by Энид Блайтон
Mrs. Minns beamed. She was always touched when any one did anything for her precious cat. "That's nice of you," she said. "My rheumatism's better," she said to her sister. "Though what it will be like after being drenched with milk, I don't know. Really, things are coming to a pretty pass when that girl Lily throws milk all over me."
"I didn't do it on purpose," said Lily sulkily. "Can I go to the post with this letter?"
"No, that you can't," said Mrs. Minns. "You fast get the tea ready for Mr. Hick. Go on now — stop your letter-writing and get a bit of work done for a change."
"I want to catch the post," said Lily, looking ready to cry.
"Well, you won't," said Mrs. Minns unkindly. Lily started to cry, and the children felt sorry for her. She got up and began to get out cups and saucers.
The children wondered how to mention Horace Peeks. They wanted to get his address so that they might go and see him.
"Has Mr. Hick got a new man-servant yet?" asked Larry, at last.
"He's been seeing some today," said Mrs. Minns, sinking into an arm-chair, which creaked dolefully beneath her weight. "I only hope he gets one that doesn't put on airs and graces like Mr. Peeks, that's all."
"Does Mr. Peeks live near here?" asked Pip innocently.
"Yes," said Mrs. Minns. "Let me see now — where does he live? Oh, my memory — it gets worse every day!"
There came a most unwelcome interruption Just as it seemed that Mrs. Minns was on the point of remembering Horace Peeks's address. The kitchen door shot open, and three kittens flew through the air, landing on the floor with mews and hisses. Every one looked round in amazement.
Mr., Hick stood at the door, His front tuft of hair bristling like a parrot's crest.
"Those kittens were in my study!" he shouted. "Are my orders never to be obeyed? Unless they are out of the house by this evening, I’ll drown the lot!"
He was about to bang the door when he caught sight of the three children. He advanced into the kitchen and pointed a finger at them. "Didn't I turn you out before? How dare you come here again?"
Larry, Pip and Daisy got up and fled. They were not cowards, but really Mr. Hick was so very fierce that it honestly seemed as if he might throw them out., just as he had flung the kittens into the kitchen!
They ran up the drive — but half-way to the gate Larry stopped. "Wait till old Hiccup has gone out of the kitchen.," he said. "We simply must get Horace Peeks's address. We can't do anything about him till we know where he is."
They waited for a minute or two and then went back very cautiously to the kitchen. Mrs. Minns was talking to her sister, and Lily was still clattering about with the tea-things. The children put their heads round the door.
"What do you want now?" asked Mrs. Minns good-naturedly. "My word, you ran away like frightened mice! Made me laugh to see you!"
"You were just trying to think of Horace Peeks's address when Mr. Hick came in," said Larry.
"Was I, now?" said Mrs. Minns. "Well, it came into my mind in a flash, like — and now it's gone again. Let me see-let me see…."
She was thinking hard, and the children were waiting breathlessly, when the sound of heavy footsteps came up to the kitchen door and a loud knock was heard.
Mrs. Minns went to the door. The children saw that it was Mr. Goon, the policeman! They never seemed to be able to get away from old Clear-Orf.
"Morning, Mam," said Clear-Orf to Mrs. Minns, and he took out his large black notebook. "About this here fire — I think you've given me all the information I require. But I'd just like to ask you a few questions about that fellow Peeks."
The children frowned at one another. So Clear-Orf was after Peeks too!
"Do you know his address?" asked Clear-Orf, looking at Mrs., Minns out of his bulging pale-blue eyes.
"Well," said Mrs. Minns, "if that isn't a peculiar thing, Mr. Goon — I was just trying to think of his address at the very moment you knocked! These children wanted to know it".
"What children?" said Clear-Orf in surprise. He put His head in at the door and saw Larry, Daisy and Pip.
"You again!" he said in disgust. "Clear orf! You kids are always popping up. You're a regular nuisance. What do you want Peeks's address for? Just nosey, I suppose?"
The children said nothing. Mr. Goon pointed back-wards with his thumb. "Go home I" he said. "I've private business to do here. Clear orf!
There was nothing for it but to "clear orf," and the children did so, running up the drive to the gate. They were very angry.
"Just as Mrs. Minns was thinking of the address!" said Larry.
"I hope she doesn't think of it and tell Clear-Orf," said Pip gloomily. "If she does, Clear-Orf will go over and see Peeks before we do."
"Blow!" said Daisy. They all felt very disheartened. They were just going out of the gate when they heard a low whistle from the bushes nearby. They turned back to see who it was.
Lily appeared, a letter in her hand. She looked frightened, but determined. "Will you post this letter for me?" she asked. "It's to Mr. Peeks, to warn him that people are saying he started the fire. But he didn't, he didn't. I know he didn't! You post the letter, will you?"
There was a shout from the kitchen. "Lily! Where are you?"
Lily disappeared at once. The children ran out of the gate, excited and surprised. They stopped behind a hedge when they had gone a little way, and examined Lily's envelope. It had no stamp on. The girl had forgotten it in her hurry.
"Golly!" said Larry, "here we've been all the afternoon trying to get Horace Peek's address and couldn't — and now, suddenly, it's just been presented to us, given into our hands!"
"What a bit of luck!" said Daisy, thrilled. "I am pleased."
"The thing is — do we want Peeks to be warned?" said Larry. "You see — if he is warned beforehand that people are suspecting him., he might run away. Then we shouldn't solve the mystery."
They all stared at one another. Then Pip had an idea, "I know! We'll go and find Peeks after tea today, instead of wailing for tomorrow. We'll see him and try to make up our minds if he did it or not. If we think he didn't do it, we'll give him Lily's letter!"
"Good idea!" said the others, pleased. "After all, we can't post a letter without a stamp — but we can deliver it by hand." They looked at the address.
Mr. H. Peeks. Ivy Cottage.
Wilmer Green.
"We'll go on our bikes," said Larry. "Come on — we must tell the others!"
Interviewing Mr. Horace Peeks
The three of them went back to Fatty and Bets. Buster greeted them uproariously.
"Hallo," said Fatty, "how did you get on?"
"Awfully badly at first," said Larry, "and then, right at the end, we had a slice of good luck."
He told Bets and Fatty about the afternoon and they listened with the greatest interest. They all examined Peek's address, and were thrilled.
"So now Pip and Daisy and I are going on our bikes to Wilmer Green," said Larry. "It's only about five miles. At least, we'll have tea first and then go."
"I want to go too," said Bets at once.
"I'd like to go, but I believe I'm too stiff," said Fatty.
"You stay with Bets," said Pip. "We don't want to appear in a crowd. It might put Peeks on His guard."
"You keep leaving me out," said Bets sadly.
"No, we don't," said Larry. "Do you really want a job? Well, find out Mr. Smellie's address, see? Fatty will help you. It may be in the telephone book, or somebody may know it. We shall want His address tomorrow, because we must go and see him too. All the Suspects must be interviewed!"
"Two of them are crossed off now," said Pip. "Mrs. Minns didn't do it — and I'm sure the tramp didn't either. That only leaves Mr. Smellie and Mr. Peeks. I do wish we could find some one wearing rubber-soled shoes with those markings. It would be such a help!"
"I'll find out Mr. Smellie's address!" said Bets joyfully, pleased at having something real to do. "I'll bring the telephone book out here to Fatt
y."
The tea-bell rang. The children ran indoors to wash, and were soon sitting down eating bread and butter and jam. Larry and Daisy stayed to tea, but Fatty had to go back to the hotel, as his mother was expecting him.
After tea Fatty came back and joined Bets. Larry and Pip and Daisy got out bicycles and cycled off. They knew the way to Wilmer Green quite well.
"What excuse shall we make for asking to see Horace Peeks?" said Larry, as they cycled quickly along.
Nobody could think of a good excuse. Then Pip had an idea. "Let's go to the house and just ask for a drink of water," he said. "If Peeks's mother is there I expect she'll talk nineteen to the dozen, and we may find out what we want to know — which is — where was Horace Peeks on the evening of the lire? If his mother says he was at home with her all the evening we can cross him off."
"Good idea!" said Larry. "And I'll tell you what I'll do, too; just before we get to the house I'll let the air out of my front tyre, see — and pumping up the bike will make a further excuse for staying and talking."
"Right!" said Pip. "I do think we are getting clever."
After some hard cycling they came to the village of Wilmer Green. It was a pretty place, with a duck-pond on which many white ducks were swimming. The children got off their bicycles and began to look for Ivy Cottage. They asked a little girl where it was, and she pointed it out to them. It was well set back from the road, and backed on to a wood.
The children rode to it, dismounted and went into the old wooden gate. Larry had already let the air out of his front tyre and it was almost flat.
"I'll ask for the water," said Daisy. They went up to the door, which was half-open. There was the sound of an iron going thump, thump, thump.
Daisy knocked on the door. "Who's there?" said a sharp voice.
"Please could we have a drink of water?" asked Daisy.
"Come in and get it," said the voice. Daisy opened the door wide and went in. She saw a sharp-faced old lady ironing a shirt. She nodded her head towards a tap over a sink.
"Water's there," she said. "Cup's on the shelf behind."
The two boys came in whilst Daisy was running the water. "Good evening," they said politely. "Thank you so much for letting us have some water. We've cycled quite a way, and we're awfully hot," said Larry. The old lady looked at him approvingly. He was a good-looking boy, and had beautiful manners when he liked.
"Where have you come from?" she asked, thumping with her iron.
"From Peterswood," said Larry. "I don't expect you know it, do you?"
"That I do," said the old lady. "My son was in service there with a Mr. Hick."
"Oh, how funny!" said Daisy, sipping the cup of water. "We were down in Mr. Hick's garden the other night, when there was a fire."
"A fire!" said the old woman, startled "What fire?
I hadn't heard anything of that Not Mr. Hick's house., surely?"
"No — only his cottage workroom," said Pip. "No one was hurt. But surely your son would have told you about it, wouldn't he — didn't he see it?"
"When was the fire?" asked the old lady.
Pip told her. Mrs. Peeks stopped ironing and thought. "Well, now, that was the day Horace came home," she said. "That's why he didn't know anything about it. He'd had a quarrel with Mr. Hick, and he gave notice. He got here in the afternoon and gave me a real start."
Then he must have missed the fire," said Pip. "I expect he was with you all the evening, wasn't he?"
"No, he wasn't," said Mrs. Peeks. "He went out after tea on his bike, and I didn't see him again til it was dark. I didn't ask him where he went. I'm not one for poking or prying. I expect he was down at the Pig and Whistle, playing darts. He's a rare one for darts, is our Horace."
The children exchanged glances. So Horace disappeared after tea — and didn't come back till dark! That seemed very suspicious indeed. Very suspicious! Where was he that evening? It would have been so easy to slip back to Peterswood on His bike, hide in the ditch, and set fire to the cottage when no one was about — and then cycle back unseen in the darkness!
Larry wondered what sort of shoes Horace wore. He looked round the kitchen. There was a pair of shoes waiting to be cleaned in a corner. They were about the size of the footprint. But they didn't have rubber soles. Perhaps Peeks was wearing them now. The children wished he would come in.
"I must just go and pump up my front tyre," said Larry, getting up. "I won't be a minute."
But although he left the other two quite five minutes to talk, there didn't seem anything more to be found out.
"Didn't find out anything else," said Pip in a low voice. "Hallo — who's this? Do you think it is Horace?"
They saw a weedy-looking young man coming in at the gate. He had an untidy lock of hair that hung over his forehead, a weak chin, and rather bulging blue eyes, a little like Mr. Goon's. He wore a grey flannel coat!
All the children noticed this immediately. Daisy's heart began to beat fast. Could they have found the right person at last?
"What you doing here?" asked Horace Peeks.
"We came to ask for a drink of water," said Larry, wondering if he could possibly edge round Horace to see if there was a tear in his grey coat anywhere!
"And we found out that we come from the same place that you lived in only a little while ago," said Daisy brightly. "We live at Peterswood."
"That's where I worked," said Horace. "Do you know that bad-tempered old Mr. Hick? I worked for him, but nothing was ever right. Nasty old man."
"We don't like him very much ourselves," said Pip. "Did you know there was a fire at His place the day you left?"
"How do you know what day I left?" asked Mr. Peeks, astonished.
"Oh, we just mentioned the fire to your mother and she said it must have been the day you left, because you didn't know anything about it," said Pip.
"Well, all I can say is that Mr. Hick deserved to have his whole place burnt down, the mean, stingy, bad-tempered old fish!" said Horace. "I'd like to have seen it!"
The children looked at him, wondering if he was pretending or not. "Weren't you there, then?" asked Daisy, in an innocent voice.
"Never you mind where I was!" said Peeks. He looked round at Larry, who was edging all round him to see if he could spot a tear in the grey flannel coat that Horace was wearing. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Sniffing round me like a dog! Stop it!"
"You've got a spot on your coat," said Larry, making up the first excuse he could think of. "I'll rub it off."
He pulled out his handkerchief — and with it came the letter that Lily had given to him to give to Horace Peeks! It fell to the ground, address side upwards! Horace bent to pick it up and stared in the utmost astonishment at his own name on the envelope!
He turned to Larry. "What's this?" he said.
Larry could have kicked himself for his carelessness. "Oh, it's for you," he said. "Lily asked us to post it to you, but as we were coming over here we thought we might as well deliver it by hand."
Horace Peeks looked as if he was going to ask some awkward questions, and Larry thought it was about time to go. He wheeled his bicycle to the gate.
"Well, good-bye," he said. "I'll tell Lily you've got her letter."
The three of them mounted their bicycles and rode off. Horace shouted after them. "Hie! You come back a minute!"
But they didn't go back. Their minds were in a whirl! They rode for about a mile and a half, and then Larry jumped off his bicycle and went to sit on a gate. "Come on!" he called to the others. "We'll just talk a bit and see what we think."
They sat in a row on the gate, looking very serious. "I was an idiot to drag that letter out of my pocket like that," said Larry, looking ashamed of himself. "But perhaps it was as well. I suppose letters ought to be delivered — oughtn't they? Do you think Horace started the fire?"
"It looks rather like it," said Daisy thoughtfully. "He had a spite against Mr. Hick that very day, and his mother doesn't know where he was that night You
didn't notice if his shoes had rubber, criss-crossed soles, did you, Larry? And was his grey flannel coat torn in any way?"
"I couldn't see his shoe-soles, and as far as I could see, his coat wasn't torn at all," said Larry. "Anyway, that letter will warn him now, and he'll be on his guard!"
They talked for a little while, wondering what to do about Peeks. They decided that they would set him aside for a while and see what Mr. Smellie was like. It seemed to rest now between Horace Peeks and Mr. Smellie. It was no good deciding about Peeks until they had also seen Smellie!
They mounted their bicycles again and set off. They free-wheeled down a hill and round a corner. Larry went into some one with a crash! He fell off and so did the other person!
Larry sat up and stared apologetically at the man in the road. To His horror it was old Clear-Orf!
"What! You again!" yelled Mr. Goon, in a most threatening voice. Larry hurriedly got up. The other two were farther down the road, laughing.
"What you doing?" yelled Mr. Goon, as Larry stood His bicycle upright, ready to mount again.
"I'm clearing orf!" shouted Larry. "Can't you see? I'm clearing orf!"
And the three of them rode giggling down the hill, pausing to wonder every now and again if old Clear-Orf was on his way to see Horace Peeks! Well — Horace was now warned by Lily's letter — so Mr. Goon wouldn't get much out of him, that was certain!
The Tramp turns up Again
It was seven o'clock when the three of them rode up Pip's drive. Bets was getting worried, because her bedtime was coming very near, and she couldn't bear to think that she would have to go before she heard the news that Larry, Daisy and Pip might be bringing.
She jumped for joy when she heard their bicycle bells jangling as they rode at top speed up the drive. It was such a lovely evening that she, Fatty and Buster were still in the garden. Fatty had examined his bruises again, and was pleased to see that they were now a marvellous red-purple. Although they hurt him he couldn't help being very proud of them.
"What news? What news?" yelled Bets, as the three travellers returned.
