"Good afternoon, Goon," said the Inspector.
"G-g-g-g-g-g," began Goon, and then swallowed hastily. "G-g-g-g-good afternoon, sir, I d-d-d-didn't expect to see you here."
"I thought I heard you say you wanted to get your hands on me," said the Inspector. Goon swallowed hard again, loosened his collar with his finger, and then tried to smile.
"You will have your joke, sir," he said in a rather trembling voice. "I er I expected to find somebody else. It's it's a great surprise to see you here, sir."
"Well, these children have paid me the honour of consulting me about this little affair of the stolen cat," said the Inspector. "Sit down, Goon. It would be good to hear your version of the business. I suppose you haven't got very far with the case?"
"Well, sir I've got a lot of clues, sir," said Mr. Goon eagerly, hoping to alter the Inspector's opinion of him. "I'd like your advice on them, sir, now you're here, sir."
He took a white envelope from his pocket and opened it. Out came the two cigar-ends, the blue button, the half hair-ribbon, the peppermint drop, and the brown shoe-lace. The Inspector stared at them in considerable astonishment.
"Are all these clues?" he asked at last.
"Yes, sir," said Goon. "Found in the place where the crime was committed, sir. In the cat-house itself."
"Did you really find all these things in the cat-house?" said the Inspector, looking at everything as if he really could not believe they were there. "Was this peppermint drop there, Goon?"
"Yes, sir, everything. Never found so many clues in my life before, sir," said Goon, pleased to see the Inspector's surprise.
"Neither have I," said the Inspector. He glanced round at the five children. They were horrified at seeing Goon show the false dues to Inspector Jenks. A very small twinkle came into the Inspector's eyes.
"Well, Goon," said the Inspector, "you are much to be congratulated on discovering so many dues. Er I suppose you children haven't discovered any too?"
Fatty pulled out the envelope in which he had put duplicates of the same things that Goon had found. He undid the envelope solemnly and slowly. Bets wanted to giggle, but she didn't dare to.
"I don't know if you'd call these clues, sir," said Fatty. "Probably not. We don't think they are, sir, either."
To Goon's open-mouthed astonishment Fatty proceeded to take from the envelope complete duplicates of the dues that Goon had taken out of his own envelope.
"What's all this? There's something funny about all this," said Goon faintly.
"It is certainly peculiar, to say the least of it," said the Inspector. "I am sure you children all agree with me?"
The children said nothing. They really did not know what to say. Even Fatty said nothing, though in his heart he applauded
Inspector Jenks very loudly for guessing everything and giving away nothing!"
"Well," said Inspector Jenks, "suppose you replace all these various dues in their envelopes. I hardly feel they are going to help us a great deal, but perhaps you mink otherwise, Goon?"
"No, sir," said poor Goon, his face purple with rage, astonishment, and shock. To think that his wonderful dues were the same as the children's whatever did it mean? Poor Goon! The meaning did eventually dawn on him, but not until he was in bed that night. Then he could do nothing about it; for he knew he would never dare to reopen the matter of his dues again, with Inspector Jenks on the children's side.
"And now, Goon," said the Inspector, in a businesslike tone, "I propose that we go to this boy Luke and tell him to come out of his hiding-place and face up to things. We can't have him hiding away for weeks."
Mr. Goon's mouth fell open for the third or fourth time that afternoon. Find Luke? Go to his hiding-place? What in the world did the Inspector know about all that? He gave the children a glare. Interfering busybodies! Now, with the Inspector at his elbow he wouldn't even be able to scare the life out of that boy Luke when he found him, as he would dearly like to do.
"Just as you say, sir," he said to the Inspector, and rose ponderously from the ground.
"Come along," said Inspector Jenks to the children. "We'll go and have a word a kind word with poor old hunted Luke."
A Great Surprise
"In here," said Pip, when they reached his gate. They went up the drive and into the garden. Then Pip stopped and looked at the Inspector.
"Should I just go up and explain to Luke that you say he's to come out and go back to his job?" he said. "You can't think how scared he is."
"I think that's a good idea," said Inspector Jenks, "but I think the one to see him and talk to him should be me. Now, don't you worry. I know how to treat boys like Luke."
Inspector Jenks went with Pip up the garden to the summer-house. But Luke was not there.
"Oh, there he is, look," said Pip, pointing to where Luke was busy hoeing the kitchen-garden. "He says he just can't sit and do nothing, Inspector, and he thinks if he does a bit of weeding for us, it is a small way of returning a kindness."