Read Online Mystery Of The Missing Necklace by Enid Blyton - Free Book Online Page A

the street to the bench from where he stood. Now would be Fatty's chance to give his message to the old man !
    "It's hot in here," said Larry, suddenly standing up.
    "I'm going out for a breath of air. You come when you've finished your ices."
    He went out of the shop and shot across to the bench. He sat down beside the Balloon-woman. "Goon's telephoning," he said. "Now's your chance. He can't see across the street from where the telephone is."
    "Right," said Fatty. He moved nearer to the old man and nudged him. The old fellow looked round at once. Fatty slipped a note to him and then moved back to his end of the bench.
    The old man deftly pocketed the note and sat for a few minutes more. Then, with a grant, he got up and shuffled off round the corner. Larry followed him, at a sign from Fatty. As soon as he was safely round the corner the old fellow opened the slip of paper and looked at it. Then he took a match, lighted the paper, and let it drop to the ground, where it burnt away.
    He did not go back to his bench. Instead, he shuffled off in the direction of his home. Larry went back to the bench and stood beside the old Balloon-woman, pretending to choose a balloon.
    "Did he read the note?" said Fatty, in a low voice.
    "Yes. And he's gone off home now, I think," said Larry. "What did you put in the note?"
    "I just put that he'd better not come to this seat for three afternoons as the police were watching it," said Fatty. "He'll think it was from a member of the gang, I expect. He will think they'd asked me to pass the message to him, as they wouldn't want to be seen doing it themselves, if the seat was watched. Well, let's hope we've got him out of the way for a few days!"
    "I'll have this balloon," said Larry, as some people passed. "How much?"
    Taking the balloon with him, he went back to the door of the shop. Mr. Goon was still telephoning. Good! The others got up and went out. They all sauntered down the road, thinking how cross Mr. Goon would be when he stopped telephoning and found that the old man was gone.
    The Balloon-woman went too. It had been decided that she should go to Pip's garden, in case Mrs. Trotteville , Fatty's mother, should spot her again, going down her garden-path, and make trouble. Pip's mother was out for the day, so it would be safe for Fatty to go there and change back to himself.
    Soon all the Find-Outers, and Buster, were in Pip's summer-house. Fatty changed as quickly as he could.
    "I shan't use this disguise more than I can help," he said, pushing all the petticoats and skirts into the sack he kept them in. "It's too hot. I shall get as thin as a rake if I keep getting so melting-hot!"
    "Oh, don't do that!" said Bets, in alarm. "You wouldn't be Fatty any more, if you were thin. And I do like you just exactly as you are!"
    Everybody Does Somethin g.
    Plans were laid for the next few days. "These may be very important days," said Fatty. "We may be able to learn a lot — right under Goon's nose, too, if he's going to do this watch-dog act of his!"
    "What exactly are we going to do?" said Daisy, thrilled. "You're going to disguise yourself as that old man, we know, and take his place, hoping for a mes sage from one of the gang. But what are we to do? We must have something interesting so that we can do our share as Find-Outers."
    "Woof," said Buster.
    "He wants a job too," said Bets, with a laugh. "Poor Buster! He can't understand why you have to dress up as somebody different, Fatty. You don' t look or sound the same to him— you only smell the same. And when you go out as the Balloon-woman or the old man, we have to lock Buster up and leave him behind, and he hates that."
    "Poor old Buster-Dog," said Fatty, and at once Buster rolled himself over on his back to be tickled. His tongue came out, and his tail wagged so violently that it wagged his whole body and made it shake from end to end.
    "Now," said Fatty, taking out his note-book and opening it. "Let's just have a look at what we know.