almost ready," said Fatty's aunt, bringing the subject of robberies to a close, and the look Fatty's mother gave him suggested that he'd better not bring up the subject over tea. The following morning all the Find-Outers listened intently to the morning news and Fatty scoured the newspaper once his father had read it and left for work. He read a small piece about the cat burglar his aunt had mentioned, but the robbery was thirty miles from Peterswood not in the surrounding area. At ten o'clock sharp, he heard the others coming down the garden pathway and then they appeared at the opened shed door. Buster greeted everyone with his usual exuberance and after they'd all made a fuss of him he was happy to settle back down beneath the table in Fatty's shed. Fatty had a large jug of lemonade ready for everyone and poured out five glasses. "So has anyone got anything to report?" he said, before taking a large refreshing drink. The others all shook their heads. "I looked in the paper and there's nothing in there about a boy missing or any kidnapping," said Larry, sounding a little disappointed. "And Daisy listened purposely to the news and there was nothing on there either." Daisy shook her head. "And I was listening closely too, but nothing." "Same for Bets and me," said Pip. "No news at all!" Fatty looked thoughtfully at the others. "Maybe we've got it wrong, then!" He sounded disappointed and was rather upset to think that their planning may come to a full stop. "Maybe there's no mystery at all!" "Let's go and see if the Grey Heron is still moored by the bank," said Larry, on a brighter note. "We may just get a glimpse of the boy." Fatty was thinking along the same lines and nodded. "Yes, come on Find-Outers; let's go for walk down by the river before it gets too hot. Come on, Buster, walkies!" They set off down the road which led over the level crossing then onto the river pathway. Buster was walking sedately along, sniffing the hedgerows in his usual way. Although it was still morning the sun was hot and the afternoon promised to be even hotter. A few more boats were moored along the river bank, with their owners up on deck, sitting in the sunshine, some were cleaning their boats, and some were inside obviously cooking, as the smell of bacon and eggs kept drifting towards the children's noses. "The smell of cooking is making me hungry," said Pip, sniffing the air. "Bacon delicious!" "I'm feeling hungry myself now," said Fatty, feeling his tummy rumble. "How inconsiderate of the boat owners to start cooking, just as we're walking by!" Everyone roared with laughter at Fatty's expression and Buster danced around their heels wanting to join the excitement. They came upon the red barge 'The Sweet Sue' and saw Mr. and Mrs. Lawson sitting out eating breakfast and drinking tea. "Hello children," she said, with a smile. "Nice to see you all again. Would you all like a bacon sandwich?"

The Find-Outers all glowed with delight at the thought of an extra breakfast. "That would be lovely," said Fatty, politely. "Come aboard," said Mr. Lawson. "I didn't see the dog yesterday, is he with you?" Fatty nodded. "Yes, this is Buster. We left him at home yesterday as he can get too hot." "Sit yourselves down and I'll pop some more bacon in the pan," said Mr. Lawson, disappearing inside the barge. It wasn't long before everyone was tucking into bacon sandwiches and Mrs. Lawson was pouring out glasses of fresh orange juice for them all. "How was your night on board?" said Fatty, giving Buster a bit of his sandwich, as the dog was looking longingly up at his master. "Fine," said Mrs. Lawson. "Everyone we've met from the other boats seems pleasant enough." "There's a lovely cruiser further down the river called 'Grey Heron'," said Larry, innocently. "Have you met her owners?" Mrs. Lawson shook her head. "No, we haven't yet, but there's still time. We'll walk along past the boats today and probably get to meet some of the owners." "Was it quiet on the river last night?" said Daisy, wondering if the Lawsons had heard anything unusual. Fatty gave Daisy a smile of approval, as he guessed why she had asked the question. He had taught the Find-Outers well, as they were using their own initiative to ask the right questions. "Well sounds do travel at night," began Mr. Lawson, "and we could hear some of the owners laughing and enjoying themselves, but when it gets late most respect each other and the noises do tend to die down." "Is there going to be a party as all these boats are here for an extravaganza?" said Bets, hoping there would be. A big party would be fun down by the river. Mrs. Lawson smiled at Bets. "Not really," she said, gently. "It's really just a friendly gathering my dear, like a gathering of vintage vehicles in a rally. I believe a few stall holders will be arriving today, and on the last evening there's going to be a firework display on the water, so that should be really exciting to see. You must remember to come down for that." "Oh we will," said Fatty, in excitement. "But I'll leave Buster at home as he doesn't like fireworks." "Very wise, young man," said Mr. Lawson. "We don't want your dog bolting off in fear and getting lost!" "Well thank you for the extra breakfast," said Fatty, rising from the chair, watching the others doing the same. "It was very kind of you." The others all followed Fatty's lead and thanked the elderly couple. "You're all very welcome and must call again," said Mrs. Lawson. "It's always a pleasure to talk to well behaved children like yourself, and Buster too of course." She gave the dog a gentle pat, and he returned the favour with a small lick of her hand. They all left the barge, waving happily to the elderly couple, just as Mr. Goon came walking by pushing his bicycle along the pathway. He'd already seen the children leaving the barge and frowned in annoyance. Then Buster suddenly saw his enemy at the same time as Mr. Goon saw the dog. With a delighted bark he rushed at Mr. Goon's ankles, snapping around them excitedly, almost causing Mr. Goon to overbalance as he tried to hold onto his bicycle.

"Clear-orf!" the angry policeman shouted at Buster, as he barked defiantly around his ankles. The others rushed to Mr. Goon, leaving the Lawsons watching the little scene from their barge. "Keep that pest of a dog under control," shouted Mr. Goon to Fatty. "Vicious he is!" Fatty called to Buster, who reluctantly left Mr. Goon's ankles to obey his master, and Fatty took hold of his collar and producing a lead from his pocket he clicked it onto Buster's collar. The others were standing watching the little scene, grinning at Mr. Goon's predicament. Once Buster was safely on his lead, Mr. Goon walked towards them, with an angry snort, and gave the Find-Outers one of his angry glares. "You kids are a nuisance; I'll have to complain to your parents. What were you all doing on that boat? Pestering the owners, I'll be bound." "We were invited aboard," said Fatty, in his most polite voice, knowing it would annoy the already angry Mr. Goon. "They've been having breakfast with us," said Mrs. Lawson, firmly, glaring at the angry policeman and not liking his attitude. "And they are welcome aboard whenever they like." "Gah," said Mr. Goon, forgetting himself for a moment, and then turning slightly red, as he saw the couple looking at him with instant disapproval. "If I'd have known you were on the pathway, I'd have put Buster on his lead, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, innocently. "See, a genuine mistake," said Mr. Lawson firmly; looking at Mr. Goon with a raised brow that almost dared him to argue. "And the boy's apologised so let's hear no more about it!" The children looked at Mr. Lawson with a grateful smile, then at Mr. Goon who was still fuming inside. "Don't let these pests fool you with good manners," snapped Mr. Goon, walking away with a determined stride and pushing his bicycle at his side. "What an extremely rude policeman," said Mrs. Lawson, looking at his back as he walked away. "He doesn't like us very much," said Larry, to the couple, who were still watching the policeman as he walked up the river path. "Well, thanks again," said Fatty. "We'd better continue our walk." They all said goodbye once more to the Lawsons, and started to walk in the direction that Mr. Goon was taking. When they were out of ear-shot of the couple, Fatty said to the others, "Doesn't it strike you all as odd that old Clear-Orf is walking by the river? I wonder why? That's what I'm asking myself."

CHAPTER 4: THE GREY HERON

"How do you mean?" said Bets in puzzlement. "Try using your brain sometimes, Bets," said Pip, in exasperation. Bets looked hurt, and Fatty felt sorry for her, and said gently, "We're suspicious of the Grey Heron, Bets, after what you saw yesterday, and my guess is that old ClearOrf is onto a case we know nothing about, and today we see him on the river path walking in the very direction of the Grey Heron." Bets' eyes widened in excitement. "So there is a mystery after all. Oh I do hope we solve it before old Clear-Orf manages to." "The cruiser is just ahead," said Larry, "still moored. I can't see old Clear-Orf though, unless he's on board." "We'll soon know when we get a bit nearer," said Fatty, hurrying along, and gently pulling Buster as he had stopped to sniff along the hedgerows. Everyone followed Fatty and hastened their pace, looking at the cruiser as it got nearer and nearer. It bobbed gently on the river as the children stopped beside it, but there was no sign of Mr. Goon. The cabin door was open and just as Fatty pointed this out to the others a boy stepped out from the cabin and onto the small deck. They were all so surprised at this sudden appearance of the boy that they stood openmouthed just looking at him. As he turned he saw them all and came to stand by the boat's rails, and with a smile said, "Hello, a few people have stopped to admire the Grey Heron." The Find-Outers were still slightly shocked to see the boy, whom they had been convinced was in hiding, but his appearance on the deck showed they must be mistaken. How could that be? His sudden disappearance from the window yesterday was certainly very odd. Fatty was the first to speak. "Yes, the cruiser is lovely. Do your parents own it?" "My father does," said the boy, lightly, leaving the boat and coming to stand by the others on the pathway. He stooped down and started to make a huge fuss of Buster who was extremely delighted with the boy's attention. "He's a lovely dog. What's his name?" "Buster," said Fatty, looking pleased. He liked people who liked his dog. "I wish I had a dog," said the boy, standing up, and looking at the Find-Outers. "But me and Father live in an apartment, and it's not really suitable to keep a dog in an apartment, with no garden." "Are you on holiday?" said Larry, instantly liking this boy. "Yes, for two weeks, and we'll be meeting up with friends in a few days' time, here on the water." "Where's your mother?" said Bets, wondering why the boy had only mentioned his father. Pip looked at Bets with a frown, and gave her a gentle nudge. "Don't ask such insensitive questions like that," he whispered, fiercely. The boy over-hearing smiled. "I don't mind really. Mum died when I was very young and when my father has to travel for his job I stay with my grandparents." "What does your father do?" said Daisy, feeling sorry for this likeable boy. It must be awful to have no mother to love and care for you, she thought. "He's in the jewellery trade. Sells and buys precious stones. He has a shop in London, Mayfair, which is where we live. My name's Thomas Selby. Do you all live here near the river?" "Yes, just in the village," said Fatty, with a smile. He introduced himself and the others.

"Nice to meet you all," said Thomas. "Come aboard. Father is out at the moment, and I'm here all alone. I've got some ginger beer we can have." The Find-Outers were eager to see inside the cruiser and excitedly climbed on board. Fatty picked up Buster as it was a little more difficult for the dog to climb on board, as the sides were much higher off the bank than the barge had been. The sides of the barge had been almost parallel to the bank and easy to step from one to the other. Once everyone was on deck and seated at the bench that skirted the bow, Thomas went into the cabin to get the ginger beer and glasses. Quickly glancing around them, Pip said, "His father must be awfully rich to afford a boat like this." "Exactly what I was thinking," whispered Larry. "Thomas seems a nice enough boy, though." "Is Thomas the boy you saw yesterday, Bets?" Fatty whispered by her ear. Bets screwed up her face thoughtfully and said, "I think he is, Fatty." Before anyone could say anymore, Thomas came back up on deck carrying a large tray containing a jug of ginger beer and six glasses. He popped the tray down on the table before them and said, "Help yourselves." Daisy picked up the jug and said she'd pour out for everyone, and as she did so, Thomas said he'd get some ice from the cooler just by the cabin door. Lifting the lid he picked up the scoop which was sitting on the ice cubes in the small boxed cooler and took them over for everyone to pop into their glasses. "That's a handy item to have," said Pip, looking across at the boxed cooler. "Yes, we keep it there so it's by the table. We keep it filled with ice and sometimes I keep tubs of ice-cream in there too, it saves keep going back and forth into the kitchen which is the furthest away from the lounge area." "How many bedrooms have you got on board?" said Larry, after taking a long drink of the iced ginger beer. "Only two, small ones," said Thomas. "The settee in the lounge area can convert to a bed, but as it's only Father and me, we don't use it as such." "This is a lovely boat," said Pip. "It must be nice cruising up and down the river, visiting all the villages along the way." Thomas smiled with a nod. "It's nice meeting up with other boat people too. And this hot weather makes it more enjoyable. I was contemplating having a swim in the river, but it's so busy with boats at the moment, I didn't think it very safe." "We often swim in the river on hot days," said Daisy. "But with the boat extravaganza being on at the moment, the river is busier than usual. And I hear that some stalls will be arriving soon. It will get even busier when they all arrive." "Pity there isn't a fair," said Bets, joining in the conversation. "We've had a fair by the river a few times, and it's really good fun. One year we had a waxwork show, and that was really good." "It all sounds very exciting," said Thomas. "Maybe we could all meet up a bit later on this afternoon when most of the stalls have been erected and we could have a good look around them together." The Find-Outers looked at Thomas, all nodding their heads. "Sounds like a good idea to me," said Larry. "We haven't got anything else planned for later, have we Fatty?" Fatty shook his head. "No, nothing. We were going to go and have a look around the circus that is on over in Marlow, but we can do that tomorrow." "Oh that sounds exciting too," said Thomas, with wide excited eyes. "Would you all mind if I came along with you tomorrow?"

The others looked at Fatty. Thomas seemed a nice boy, but they weren't sure whether Fatty would want him to join them over at Marlow. Fatty too wasn't certain whether he wanted Thomas to join them, after all, they'd only just met, and besides he'd probably have to get permission from his father first. "Your father may not want you to go with anyone he doesn't know," said Fatty, evasively. And we're not sure yet exactly what our plans will be." "I'll ask him when he gets back," said Thomas, obviously not wanting to be put off at the prospect of spending time with the others. The Find-Outers nodded gently, beginning to feel a little awkward that Thomas was quite eager to invite himself along. He must be feeling a little lonely; to want to join a group of children he didn't really know, thought Bets. "I hope Bets didn't scare you too much when she peered in at the cabin window yesterday," said Fatty, quickly changing the subject. Thomas looked at little blankly at Fatty, and then said, "Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about that. Father was having a lie down and asked me to close the curtains." "I thought you'd been pulled away from the window," said Bets, with a grin. "It quite shocked me." Thomas looked at Bets blankly. "Really, sorry about that!" Before anyone could say anything else Thomas said, looking out from the boat. "My father's back." Just as the Find-Outers turned to see where Thomas had been looking, a man was climbing aboard the Grey Heron, holding onto a large plastic bag. He looked at everyone quite surprised and then said, "You've found some friends, Thomas." He gave a slight frown at Buster who had suddenly started to bark at his sudden entrance, and Fatty took hold of his lead and quietened the dog down. "Sorry," said Fatty, in apologetic tones. "You startled him that's all." Thomas's father gave a small nod of his head, and said to Thomas was he going to introduce his new friends. Thomas did so, and after saying a cheery 'hello' to them all, he said, "I'll just take the supplies inside," upon which he disappeared through the cabin door closing it behind him. "We'd better be going now your father is back," said Fatty. "I'm sure he doesn't want a lot of children and a dog disturbing him." Everyone stood to leave, following Fatty's example. "Don't forget to come over later this afternoon so we can all look at the stalls," said Thomas, cheerfully. "We won't forget," said Fatty, picking up Buster, and climbing from the boat. The other Find-Outers followed Fatty, all saying a cheery 'goodbye' to Thomas. As they walked away and out of earshot of the boat, Bets said, "He seems a nice enough boy." "Pity there's no mystery though," said Larry, sounding disappointed. "The last thing I expected to see was the boy and the cabin door open after what Bets had seen." "Yes, that was a surprise," said Fatty, and everyone agreed. "Well Thomas did at least explain about that," said Daisy, looking at the others as they walked along the river path. "Yes, he did, but somehow he didn't sound quite convincing," said Fatty, in surprising tones, and with a raised brow. Everyone looked at Fatty, quite surprised to hear him saying so. "What makes you say that?" asked Pip, puzzled. "I don't really know," said Fatty, sounding vague. "Just a gut instinct I had. And Buster didn't seem to like Mr. Selby much either! And he's an excellent judge of character."

"That's true," said Pip, sounding convinced. "But some people don't like dogs and maybe Mr. Selby is one of those people and Buster could sense that!" Fatty nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe!" "You're probably just feeling a bit disappointed that there's no real mystery now, Fatty," said Daisy, lightly. "After all, Thomas did invite us aboard and so he can't have anything to hide and Mr. Selby didn't seem to mind us being there." "Daisy's right, Fatty," said Larry, with a slight nod. "We all set out to sort out a mystery that doesn't exist." "Yes, you're both probably right," said Fatty, still sounding unconvinced. "We'll call on Thomas later this afternoon and have some fun looking at the stalls. There may be one or two with games we can have a go at." "Oh you mean like the hoopla stalls, Fatty," said Bets, in excitement. She loved trying to throw the rings over objects and winning that object if she managed to ring it. "There's Mr. Goon," said Daisy, suddenly surprised to see the policeman as he mounted his bicycle and started to ride away. "He's obviously been to see those stall holders," said Pip, pointing over to the large grassy area, where some people were already setting up their stalls and displaying their wares. And as luck would have it, Bets could see a hoopla stall too. "He's probably been checking that everything is in order and that they've all got permission to be there." "Well at least we now know why old Clear-Orf was down here by the river," said Larry, with a shrug. "Another mystery that's been cleared up!" "So it looks like there's not going to be a mystery these hols, after all," said Bets, sounding disappointed. "Spitty," said Fatty, with a cheerful grin. "We'll have to have some fun with old Clear-Orf instead."

CHAPTER 5: AT THE STALLS AND GOON IS ON A CASE

At three o'clock, the Find-Outers with Buster attached to his lead, which he wasn't really very happy about, called by the Grey Heron and found Thomas eagerly waiting for them on the deck. His father was sitting back reading a newspaper. "Be back before five, Thomas," said Mr. Selby. "We have to go out later." Thomas promised he would as he climbed from the boat, and joining the others they all set off to the wide grassy area by the river where all the stalls were grouped together, with their colourful striped canopies, keeping the stall holders sheltered from the hot sun.

"This all looks rather exciting," said Thomas, with enthusiasm. "I've never seen anything as exciting as this!" "You must have been to a fair before," said Larry, quite surprised. "Not like this," said Thomas. "I've heard of villages having a fete or a fair, but where I live in the city we don't have things like this." The others looked at Thomas, who was really enjoying himself immensely, each of them thinking how sad that he hadn't even been to any kind of village gathering like this one, which was still relatively small compared to some of the fairs the FindOuters had been to. "We've had much more fun things going on here in Peterswood than just a few stalls," said Bets, brightly. "We've been to some super fairs, haven't we Fatty?" "Yes, and even here by the river one year there were side shows and even a waxworks," Fatty replied. "A waxworks," repeated Thomas in glee. "Wow, how fantastic! I wish I'd been here to see that." Fatty smiled, he was almost tempted to tell him of how he, Fatty, had even dressed up as the wax figure, Napoleon, but refrained from doing so as he would have had to explain all about the mystery that the Find-Outers had solved and Fatty still wasn't certain enough of Thomas to give out any such information about themselves. "Let's go over to the hoopla stall," said Bets, excitedly, spotting it over by the hedgerow. "I want to see what I can ring." "You and hoopla stalls," grumbled Pip, as everyone followed Bets, as she raced over to the stall. Fatty handed over Buster's lead to Daisy, as he bought himself and Bets three rings each to try whilst the others watched intensely. Bets didn't get to ring anything at all, and sighed in disappointment, as she was really trying very hard to get a very small glass vase to put on her dressing table. "It would have gone lovely with my brush and comb set," she said, sadly. Seeing Bets looking so crestfallen, Fatty was determined to ring the little glass vase for her and everyone squealed in delight, causing Buster also to bark in excitement, when his third ring managed to wrap itself around the object. The stall holder gladly handed it over to Fatty, whereupon he gave it to Bets with a smile. "Oh Fatty, thank you so much," said Bets, in delight. "It's so lovely. I'll really take good care of it." "Just like Fatty to be so generous," said Daisy, good naturedly. "What would we do without him?" Fatty glowed with pleasure and pride and shrugged modestly. Suddenly not wanting to be outdone, Thomas said, "I'll have a go too, it can't be that difficult" The others grinned mischievously as they watched Thomas buy three rings, and on each throw he missed the items completely. He frowned in annoyance at not being able to achieve something that had looked relatively simple. "You have to know how to throw them exactly," boasted Fatty to Thomas, secretly glad that the boy had failed the task. "I know what I'll be better than you at," suddenly said Thomas, looking across at the firing range. "I go clay shooting with my father." He ran over to the firing range and the others followed, each casting sly glances between themselves, at this sudden competitive behaviour on Thomas's part. Thomas paid his money and was given a small rifle, which he aimed at the metal ducks that were moving along a track in two rows across the stall. Crack! He aimed at one duck and it fell over, at the same time as Buster went and hid by Daisy's legs

as he didn't like the loud sound the pellets made. Thomas took aim again and knocked down a further three ducks. "There!" he said, with pleasure, as he handed back the rifle to the stall holder. "I told you I was the best at shooting!" The stall holder handed Thomas a small gift which he took without a word of thanks. "I didn't realize we were in competition with each other," said Pip, with sarcasm. "There's nothing wrong in competing against someone," said Thomas, flippantly. "It's what sports people do all the time!" "In a sports event, yes," snapped Larry. "But Fatty wanted to win that vase for Bets, not to prove anything else." Thomas blushed slightly. "I don't see what difference that makes." "Well if you can't see that it's better to achieve something for the benefit of others too, then there's nothing more to be said!" said Fatty, firmly and taking Buster from Daisy, with a smile of thanks at her, he said, "I think it best we set off home now." Everyone sent the startled Thomas a look of disdain, and saying a swift 'cheerio' started to walk away. Suddenly realizing they were all leaving, and that they were obviously not very happy with him, he said urgently, "Hey wait! I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted to prove to you all that I was good at something." They all turned to look at Thomas, and Fatty said, "We don't judge our friends on what they can achieve. They are friends because we like them, not for what they're capable of doing." Looking rather sheepishly, Thomas said, "I'm sorry. It's just that the boys at my school like to compete with each other." "Well they don't sound like the sort of boys I would want to be friends with," said Pip, with a shrug. "Come on, let's go and have a look at the cake and sweet stalls," said Daisy, trying to avoid any arguments. They all nodded slightly, and with Buster tugging on his lead, they walked aimlessly along the rest of the stalls, Bets carrying her little glass vase very gently, so as not to drop it. Thomas seemed on his very best behaviour after the little disagreement, and even bought everyone a bag of sweets of their choice from one of the sweet stalls. Buster wasn't allowed sweets, but one of the stalls had put out a large drinking bowl for any thirsty dog on that hot summer's day, and thankfully Buster took a long satisfying drink. At around four-thirty, Fatty said it was probably time for them all to set off home, and reminded Thomas that his father had requested for him to be back before five. Thomas looked rather sulky that time had gone by so quickly with his new friends, and tried to persuade them to stay a little longer, but they were all adamant that it was time to get back, and so reluctantly, Thomas waved them a cheery 'goodbye'. As the Find-Outers headed off back to the village, Larry said, "I was rather surprised by Thomas this afternoon. He seemed so nice when he invited us aboard the boat. Now, I'm not so sure I really want to see him again." "Yes, I feel the same," said Pip. "The school he attends must be quite a competitive one, by the sounds of it." "He's probably just a bit lonely," said Bets, always ready to see the good in everyone. "Well I'm not very keen on him," said Daisy. "I prefer us being the Find-Outers and Dog, without anyone else." Fatty was listening intently, and agreed. "Yes, I think we'll give the river a miss tomorrow, so we won't bump into Thomas."

As they neared the dairy, they saw Mr. Goon, coming out from the police house, and he seemed to be in quite a hurry, pushing his bicycle out of the garden. Buster on seeing his enemy gave a volley of frantic barks, desperately trying to free himself from his lead. Fatty had to hold him firmly, and stopped him barking. "Old Clear-Orf, is looking busy again," said Fatty, to the others. "I can't help thinking that he's got some mystery he's working on!" "It looks like he has," said Larry, in agreement. Spotting the children watching him, and noticing that Buster was safely on a lead, Mr. Goon cycled towards the Find-Outers, stopping beside them. "I'm glad to see you've got that pest of a dog on a lead," he said, looking most important. "Off to try and solve the latest mystery, Mr. Goon?" said Fatty, with a grin, and hoping his remark would cause the policeman to make a slip and tell them of the case he was working on. "I wouldn't tell you if I was," said Mr. Goon, bursting with importance. "You're just an interfering toad and the less you know of this mystery, the better. I'm in charge, not you and it's going to stay that way." Fatty looked at Mr. Goon feeling quite startled. So there was a mystery on that he and the others knew nothing about! Not wanting Mr. Goon to know that he Fatty and the others knew nothing of the latest mystery, he said, brightly, "Yes, it's quite a mystery how this cat burglar gets around without being noticed." He gave Mr. Goon a knowing look, feeling pleased that he'd suddenly remembered what his aunt had told him, and the small piece he'd read in the papers only that morning. "How do you think he does it, Mr. Goon?" "You just keep your nose out of this mystery," bellowed Mr. Goon, suddenly looking angry. "If you interfere with this mystery of the cat burglar, I'll go along and complain to all your parents, whether you're a friend of Superintendent Jenks or not, so there!" And with those closing words, Mr. Goon mounted his bicycle and rode away looking very important indeed, leaving the children watching his departure. "Well, at least now we know that there really is a mystery on," said Fatty, in satisfaction. "Though I must admit, mentioning the cat burglar was just a stab in the dark." The others looked at Fatty, puzzled. "How did you know about this cat burglar?" said Larry, in bewilderment. "We'll go and have ices in the dairy and I'll explain," said Fatty, leading the way. Once inside and the ices had been ordered, Fatty told the others about what his aunt had told him the day before, and the small piece of news he'd read in the paper only that morning. "Hey, look at this," suddenly said Pip, picking up a discarded afternoon newspaper that a customer had left on the seat beside him. He showed the paper to Fatty, who read aloud the heading that read, 'Cat Burglar targets house in Marlow.' Fatty looked at the others feeling pleased. "So the mystery has come to our area, after all," he said, with a bright smile. "That must be where old Clear-Orf is heading off to." "What's a cat burglar?" asked Bets, suddenly. "Is it someone who dresses up as a cat and burgles houses?" The others all looked at Bets and roared with laughter. She blushed under their gazes, wondering why on earth her comment had brought such hilarity. "You really are a baby sometimes," said Pip, still trying to hold back his laughter. "A cat burglar is someone who is light and agile on his feet, Bets," said Fatty, beginning to explain. "He can climb ropes and drainpipes effortlessly, and is very

sure footed. Just like a cat is, and normally dresses in black so as not to be seen at night." "Oh, I see," said Bets, with a good humoured grin. "So it could be someone from a circus then!" The others started to laugh lightly at Bets again, but Fatty just gazed at Bets, with wide excited eyes. "Well done, Bets," he suddenly said, surprising the others into silence. "Bets has hit the nail on the head, Find-Outers. This cat burglar could very well be someone from a circus. And what has just arrived in Marlow?" "A circus," said Larry, nodding his head and knowing what Fatty was now getting at. "And they've got acrobats and tight rope walkers, too!" "Exactly," said Fatty, looking pleased. "So Find-Outers, our next mystery has begun. Tomorrow we'll meet at ten o'clock in my shed, and we'll make some plans about going over to Marlow for the full day, and seeing what we can discover about this circus." Everyone looked at Fatty feeling really pleased. A mystery they could get their teeth into at last!

CHAPTER 6: MAKING PLANS AND OFF TO MARLOW

"So what is the plan, Fatty?" said Larry, eager to get started on this new mystery. "There was a piece about the burglary in Marlow in this morning's paper." "Yes, I read that too," said Pip. Fatty too had read not only the late afternoon paper that Pip had found in the dairy the day before, but that morning's paper which had a few more details about the burglary. "The story in the paper yesterday was only a brief report," began Fatty. This morning's paper had more information, and says the house in Marlow was one of the large ones by the river, and the thief only takes jewellery. And that's exactly the same as all the other burglaries miles away. Only jewellery was taken!" "Does the paper mention the circus?" said Bets, looking excited. "Of course not!" snapped Pip. "That's just one theory that we're going to investigate." "Do you think we should go and see if we can talk to the people whose house was burgled?" said Daisy. "They may be able to tell us something that wasn't reported in the paper." Fatty looked thoughtfully at Daisy and nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea, Daisy, we could try."

"How will we be able to do that, Fatty?" said Pip, puzzled. "Those big houses along the river have high gates that are locked and high walls. We can't just go in ask like we've done in other mysteries." "Yes, Pip's right," said Larry, thoughtfully. "That's going to prove difficult." Fatty was silent for a moment, and then said, "We could go by boat and row along the river until we get to the right house and then somehow think of an excuse to enter their garden by the river bank." "How will we know which is the right house?" said Daisy. "It doesn't give any address in the paper." "We'll have to use our brains on this one," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "The first step I think will be to cycle over to Marlow, and head for the local newsagent, who sells papers. They're bound to have a bit of village gossip about the burglary." "Yes, we'll try and talk to as many people as we can," said Larry, in excitement. "Grown-ups are always happy to talk freely in answer to children's questions. I bet Mr. Goon won't find anyone as easy to talk to as we will." "Yes, but a policeman has the right to interview people," said Fatty, on a serious note. "And if he's already been interviewing people in Marlow, it will make it more difficult for us to ask any questions." "Well let's just hope that Mr. Goon hasn't spoken to everyone yet," said Bets, sounding fierce. She didn't like the thought of Mr. Goon getting ahead of the FindOuters on this latest mystery. "Maybe this house will have a gardener and a boy helping," said Daisy, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "I'm sure the boy would be more than happy to talk to us and he'd be bursting with the news." "Good idea!" said Fatty, looking hopefully at Daisy. "It's good that you're all using your brains of how we can get some information about these burglaries." Everyone felt pleased. They all loved praise from their leader. "What about Buster?" said Pip, looking down at the dog who was chewing on a large bone. "Will we take him, Fatty?" "Yes, said Fatty, with a nod, and looking at his dog. "He's part of the Find-Outers and I'll put him in my bicycle basket when we cycle over. Buster may be useful when we get near the house, if we can find out which one it is. He can run into the garden from the boat, a good excuse for us all to go in and fetch him." "Good idea," said Larry. "Make sure you play your part well, Buster," he finished, with a grin. Buster glanced up momentarily before getting back to chewing his bone, which he was thoroughly enjoying; nothing was going to interrupt this appetising bone. Especially the children talking about nothing he understood! "I told Mother we'd be out for most of the day," said Pip, suddenly changing the subject. "I think she was quite pleased as she has a few friends over this afternoon and they're having tea in the garden." "Yes, we told our mother we wouldn't be in to lunch," said Daisy. "She did ask where would we be going and to make sure we get something to eat for lunch!" "There's bound to be a caf or a dairy somewhere in Marlow," said Fatty, looking at the others. "If not we can always buy some sandwiches and cakes and eat them on the river bank." "Oh yes," said Bets, suddenly excited, her eyes shining brightly. "I think I'd prefer that, Fatty. It would be like a picnic."

"Yes, I prefer that too," said Daisy, in agreement. "Shall we all do that instead? I don't really fancy sitting in a caf or dairy on a hot day like today. I'd much rather be sitting by the river." Everyone agreed, and Fatty suggested that before they left for Marlow, they'd stop off at the dairy and buy some sandwiches and cakes to take with them for a picnic. "I suppose we should have all brought a packed lunch with us," said Pip, suddenly remembering that they needed money to buy sandwiches and cakes. "I haven't got much pocket money left." He dived into his trouser pocket and pulled out a few coins to see exactly what was left. He put the coins onto the table in front of them all, and said with a frown, "That won't even buy us one sandwich!" "Don't worry," said Fatty, good naturedly. "I've got plenty of money and can treat us to whatever we fancy eating." He looked down at Buster, who'd just given a huge sigh. "We'll take your bone too, Buster. And you can chew away at your bone when we're in the boat." "Take my few coins, Fatty," said Pip, wanting to contribute to their lunch. "It's not a lot but I'd rather you take it anyway." Larry dived into his pockets too and put some money on the table. "Take mine too, Fatty. It's only fair that we all contribute what we can for the food." Fatty didn't want to take the money at first, but Pip and Larry were adamant he should. Fatty was always treating them to ices, or macaroons, or chocolate clairs at the dairy. He was always very generous, but always said that he had a lot of aunts and uncles who were generous with giving him money too, and he liked to share with the other Find-Outers. It wasn't long before they all rode their bicycles over to the dairy, Buster sitting happily in Fatty's bicycle basket, and looking down his nose at any other dog that they passed. Leaning his bicycle against the wall of the dairy, Fatty went inside and bought a selection of sandwiches, cakes and drinks, which the assistant behind the counter popped into a small carrier bag for him. Coming out of the dairy, Daisy took the bag from Fatty and popped it into her bicycle basket, as there was no room in Fatty's with Buster sitting in there. "Right, Marlow it is," said Fatty, when they were all ready to set off once more. It was about three miles or so to Marlow and was a very pleasant bicycle ride, with the sun shining down on them, and a nice warm breeze keeping the children from getting too hot. Buster sat proudly in the basket of Fatty's bicycle, it would have been much too far for the little dog to run beside their bicycles on a hot day like today. Once at Marlow they cycled through the High Street and headed towards the river. Once there Fatty rode over to a wide expanse of grass and dismounted from his bicycle, and the others did the same, placing their bikes up against a small group of trees. "Why have we stopped here, Fatty?" said Bets. "I thought we were going to ask around the village first." "I thought it might be a good idea to have lunch first," said Fatty, who was feeling hungry after the bicycle ride. "Then after we've eaten we can ask around the village and see what we can discover." "Good idea," said Larry. "I'm feeling hungry myself now." Daisy took the small carrier bag from her bicycle basket and the Find-Outers sat down in the shade of the large trees, where she carefully unwrapped the sandwiches and placed them down on the grass for everyone to help themselves, along with the drinks and the cakes, which she kept wrapped in their little paper bags.

Fatty took Buster's bone out from his pocket and give it to the little dog, but he turned his nose up at the bone, and sat looking longingly at the sandwiches that everyone was starting to eat. "Keep your nose away, Buster," said Daisy, firmly, as he tried to take one of the sandwiches. Fatty gave a grin, and ordered Buster to sit beside him whilst they ate. "Sandwiches always taste better out of doors," said Bets, feeling happy that she was sitting in the sunshine, by the river, with the other Find-Outers. "Don't you all think so?" "A sandwich is a sandwich, wherever you eat it!" said Pip, bluntly. "You do say such silly things, sometimes, Bets." "Well I think they do too," said Fatty, always ready to side with her against her brother. "I'm going to savour every taste and enjoy it." The others laughed at Fatty as he over exaggerated eating his cheese and onion sandwich, with many 'ooohs', aaahs and mmmms'! Buster unable to resist the different smells of cheese, ham and eggs, walked amongst the children, eagerly waiting for them to give him bits of their sandwich. "Do I bother you when you're eating your smelly bone?" said Daisy, with a sigh, pulling a piece off her sandwich to give to the little drooling dog. "Now go away and pester your master!" It was very pleasant sitting by the river, eating and drinking the bottles of juice, whilst watching the boats go sailing by. Larry looked across the river at some of the large houses they could just about see through the trees and wondered which one of them was the house that had been burgled. He mentioned this to the others and they all gazed across the river wondering the same thing too. "Let's hope that someone in the village is eager to talk to us about the burglary," said Pip. "I'd hate to think that we go away without learning anything about the cat burglar." "We're bound to find something out," said Larry, on a positive note. "When something like this happens everyone is eager to talk about it, especially in a village where normally nothing ever happens." "Yes, that's true," said Fatty, starting to tuck into his chocolate clair, and watching the others doing the same. "We've never had trouble before interviewing people and finding things out. That's why we're always ahead of Mr. Goon in our investigations." The others nodded in agreement, feeling happy that by the end of the day, they'd know a lot more about the burglary. As they were just finishing off their second clairs, they saw a young woman with a colourful shoulder-bag sit down not far from the Find-Outers, obviously having the same idea as them to sit beneath the large trees for shade. She took out from her shoulder-bag a packet of sandwiches and started to eat her own lunch, after sending a quick glance over at the children with a smile. Buster, whose nose could sniff out a nice tasty sandwich a mile away, made his way over to the young woman, and sat down politely before her, watching her eating her ham and tomato sandwich. "Buster! Come here, boy," called Fatty. He looked at the young woman, and smiling apologetically, said, "I'm sorry. I'll put him on his lead so he won't bother you." The young woman smiled, and said, "I don't mind dogs. He's doing no harm. He's lovely. Can I give him a bit of my sandwich?"

Fatty smiled. "Yes, of course." Everyone watched the young woman, giving the excited Buster a bit of her lunch, and then Fatty called him over and told him not to make a nuisance of himself. "Are you here for a day out?" said the young woman, looking over at the children. "Yes, we've just cycled over from Peterswood," said Larry. "It's lovely by the river. Do you live here in Marlow?" "Yes, I live in one of the small cottages just off the High Street," she said, with a smile. "I'm just on my lunch break and thought I'd get out for a bit. The house where I work was burgled and the police are there again at the moment, having another look around and speaking to the owner, my employer, Mrs. Morton." All the Find-Outers suddenly felt excitement running through them. What a stroke of luck for sitting not far away was someone from the very house that had been burgled. Fatty smiled suddenly at the others, their excitement uppermost on their faces, and then turning to the young woman, said, "Would you like to sit and join us? We'd love to hear all about the burglary."

CHAPTER 7: A STROKE OF LUCK

The young woman was delighted to be asked to sit with the children and picking up her colourful shoulder-bag, came and sat on the grass next to the Find-Outers. Fatty introduced everyone in his most polite voice. With a smile at the children, she said, "Nice to meet you all, my name's Gillian Brown." "How interesting that you work at the very house that was burgled," said Daisy, looking surprised. "Have you been working there for long?" "Coming up for almost two years now," said Gillian. "I do the housework for Mr. and Mrs. Morton, and make all the beds, and do their shopping. I was lucky to get the job as they said at interview they wanted someone much older with a lot more experience in housekeeping, as I was only seventeen at the time. But I told them I'd always looked after our house, and my younger brother and sister, with Mum not being so well, and so they took me on, and I've been there ever since. I love it, and they're a lovely elderly couple. It's really sad that they've had this burglary, as it's really upset them." "Which house was burgled?" said Fatty, asking the question to which the FindOuters were longing to know the answer. He was determined not to miss anything that Gillian said, and wished he could write it all down in his notebook as she spoke. With bated breath they all looked at Gillian, waiting for her to speak. "The Willows," she said, pointing to one of the large houses on the opposite bank. "The one with the weeping willow trees almost touching the water."

The children looked to where Gillian was pointing across the water and saw through the trees glimpses of a large red brick house, with a huge expanse of garden reaching down to the river and surrounded by fencing. "How did the thief get in?" said Larry, in wonder. "Through the bathroom window at the rear of the house," said Gillian. "With this hot weather the windows upstairs have hardly been closed." "So did the cat burglar climb up one of the drainpipes?" said Pip, thinking that maybe there was one close by seeing as he gained entrance through a bathroom window. Gillian nodded. "I believe he did. He must have been very quiet for the Mortons never heard a thing. It's awful to think that they were sleeping in their beds, when all this happened!" The others shivered, as they could quite well imagine how frightening it all sounded. "What was stolen?" said Bets, wanting to do her bit with asking questions too. "Jewellery, that had precious stones within the settings," said Gillian, enjoying all this attention and interest the children were showing. "A full description has been given to the two policemen who called over yesterday. One of them said he was from Peterswood!" The Find-Outers remembered how Mr. Goon was looking extremely pleased with himself when he spoke to them all yesterday. "Yes, that was our village policeman, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, with a slight grin. "He seemed very pompous," said Gillian, with a frown. "I didn't really like him very much. He kept trying to interrupt when our own policeman was asking questions. He seemed very full of himself." The Find-Outers laughed, and Buster gave a small bark. Gillian stroked the dog's head, and tickled him under his chin, obviously taken with the little dog. "I expect Superintendent Jenks sent both policemen over so that nothing would be over-looked," said Fatty, thinking aloud, forgetting that Gillian was there for a moment. "Superintendent Jenks?" repeated Gillian, puzzled. Fatty thought quickly and said, "I believe he's quite an important police-officer in the next town, or so I've heard." Gillian smiled with an "Oh," obviously satisfied with Fatty's answer. "Was The Willows the only house to be burgled?" said Larry, inquisitively. "Yes, I believe so," said Gillian, with a nod. "There're a few large houses along that lane, but only the Mortons' was touched." "How strange!" said Bets, screwing up her face. "How do you mean?" said Gillian. "Well I was just wondering why the cat burglar didn't visit any other houses?" said the little girl. "I expect the cat burglar weighs up the houses a few days before during daylight," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "Then he knows which house he wants to target at night." Gillian looked at Fatty quite impressed. "How clever of you to work that out, that's exactly what one of the policemen said yesterday." "I bet it wasn't Mr. Goon," said Pip, with a mischievous grin. Gillian smiled. "No it wasn't." "Did the police look all around for clues?" said Bets, wishing that they too could look around The Willows for clues like they had done in their other mysteries.

"Yes, but they didn't find anything to my knowledge," said Gillian. "The jewellery box that had been broken open was tested for fingerprints, and everything in that area, but there were only Mrs. Morton's prints visible." "She didn't keep her jewellery in a safe, then?" said Fatty, wondering why. Gillian shook her head. "No, not what I call a real safe. Her locked jewellery box was in one of these small mobile safes which she kept in a locked cupboard, in her dressing room. The couple have a high wall all along the front of the house and high gates that can only open with a code, so I guess they thought everything was safe enough." "Did the thief go straight to that locked cupboard, do you know?" said Fatty, slightly puzzled. "I don't really know," said Gillian. "As the Mortons didn't hear anything, they really don't know how long the thief was in the house. But they managed to break open the little safe and the box. Besides, how could any thief possibly know where to look?" "Yes, that's what I was just thinking really," said Fatty, with a slight puzzled frown. The others had seen that look on their leader's face before, but didn't like to ask exactly what he was thinking in front of Gillian. Glancing at her watch Gillian said, "Well, I'd better be getting back to the house. The Mortons are going over to their daughter's this afternoon, and will have left by now, and the policeman who called just wanted another quick look around, so he would have left too, and I don't mind admitting that I'm getting slightly nervous at being in the large house alone for a few hours." Fatty couldn't believe his ears at what Gillian had just said. The Mortons wouldn't be home! What a great opportunity for the Find-Outers to have a look around the grounds of The Willows. Smiling, he suddenly said, "We can walk you back if you're feeling nervous. I'll even check around the grounds for you with Buster. He'll soon sniff out if anyone is hiding." Gillian's face lit up. "Would you really? Oh, I'd be ever so grateful to you all if it's not too much trouble. I don't want to keep you from your plans this afternoon." "We'd be happy to," said Larry, standing up and brushing his clothes down, feeling happy at Fatty's suggestion. He cast him a quick glance and an amused smile, and everyone followed Larry's lead and got up ready to go. With waste paper packed into Daisy's bicycle basket, and Buster safely on a lead, the Find-Outers left the river with Gillian and pushing their bicycles, followed her as she led the way to The Willows, chatting happily along the way. Once on the lane where the house stood, they followed Gillian to a large gated property, which was surrounded by a large red brick curved wall, and they watched as Gillian put in a coded number onto a box on the wall which then opened the gate. Once through, the gate closed automatically and they followed Gillian up the driveway. "Just leave your bikes against the wall," she said, turning to look at them all. "They'll be safe here now." She then unlocked the front door, and they all stepped inside a large hall, with a beige marble floor. They all stood and looked in awe at the beautiful surroundings, unable to speak for a few moments. Gillian grinned at their faces and said good-naturedly. "I was like that when I first stepped into the house. It's beautiful isn't it? And I love keeping everywhere spick and span for the Mortons." "I've never been in such a beautiful house," said Daisy, almost breathlessly. "It would be a great place to have a game of hide and seek." Everyone laughed, and Gillian said, "I'll show you all around if you like."

"I'd like to see where the cat burglar broke in, if that's okay," said Fatty, preferring to see if the police had by any chance over looked something in their investigation. "Of course," said Gillian. "I'll take you upstairs. Keep Buster on his lead though, as the Mortons have two cats and I wouldn't like him to chase them and cause them any stress as they're quite old now." "Daisy, you keep hold of Buster for me," said Fatty, handing the lead over to her. "I won't be more than a few minutes." "Can I come with you, Fatty?" said Larry, suddenly thinking that it would be better for both of them to check out where the burglar entered through the window. Fatty knew what Larry meant by asking, and said, "Yes, of course." As they walked behind Gillian up the wide curving stairway, Fatty whispered to Larry, "Two heads are always better than one!" Once at the bathroom, Fatty and Larry walked into the room and over by the window, which was now closed and locked. Fatty asked if he could unlock it for a few moments, and Gillian nodded. "Yes, of course, as long as you lock it up again." Fatty unlocked the catch with the small key on the window ledge and opened the window wide. He looked out over the back lawn and noticed the drainpipe not too far away from the window itself. "So the burglar did climb up the drainpipe to gain entry," he said, turning to look at Gillian. "The police thought so," she said. "I'll just pop back downstairs and pour you all a glass of iced lemonade." "Thank you," said Larry, with a smile. As Gillian left the bathroom, Larry said, "Can you find any clues, Fatty?" Fatty was looking all around the window sill and again leaned out from the window, rubbing his hands along the outside ledge. He suddenly felt an indentation, and looked closely at where he'd felt it. "I wonder what this is?" he said, turning to Larry. "Have a look and see what you think." Larry looked at where Fatty had indicated and he too ran his hand along the sill. "I don't know," he said. "It's just a tiny sort of nick in the wood. Could the burglar have caught it with something when he climbed in?" Fatty was thoughtful for a moment, and said, "I don't know. I think we'll take a look outside in the garden and just under this window, and see what we can find." Fatty locked the window, but before heading downstairs, he popped his head around one of the bedroom doors, and as luck would have it, he saw the little safe sitting on the dressing table, and pointed it out to Larry. "Look," he said to him, walking into the bedroom, "I wondered about the size of the little safe Gillian told us about." He lifted it up to see how heavy it was. It was quite heavy but could be carried easily from one place to another without too much difficulty. "So at least we now know what a mobile safe looks like," he said to Larry, with a raised brow. He and Larry then made their way downstairs, and followed the sounds of the others talking to Gillian in the kitchen. "Here you are boys," she said, pouring out a tall glass of lemonade for each of them. "Did you find anything of interest at the window?" "Not really," said Fatty, after taking a long drink. "Would it be okay if we had a look in the rear garden, and see if we can find out anything else?" "Yes, of course you can," said Gillian. "It's nice to have you all as company. You take as long as you like." "I'm sure no one is hiding in here now," said Fatty, with a reassuring smile at Gillian. "Buster would be barking if he could hear someone else."

"Yes, I'm sure he would," she said. "He's a lovely dog. If the Mortons had a dog I'm sure they wouldn't have been burgled." Finishing their drinks, the Find-Outers put the glasses back on the tray, and Gillian opened the large French windows for them all to go into the rear garden. "You can take Buster off the lead once outside," she said, to Fatty. "He can't get out, it's very secure." "Thanks," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll just have a look around the garden and then we'll leave you to your work." "Don't you worry about time," said Gillian, looking quite happy to have their company. "Before you go you must all try some of my chocolate cake!" The children smiled with delight, and made their way out into the rear garden. "Okay, Find-Outers," said Fatty, his eyes gleaming, "get to work and see if any of you can find any clues. It's a stroke of luck being able to look around like this. What a blessing that Gillian was feeling scared and the Mortons are out. So let's make the most of this given opportunity. Go to it Find-Outers and hunt around!"

CHAPTER 8: LOOKING FOR CLUES

Feeling excited the Find-Outers started to do what they did best, and hunt around for anything that could possibly be a clue to the cat burglar in the garden. Daisy and Bets headed down to where the garden sloped towards the river, as that was probably where the burglar had entered from. Pip and Larry looked all around the sides of the garden, Buster was happy to run around the wide expanse of lawn taking advantage of being off his lead, and Fatty made for the drainpipe that was sitting by the bathroom window. He looked up at window, and followed down the drainpipe trying not to miss anything. Nothing was noticeable, he couldn't even see the slight indentation on the wooden window sill, from down in the garden. He stooped down just below the level of the window and examined every inch of the curved paving that followed the line of the lawn. He suddenly spotted a small fragment of wood and picked it up, wondering if it had come from that small indentation on the window sill above. Taking out the note-book from his pocket, he carefully placed the small find and closed his book to keep it safe. It could be a clue, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to over-look anything at this stage of the mystery. With a last look around he turned and started to walk across the lawn to where the others had suddenly grouped together beside a large summer house, with a wooden veranda, that looked out across the river through the fencing. "Has anyone found anything?" said Fatty, as he approached. "I have, Fatty," said Bets, in excitement, her eyes gleaming brightly, as she produced a green sweet wrapper in her hands.

"I've told you that can't be a clue," said Pip, sounding annoyed. "The couple who live here have probably dropped that wrapper when they've been sitting here in the summer house watching the river!" "You don't know that for certain," said Bets, almost in tears that the clue she'd found may be nothing at all. "Pip's right," said Larry, kindly. "I really don't think that's a clue." Daisy put her arm around Bets. "At least you've been looking around and spotting that wrapper shows you've done a good job, Bets." Fatty looked at Bets' disappointed face, and said, "We'll keep that wrapper as a clue, just to be on the safe side." He took out the notebook from his pocket once more and taking the wrapper from Bets, popped it safely into his book. "There, so that's two clues we've found," he said, popping the notebook back into his pocket. "Oh goody," said Bets, feeling happier now that she knew her clue was being taken seriously. "What else have you found, Fatty?" "A small fragment of wood, just below the bathroom window," he said. "I think it may be from that small indentation we found on the sill, Larry." Larry's eyes widened with excitement. "Oh smashing, so that small indentation could be a clue after all, Fatty. But what could have made it?" The others looked at Larry and Fatty in puzzlement. "What indentation?" said Pip. Fatty told them how he had run his hand along the outside window sill, and had felt and seen a very small indention where the wood had obviously fallen away for some reason. "It's got to be a clue," said Daisy, thinking hard about what could possibly have caused a piece of wood to fall away. "Do you think something was dragged up by a rope once the burglar was inside the bathroom?" she said, the thought suddenly occurring to her. Fatty stared at Daisy for a few moments, and then a smile appeared on his face. "That's a very good point, Daisy. That slight groove could well have been caused by a rope. The burglar could have leant through the window and started to pull something up attached to the rope, which was probably heavy!" "But what could he have been pulling up?" said Larry, looking puzzled. "Maybe he was lowering something down." Fatty's eyes widened with excitement, and then he suddenly gave a whoop of delight and did a little jig up and down, which had the others watching him in amusement. "Okay, Fatty, what's so exciting?" said Pip, with a grin. "Larry's just solved the indentation puzzle," he said, his eyes gleaming in delight. "Don't you all see? It was the little safe that was being lowered down through the bathroom window, which means that the cat burglar wasn't alone! Someone else was down in the garden, waiting for the safe to be lowered, and it was them who managed to break open the safe, take out the jewellery, and when that was done, the person in the bathroom pulled the safe back up with the opened jewellery box inside and put it back into the cupboard, therefore keeping all the noise to a minimum." "Of course," said Pip, his eyes shining brightly. "There's nothing else it could be really. I say, Fatty, do you think the police have worked that out?" Fatty pondered on that for a moment, then said, "I don't really know, Pip. Trouble is we haven't really any proof as such, and I'm not sure if I should go and see Superintendent Jenks with just a theory." The others nodded quietly. "That's true, Fatty," said Daisy. "The police may say that the cat burglar probably worked alone. He could quite easily have lowered down the

safe, then let the rope drop, and shinned down the drainpipe, broken it open as you suggested, then holding onto the rope climbed back up again." "I think it would be pretty difficult to climb up the drainpipe with a rope that's got a small safe attached to it," said Larry, dryly to his sister. "Even for a cat burglar!" Fatty grinned. "At least you're all thinking about possible scenarios. And that's good, Find-Outers." "Fatty, how can a safe be attached to the rope?" said Bets, puzzled. "Wouldn't it slip off?" "I would have thought that it was probably put into a sack, or some kind of strong net, then lowered, Bets," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "But of course this is all guess work on my part." "We could go and see Superintendent Jenks and ask him about the other burglaries outside of the area, and see if they compare to this one," said Larry, keenly. "Maybe old Clear-Orf already knows the answer to that," said Pip, sounding slightly down-hearted. "He's bound to have been informed about those other burglaries by the Super, and let's face it; he's not going to tell us!" The others all agreed that was the last thing that Mr. Goon would be informing them about. "At least old Clear-Orf doesn't have any idea that we've been lucky enough to look around The Willows, and he's not got that small piece of wood as a clue, either," said Fatty, feeling pleased. "Well what shall we do now?" said Pip, quickly glancing at his watch. "We haven't really got time to go and investigate the circus." Fatty agreed, they needed a full afternoon or morning to look around the circus and get into conversation with the performers. "We'll go and have that cake that Gillian offered us," said Fatty, "and then take a leisurely cycle ride back to Peterswood." He called to Buster, who came racing over to them all, and putting him back on his lead, they walked back to Gillian in the kitchen. "Are you all ready for some cake and lemonade?" she asked them, with a smile. "Oh, yes please," they almost chorused together. "Sit yourselves down at the table," she said, cutting enormous slices of chocolate cake, which she put onto a large plate, and brought over to the table. "Help yourselves. I'll pour Buster a drink; he looks as if he's in need of one." They all looked at Buster who was panting heavily with his tongue hanging out. Fatty rubbed the dog's head. "I expect he's actually drooling over this excellent chocolate cake," he said, with a grin. "There you go, Buster," said Gillian, putting a large bowl of water down by his side. "You can take his lead off if you like as the cats are safely in the other room." Fatty unclipped Buster's lead, and treated him to a small piece of chocolate cake. "Do Mr. and Mrs. Morton use that lovely summer house much?" asked Fatty, suddenly remembering the green toffee wrapper that Bets had found. "Oh yes, all the time," said Gillian, with a smile. "They love sitting there watching the boats going up and down on the river." "It must be lovely sitting there in the sunshine, eating ice-cream and toffees," said Fatty, with an inquisitive smile. "Yes, they love their ice-cream," said Gillian, "but they don't eat sweets or toffees of any kind." Bets gave Fatty a satisfied smile, then glancing slightly at her brother Pip, she gave him a knowing look that said I told you it was a clue!

Once the children had finished eating cake and drinking lemonade, they got up to leave, thanking Gillian. "Your cake is delicious," said Fatty, politely. "Thank you so much for allowing us to have a look around." "You're most welcome," said Gillian, smiling at them all. "And thank you for walking me back here. I felt a lot safer with you all around." Putting Buster back on his lead, they followed Gillian to the front door and collected their bicycles. "I'll open the gate when I see you've got there," she said, pointing to a small switch sitting on the wall in the hall just by the front door. The Find-Outers wheeled their bikes up the drive, shouting 'goodbye' once more to Gillian. As they reached the gate it opened to allow them through, and once through it started to close again. They were soon cycling along the river enjoying the sunshine and feeling happy at what they'd discovered that afternoon, and before they realized they were back in Peterswood and cycling past the familiar boats that were there for the extravaganza. As they approached the Grey Heron, Thomas was on deck, and called to them as they drew nearer. "Hello," he yelled. "Where have you all been today?" "A bicycle ride to Marlow," said Fatty, stopping by the boat, with the others. "Come aboard," said Thomas. "Father is out this afternoon, and I'm getting a bit fed up on my own." "Well just for a short while," said Fatty, evasively, getting off his bicycle and propping it against the bushes. He picked up Buster and climbed aboard the boat, followed by the others. Thomas seemed pleased to have the company, and said he'd go below and bring out something for them to drink. He was soon back, carrying a large jug of lemonade with six glasses. "Shall I get the ice from the box?" said Bets, being nearer to the ice box than the others were. "Thanks," said Thomas, pouring out six glasses. Opening the ice-box, Bets was suddenly startled by a large fish that was placed on the pieces of ice and shrieked, causing everyone to jump. Thomas glanced over at her looking shocked, then blushing slightly, said, "I'm sorry. I forgot my father had put a fish in there." He moved Bets slightly out of the way, and closed the lid. "I'll get some more ice. I won't be a minute." He quickly disappeared back into the cabin, and Bets lifted the lid of the ice-box once more and took a closer look at the large fish, not feeling so foolish now she knew it was there. She prodded it gently. "It's quite a fat fish," she said, turning to look at the others. "Come and look." "No thanks," said Pip, bluntly. "I know what a fish looks like." "Close the lid, Bets," said Larry, as Buster went up to explore the box. "We'll have the smell of fish reaching us soon, either that, or Buster will steal it," he finished, with a grin. Bets closed the lid and sat back at the table just as Thomas arrived with the ice. "Sorry about that," he said, again. "Help yourselves to ice." "Does your father do a lot of fishing?" said Fatty, taking a sip of his drink. "No, it's not his fish," said Thomas, rather vaguely. "A friend of ours in one of the other boats moored just a short way down river, caught it, and Father is taking it to a friend he knows to have it stuffed and mounted on a board. Anyway, how has your

day been? I wish I had a bicycle here so I could have ridden over to Marlow with you all." Secretly the Find Outers were pleased he hadn't. They didn't want Thomas in on their investigations with this latest mystery! They wanted to solve it themselves before Mr. Goon did!

CHAPTER 9: ANOTHER BURGLARY

The following day the Find-Outers met up in Pip and Bets' garden at ten o'clock, to discuss their findings of the day before. "I couldn't believe our luck when Gillian said she worked at the very house that had been burgled," said Fatty, looking delighted. "Not only did it save us the job of asking around in the village, but I really don't think we'd have been able to have a look around The Willows as we did if we hadn't met her." "I'm still not sure if Bets' toffee wrapper is really a clue," said Pip, looking uncertain. "Even though the Mortons don't eat sweets, it could easily have been blown into their garden from the riverside." "You're just jealous, Pip, because it was me who found the clue and not you," Bets snapped at him. "Well it is a clue, isn't it, Fatty?" "I really think it is," said Fatty, positively. "I don't think it could have blown into the garden from the riverside either, Pip, mainly because there is no walkway on that side of the river. The gardens of those houses go straight down to the edge of the river, with just fencing between them and the water." "Fatty's right, Pip," said Larry. "You'll just have to face it, Bets found that clue, which makes her smarter than you, old thing!" Everyone laughed, and Buster joined in with a sudden bark, causing Pip to blush slightly. "What's the plan now, Fatty?" said Daisy, eager to get going again with the mystery. Before Fatty could answer, Luke from next door appeared at the fencing, and looking at them all called them over. "Have you heard?" he said in urgent tones, as they approached. "Heard what?" said Fatty, looking puzzled. "Lady Candling has been burgled," he said, anxiously. "She's ever so upset. She discovered some of her jewellery missing just under an hour ago. It must have happened during the night, though she says she never heard anything. The police have been called and are on their way over here." The Find-Outers looked at Luke, stunned to hear what he had to say. "That means Mr. Goon will be on the case before us," said Fatty, sounding disappointed. "Has Lady Candling discovered how the thief got in, Luke?"

"She's not sure, she's so upset. Most of the upstairs windows were open during the night anyway, so I guess the thief could have climbed through any of them." "Is it just jewellery that is missing?" said Larry. Luke nodded. "Yes, some of her expensive jewellery. Obviously the thief knew what to take." "Was any of it locked away?" said Daisy, thinking of the safe that the Mortons had. "I really don't know," said Luke, shaking his head. "Miss Harmer told us when she came out to see to the cats." Miss Harmer was the kennel-girl who was hired to look after Lady Candling's prize-winning Siamese Cats. "I wonder if we've got time to have a quick look around before old Clear-Orf gets here," said Fatty, desperate to see if they could find any clues. "I shouldn't think so," said Luke. "Lady Candling phoned the police a while ago, so they should be almost here by now. I came to tell you because I heard you all laughing in the garden." "Thanks for that, anyway, Luke," said Fatty, sounding grateful. "I'd better go," said Luke, making a move. "Just in case I'm wanted, not that I can be of any help to the police, as I went home early yesterday afternoon. Cheerio!" Luke left them all staring after him as he walked over to the greenhouses. "Well that's a turn up for the books," said Fatty, still rather shocked at what Luke had told them, as they made their way back to sit on the lawn. "The thief is now in our area. If only we'd known about the burglary sooner!" "We'll be able to go in and have a good look around once old Clear-Orf has left," said Larry, sounding cheerful. "I know, but if there are any clues to be found, Mr. Goon would have found them before us," said Fatty, with a sigh. "What jolly bad luck, and after the luck we had yesterday, too!" "Don't look so downhearted, Fatty," said Bets, not liking seeing Fatty looking so sad. "We managed to find a few clues yesterday, so we could still find the odd clue that old Clear-Orf has missed." Fatty brightened up. "Fancy Lady Candling being burgled though, right next door to you and Bets, Pip. Did you hear anything yourselves last night? Pip and Bets glanced at each other, both shaking their heads. "Not a thing," said Pip, "but the houses are quite a distance apart." "True," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "It's a bit frightening to think that the burglary was so close to us, though," said Bets, looking quite alarmed. "I do hope the burglar doesn't come back tonight and break into our house. I'm keeping my window firmly locked tonight." Fatty smiled at Bets' worried expression. "Don't worry," he assured her. "I doubt very much that the thief will come back again tonight." "Mother's jewellery isn't all that expensive anyway," said Pip, with a shrug. "So there's nothing worth stealing." Fatty looked at Pip silently for a long moment, tense concentration on his face. The others had seen that look on Fatty's face before, and Pip said, "What are you thinking about, Fatty?" "Something that you've just said, Pip," he answered slowly. "You've not been burgled, nor are you likely to be as your mother's jewellery isn't expensive. You know that, but how does the burglar know? And why is he only targeting those houses where there is expensive jewellery? It's almost as if he knows, or has been told which houses to target!"

"I think you're right, Fatty," said Larry, with wide excited eyes. "I wonder if Superintendent Jenks would be able to answer that for us. He must know if he's read up on the reports on the other burglaries, even though they were outside his area." Fatty nodded. "Yes, that connection must surely have been made." "I wonder if old Clear-Orf is next door yet," said Bets. "I wish we could go and see, Fatty." "We'll just have to wait until he leaves," said Fatty, thinking the same thing. "I'm sure Luke will tell us when the coast is clear." "We'll have to think up a good excuse to visit Lady Candling and get her to tell us about the burglary," said Daisy. "She may not even want visitors today!" "That may be true," said Fatty, wondering what the best cause of action would be. "I think the best plan would be for you to say you have a message from your mother, Pip and Bets." "But what message?" said Pip, suddenly looking alarmed. "I don't want to get into trouble with Mother if she finds out!" "Maybe she isn't yet aware of the burglary next door," began Larry, thoughtfully. "You could go and tell her, Pip, then ask her if she wants you to deliver any message from her." "That's a good idea," said Bets, excitedly. "Go and tell Mother now, Pip, and see what she says." "Okay," said Pip, rather reluctantly, and set off indoors, the others watching him as he walked down the garden pathway. No sooner had Pip walked away, than they heard Luke whistling for them over by the garden fencing. They walked over, wondering what news he had. "Mr. Goon will be out soon, looking around the grounds," said Luke, to the eagerly awaiting children. "And you'll never guess who is also interviewing Lady Candling!" Luke was looking at them all with wide excited eyes. "I bet I can guess," said Fatty, with a satisfied nod. "Superintendent Jenks." "Yes," Luke confirmed. "I've not seen him since he was an ordinary Inspector, when Mr. Tupping was arrested for trying to steal Dark Queen. He's a real high up policeman now." "I wonder why he's come along too," said Larry, with a raised puzzled brow. "Probably because it's Lady Candling that's been burgled," said Fatty. "And it is in his area now." The others nodded, feeling quite excited that Superintendent Jenks was just next door. "I do hope we'll be able to see him before he goes," said Bets. She liked the very high up policeman. "Well I must get back," said Luke, turning to go. "I just wanted to let you know." "Thanks," said Fatty, as Luke walked away. Pip returned just then, wondering why they were all looking over the garden fencing into next door. "What have I missed?" he asked, looking over the fencing. "Old Clear-Orf will be out in the garden soon," said Fatty, with a grin. "We'll keep an eye open for him, and the good news is that Superintendent Jenks is next door talking to Lady Candling." "Excellent news," said Pip, wide eyed. "We'll be able to speak to him now before he leaves." "What did your mother say?" said Fatty, looking at Pip.

"She was ever so surprised and said she would give Lady Candling a ring this evening, as she's already got a prior engagement this afternoon, and so won't be able to call." "That's the excuse we'll give when we call on Lady Candling once Mr. Goon and Superintendent Jenks have left." "Here's Mr. Goon," said Larry, suddenly, looking over to the rear of Lady Candling's house, and watching Mr. Goon as he walked slowly around, obviously looking for any clues the burglar may have left. They all peered over the fence, watching Mr. Goon who was going about his duty, totally unaware of the five faces that were watching him. Buster glanced over at the children to see what they were up to, and as nothing much seemed to be going on, he curled himself up again and went back to sleep in the sunny spot on the lawn. They watched Mr. Goon for what seemed like ages, as he walked around, stooping down now and then as if examining the area, then walking around again. He suddenly glanced over to the far side of the garden where the Find-Outers were peering at him over the fence, and his face turned its usual colour of purple in anger. Those pests again, he thought to himself. Why did they have to live in his village! "Found anything interesting, Mr. Goon?" called Fatty, with a wide smile. Mr. Goon walked over to the fencing, puffing himself out to look important. "You pests just stay away from this garden and this mystery. The police are dealing with this, and we don't want you kids poking your noses into anything that doesn't concern you. And what's more you'd better all watch out as the Superintendent is indoors talking to Lady Candling." "Really?" said Fatty, feigning surprise. "Well you'd better be on your best behaviour then Mr. Goon, and make sure you find lots of clues, otherwise the Super will want to know why not!" Mr. Goon's face turned even more purple with anger, as he shouted, "Just you clearorf, and let me get on with my bounden duty, otherwise I'll report you all to Mrs. Hilton when I call on her later to see if she heard anything last night!" Pip suddenly looked worried; he didn't want Mr. Goon complaining to his mother about them all. Fatty noticed Pip's look and beckoned the others to move away, as he didn't want Mrs. Hilton to suddenly stop any of them from helping to solve this particular mystery. Just as the children were moving from the fence, Bets suddenly said, "Oh, Mr. Goon, have you by any chance found a green toffee wrapper?" The others all looked at Bets with a frown, but couldn't say anything to her as Mr. Goon who had started to walk away came back to the fence looking decidedly angry once more. "I should have known you pests would go planting false clues just like you've done before," he almost shouted, causing Buster to suddenly wake up at hearing the sound of his enemy's voice, and come racing over to the fence barking frantically. Fatty quickly quietened the dog down, just as Mr. Goon pulled the green toffee wrapper from his pocket and threw it at Fatty. "Superintendent Jenks will get to hear about this right now, leaving false clues when a serious crime has been committed. You'll all get into trouble now, and it's about time too!" With that he walked away towards the house, looking very pleased with himself indeed. "Bets, you idiot!" said Pip, really angry. "What made you ask that?" "I wanted to know if he'd found the same clue as I had," said Bets, almost in tears. "I thought that if he had found the same clue then we wouldn't find it." "Now we're in deep trouble with Mother," said Pip, still angry. "And it looks like Mr.Goon will definitely call on her anyway, to ask if she heard anything last night!"

The others all looked concerned, whilst Fatty picked up the toffee wrapper that Mr. Goon had thrown at him. "At least we now know that old Clear-Orf had found this wrapper," he said, looking quite pleased. "And the good news is we have the clue and he doesn't." "Well it proves the wrapper Bets found is definitely a clue," said Daisy. "And it proves the cat burglar also likes the toffees that have this wrapper around them." "But what will we do now?" said Pip, looking concerned. "Mr. Goon thinks we planted it there as a trick, and he'll be telling just that to Superintendent Jenks right now." "Don't worry," said Fatty, suddenly looking pleased. "It means that Superintendent Jenks will now pay us a visit as he knows we're here in Pip and Bets' garden. And we'll tell him the truth that we didn't plant that wrapper, and that we have one just like it which we found in the garden at The Willows. So cheer up, Find-Outers, we won't get into trouble and we can ask the Super to tell us as much as he's allowed to about the other burglaries that have taken place, so we can compare them to the one in Marlow and the one here last night." The others cheered up slightly. "I hope you're right, Fatty," said Pip, looking slightly relieved. "The last thing we need is to get into trouble with Mother and be forbidden to have anything to do with this mystery, and all because Bets has to put her foot in it and ask such a stupid question!" Bets began to look downhearted again, and wish she hadn't said anything. Fatty glanced over at her and said, lightly, "Don't worry, Bets. It was just a silly mistake. At least we can look forward to Superintendent Jenks calling here to see us as I'm sure that's exactly what he'll do."

CHAPTER 10: A VISIT FROM SUPERINTENDENT JENKS

Fatty was right, for within the hour, Mrs. Hilton was walking down the garden path with Superintendent Jenks. Everyone smiled at their approach and Bets rushed over to him for a big hug. Mrs. Hilton smiled, and said, "I was a bit concerned when the Superintendent called on me, but he has assured me this is just a courtesy call. So I hope you'll all stay out of trouble." She smiled at the Superintendent and walked back through the garden. "Well, it's lovely to see the Find-Outers once more," he said, with a twinkle in his eye. He sat down on the grass by them all and Buster rolled over and over, just as excited to see him, and the Superintendent tickled his belly. "You're not angry with us are you?" began Bets, almost in tears.

"Of course not," said the Superintendent, giving Bets another hug. "But I would like to know if you have been leaving Mr. Goon any false clues!" "It wasn't a false clue, sir," said Fatty, politely. "We haven't been in Lady Candling's garden and we didn't even know of the burglary until Luke told us earlier." "I see," said Superintendent Jenks, with a nod, "so Mr. Goon has actually handed you a vital clue, as it were!" "Yes, sir," said Fatty, showing the toffee wrapper to the Superintendent. "When he threw it at me I knew it was a clue, as we too have one which we found in the grounds of The Willows, over at Marlow." "Really?" the Superintendent's eyes suddenly lit up brightly. "Would you like to tell me about that, Frederick?" Fatty nodded and, with the others listening intently, he proceeded to tell the Superintendent of them hearing about the burglary in Marlow, and how they had cycled over there the day before to see if they could learn anything more. And how, by a stroke of luck, a young woman called Gillian had sat next to them by the river and mentioned she worked at the very house that had been burgled, and because she was nervous about going back to the house alone, they had walked her home and seen her safely indoors. Superintendent Jenks smiled at them all on hearing those last words. "So you all took advantage of that particular situation, I expect, and had a good look around to see if the police had left any clue behind," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "I didn't expect to find any, sir," said Fatty, truthfully, "but I did find this small piece of splintered wood just below the bathroom window." He took out his notebook, and showed the Superintendent his clue, and told him where he expected it had come from after examining the bathroom window sill. "Bets also found this green toffee wrapper over by the summer-house." He produced the wrapper, showing it to be the same as the one Mr. Goon had handed over just a short while before. "Well done, young Bets," said Superintendent Jenks, with a bright smile. "You're a very good Find-Outer." Bets blushed under his gaze and gave a small smile. As the Superintendent was examining the small piece of splintered wood, Fatty said, "I also have a theory sir, of how that fragment could have been torn from the window sill." "Please do tell me, Frederick," he said, looking interested. "Well sir, when Larry and I examined the window sill in the bathroom where Gillian said the burglar had entered, and I felt that small indentation, it puzzled me as to what could have caused it. It wasn't until I found that piece of wood that I realized it had to be a clue of some kind. It then suddenly occurred to me that the burglar after entering had pulled something up with a rope, something that was heavy and caused the rope to cut into the window sill." "Well thought out, Frederick, if I may say so," said Superintendent Jenks looking impressed. "But then, Larry said that it could also have been made by something heavy being lowered down to the ground by a rope," said Fatty, with wide eyes. "And that something could quite easily have been the small safe containing the jewellery, and it was being lowered so that it could be opened without causing too much noise by someone else who was waiting just below the window. Then when it was empty, the safe was pulled back up and replaced." Fatty was breathing heavily in excitement and the others were all looking just as excitedly at the Superintendent, waiting for his reply to Fatty's theory. He looked at

their excited and anxious faces and, smiling widely and nodding his head, he said, "Well done, Frederick, and you too Larry. I think that's exactly what must have happened. We've had our suspicions from previous burglaries outside of this area that these burglars are working in a pair. That's a very good piece of detective work, Find-Outers, if I may say so." Everyone was pleased. Praise from Superintendent Jenks himself was praise indeed. "There's something else we'd like to ask you sir, if we may?" said Pip, evasively, not really sure whether he should be asking this particular question or not. Superintendent Jenks raised a questioning brow and said, "Fire away, Pip. What's on your mind?" "Well, sir," began Pip, slowly. "Lady Candling had her expensive jewellery stolen, but we next door weren't burgled at all, but as Mother has said to me, she hasn't really anything valuable worth stealing. Then Mr. and Mrs. Morton at The Willows had their expensive jewellery stolen, so how did the thieves know which houses to target? It seems as though they knew which houses to choose." The Superintendent smiled and nodded his head. "And I'm suspecting that you have an idea on that score, Find-Outers," he said, beaming around at all of them. "Yes, sir," said Fatty, with a grin. "The thieves know which houses to target because they are getting their information from some other source." "Exactly," said Superintendent Jenks. "This we've known since these burglaries started a while back. Inside information is being passed to these thieves, probably from insurance companies who are insuring these stolen items, and that is being investigated also by other members of the police force." "Gosh, this sounds like a really big operation," said Larry, almost in awe. "Probably far too big for us to solve," he finished, feeling a little down-hearted. "I think you're right on that score, Larry," said the Superintendent, with a smile. "These thieves are highly professional, and have outwitted the police force so far." "We can still keep our eyes and our ears open, though," said Daisy, not wanting their mystery to come to a sudden end. "Of course you can," said Superintendent Jenks, with a smile. "Keep alert, and keep your ears to the ground, as the saying goes, but I think it's the police that will solve the mystery this time, and not the Find-Outers." He suddenly saw their faces fall in disappointment, and said, "But well done for what you've found out so far, and that really is a great bit of detection work at The Willows, Frederick. Something the two police-officers overlooked, I'm sorry to say. So that's going to be my next port of call, driving over to Marlow to see the Mortons." "Will you need to take our clues, sir?" said Fatty, not really wanting to give them up, but thinking that he may have to in the circumstances. "Not at this precise moment in time, Frederick," said Superintendent Jenks, much to Fatty's relief. "I know you have them if I require them, and as for the toffee wrappers, well, there will be so many fingerprints all over them now, it will really be too difficult to decipher them all." Fatty blushed slightly. How idiotic of him not to think of fingerprints when he was handling those clues. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's my fault, I should have been more aware of fingerprints." The Superintendent smiled. "Don't be too harsh on yourselves. You've done an excellent job so far." He stood to leave, and after thanking them again, he said a cheerful 'goodbye' then left to drive over to his next port of call, The Willows.

"Well I don't know about any of you, but I feel a bit flat now," said Daisy, looking at everyone. "We've done so well so far and yet this is one mystery we'll not be able to solve." "We're not giving up that easily," said Fatty, with a strong determination. "We managed to solve The Mystery of the Missing Necklace, didn't we, and that involved a well-organized group of criminals, so there's no reason why we can't solve this mystery." Everyone suddenly felt a bit better, hearing Fatty's words. "Come on, Find-Outers, we'll call and see Lady Candling and give her the message that your mother will ring her this evening, Pip." So with renewed vigour, and Buster firmly on his lead, due to Lady Candling's prize-winning cats, the Find-Outers headed up the driveway next door, and on reaching the front door knocked sharply on the large knocker. "I do hope Lady Candling won't mind us calling," said Pip, sounding worried. "She may tell Mother we called." Before anyone could answer him, the door was opened by Miss Trimble, Lady Candling's companion, and on seeing the children standing before her, she smiled and immediately her glasses fell off her nose, and dangled on the long chain to which they were attached. The children all gave a smile, and Bets once more made up her mind to silently count how many times the glasses fell off Miss Trimble's nose as she'd done on many an occasion. "We called to see Lady Candling," began Fatty, "and to tell her that Mrs. Hilton will ring her this evening and how sorry she is to hear of the burglary." "Oh yes, it was a dreadful shock," said Miss Trimble. "I'm all of a tremble still." "Yes, you must be," said Daisy, in sympathetic tones. "I'm afraid you can't see Lady Candling," said Miss Trimble, her glasses suddenly falling again from her nose, so that she had to pop them back before carrying on again. "She's in bed with the most dreadful headache. She's taken the shock really badly." "I'm sorry to hear that," said Fatty, in a polite grown up voice, which caused Miss Trimble to smile. "It must have been terrible for you both. Did the thief break open Lady Candling's safe?" "Oh no, nothing like that," said Miss Trimble. "Lady Candling doesn't have a safe, her jewellery is always kept in her jewellery box in her dressing room. She didn't expect to be burgled, so never locked it away." "How did the thief get into the house?" said Pip. "We didn't hear anything at all next door." "Apparently he climbed in through the upstairs landing window," said Miss Trimble, her glasses falling once more from her nose, so that she had to put them back on. "We leave it open most evenings when the weather has been as hot as it is now. It's not a very large window, so we thought it was safe enough to leave open. I wouldn't have thought a man could get through it, as I told Mr. Goon and the Superintendent." "Would you mind if we walked around the garden and had a look?" said Fatty, with a polite smile. "No, of course not, but don't make too much noise in the garden, as I don't want Lady Candling disturbed, and please keep your dog on the lead because of the cats," she said, popping her glasses back on her nose as they'd fallen off once more. The Find-Outers said goodbye to Miss Trimble and made their way around the side of the house and into the rear garden.

"Interesting what Miss Trimble said about the window being quite a small one," said Larry. "The thief must be a small man, Fatty." "We'll take a look," said Fatty, walking around the sides of the house. They came to what they hoped was the window of the first floor landing, and looking up they could see that it was quite a narrow window. "The thief must be quite thin, too," said Daisy. "So at least we now know we are looking for a small, thin man." "The drainpipe isn't all that close to the window," said Pip, looking at the distance. "He must be really sure footed to be able to manoeuvre from that pipe onto the window sill." "Yes, I was thinking that too," said Fatty, looking at the distance. "Well let's have a good look around whilst we're here, Find-Outers, and see if Mr. Goon may have missed anything." The Find-Outers set to work, searching around for anything that could possibly be a clue. Bets and Daisy walked further away towards the trees, saying that the thieves may have been waiting in that area until they were sure the coast was clear. As it was they both found two more of the toffee wrappers, which proved that the thieves had indeed been waiting by the trees. "Good work," said Fatty, looking pleased, and putting the wrappers inside his notebook. "That proves they did wait for a while making sure the coast was clear." "What shall we do now, Fatty?" said Pip, as they made their way from Lady Candling's garden. "I think we should pay a visit to the circus this afternoon, over at Marlow," said Fatty, with a mysterious expression. "Let's see if any of the performers are on the small and slim side. If they are, then they could be our thieves."

CHAPTER 11: A VISIT TO THE CIRCUS

After their lunch, the Find-Outers set off on their bicycles to Marlow. Buster was left at home in the kitchen with cook, much to his annoyance, but as soon as cook put him down a large plate of chicken scraps he looked very happy indeed. They took the river path passing all the boats, and waved happily to the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, who were sitting on the deck of 'The Sweet Sue' enjoying their lunch. Passing the Grey Heron they looked out for Thomas, but the Grey Heron looked deserted and the cabin door was firmly closed. "I wonder where Thomas and his father have got to," said Larry, as they cycled by, quite surprised that Thomas at least wasn't there. "Probably off somewhere themselves," said Daisy. "After all, it is a lovely day. Maybe they've gone for a walk."

"There are a lot more boats about too," said Bets. "There won't be room for any more on the river soon!" The others grinned at Bets, and cycled along, enjoying their ride, and were soon in Marlow whereupon they followed the signs for the 'circus' which took them just on the outskirts and into a large green field. Dismounting their bicycles, they walked through the large open gate and put their bicycles along the hedging just behind a group of large circus lorries. "They should be safe enough here," said Fatty, looking at the others. "Come on, let's go and see what we can find." They headed over to the large circus tent, looking around at all the activity going on around them. Horses were being exercised around the field, all following each other in an orderly line. "Those must be the dancing horses," said Bets, with a smile. "Don't they look lovely?" Then they saw a group of dogs, chasing after each other in a large pen, having a great time playing their game of chase, and so the Find-Outers stopped for a few moments, laughing at their playful games. "Good job Buster isn't here," said Fatty, with a laugh. "He'd have wanted to join in all the fun." They others all agreed, and turning to walk on, they saw a couple of circus performers coming towards them, each riding a unicycle, sitting quite high up, and balancing perfectly as they came towards the children. The Find-Outers stopped in awe, marvelling at their balancing abilities, and the two performers did a bit of their routine for the children, ending by riding in a circle both holding hands. The Find-Outers clapped in admiration and excitement and, giving a slight bow, the performers both jumped down from their unicycles and, smiling at the children, a young woman said, "Thanks, kids. If you want to book for the show the booking tent is closed at the moment, but should be open soon, ready for the three o'clock show." "Thanks," said Fatty. "Will it be okay if we have a look around the circus whilst waiting?" "Of course," said the other performer, a young man, with very fair hair. "My family own the circus so be my guest. If anyone questions you, just say Boris said it was okay." The Find-Outers smiled. "Thanks," said Larry, with a small grateful nod. The performers gave another small bow, and getting back onto their unicycles they rode off. "They were fantastic," said Daisy, excitedly. "Let's see how much it costs to see the show. I'd love to see it." "We'll do that before we leave," said Pip, wanting to explore more of the circus. "Let's go and see if we can get into the large tent." "I don't think we'll be able to," said Bets. "The show doesn't start until three o'clock. That young woman has just told us so!" "There's no harm in going to look," snapped Pip. So everyone walked over to the large tent, and going through the small entrance canopy, they saw a thick rope across the entrance which had a 'closed' sign attached to it. Bets felt slightly pleased that she had been proven right, but didn't say anything, as she could see disappointment on her brother's face. They were just about to turn to go away, when four performers, three men and a young woman, walked into the ring, and started to effortlessly shin up some rather thick-looking poles that went straight up to the ceiling of the tent.

The Find-Outers stood and watched, as the performers reached the small landing platform they were heading for, and then each in turn started to walk across the tight rope that reached across to the other side, which was also supported by another thick-looking pole with a landing platform. Bets caught her breath a couple of times, when one of the performers couldn't quite get his balance and started to wobble slightly, and by doing so the rope started to wobble too, and seemed to get worse as the performer fought for his balance. Suddenly he fell from the rope, and landed safely in the high net that was beneath them all. "Gosh, that looks really terrifying," said Larry, hardly able to take his eyes off the performers, who were so high up. The others all nodded, just as the performer who had fallen into the net did a sort of somersault out of the net and landed back onto the ground. Suddenly spotting the five children watching their practicing, he called out to them, and started to walk over. "You kids shouldn't be in here," he began, in a slow drawl. "The sign says closed. Can't you read?" Rather taken aback by the bluntness of his words, Fatty said in apologetic tones, "Sorry, we thought it would be okay to watch, as we've just been talking to Boris, and he said it would be okay." The tight rope walker eyed the children up and down rather suspiciously and said, "Did he really? Well, you can't come in here! If you want to watch the show, go and buy yourselves a ticket." With that he threw them an angry glare and walked back to the pole, and started to climb effortlessly back up once more. "What an unpleasant fellow," said Bets, as they walked from the tent. "Yes, and did you all notice that he fits perfectly the requirements of our burglar?" said Fatty, with a raised brow. "He was quite small for a man and very slim." "And we know that climbing and balancing isn't any great effort for him," said Daisy. "I didn't notice though if any of the other performers had the same build." "They all looked on the small side, except for one of the men," said Larry. "He was quite tall, but really thin." "It's a pity we didn't bring any of those sweets with us that have the green wrapper," said Bets. "We could have offered them all one to see who liked them." "You do say such silly things," said Pip, scornfully. "Lots of people like those toffees, I like them myself, they're a mint caramel. Besides, how were we to offer them any when they were high up in the air?" "It was only an idea," said Bets, looking hurt. "It was a good idea, Bets," said Fatty, always ready to stick up for her. "But Pip is right, if we were looking for somebody who loved those particular toffees then that would probably be half the population of Peterswood." "Let's go and see how much it is for a ticket to watch the circus performance," said Daisy, looking over towards the booking tent and seeing a queue already forming. "I'm longing to see it." Agreeing, they all headed over towards the queue of people and fortunately didn't have to wait long as two people were selling the tickets behind the counter. Fatty asked for a price for the five of them and after a quick chat amongst themselves he bought five tickets for the following afternoon's performance, which started at three o'clock. "We'll bring a picnic and have that before the performance," said Fatty, looking at the tickets before putting them safely into his pocket.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Bets, in excitement. "I do hope Mother will let us go." "We'll tell her that Fatty has already bought the tickets," said Pip. "But I think she's out tomorrow anyway, and so wouldn't mind at all. We'll pay you back for the tickets tomorrow, Fatty." "I'll treat you all," said Fatty, generously. "My aunt whom I went to see the other day gave me quite a bit of spending money, so I used that to pay for the tickets." Fatty always seemed to have quite a bit of spending money in his pockets, but he was always generous with it too. Everyone thanked Fatty for treating them to the circus tickets, and then Daisy said, "Are we going to have a look around the circus field, just in case anyone else could possibly be the burglar?" "Yes, I think it's important to get into conversation with as many of the circus folk as we can," said Fatty, with a nod. "Look," said Pip, suddenly pulling on Fatty's arm. "There's one of the tight rope walkers." He pointed to a small caravan not too far away from where they were walking, where the young man was sitting on the steps of the caravan, drinking water from a plastic bottle. "Good," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll go over and try and get into conversation." They all walked over to the caravan, and the young man looked up at them on their approach. "Hello," said Fatty, with a polite smile. "We saw you practising a short while ago in the ring. You're very good. We've booked to see tomorrow's performance." "Good for you," said the young man, with a grin. "You should enjoy the show. We've had a full house daily since we opened." "Aren't you afraid of being up so high off the ground?" said Larry, with an innocent smile. "No," the young man shrugged. "I love it up there, it's part of my performance, to look down on the crowd and see them gasp in awe!" "Can you climb up anything as easily as when you climbed that pole?" said Pip. "Climbing is easy," the young man returned. "I can climb up anything, to any height, as easy as anything. It's keeping your balance on the tight rope that is skilful." "I've tried to climb up a drainpipe," said Larry, "but found it really difficult." "A drainpipe?" said the young man, with a laugh. "That's so easy. I've been climbing for years and years, even long before your age I was climbing." "It must be so exciting being in the circus and touring around," said Daisy. "Has the circus travelled far to get here to Marlow?" "We've travelled about thirty miles or so," he said, with a shrug, finishing off his drink. "Well, I must get some more practice in for this afternoon's performance." He stood to leave, and the children noticed he wasn't much taller than Fatty, but much slimmer. "Do you like those sweets in a green wrapper?" said Bets, suddenly. "They're a mint caramel." The young man looked at Bets and gave a small laugh. "I love them. Why, have you got any?" Bets blushed and shook her head. "No, I just wondered, that's all!" He gave another laugh, and shaking his head walked off towards the circus tent. "Fancy asking him that," said Pip. "He must have thought you were silly." "Well he did say he liked them," said Bets, with a frown. "And he is only small, and he can climb anything too."

"That's true," said Daisy, as they walked on around the circus field. "In fact, many of the circus performers are on the small side, which means the burglars could be any one of them." "Yes, this is going to be quite a difficult mystery to solve," said Fatty, with a sigh, "but somehow the circus has to be tied into those burglaries, especially as we now know from what that man has just told us, that the circus was in the same area as the other burglaries." "Yes, that's a really big clue," said Larry, looking pleased. "I bet old Clear-Orf hasn't worked that part out yet!" As they walked on towards a group of caravans, Fatty suddenly indicated for them to stop, and pointed over towards a large caravan further up the field, where three people were just going inside. "Look," he said, sounding surprised, "isn't that Thomas and his father? I wonder what they're doing here!" Everyone looked to where Fatty was pointing. "We could go over and wait for them to come out and ask them," said Daisy, not seeing why not. "No, I think we'll bring up the subject casually next time we meet them," said Fatty, sounding mysterious. "My instincts are telling me that something isn't what it seems with those two!"

CHAPTER 12: TEA AND A TALK

The Find-Outers were surprised at Fatty's words but agreed anyway as they all felt that there was something strange about Thomas and his father. "We'll go and have afternoon tea in that nice little caf in Marlow High Street," said Fatty. "The one we went into when we were solving The Mystery of Holly Lane, and then when we cycle back home, hopefully Thomas and his father will be back at their boat and we'll see if they mention coming here this afternoon." "Good idea," said Larry, sounding pleased, whilst the others nodded, looking forward to some macaroons or chocolate clairs. Arriving at the caf they stood their bicycles just below the caf window and once inside took a table over in the window bay. Fatty ordered macaroons and chocolate clairs and a large jug of iced lemonade. "We really must give you some money back for treating us like this, Fatty," said Larry. "I've got a bit of pocket money saved, so that can pay for this tea." "Only if you're sure," said Fatty. "I like to treat my fellow Find-Outers." The iced lemonade was extremely refreshing on that hot day, and the macaroons and chocolate clairs tasted just as good as they looked. Feeling full and satisfied, Fatty paid the bill, and then they all set off on their bicycles along the river path back to Peterswood.

Approaching the Grey Heron, they saw Thomas on deck and he smiled and waved joyfully to them, asking them to come aboard. All eager to speak anyway with Thomas, they all nodded and leaving their bicycles just along the hedgerow opposite the boat, they all climbed aboard and sat around the small table on deck. "Have you all been for another cycle ride?" said Thomas, looking at them all with envy. "I do wish I had my bike here." "Yes, we've all been over to book tickets for the circus tomorrow afternoon in Marlow," said Fatty, watching Thomas for any reaction at the mention of Marlow. "How fabulous," he said, looking pleased. "I wish I could go." "You'll have to get your father to take you over there," said Larry, also watching Thomas for any reaction. "Yes, I could do," he returned, vacantly. Then suddenly changing the subject he said, lightly, "I've got some small tubs of ice-cream, in the kitchenette. "Would you like some?" The others all nodded with a smile, and watched as Thomas disappeared into the cabin. "Well he's not mentioned about being in Marlow," whispered Larry, to everyone. They all shook their heads. Bets who was looking over at the ice box by the door, was curious as to whether the fish was still inside and went over quickly, lifting the lid. Studying the fish she thought it looked a little different, but didn't quite know why. "Close the lid," Larry whispered over to her. "We don't want the smell of fish on board." Bets closed the lid and re-joined the others, saying, "It just fascinates me, that's all. And I wondered whether it was still in the box." Thomas returned just then, with six tubs of ice-cream which he handed out to each of them, and they all tucked into the ice cream, scraping it out with little plastic spoons. "Where's your father?" asked Fatty, enjoying the ice-cream and letting it melt in his mouth before swallowing. "He's in the bedroom lying down. The heat gives him a headache sometimes," said Thomas, scraping every last drop of ice-cream from the tub. "You should both go for a nice long walk along the river path," said Pip, looking at Thomas. That should help to clear your father's headache." "Dad prefers to relax on board," said Thomas. "He works hard in his business and likes to just relax when on the river." "When we passed earlier going to Marlow, you weren't on board," said Daisy, lightly, "and the cabin door looked locked." "That must have been when we popped into the village shop," said Thomas, with a smile. "Have you been to Marlow?" said Larry, waiting to see whether Thomas would own up to them both being there only that afternoon. "Not this trip," said Thomas, "but I have been to Marlow on a few occasions." The Find-Outers glanced quickly at each other. Thomas was obviously lying, but why would he want to lie about a visit to the circus in Marlow? "We had a good look around the circus field," said Fatty, watching Thomas closely, hoping his face would at least give something away. "How nice," said Thomas, looking blankly at Fatty. "I hope you all enjoy the circus tomorrow afternoon."

"Thanks, I'm sure we will," said Larry, suddenly not really liking Thomas anymore, for being so deceitful. "I think we'd better all be getting back," Larry looked over at Fatty, hoping he'd back him up. "Yes, Buster will be waiting for his walk," he said, standing up and looking at the others. "Come on everyone, just a short cycle home now. Thanks for the ice-cream, Thomas. It was just what we needed after the bicycle ride from Marlow." "You're welcome," he said, watching them all climbing from the boat and collecting their bicycles. "See you all soon." He gave them all a cheerful wave as they cycled away. The Find-Outers were soon off the river path and back in the village which was quite deserted, being so hot. Approaching the wooden bench in the centre of the village, Fatty slowed them all down and dismounted from his bicycle. They all followed suit, and placing their bikes down on the ground they sat for a little conference on the wooden bench. "I wonder why Thomas wasn't telling us about him being at the circus this afternoon?" said Fatty, thoughtfully. "We all saw him and gave him ample opportunity to say he was there too. So why did he want to keep it such a secret?" "I don't like him much," said Larry. "He's a bit odd." "Yes, I feel the same way about him," said Pip, nodding his head. "I wonder what it is they've got to hide!" "You don't think we were mistaken?" said Daisy, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "Maybe he didn't say he was there because he actually wasn't there!" Everyone looked at Daisy. "But we all saw them both," said Fatty, bemused. "Maybe the two people we saw looked like Thomas and his father," said Daisy, with a slight shrug. The Find-Outers were silent for a moment, pondering on what Daisy had said. "Well it looked awfully like Thomas and his father to me," said Fatty, firmly. "I wonder why that fish is still in that cooling box?" said Bets, suddenly remembering. "It looked a bit different too, when I looked at it." "What do you mean, Bets?" said Fatty, sounding puzzled. "I don't really know," said Bets, with a sigh. "It was the same fish as I recognised a slight marking just by the gill of the fish, but I can't quite put my finger on why it looked a bit different." "If it's the same fish it's not going to look different," said Pip, with a frown. "It's probably another fish." Bets silently shook her head. "No, it was definitely the same fish." "Well let's not worry too much about the fish," said Daisy. "We really need to know why Thomas isn't telling us the truth." "Yes, that's a real puzzle," said Fatty, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he and his father have anything to do with the mystery!" "Well his father does deal in jewellery," said Bets, suddenly remembering what Thomas had told them. Fatty looked straight at Bets as though he had suddenly been struck. His eyes widened brightly. "Clever Bets!" he almost shouted in excitement. "Well remembered, Thomas did tell us exactly that!" The others gaped in surprise. "So what shall we do, Fatty?" said Larry, at last. "We'll have a meeting in the morning," said Fatty, feeling excited at the thought of following another lead, "and we'll make some plans."

"Daisy and I won't be able to come tomorrow morning," groaned Larry. "We have an aunt calling for a couple of hours, and Mother wants us to be there, and then in the afternoon we have the circus." "Blow," said Fatty, sounding disappointed. "Okay, we'll meet tomorrow as mentioned for the picnic over at Marlow before watching the circus performance. "We can have our meeting then." "What if Thomas and his father move out of Peterswood before then?" said Daisy, suddenly thinking that if they moved their boat somewhere else, the Find-Outers wouldn't know where to find it. "Well the gala is on for a few more days yet," said Pip, "so hopefully they'll stay on the river." "Yes, and we know the name of the cruiser if we do have to mention all this to Superintendent Jenks," said Fatty. Everyone looked a bit more hopeful that the Grey Heron would stay moored where it was for a few more days, and got up from the bench to make their separate journeys home. Just as they were about to mount their bicycles, Mr. Goon came cycling along through the village and, seeing the children by the bench, came over and stopped at the kerb beside them. "What are you pests up to?" he said to them all, looking suspicious. "I hope you're not interfering in this latest mystery. The Superintendent is also on this case, so you lot can just keep your noses out!" "We don't poke our noses in," said Fatty, sounding offended. "We help where we can as well you know, Mr. Goon." "Here, I don't want no cheek from you!" said Mr. Goon, in a deep sinister voice. "Just because you're a friend of the Super's doesn't mean you can go around looking important." "How are you getting on with the mystery, anyway, Mr. Goon?" said Fatty, with a questioning raised brow. "That's no concern of yours," came Mr. Goon's firm reply. "Hopefully there will be an arrest soon and the less you kids know about it, the better!" The Find-Outers grinned at Mr. Goon which angered the policeman even more and, throwing them an angry glare, he mounted his bicycle ready to set off again. Before he moved off, Fatty said, flippantly, "Well at least we all know that any arrest you make Mr. Goon won't be of the right culprit, so I don't think we've got anything to worry about there!" The Find-Outers then all rode off laughing loudly, leaving Mr. Goon staring after them, and muttering under his breath of all the things he would love to do to those pests, especially that fat boy called Frederick Algernon Trotteville!

CHAPTER 13: MAKING PLANS AND AN ENJOYABLE AFTERNOON

The following morning, Fatty decided to check out some of his disguises in his shed. He felt more certain now that somehow the circus and Thomas along with his father were connected to these burglaries. Buster sat and watched Fatty pulling out his wigs, false eyebrows, cheek pads and teeth to see which disguise he would choose. His latest new disguise, which he hadn't as yet told the other Find-Outers about, was a postman's uniform, complete with post bag. "This will really fool everyone," he said to Buster. "Even Mr. Goon won't see through this disguise!" Buster wagged his tail at the mention of his enemy, Mr. Goon, but it didn't matter to Buster what disguise his master put on as he always knew it was him. "The others will be pleased that I'm going to put on a disguise," he said, looking at Buster, and rubbing the dog's head. "The question is when should I disguise myself and where? Should I go over to the circus this evening after this afternoon's performance and have a good scout around, or should I wait around by the river and keep my eye on the Grey Heron?" Buster listened intently, his tail wagging joyfully. The only thing he didn't like about his master putting on a disguise was that he wasn't allowed to go with him on these occasions. Fatty began to feel excited about the prospect of dressing up again, and couldn't wait to see the others when they met up later. Just before two o'clock the Find-Outers were once again cycling over to Marlow along the river, waving once again to Mr. and Mrs. Lawson on 'The Sweet Sue', but not seeing any sign of anyone on the Grey Heron. Arriving at the circus field they put their bicycles by the hedgerow, behind the large circus lorries once again, and taking out the picnic from their bicycle baskets they headed over to a nice quiet spot where they wouldn't be disturbed, and away from the already gathering crowd arriving to see the afternoon performance. "Thomas and his father weren't on the Grey Heron," said Larry, voicing what the others had been thinking. "Do you think they could be around here somewhere, Fatty?" "We could have a brief look around before the performance," he said, looking at the others with a raised brow. Daisy glanced at her watch. "We don't want to be late for the performance though," she added, quickly. "I would like a front row seat if we can get one!" "We'll get a good seat, don't worry," said Fatty, with a smile, and taking one of the ham sandwiches. "Now, we'd better start our meeting, whilst we eat this lovely picnic." The Find-Outers had each brought something along, and Bets happily spread out an old table-cloth she had begged from cook, to place their picnic on. Between them they'd brought ham sandwiches, sardine ones, slices of cake and bottles of ginger beer, and Pip proudly put down a bag of mint caramel sweets all individually wrapped in a green wrapper, identical to their clues. Fatty grinned when he saw Pip putting down the bag of sweets.

"Are you going to offer all of the circus performers a toffee, Pip, to see who likes them?" he couldn't help but tease Pip. The others all laughed, and good-naturedly, Pip chuckled too. "I went and bought these at the village store this morning. You never know, they might just lure out our thief!" "That depends if there are any left after we've tucked into them during the circus performance," said Daisy, with a grin. "Right, our meeting," said Fatty, on a serious note. "I thought it would be a good idea for me to disguise myself and come over here this evening and have a scout around!" "That's a good idea, Fatty," began Larry, "but I'd like to come too, just in case you get into any sort of danger." Bets suddenly looked alarmed. "I don't like to think of you getting into anything dangerous, Fatty. Couldn't you just come over tomorrow morning, when it might be safer?" Fatty was silent for a moment, and then said, "I'll be more noticeable during the day, Bets. If I come over this evening when it gets dark, Larry and I can move around without being noticed, and if we do get spotted, we can just say we were looking for a bed for the night." Larry's eyes widened excitedly. "That sounds brilliant. I'm sure I could get away without being noticed. What disguise should we wear, Fatty?" Fatty thought for a long moment, then said, "It might be an idea to dress as a couple of circus looking people. If we suddenly bump into anyone, then we might not look as suspicious." "Sounds exciting," said Larry, looking forward to the coming evening. "And if Larry doesn't arrive home, I know you are both in trouble," said Daisy, "and I'll contact Superintendent Jenks." "I'm sure we'll both be fine, Daisy," said Fatty, with a chuckle. "If we can get talking to a few of the circus people we will. We've got to find out as much as we can whilst disguised." "Couldn't I come over and watch you both disguising yourselves?" said Pip, feeling a little left out. "In fact, why can't I come too? I'm sure I could get away without being seen!" "No, Pip!" said Bets, in alarm. "If Mother suddenly comes upstairs and finds you've gone I won't know what to say!" "I'm sure you could think of something," snapped Pip, looking hopefully at Fatty. "If you can get away and watch us both getting ready, that's fine, Pip," said Fatty, "but I don't want you getting into trouble with your mother for being out, as she could stop you and Bets from getting involved with this mystery!" Pip looked a little downhearted and then said slowly, "Yes, I think maybe it would be better if I stayed home, as you say, Fatty, we don't want Mother getting suspicious of anything we do." "The next thing we must plan is to watch the Grey Heron," said Fatty, importantly, quickly finishing off his sandwich before carrying on speaking. "I can't help thinking that maybe Thomas and his father are somehow involved with this mystery, but as yet, I don't know how, so the next best thing would be to keep an eye on them both without their knowing." "It's going to be difficult watching the boat," said Daisy. "There aren't many places along the river that would shield us from view. Even if we sat on the bench further along from the boat, we'd still be seen."

Fatty pondered a moment and nodded. "Yes, I think you're right, Daisy. The best vantage point would be Mr. and Mrs. Lawson's barge as from there we could clearly see the Grey Heron, and if either Thomas or his father left their boat they wouldn't pass by The Sweet Sue to leave the river path. Then we could just follow at a safe distance." Fatty felt pleased with his idea and looked at the others, waiting for them to agree. But Pip said, "We can't just wait on the barge for hours on end waiting to follow either of them. What would Mr. and Mrs. Lawson think?" "How about we watch from a boat on the river?" said Bets, suddenly coming up with the idea and feeling excited. "We could borrow a small rowing boat and keep it out of their view point, and then when they leave their boat we could row to the side and follow." "And by the time we'd climbed from the boat and tied it to a mooring, Thomas and his father would have disappeared," said Pip, impatiently. "What if only two of us were in the boat, and three of us were hiding somewhere, but in view of the rowing boat?" said Daisy, suddenly, with wide excited eyes. "Then when Thomas and his father leave their boat, the two on the water signal to the other three, who will then be able to follow them both!" Daisy smiled, looking pleased with her idea. Fatty almost shrieked in delight. "Excellent, well done, Daisy! Go to the top of the class, that's a brilliant idea." The others all agreed, and even her brother Larry slapped Daisy on the back, saying, "Well done, old thing!" "We'll plan that out tomorrow morning," said Fatty, finishing off a slice of the cake and quickly glancing at his watch and feeling quite amazed to see that the time had flown by really quickly. "It's time we were heading over to the circus tent." Feeling full, happy and excited with the plans they'd made, the Find-Outers collected up what was left of their picnic and took it over to pack away in their bicycle baskets, and then walked over to the large circus tent to join the rest of the queuing people who in turn were showing the young girl at the entrance their tickets. As Fatty promised, they had good seats and watched the circus performance with astonishment at the acts. The tight-rope walkers were indeed very agile and strong and even courageous, thought Larry, watching them so high up on the tight rope that almost touched the ceiling of the tent. Bets felt herself holding her breath on a couple of occasions and couldn't help gripping onto Fatty's arm, as she looked up at the act hoping the performers wouldn't fall. Fatty loved the performing dogs and took note of some of their tricks, intending to teach Buster one or two of them. "Buster could easily do that," he whispered to Larry, who was sitting the other side of him. Larry chuckled. "I doubt that!" he whispered in amusement. Bets loved the dancing horses along with Daisy, and they loved the skill and grace with which they pranced around the ring, their feathered head-sets swaying gracefully as the horses moved along. Pip was enthralled by the acrobats and whispered to Larry that any one of them could be the burglar as some were small, slim and extremely agile. But the clowns gave everyone the greatest laugh, with their amusing antics and slap-stick comedy that brought a huge round of applause throughout the large circus tent. Once the performance was over everyone filed out of the entrance, chatting away excitedly about what they'd all seen. Reaching their bicycles, Pip said, "Any one of

those circus performers would find it extremely easy to climb up a drainpipe and enter through a window. It's going to be difficult to find out who the thief could be!" "Let's just hope that Larry and I can discover something this evening," said Fatty, hopefully. They all mounted their bicycles and set off back to Peterswood along the river path. As they approached the Grey Heron, the boat once more looked deserted and Fatty indicated for them all to slow down, and then stopped by the boat. "Let's check and see if Thomas and his father are on board," said Fatty, dismounting and propping his bicycle up against the hedgerow, whilst the others did the same. They all climbed on board and Fatty called out to Thomas, but there was no answer. Pip tried the cabin door but it was securely locked. "There're not here," said Fatty. "I wonder where they are?" "They've not taken that cooling box inside," said Bets, noticing it by the door and lifting the lid to see if the fish had been taken away yet. "The fish is still here," she said, turning to look at the others. About to close the lid back down, she suddenly stopped, and turning to look around at everyone again, said, "The fish looks different again!" "You and that fish," said Pip, in exasperation. "If it looks different it's not the same fish." "It is," said Bets, adamantly. Fatty walked over to Bets and, looking at the fish sitting on the ice, said, "How do you mean, Bets?" "It sort of looks thinner," she said, in puzzled tones. "The first time I looked it was fat. Then on the other occasion it looked different, and I wasn't sure how, now I know, it was even fatter than the time before. But now, it looks thin again!" The others laughed, and Larry said, "How can a dead fish look fatter one minute, even fatter the next and thinner the next?" Fatty was silent, and looking puzzled picked up the fish to examine it carefully. It felt cold and smelt a bit but he couldn't see anything unusual about it. "Seems just like a dead fish to me, Bets." He replaced it back onto the ice and closed the lid. Then turning back to look at the others, said, "Well as Thomas and his father aren't here, we'd better head off back." They climbed from the boat and mounting their bicycles rode back to the village, to go their separate ways. "Don't forget to be at my shed by eight-thirty, Larry," said Fatty, before they all parted. Larry nodded in excitement. He could hardly wait. He really hoped they would learn something exciting that would put them on the right track of these burglaries and then they could solve the mystery before old Clear-Orf.

CHAPTER 14: TWO UNDESIRABLES

At precisely eight-thirty, Larry was in Fatty's shed, looking excited and watching Fatty pulling out all sorts of disguises for them both to try on. "Did you have any trouble getting away?" asked Fatty. "No, fortunately my parents are out and Daisy said she'd creep down later when they've gone to bed and unlock the garden door for me." "Good old Daisy," said Fatty, with a grin. He handed Larry a few old clothes for him to change into and a raggedy-haired wig, whilst he sorted out something similar for himself. Once dressed, they looked at each other and grinned, and Fatty popped in his mouth a set of false teeth that slipped over his own. "How do we both look now?" he mumbled. "Like a couple of undesirables," said Larry, with a grin. "Let's not forget to dirty our hands and fingernails either." Once their disguises were fully complete, dirty faces and all, they set off on their bicycles and rode over to Marlow, going by the main road. It wasn't quite dark yet, as the sun was still setting over to the west, making beautiful colours in the sky, of blue, red, purple and yellow. Once at the circus field they placed their bicycles in the same place as earlier that afternoon. "Now, keep close to me, Larry," whispered Fatty, "and we'll wander around between the caravans, and if questioned we'll just say we were looking for somewhere to bed down for the night." Larry nodded, feeling excited, his heart racing against his chest, but glad that he wasn't alone. The sun had sunk further west causing eerie dark shadows around the circus caravans. They kept as close to the shadows as they could for some of the circus folk were still outdoors, some chatting in small groups by their caravans, and the dogs could be heard barking over the other side of the field. "Hey Laura, have you fed your dogs yet?" They suddenly heard someone yelling, close by, making both boys jump and move back closer to the shadows. A caravan door opened and a woman came out carrying a large basket. "I'm off over there now, and letting them out for their last run. They'll soon settle down then." Larry and Fatty heard a few of the men joking with her, saying she was getting later and later each evening, and receiving a few stern words back for their banter. "Can you remember which caravan we saw Thomas and his father going into?" whispered Fatty, as they moved slowly away from one caravan to another. "Not really," whispered back Larry. "Everything looks different in the dusk." They walked on amongst the vans and suddenly bumped into one of the circus folk, whom they both instantly recognised as the tight-rope walker who had moved them off from watching the practicing the day before. "What do you want?" he said, in a gruff voice. Larry was too shaken to speak, and thankfully he heard Fatty saying, "We're just looking for a bed for the night, mate. We can help with the circus in return for a good night's sleep."

The circus performer looked them both up and down and seemed to accept their explanation. "Go over to the third van along. Stella has horses and I'm sure she'll let you bed down in their tent on some straw." "Thanks mate," said Fatty, touching a finger to his forehead which he'd seen some adults do. "Take a sweet for your help," said Larry, suddenly surprising Fatty, as he saw Larry taking out of his pocket one of the mint caramels. "Cheers," said the circus performer, with a grin. He unwrapped the toffee and, popping it into his mouth and throwing the paper onto the ground, he walked away. Fatty picked up the discarded wrapper and popped it into his pocket. "Good idea about offering the sweet, but a pity we can't check for fingerprints." "Pip gave me the toffees we hadn't eaten from this afternoon," said Larry, with a grin. "I'll offer one to everyone we meet. At least we know that performer likes them!" Fatty nodded. "Let's go and see Stella, we may learn something else." They both walked over to the third caravan along, which had its curtains drawn back and a light shining from the windows. Fatty tapped on the door. It was opened by a young woman who looked at them both suspiciously, until Fatty spoke and then her expression softened. "We were told by one of the tight-rope walkers that you may allow us both to bed down for the night where you keep your horses," said Fatty, politely, with a smile, showing off his false teeth, which made his mouth look too full. Stella looked at them both for a silent moment, and then said, "You can bed down on the straw that's in their tent, but stay out of their compartments. I wouldn't want you both to get kicked in the night." "We won't disturb your horses," Fatty reassured her. "Have you both had anything to eat?" she asked, looking at the two undesirables. Fatty glanced at Larry, before he said, "We've always got room for a little more!" Stella grinned. "I'll bring you both out some of my stew. You can eat it at the table just over there." She pointed to a small table with two chairs not far from her caravan. They both gave her a grateful smile before she went back inside her van. Larry followed Fatty over to the small table and they sat down. "We'll try and get into conversation with her if we can," said Fatty. Larry nodded. "These circus folk seem really friendly, Fatty, even offering us a meal. It must be a great life going from place to place." Fatty nodded just as Stella came out from her caravan carrying a tray with two bowls on it and a plate of bread and butter. "Eat that," she said, placing it down on the table, "then when you've finished, I'll show you where I keep my horses." "You're very kind," said Larry. "Thanks." She gave a smile and went back inside the caravan. The stew was surprisingly delicious and Fatty and Larry ate it all along with the bread and butter. When finished they tapped on the caravan door and, after taking back the tray, Stella walked them over to where her horses were bedded down for the night. "Everyone has been very kind," said Larry, as they neared the tent. "We're used to helping travelling people, and tramps," she said, with a smile. "You can repay me by mucking out the makeshift stables in the morning." She gave them both a sudden chuckle and walked away before the two boys could reply.

"Pity we won't be here," said Fatty, with a grin, watching Stella disappearing into the dark shadows. "Come on, let's have a wander around now it's dark. If anyone asks us what we are doing we'll say we're having a walk before retiring to the tent with Stella's horses." "Okay," nodded Larry, really enjoying this little adventure now. The walked between the caravans, some with their curtains closed, some open. Many had their windows open or doors, due to the warm evening. As they approached one of the vans, Fatty pulled on Larry's arm and whispered, "This is the caravan where we thought we saw Thomas and his father go inside." Larry's eyes widened in excitement and he whispered, "There's someone in as the lights are on. Let's go around the rear and see if we can hear anything." Fatty nodded and they walked around to the rear of the caravan, to find an open window, but the curtains were pulled across. Suddenly the sound of voices had the two boys listening intently just below the window. "The property is in Peterswood, and it will be weighed up sometime tomorrow to see how accessible it is. Hopefully the job should be done sometime after that." Larry and Fatty looked at each other in excitement, hardly daring to breathe, their hearts racing madly. It sounded as if another burglary was going to take place in Peterswood and planned for the following evening! "That will have to be the last one for a while," came another voice, sternly, "or the police will soon work it out and come hunting around!" "We move off anyway in a few days, so no one will be the wiser," was the reply. "All the same it has to be the last!" The other voice sounded really angry. "It will be the last when we say it's the last!" was the angry reply. "So we'll hear no more about it!" "You promised it would only be a few jobs." The other voice had softened, almost with desperation, thought Fatty, as he strained his ears to listen. "Promised?" The reply was almost a shout. "Promises can be broken. You're a fool to think otherwise. We're onto a good racket here, so don't think we're going to let you get out this easy!" "Then don't say I didn't warn you," came the reply. "And don't underestimate the police. It wouldn't surprise me if they've worked it out already, and will be on the look-out." "You're guessing, and I'm prepared to take that risk!" The window just above the boys was suddenly banged shut and it sounded like it was being locked. Then the two boys heard the caravan door open and bang closed. Silently they looked at each other, and made their way cautiously to the front of the van. Peering around from one of the sides, they saw no one was about, and a quick inspection by Fatty showed all the other windows were closed and the curtains pulled across. They moved away from the caravan to a quiet spot in the shadows, and Fatty said, softly, "That's a bit of interesting news, there'll be another burglary tomorrow evening, by the sounds of that conversation, but I wonder where? If we knew that we could warn Superintendent Jenks and prevent it." "Someone is going to weigh up the house tomorrow," whispered Larry. "I wonder who's going to do that!" "I wish I knew," said Fatty. "If we did we could follow them and see which house they are interested in. What a feather in our cap that would be when we passed the information over to the Superintendent."

"The other person in the caravan didn't sound as if he wanted to do the next job," said Larry, remembering the conversation. "There was a sort of desperation in the man's voice. Didn't you think so, Fatty?" Fatty nodded slowly, looking at Larry. "Yes, I did. There was something strange about that conversation, I thought." Fatty was silent for a few moments, trying to recall what they'd both heard. He suddenly pulled on Larry's arm, and said, "Let's just pop back to that caravan, and see if anyone is around." Slowly they walked back keeping to the shadows, and approaching the caravan they could see no one was close by, and the windows were still closed with the curtains drawn across. Fatty looked all around him, and whispered, "Have you noticed anything strange about this caravan, Larry?" Larry looked at the caravan, and turning back to Fatty shook his head. "No!" "Look around us," said Fatty. "It's quite dark here as there are no other caravans close by with lights on to light up this area of the field." Larry suddenly saw what Fatty meant, and whispered, "Probably whoever owns this caravan wants a bit of privacy." Fatty thought for a moment and whispered, "Or maybe there is something or someone inside they want hidden." Without giving it another thought, and to the surprise of Larry, Fatty slowly approached the door, and turned the handle slowly and quietly to see if the door would open easily. It wouldn't open and was firmly locked. Fatty walked back to Larry, who had been holding his breath, almost in terror, getting ready to run if anyone came out from the caravan. "Whoever is inside has either locked the door, or they have been locked in," whispered Fatty, with wide excited eyes. "We don't know that for sure, Fatty," said Larry, not really convinced. "And I don't think we should hang around anymore waiting for something else to happen! We've learnt quite a bit from that conversation, and I think we should go before we're seen." Fatty nodded. There was really no point in looking around any further, and no point in getting into any kind of trouble. Keeping once more to the shadows they both made their way silently back to their bicycles, and pushed them quietly out from the field. Once on the road, they switched on their bicycle lamps and headed back to Peterswood, both feeling satisfied that their visit to the circus field had been a successful one, and they could hardly wait to meet up with the others to tell them of their night adventure.

CHAPTER 15: WATCHING AND WAITING

When Larry arrived home he was slightly disappointed to see that Daisy was sleeping soundly. Now he'd have to wait for morning until he could tell her what he and Fatty had discovered. They all met up at Fatty's shed just after ten o'clock, Pip and Bets eager to hear about the previous evening. Daisy had heard all about it from Larry over breakfast, but she was still eager to hear once again all that had happened. Buster was excited to see everyone and rushed between them all, bumping into the table and chairs in his excitement. The morning was very warm and the rest of the day looked like it would be a scorcher, once more. Fatty kept the door of the shed open so they wouldn't get too hot and Buster was happy to roam about the garden and keep checking the shed to see if the children were all still inside. "So, come on," said Pip, in excited tones. "Let's hear all about last night!" Fatty and Larry between them related how they firstly had disguised themselves as two undesirable looking people, and then had cycled over to the circus field in Marlow. They told how they had bumped into the tight-rope walker and how he had told them to see Stella for a bed for the night, and how she had also kindly given them a meal before showing them to the makeshift stables. "Weren't you tempted to sleep in the tent on the straw?" said Bets. "It would have been fun." "Yes, but in return we'd have had to clean out the stables," said Larry, with a grin. "We would have probably been seen leaving on our bicycles too," said Fatty, "and that would have looked suspicious." "We did find out that the tight-rope walker likes the sweets, from our clue," said Larry, looking pleased. "That's interesting," said Pip, "so he could be a suspect!" "Carry on with what else happened," said Bets, longing for Fatty to tell them all about last night. "Well," said Fatty, taking up the tale again and looking pleased that the others were hanging on to his every word, "after Stella had left us at the horses' tent, we wandered around the caravans and we found the one into which Thomas and his father had gone." Everyone's eyes lit up in excitement, and Pip said, "Were they there?" "Not that we knew of," said Larry, "as the curtains were drawn across the opened windows, but we did hear quite an interesting conversation." Larry's tone had lowered mysteriously as he looked at the surprised and eager faces of Bets and Pip. "You tell them, Fatty!" Fatty happily told them of the conversation that had taken place inside the caravan, enjoying the reaction of the others once he had finished the tale. "So there will be another burglary," said Pip, with wide eyes. "If only we knew which house in Peterswood they are going to burgle!" "If we knew we'd have to go straight to Superintendent Jenks and tell him," said Larry, firmly. "It wouldn't be right to keep that kind of information from the police." The others nodded in agreement. The police would definitely have to be told so they could prevent such a burglary and arrest the culprits in the act. "But who is going to go along and weigh up this house today?" said Fatty, thinking aloud. "It could be any one of a number of people!" "It could be someone from the circus," said Daisy, thinking for a moment. "One of them goes along and looks over the house, and then he or even she tells the other two who then go along during the night and do the job!"

Fatty debated Daisy's words for a moment. "But there's something we're all forgetting about," he said, in serious tones. "We know that the thieves know which house to target, and the police are aware of this, and are looking into the insurance companies according to what Superintendent Jenks told us. So how is that connected with the circus?" Everyone was silent for a few moments thinking on Fatty's words and, breaking the silence, Bets said, "Don't let's forget that we're also unsure about Thomas and his father, as he deals with jewellery too, and we did say we would watch them today to see where they go." "Bets is right," said Daisy, gleefully. "I think if we watch those two today, they might lead us to whoever is the ring leader in these burglaries, especially as we saw them at the circus." "Yes, I agree," said Fatty, looking pleased. "We'll watch the Grey Heron and see what happens." "We'll have to borrow a boat or hire one," said Pip. He suddenly remembered Fatty's old boatman friend whom they had met when they were solving The Mystery of the Strange Bundle. "We could call at old Spicer's shed and see if he can let us have one of the small rowing boats." "Yes, good idea," said Fatty, suddenly remembering old Spicer too. "If he has a boat then I think you and Bets should take it out on the river and watch the Grey Heron from the other side of the bank, Pip. Then if you see Thomas and his father leaving their boat, row back to the mooring that can be the sign. Daisy, Larry and I will be watching out of sight, and the minute we see you starting to row back, we'll follow them at a safe distance." "Hadn't we better get over there as soon as possible?" said Larry, in urgent tones. "We don't want them to leave before we get there." "Yes, we'll go now," said Fatty, rising from his chair and calling to Buster who was sniffing around outside in the garden. "Come on, Buster, a nice walk for you today!" Full of excitement, Buster danced around their legs, as he understood the word 'walk'! Entering the village, the Find-Outers spotted Mr. Goon, coming out from his garden gate, pushing his bicycle. He glanced over at the Find-Outers and muttered "Gah" under his breath. Everywhere he went he saw those pests, he thought to himself. "Do you think we should mention the burglary that's being planned, to Mr. Goon?" said Bets, in a low voice. "I don't think he'd believe us," said Fatty, suddenly grabbing hold of Buster's collar as the dog spotted his enemy and started up a volley of excited barks. He pulled at his collar, wanting to go over and prance around the ankles of his enemy, but Fatty had a firm hold of him. "Let's mention it, and if he doesn't believe us, then at least we've passed on the information," said Daisy, feeling that they must at least try. Fatty nodded and called over to Mr. Goon, who pushed his bicycle over to the FindOuters, looking at them with disdain. "You keep hold of that there dog," he growled, getting ready to kick out at Buster if he escaped from Fatty's grip. "We've heard some information that might be of interest to you, Mr. Goon," began Fatty, politely. "Whilst at the circus yesterday, we heard someone saying they're planning another burglary!" Mr. Goon looked at the children suspiciously and said, "Gah," in disbelieving tones. "Don't think I'm falling for any of your stupid tricks!" he almost exploded, turning his usual colour of purple.

"It's true, Mr. Goon," said Larry, in convincing tones. "It was being planned for this evening!" "Oh really," glared Mr. Goon, angrily. "If you think I'm going to go out tonight, waiting for a burglary that's not going to happen, just because you kids think it's fun to make up a lot of silly lies, then you're more stupid than you all look! And if you give me any more lies I'll report you all!" With that he mounted his bicycle and rode off down the road, wishing for the umpteenth time that those pests lived somewhere else and not in his village. "Well, we knew he wouldn't believe us," said Fatty, with a shrug. "If we are fortunate enough to find out which house is to be the next target, then we'll have to report it to Superintendent Jenks himself." Agreeing with Fatty, the children walked on, over the level crossing and onto the river path. Buster ran ahead happily, sniffing here and there along the hedgerows. The river looked busier than usual with many boats on the water and quite a few still moored along the water's edge. They came upon old Spicer sitting outside his shed watching the boats go by, and he looked up at the children as they approached and smiled. "Hello, youngsters, I've not seen much of you these holidays!" He made a great fuss of Buster, who was happy to lap up the attention old Spicer was giving him. "It's busy with this gala going on along the river," began Fatty, smoothly, to the old man. "We were just wondering if there was a small rowing boat we could borrow." "I've got one small boat left that's ready for the water, just over by the jetty," said Spicer, "but it won't hold all of you." "Only two of us want the use of it," said Fatty, with a smile. "We'll take great care and bring it straight back." "I know you will," said the old man, good naturedly. "Just take care on the river, as there are a lot of motor boats going by." The Find-Outers thanked the old man, and walked over to the small jetty, where the rowing boat was bobbing about on the calm river. Fatty untied the rope and held the boat still whilst Pip and Bets climbed in. "Moor up just the other side of the river, a short way from the Grey Heron," said Fatty, to them both, "but not close enough for Thomas or his father to recognize you. If you see either of them leaving their boat, remember, the signal is to start rowing back here to the jetty." "Okay, Fatty," said Pip, taking up the oars and feeling quite important to be doing his bit in this mystery, especially as Larry and Fatty had had their own little adventure the evening before. Bets waved excitedly to the others as Pip rowed slowly away, towards the Grey Heron, and Fatty, Larry and Daisy made their way along the river path looking for somewhere they could sit and wait out of sight of the Grey Heron, but in full view of Bets and Pip in the rowing boat. They soon realized they were nearing The Sweet Sue, and just a few boats further along was the Grey Heron. "I think it would be better if we went and watched by the jetty," said Daisy, not seeing anywhere suitable they could sit and wait un-noticed. She looked across to the other side of the bank, to see Pip mooring the little rowing boat alongside the bank. "Daisy is right, Fatty," said Larry. "We don't want Thomas and his father to suddenly spot us. It's only taken a few minutes to walk this far, we could easily follow and catch them up when either of them leave their boat."

Fatty nodded. "Okay, let's walk back to the jetty and wait there." He called to Buster who was just a few paces ahead before they turned around and headed back for the jetty. "I do hope they won't walk in this direction," said Daisy, once at the jetty and sitting down on the boards. "They'll be able to see us if so." "If they do we can easily hide in old Spicer's shed," said Fatty. "Buster has gone over there anyway, to see the old man again." "This path leads back to the village though," Larry pointed out. "If they come this way, they won't be heading towards Marlow and the circus." After they'd been watching Pip and Bets in their boat for about half an hour, Daisy began to feel a little bored and said, "I wish we'd thought to bring something to eat with us. We don't know how long we'll be waiting here for and we'll have to get back for lunch in a couple of hours." "One of us can always take a trip to the dairy soon and buy some sandwiches," said Fatty. "And if you all have to get back for lunch, then I'll wait here and watch until you return." He glanced over at the small rowing boat only to see Pip suddenly taking up the oars and rowing back towards the jetty. "Pip's on the move," Fatty told the others in urgent tones, jumping to his feet. "That's the sign that Thomas or his father have left their boat." He shouted urgently for Buster, who came racing over, and Fatty popped him on his lead, as he didn't want Buster to get the scent of Thomas or his father whilst they were following them, and go racing ahead trying to catch them up. Once off the jetty they quickened their step to see Thomas and his father a little way ahead. "Looks like they are off to the circus after all," said Fatty, "going in this direction towards Marlow." "That'll take us about an hour to walk," said Larry, not relishing the walk on such a warm morning. "Don't worry too much," said Fatty, as they quickened their pace. "Once we find out who they are going to get in touch with, we can take the bus back to Peterswood, so we won't be late for lunch!" "At least we'll be a bit further on then with this mystery than old Clear-Orf" said Larry, cheerfully, "especially if Thomas and his father do lead us straight to the cat burglars, then we can go straight to Superintendent Jenks and tell him we've solved the mystery!"

CHAPTER 16: A BIT OF LUCK AND THE POSTMAN

Keeping at a safe distance, Larry, Daisy, Fatty and Buster on his lead followed Thomas and his father as they walked with determined strides along the river path, passing the many stalls that were still on the wide grassy area near the river bank.

"They're going at quite a pace," said Daisy, almost breathlessly, as they all endeavoured to keep them both in view. "They must be in a hurry to get to Marlow." They'd only walked on about half a mile past the gala stalls when Thomas and his father slowed their pace and started to look over the hedgerows on their right, at a large house whose garden backed onto the river path itself. "We'd better keep out of sight," said Fatty, suddenly startled, and not wanting Thomas or his father to suddenly turn around and see the three of them with Buster getting closer. Fortunately, they were standing beside a thick clump of bushes of evergreen box, and so all three were able to disappear around them and were well hidden from the pathway. Buster was quite surprised to find himself suddenly pulled behind the hedge, but as long as he was with Fatty, he thought it was yet another fun game his master liked to play. Whispering to the others to keep perfectly still and quiet, Fatty then popped his head out slowly, trying to see what the pair were doing. He saw that they had walked a little further on, to where the hedging to the property wasn't as thick, and they were peering over. Fatty popped back behind the bushes and whispered to Larry and Daisy, in excitement. "They're weighing up the house behind the river path, and it's my belief that they're checking it out because that must be the next house to be burgled!" "So they are involved after all," whispered back Larry, with wide excited eyes. "I wonder what the lane is called that the house sits on?" "I think it's Hedgerow Lane, just as you leave the village," whispered Fatty. "There are one or two large houses along that lane and they all back onto the river path." "Had we better make our way back before they return this way?" said Daisy, softly. "If we do that we may miss a vital clue," whispered Larry, fiercely. "Thomas and his father could set off to the circus too and we wouldn't know who they meet!" Fatty nodded. "That's true. We'll wait here quietly and keep a look out!" Once more, Fatty popped his head from behind the bush to see if Thomas and his father had started to walk away, but they were still looking at the house with great interest and quietly talking to each other. Suddenly Fatty saw them turning around and quickly popped back behind the bush with the others, warning them to keep quiet as the two were once again on the move. Hidden well behind the large bush, the three suddenly heard them both walking by, chatting quietly to each other. Fatty kept his hand firmly on Buster, warning him not to give away their hiding place. Making sure they were safely well ahead on their way back to the Grey Heron, Fatty and the others then left the safety of their hiding place and started to walk back towards the jetty. They had to pass by the Grey Heron, and thankfully they could see that the boat was quiet with the door closed, so they quickly hurried by, just in case the couple were below and looking out through the windows. "That was a bit of luck not seeing Thomas or his father," said Fatty, sounding relieved as they walked on past the Grey Heron. "It would have been a bit awkward if they'd spotted us and asked where we'd been!" They all gave Mr. and Mrs. Lawson a wave, as the couple were sitting on the deck of The Sweet Sue, and the children had to decline an offer of something to eat, saying they were on their way to meet up with Pip and Bets. Approaching the jetty, they saw them both waiting for them, and Buster raced over, happy to see them once more. Bets laughed at Buster and said, "Anyone would think you'd not seen us for days, Buster!"

"So how did you go on?" said Pip, eager to hear all the news. Between them, Fatty, Larry and Daisy told of how they had only gone a short way along the river path, after the gala stalls, when Thomas and his father had stopped to weigh up a large house nearby. "One which we think now could be the next house to be burgled," said Fatty, earnestly. "So we were right to be suspicious of them both," said Pip, looking pleased. "Should we tell Superintendent Jenks, Fatty?" "We'll have to," he replied, thoughtfully. "But we need to find out properly which house it is and the name, so that it can be guarded tonight." "We think it's one on Hedgerow Lane," said Daisy, to Pip and Bets. "Are we going to see if we can find it, Fatty?" Fatty quickly glanced at his watch. "Yes, I think we should go now," he said, firmly. "We've got time before we have to get back home for lunch." The Find-Outers left the river and made their way through the village and onto a narrow lane with hedges along one side and just a few large houses on the other side which backed onto the river. They walked along until Fatty thought they were at the house which was the next to be burgled. Buster was happily walking a little way ahead. He was thoroughly enjoying his walk today, but stopped to turn back when he saw the others were not going any further. "I think this is the house," said Fatty, looking at the others. "It's called 'Riverside'. What do you think, Larry?" "I think it is the one," he nodded. "At least we can now give the Superintendent the name of the house." "Will you ring him when you get home?" said Bets to Fatty, suddenly thinking how pleased he'd be to think that the Find-Outers had prevented another burglary. "Yes, I'll do it straight after lunch," he replied, with a smile. "We'd better get back as we don't want any of us getting into trouble for being late." After his lunch, Fatty rang the police station in the next big town and asked to speak to Superintendent Jenks. "I'm sorry, but he's away and won't be back until tomorrow," came the reply from down the telephone. "Can I leave him a message?" Fatty was disappointed and said, "No, thank you." He replaced the receiver and looked down at Buster, sitting by his feet. "Now what do I do?" he said to his little dog. "Old Clear-Orf won't believe me if I go and see him." "Woof," said Buster, as if he understood, looking up at his master. Fatty walked solemnly down to his shed, with Buster following. He always knew when his master was feeling down-hearted. Looking around at some of his disguises, Fatty spotted his new one, hanging up against the wall, his postman outfit. He was silent for a moment sitting at his table, thinking of an idea that was suddenly forming inside his head. With a sudden whoop of delight, he sprang to his feet and did a jig around the shed. Buster, watching, joined in the fun with a volley of barks. "I'll dress up as a postman, Buster," Fatty said, in excited tones to the little dog. "I'll write an anonymous note to Mr. Goon, telling him of the expected burglary, and I'll deliver it as a postman on his rounds, and old Clear-Orf won't know it's me!" Buster watched as Fatty disguised himself as a postman, and he filled the post bag with lots of newspapers that were inside the shed, so that the bulging sack would look as though he was carrying many letters.

Fatty then quickly wrote out a letter to Mr. Goon and popped it inside an envelope from a little pile of stationery he always kept inside the shed for such emergencies as this one. He sealed up the envelope, and gave a long sigh of satisfaction. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here, Buster," he told the little dog. "Having you with me will be a giveaway!" Leaving Buster safely inside the shed, Fatty made his way out of the garden gate and headed into the village towards the police house. After making sure no one was around, and there was no sign of Mr. Goon at the windows of the police house, he walked briskly up the garden path and quickly popped the letter in his hand, through the letter box. Feeling satisfied that things had gone well so far, he quickly turned to make his way from the garden, only to spot the real postman walking down the road and approaching Mr. Goon's. Fatty froze for a moment, trying to think quickly, and spotting the large overgrown shrubbery at the far side of the garden, he quickly made his way over there to hide behind it, hoping that he wouldn't be spotted. He was only just in time, for he suddenly heard the latch of the garden gate and the sound of the postman's footsteps walking up to the door, then the sound of the letter box snapping shut as the letters had been posted. Peering through a small gap he saw the postman turn to leave, as the door of the police house was opened by Mr. Goon, who said, loudly, "You're a bit late today. I've been waiting for some very important letters from head office!" "Sorry Mr. Goon," came the reply. "One of the other postmen phoned in sick and I've had to do his round as well!" "Can't be helped then, obviously," grumbled Mr. Goon, before closing his door. Fatty waited for a few more moments then, making sure the coast was clear, he quickly made his way from the garden and hurried back to the safety of his shed, thinking that it was quite a stroke of luck the real postman suddenly arriving as he had done. Now Mr. Goon would think that the postman had written the anonymous note that had been delivered. Fatty was right. When Mr. Goon opened the letter and read it, he automatically thought that the postman had written it himself. He stared at it for a few moments, and picked up the envelope that had no stamp on it, just the letters MR. GOON, written in capitals. Mr. Goon read the letter again, slowly, digesting every word. He read:Mr. Goon, on overhearing a private conversation, I think it right that you should be informed of a burglary that is about to take place this evening at a house called Riverside on Hedgerow Lane. Mr. Goon read the letter a few times more. He thought back to what Frederick Trotteville and the others had been telling him only that morning. Now how on earth had those children learned of such a thing, he thought to himself. And now the postman had heard something too! It seemed that he, Mr. Goon, was the last to hear about the so-called expected burglary, when he was supposed to be the first! Mr. Goon then started to feel angry that he was the last to hear about the expected burglary and in his village too! The more he thought about Frederick Trotteville knowing, the angrier he felt. Well, he'd show them all that he, Theophilus Goon, was on the case and he was going to lie in wait for that cat burglar tonight, and catch him red handed, as it were. Mr. Goon smiled to himself. The Superintendent would be really pleased with him then, and it would probably mean promotion too. Mr. Goon swelled up with importance at the thought of promotion, something he thought he vastly deserved. He would solve this case first and beat those pests that called themselves The Find-Outers!

Suddenly thinking of the Find-Outers, Mr. Goon sobered a little. He really must talk to that fat boy and ask him where he had got the information from the same information that the postman had given him. Brushing down his uniform and swelling out with his own importance, he picked up the telephone and phoned Mrs.Trotteville's number and asked to speak to Master Frederick, but was told that he and the other children were in the garden at Mr. and Mrs. Hilton's. Mr. Goon wasn't very happy to hear this news, as he would have preferred to speak to that pest of a boy over the telephone, then he wouldn't have had to look at his smug fat face! But he had his bounden duty to do, he thought with a sigh, and so pushing his bicycle out from the front garden, he set off for the Hiltons' house.

CHAPTER 17: MR. GOON ON THE CASE

The Find-Outers were surprised to see Mrs. Hilton walking down the garden path with Mr. Goon and, thankfully for Mr. Goon, he could see that the pest of a dog was not there with the children. "I do hope you won't keep the children talking for long, Mr. Goon," said Mrs. Hilton, firmly. "I have a few friends coming over soon and I've told the children they'll have to go and play in Frederick's garden." "I won't keep them long, Mrs. Hilton," said Mr. Goon, meekly. He was rather in awe of Mrs. Hilton. "I just want a quick word with Master Frederick here." Mrs Hilton seemed satisfied, and turned to walk back up the garden pathway. "Well this is a pleasant surprise, Mr. Goon," said Fatty, in mocking tones. "What did you want to speak to me about?" Mr. Goon looked at the children and, trying to be pleasant, said in a puzzled tone, "It's about what you told me this morning. I'd like to know where you heard the conversation about there being another burglary this evening!" Fatty was quite astonished at Mr. Goon's words, as were the others who were wondering how Fatty was going to answer the question, knowing that he wouldn't want to admit to the little adventure that he and Larry had had the night before. "It was something we over-heard, that's all," said Fatty, lightly, trying to shrug off the question. "You must remember where you were!" said Mr. Goon, more firmly, sensing that the children were holding something back. "And I should say that withholding vital information is against the law!" finished off Mr. Goon, looking and feeling extremely important. Fatty glanced quickly at the others and then said, "Larry and I were at the circus, Mr. Goon, and as we were walking around we heard someone saying there was to be a

burglary in Peterswood. We didn't even see who was speaking," said Fatty, adamantly. "I see," said Mr. Goon. He thought back to the letter he'd received and said, "Did you hear which house was mentioned?" "No," said Larry, with a shake of his head. "There was definitely no mention of which house," he finished off with conviction. After all, at the time when they did overhear the conversation, there had been no mention of which house. The FindOuters had discovered that by being good detectives! Mr. Goon seemed satisfied with their answers and said, "Right, well in future if you hear anything vital to a mystery, you come straight to me and report it!" "We did this morning," said Fatty, indignantly. "It's not our fault you chose not to believe us, Mr. Goon." The policeman suddenly turned purple at Fatty's words. Trust that fat boy to remind him of that, Mr. Goon thought, feeling annoyed. "You just keep me informed, that's all," he said. Then, full of his own importance, Mr. Goon turned and stormed back up the pathway. "Phew! I'm glad he didn't persist with that enquiry," said Larry, feeling relieved. "I certainly didn't want him to know about our night adventure, Fatty. He'd have gone straight to our parents and complained." Fatty too gave a sigh of relief, glad not to have been asked too many awkward questions. "Won't old Clear-Orf go over to the circus now and start to ask questions?" said Bets, the thought suddenly occurring to her. "Yes, I very much think he will," said Fatty, feeling a bit down-hearted that he'd had to mention the circus, knowing that would put Mr. Goon on the right track of the mystery. "And he'll probably find out who the cat burglar is now," said Daisy, beginning to feel down about that too. "He's got the power to investigate and search the caravans." "Blow," said Fatty, in exasperation. "We've not been very good with this latest mystery at all! And I'm beginning to think we really should have told him the name of the house too." "Oh don't say that, Fatty," said Bets, almost in tears. She hated to think that the FindOuters wouldn't solve this mystery after all. "I've got a bit of an idea," said Larry, suddenly brightening up. "We know that Mr. Goon is going to go over to the circus, so why don't we go too, only you and I Fatty will go as those two undesirables we went as last night."