"Well, what you say to me is usually 'clear orf,' " said Fatty. "Are you sure that isn't what you want to say?"
"Now, look here," said Mr. Goon, coming to the point at last, "I think you and them other children knows where Luke is. See? And I'm just warning you. If you hide him or know where he's hiding and don't inform the police, you'll get into Serious trouble. Very Serious Trouble."
Fatty was startled. Why did Mr. Goon suspect that they knew where Luke was, or were hiding him?
"What makes you think we'd try to hide Luke?" he said. "As if we could hide him without you knowing, Mr. Goon! Why a clever policeman like you knows everything!"
"Ah," said Mr. Goon. "I know a lot more than you think."
That apparently was the end of the talk. Mr. Goon shut his notebook with a snap and went on his way. Fatty went down the lane, thinking hard.
"Old Tupping must have popped his head over the wall, and either spotted Luke or thought he did," thought Fatty. "Blow! We don't want to get into trouble. But what are we to do with poor old Luke? Perhaps we had better give him some money and get him away."
The others listened to what Fatty told them. Bets was upset. "Don't send Luke away," she said. "We might solve the mystery any time, and then he could go back to Lady Candling's."
"We shan't solve this mystery," said Fatty gloomily. "We aren't so clever as we thought we were. I bet even Inspector Jenks wouldn't be able to solve the mystery of Dark Queen."
"Oooh!" said Daisy at once, remembering how nice and friendly the Inspector had been in the Easter holidays when they had solved another mystery. "Inspector Jenks! I'd forgotten about him. Can't we get into touch with him and tell him about poor old Luke? I'm sure he wouldn't want to put him into prison or anything. He'd keep our secret all right"