The others were disappointed but not surprised to hear that Fatty had not been able to get the keys of Milton House.
“It seems funny for Miss Crump to buy a house and not move into it,” said Larry. “Why should she just furnish one room at the top, and not tell any one about it? It’s a funny secret to have.”
“We can’t very well go and ask her why she’s got that room at the top of the house like that,” said Daisy. “She’d be wild to think we had climbed the tree and looked in.”
“Of course we can’t,” said Fatty. “But we could quite well go over and see her - think up some excuse, you know - and try to get her talking.”
“What excuse can we give for going to see her in the dead of winter?” said Daisy.
“Oh! - we shall be able to think of something,” said Fatty. “Good detectives can always find some way of getting into talk with people.”
“What’s the address?” asked Pip.
Fatty told him.
“Well - we could easily go over there on our bikes,” said Larry, “I vote we do. I’m longing to get on with this mystery if we can.”
“Yes, but what excuse can we give for going to see Miss Crump?” asked Daisy, who didn’t like the idea of butting in on an old lady without some very well-thought-out excuse.