Read Online Mystery of the Invisible Thief by Enid Blyton - Free Book Online

The fisherman took no notice.
    “Pssssssst!” Larry said to him, and still he didn’t so much as turn his head. Any ordinary fisherman would certainly have lost his temper by now and ordered them away. It was most decidedly Fatty.
    “Don’t be goofy!” called Pip in a low voice.
    “We’ve spotted you!” said Daisy, also keeping her voice low. “It was easy!”
    The fisherman obstinately refused to look in their direction. After a little more “Pssssssting” and attempts to make him turn round, the four gave it up.
    “We’ll walk home and come back afterwards,” said Larry. “It’s getting late. Fatty’s an ass.”
    They walked home, had their lunches and came back again. Perhaps Fatty would be more amenable this afternoon.
    “The boat’s gone,” said Daisy. “Oh no - look, it’s there by the bank. And the fisherman is sitting on the grass, eating his lunch. Now we can get him to talk!”
    They went up to him and sat down solemnly. He took a hurried look at them and then swallowed a mouthful so quickly that he choked.
    “Bad luck,” said Larry, sympathetically. “Caught many fish?”
    “No,” said the fisherman in a strangled sort of voice. He got up suddenly and went to his boat.
    “Pssst!” said Larry. The fisherman clambered hurriedly into his boat, making it rock up and down. Larry was about to go to his help, meaning to whisper a few stinging remarks into Fatty’s ear, when Bets caught hold of him and pulled him back. He looked down at her in surprise.
    She looked up at him and shook her head, her eyes wide and frightened. She nodded towards the fisherman’s boots. They were enormous - and so were his hairy hands!
    Larry stopped with a jerk. Gosh - it wasn’t Fatty after all! Of course it wasn’t. Who was it then? And why had he behaved so strangely?
    “Big feet - enormous hands!” whispered Bets. “It’s the thief! It is, Larry - it must be! That’s why he’s tried to shake us off. He’s afraid we’re on his track.”
    The fisherman had pushed off into the river again. He sat now with his back to the children, hunched up as before. They gazed at him silently. How could they possibly have thought he was Fatty?
    “What are we to do?” asked Daisy in a low voice. “We ought to tell Fatty. But where is he? Is he somewhere near - in disguise? We can’t let the thief go now we’ve found him! Where is Fatty? I simply can’t see him anywhere!”
     

Telephone Call to Goon
     
    Larry thought hard. He was the head of the Five when Fatty was not there. What was the best thing to do?
    “If only we could spot Fatty!” he groaned. “I’ll tell you what we’d better do. Pip, you and Bets stay here and keep an eye on the thief. Daisy and I will wander about a bit and see if we can spot Fatty. He said he’d be within fifty yards of Frinton Lea, so he will be.”
    “Right,” said Pip, and he and Bets settled down on the grassy bank. The other two walked off down the path. The fisherman heard their footsteps and turned cautiously round to see who it was.
    “See him look round?” whispered Bets. “He hoped we’d gone! Then I bet he was going to row to the shore and escape.”
    It was rather dull sitting and watching the fisherman. He didn’t catch a single fish. He just sat there with his rod, seemingly asleep.
    But he wasn’t. He suddenly gave a nasty hollow cough. Bets clutched Pip.
    “Did you hear that? I’m sure it’s the thief, now. He coughed just like a sheep barking - just like Mrs Williams said he did. I wish he’d do it again.”
    He didn’t. He slumped back in the boat and appeared to be asleep. But he wasn’t, because whenever anyone came by he turned and gave a quick look.
    Not many people came by, however. The postman cycled by with some letters. The telegraph boy came once, whistling loudly as he turned in at Frinton Lea. The fisherman turned to give him a quick look, and the children eyed him well too, wondering if he could possibly be Fatty. But he wasn’t. He was too thin. There was only one thing about himself that Fatty could not