But, alas for Fatty and Bets, Mr. Tupping appeared on the scene before they could get out of the cage! And then there was a storm!
Mr. Tupping stared as if he could not believe his eyes. Fatty and Bets got out of the cage and shut the door, turning the key in the lock. Bets was trembling. Fatty did not feel at all comfortable himself. The other children had disappeared into the friendly shelter of the bushes.
"What you doing in there?" demanded Tupping. "How did you get the key? I believe it's you children that have been tinkering about with them cats, making them disappear! Ho! yes, that's what it is! You're the thieves, you are! I'm going straight off to Mr. Goon to tell him about you — then you'll be in a pretty pickle I can tell you. And serve you right too!"
In silence the five got over the wall and made their way to the summer-house.
"Golly! That was a bit of bad luck," said Larry.
"We'll have to tell Inspector Jenks about it: how we took the key, and how you and Fatty sniffed all round the cat-house. Then he won't believe old Clear-Orf if he puts in a report to say he and Tupping suspect us of taking Dark Queen!"
Fatty was very silent The others looked at him.
"Are you frit too, Fatty?" said Daisy. It was not like Fatty to be shaken for long. Fatty shook his head and looked very thoughtful.
"Let's think about the smell of turps on that cat's tail." he said.
"You said turps was used to get paint-brushes clean, or to get smears of paint off anything," said Bets, drying her eyes. "Do you suppose the cat had got against some wet paint or something, and the paint was cleaned off with turps?"
Fatty stared at her. Then he leapt to his feet with a yell, and smacked the summer-house table hard with his hand. His face went very red.
"What's up?" said Larry in alarm. "Have you sat on a wasp or something?"
"Listen," said Fatty, sitting down again, looking terribly excited. "Young Bets has got hold of the right idea. Turps was used to get paint off that cat's tail. And how did the paint get there, and what colour was it? Well, we know the colour, because we've got the tin of paint that was used, and we've got a stone with a blob of that same paint on it — it was creamy-brown."
The others stared at him. Fatty got the tin out from behind the loose board and opened it. He dipped the brush into the tin and then dabbed it on the dark-brown summer-house table.
"Look at that," he said. "See that creamy patch? Well, that's what must have been on the cat's tail — in the middle of it — creamy-brown paint! And now, I ask you, what other cat has a patch of creamy-brown hairs on her tail?"
"Dark Queen!" said everyone at once. Eyes gleamed, and faces grew red with excitement as the five children worked out all that the turps and the paint meant
"Yes," said Fatty. "And that cat whose tail smelt of turps must have had a ring of hairs in her dark tail painted a light colour, so that she might be mistaken for Dark Queen, and then the paint on her tail was rubbed off with strong turps — that's why the cage smelt of turps both times. It was done both times."
"Golly!" said Larry. "This is frightfully exciting. Somebody made a very clever plan. Let me see! I suppose Dark Queen was stolen away in the morning, and the other cat's tail painted to make her seem as if she was Dark Queen — everyone knew Dark Queen had a ring of paler hairs in her tail where she had been bitten."
"Yes; and then people came and had a look at the cats — like your mother did, Pip, with Lady Candling — and they thought the painted cat was Dark Queen; and then later on Tupping managed to get into the cage and wipe off the paint before anyone noticed it, and said Dark Queen was gone!"
"Tupping!" said Bets, her eyes getting large and round. "Tupping, did you say? But if Tupping took off the paint — then Tupping must have put it on — and he must have been the one who stole Dark Queen, and —"
"Yes. It was Tupping. It simply must have been," said Fatty, almost beside himself with excitement. "Would you believe it? And he put the blame on Luke all the time."
"And made old Luke work besides the cages the whole time the painted cat was there till the time when he wiped off the paint and said Dark Queen was gone!" said Pip. "So that it seemed as if no one but Luke could possibly have stolen her! What a clever plan."
"Then, when he heard Bets tell Clear-Orf we had got clues of a smell and a smear of paint, he got the wind up and hid them both," said Fatty. "Afraid of finger-prints on them or something, perhaps. And old Buster found them."
"Let's get it all quite clear," said Daisy. "Tupping wants to steal Dark Queen and put the blame on Luke. He waits till Miss Harmer is out for the day — because, I suppose, he guesses she knows each cat so well that she wouldn't be deceived by painted hairs in a tail — she'd know it wasn't Dark Queen."
"Yes; so he waits till she's out, and then he steals Dark Queen, hands her over to someone, goes back to the cage, paints the other cat's tail to make it seem like Dark Queen's, sees that somebody has a look at the cats and says that Dark Queen is there — like Lady Candling did at four o'clock the first time, with your mother, Pip; and Lady Candling again, with Tupping, the second time, at three o'clock." Fatty paused and Larry went on.
"Yes; and the first time he's very, very clever. He brings back the village policeman himself to see the cats, manages to rub off the paint with a turpy rag, and then announces to Clear-Orf that Dark Queen is stolen! I must say Tupping is very cunning," said Larry. "What a nerve he must have, taking the bobby himself into the cage after he'd stolen the cat that morning."
"He managed to trick Miss Harmer herself nicely, too, the second time," said Pip. "You remember he slipped into the cage when she came back that second time, and he must have again rubbed off the paint, and then said Dark Queen was gone. That's how it was he managed to deceive everyone. They all thought, including Luke, that Dark Queen was there all the time Luke was beside the cage — but she wasn't. She had gone in the morning. So no wonder it was difficult to clear Luke of blame."
"I suppose Dark Queen must have escaped from whoever had her, and wandered back, that first time," said Daisy. "I wonder where she is now."
"Let's telephone to Inspector Jenks again," said Pip. "Now that we have solved the mystery we ought to let him know."
"What about the key of the cat-house?" said Larry. "Oughtn't we to put that back in Miss Harmer's pocket?"
"Yes. We'll go and do that now," said Fatty.
The five children and Buster went over the wall. They hunted about for Miss Harmer but could not see her. "Perhaps she's in one of the sheds," said Fatty. They went towards a shed near the greenhouses, one they had not been into before. Fatty put his head inside.
"Hallo!" he said, "this is where Tupping keeps his things. Look! there are his rubber boots and his mack."
"What a smell of turps again," said Bets, sniffing.
"You're right," said Fatty, and he sniffed too.
The boy suddenly pulled a dirty handkerchief out of the old mack hanging up. It was marked with Tupping's name, and smelt strongly of turps.
"He soaked this hanky with turps and used it to rub off the paint he had put on that cat's tail!" said Fatty. "Another clue! Let me see! It had been raining, hadn't it, the night before, and that morning too — so Tupping would have been wearing a mack — and rubber boots too. I say, look there!"
The children looked, and there, splashed on the toes of the rubber boots, were drops of the creamy-brown paint! Tupping must have worn the boots when he painted the cat's tail! And it was he, of course, who must have dropped a blob of paint on to the stone that Fatty had in his pocket. Probably off the paint-brush.
"We'll take these boots, and the hanky too," said Fatty importantly. "Come on, Buster. We've got some mighty good clues and bits of evidence, I must say. What a shock dear Mr. Tupping is going to get when he hears all we have to say."
They went out of the shed and came face to face with Luke, who still looked very gloomy. "You're going to get into trouble," he said to Fatty. "Tupping's gone down to get Goon, because he says he found you in the cat-house, and he says it must have been you children who took that cat. I suppose he's going to make out that you did it when I was there, and I didn't let on, so as to shield you. You're going to get into trouble!"
"Please, Inspector Jenks," said Fatty, "we've solved the Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. Could you possibly come over and let us tell you?"
"Well," said the Inspector, "I've just had a most mysterious message from Goon — something about finding you children in the cat-house, and saying he thought you had something to do with the disappearance of the cat — and I was thinking of coming over anyway."
"Oh, good!" said Fatty joyfully. "Are you coming to Lady Candling's?"
"Yes, that would be best," said the Inspector. "Meet me there in an hour's time, will you?"
Fatty went back to tell the others — to find them all in a state of great indignation. Mr. Goon had been to Bet's mother and complained to her that the little girl had been caught trespassing in the cat-house. He had now gone to tell Fatty's mother that Fatty had been caught there too.
"Mummy is frightfully cross with me," said Bets, with tear-stained eyes. "You weren't here, Fatty, so I didn't like to say anything in case I gave away something you didn't want me to give away. So I said nothing at all, and Mummy scolded me dreadfully."
"Never mind, Bets," said Fatty. "The Inspector will soon be here, and once he hears our story he will soon put things right. We've got to meet him at Lady Candling's in an hour's time. We must take all our clues with us."
So carrying one bottle of turps, one tin of paint, one old paint-brush, one stone smeared with paint, one hanky smelling of turps, and one pair of rubber boots spotted with paint, the children set off down Pip's drive and up Lady Candling's drive in an hour's time.
"The only clue we couldn't bring was the smell on the cat's tail," said Bets. "And that was really the most important clue of all."
"And it was you who smelt it," said Fatty. "I must say I think you've been a very good Find-Outer this time, little Bets."
"Look! there's Mr. Goon going into the house," said Daisy. "And that's Tupping with him. And here comes Luke. Hallo, Luke! Where are you going?"
"Been told to wash myself and go up to the house," said Luke, who looked both gloomy and scared.
"Are you frit?" asked Fatty.
"Yes, I'm frit," said Luke.
"Well don't be," said Fatty. "Everything is going to be all right. You'll see. Cheer up."
But Luke could not cheer up. He walked off to wash and clean himself, looking very downcast, just as the Inspector's black car drove smartly up the drive and came to a stop. The big Inspector got out and smiled at the children. He beckoned to them.
"Who's the guilty person?" he said.
"Tupping," said Fatty with a grin. "I bet you guessed it, Inspector, though you didn't have any dues or anything."
"Well, I didn't think it was Luke, and I did think Mr. Tupping was the type," said the Inspector. "Also I happened to know what neither you nor Mr. Goon knew, that he has been mixed up in a thieving case before — dogs, it was, as far as I remember. Well, you go on in. I'm just coming."
Everyone was gathered together in Lady Candling's big drawing-room.
"Sit down, children," said Lady Candling. Fatty had left outside the door some of their dues, feeling that it would not do to let Tupping see his rubber boots, the tin of paint, or the bottle of turps. The boy did not want the surly gardener put on his guard if he could help it. The children sat down, and Fatty took Buster on his knee to stop him from sniffing round Mr. Goon's ankles.
The Inspector came in and shook hands with Lady Candling. He smiled at the children, and nodded to Mr. Goon.
"I think we'd better all sit down," he said. Everyone sat down. Mr. Goon looked important and stern. He gave Bets and Fatty a severe glance. Aha! those interfering children were going to get into Very Serious Trouble now! Tupping had reported to him that they had actually taken the key and been found inside the cat-house.
"Well, Goon," said the Inspector, "I got a rather mysterious message from you this morning — sufficiently serious for me to think of coming over."
"Yes, sir. It is serious, sir," said Mr. Goon, swelling up with importance. "I have reason to believe, sir, that these here interfering children know more about the disappearance of that valuable cat than we think. I think, sir, they're in for Very Serious Trouble, and a good warning from you will do them a World of Good."
"Well, I think it is quite possible that these children do know more about this mystery than you think, Goon," said Inspector Jenks. "We'll ask them, shall we?"
He turned to Fatty. "Perhaps you, Frederick Trotteville would like to say a few words?"
There was nothing that Fatty wanted more. He swelled up almost as importantly as Goon had done.
"I should like to say, Inspector, that we Five Find-Outers know who stole Dark Queen," said Fatty, very loudly and clearly. Tupping gave one of his snorts, and so did Goon. Luke looked thoroughly scared. Miss Trimble's glasses fell off, much to Bets' delight.
"Go on, Frederick," said the Inspector.
"I should like to explain, sir, exactly how the theft was committed," said Fatty. The others looked at him admiringly. Fatty always knew the right words to use.
"We should like to hear you, if I may so," said the Inspector gravely, with a little twinkle in his eyes.
"Well, Inspector, Dark Queen was stolen twice, as you know," said Fatty. "Both times Miss Harmer was out, and Mr. Tupping was in charge of the cats.
Mr. Goon's mouth fell open, and he stared at Fatty in astonishment.
"Now that..." he began — but Inspector Jenks stopped him.
"Don't interrupt, Goon," he said. And old Clear-Orf dared say no more.
"I'll tell you how it was all done," said Fatty, enjoying himself immensely. "The thief stole Dark Queen out of the cage in the morning; but he cleverly painted a ring of hairs a creamy colour in another cat's tail, so that to anyone not knowing the cats extremely well that other cat seemed to be Dark Queen!"
There was a chorus of exclamations. Miss Trimble's glasses fell off immediately.
"Well," went on Fatty, "you can see that anyone coming to see the cats in the afternoon would think Dark Queen was there — but she wasn't. Then, when the right moment came, the thief hopped into the cage, rubbed the paint off the cat's tail with a rag soaked in turps, and then announced that Dark Queen was missing! So, of course everyone thought the cat must have been stolen in the afternoon, whereas she had been taken in the morning."
"And that's why everyone thought it was me that took the cat," broke in Luke. "Because I was the only one near the cage in the afternoons, and no one came near but me."
"Yes," said Fatty. "That was part of the plan, Luke. The blame was to be put on to you."
"Who was it?" demanded Luke, his face going scarlet with rage. "Just let me get my hands on him, that's all!"
The Inspector sent a glance at Luke and the boy sat back saying no more.
"How do you know all this?" asked Mr. Goon, his face a mixture of amazement, disbelief, and scorn. "It's just a silly make-up. You got to have proof of these things before you can say them."