“Can we manage to see if old Clear-Orf picks it up?” said Larry excitedly. “I do hope he does.”
“I’ll go into the sweet-shop and watch, whilst you others go on,” said Fatty.
So Fatty watched from the sweet-shop, whilst he was buying chocolate, and to his great delight he saw Mr. Goon pick up the note!
“I bet he’ll read it!” thought Fatty, pleased. “He’s so jolly snoopy.”
Mr. Goon put the note in his pocket. He certainly meant to read it! He pondered whether to go on following the children or to slip home and read the note. It might tell him something he wanted to know!
He went home. He opened the note and gave a snort. “Ho! Didn’t I know they were up to something? On the track of some thief now. I suppose it’s the Sparling Robbery they’ve heard about. Well, who would have thought the thief would have come in this direction? Felling Hill, they say. Well, I’ll be along there sometime or other, and if I don’t sniff something out, my name’s not Theophilus Goon!”
Mr. Goon felt very pleased. “Those children think they’re clever - but they go and drop a note like this and give their game away,” thought the policeman. “Now I know what they’re after. I knew they were interfering in something again. Can’t keep them children out of meddling!”
He sat and thought for a moment. “Now wait a bit - this boy Larry says the thief put the things on Felling Hill and took them away again. Where did he take them to? Why are those kids so interested in Milton House? Ah - now I’ve got it - the thief has hidden the jewels somewhere in that empty house!”
This wasn’t at all what Larry had wanted Mr. Goon to think. But Mr. Goon felt very pleased with himself. He thought he could see everything clearly now. Somehow those kids had got on the Sparling Robbery mystery, and somehow they had got on the track of the thief, and had found out where he had first hidden his booty. Now they were on the track of the booty again - and maybe Milton House was the key to the mystery!
“Ah! - I’ll keep a good watch on that there house now,” he thought. “If there’s any jewels hidden there, I’ll be the one to find them and not that fat boy. Got brains, has he - but mine are better than his. Ho! I’ll pay him out for saying mine want oiling!”