Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage Read Online Free PDF Page B

here,’ said Fatty. ‘He knows me.’
    His name was passed through to the Chief’s office - and Fatty heard the Superintendent’s voice, sharp and impatient.
    ‘Yes, Frederick? What is it?’
    ‘Sir, it’s about the Lorenzos,’ said Fatty. ‘As it’s right where I live, can I do anything?’
    ‘I fear not,’ said the Chief. ‘The Lorenzos are not there - and I doubt if the missing picture is, either. If they could be found, they would be found together!’
    ‘Oh,’ said Fatty, in disappointment. ‘Then - isn’t there anything I can do, sir?’
    ‘Nothing - except keep your eyes and ears open as usual,’ said the Chief. ‘I’m sending a man down to go over the house with a tooth-comb, just in case the picture’s there - but I’ve no real hope of it.’
    ‘Will Mr. Goon be working on the case, sir?’ asked Fatty, rather forlornly.
    ‘Yes - but there isn’t much case at Peterswood to work on,’ said the Superintendent. ‘I wish Goon had kept his eye on the Lorenzos more - they’ve a shocking reputation, as everyone now knows!’
    ‘I suppose I couldn’t go and talk to the Larkins, sir, could I?’ asked Fatty, feeling that this mystery was slipping out of his hands altogether!
    ‘No. Certainly not,’ said the Chief at once. ‘My man is doing that, with Goon. No sense in your butting in there - you’ll do more harm than good. I don’t mean that you mustn’t pass the time of day with them if you meet them - but you must remember that this case has really left Peterswood now - and gone goodness knows where! I don’t for one moment think that the Larkins can possibly know anything that will be of the slightest help to us.’
    ‘I expect you’re right, sir,’ said Fatty, feeling very down in the dumps indeed. ‘Well, I won’t keep you, sir. Good luck!’
    He put down the receiver and looked gloomily at Buster, who was sitting nearby, with cocked ears.
    ‘No go, Buster,’ he said dolefully. ‘It’s all come to nothing. The mystery has fled from Peterswood and disappeared. Now I must telephone to the others.’
    The other four were most disappointed. ‘Oh, Fatty!’ said Daisy, ‘there must be something we can do! There really must. Come along up here to us, and we’ll get Pip and Bets too, and talk about it. You do sound miserable!’
    So they all met at Larry’s at half-past eleven and sat down to a mid-morning snack of hot buns from the oven and cups of cocoa. They felt more cheerful after a couple of buns each.
    ‘The Chief really did seem to think we can’t do a thing this time,’ said Fatty. ‘Apparently the two main things are - one, to find the Lorenzos, who are probably out of the country by now - and two, to find the picture. And the Chief thinks that where one is, the other will be there also.
    ‘Well, we can’t possibly go gallivanting all over the country looking for them ourselves,’ said Daisy. ‘So we must just be content to do nothing.’
    ‘I think we might keep a watch on the house, perhaps?’ said Larry. ‘Just in case the Lorenzos come back to it.’
    ‘They won’t,’ said Fatty.
    ‘But what about their little dog?’ said Bets. ‘Mrs. Lorenzo really did seem attached to it - she might send for that, mightn’t she? If it suddenly disappears we’d know that the Lorenzos had sent a messenger of some sort for it.’
    ‘That certainly is a point,’ said Fatty. ‘Yes - perhaps on the whole, we won’t give this up straightaway. But the thing is - how on earth are we to keep a watch on the Larkins to see if any messenger is ever sent? I mean - the house is some way from where we live, and we can’t spend all our days - or nights - there!’
    ‘Hopeless,’ said Pip, who didn’t particularly want to spend any part of a cold day or night watching people like the Larkins. ‘We can’t do it. If we knew somebody who lived next door, it would be easy - but we don’t, so…’
    ‘Hallo!’ said a voice, suddenly interrupting, and a tousled head peeped round the door. ‘I’ve been to your house, Fatty, and your mother sent me here. I’ve brought the