Mystery of the Secret Room by Enid Blyton

know,” said Fatty. “He’d be company. On the other hand, he might bark if any one came.”
    “Do you know it’s snowing?” said Daisy suddenly.
    So it was. The big white flakes came down silently. The children stared at them out of the window.
    “This will mean I’ll have to be awfully careful not to give myself away by footprints,” said Fatty. “I shall have to try and creep in through the garden hedge. Anyway, I shall be able to see if any one has been to the house, because their footprints will show too!”
    “Shall we pop down to Milton House now?” said Pip. “Just to see if anything is different?”
    “No. We’ll go tomorrow,” said Fatty. “Our Mr. John Henry Smith isn’t likely to rush over today - but most likely he will tomorrow - and we may see some sign of him then. Let’s play a game now.”
    So they played Happy Families, and roared at Bets when she forgot the game for a moment and asked Daisy if she had got “Mr. John Henry Smith” instead of Mr. Bones the Butcher.
    “I feel as if our mystery is warming up a bit,” said Fatty, when he said good night to the others. “I shouldn’t be surprised if things begin to happen soon!”
     

Down to Milton House again
     
    Next morning the Five Find-Outers and Buster set off to Milton House. The snow was very thick, and they left the marks of their footprints behind them.
    Pips and Bets had to pass Mr. Goon’s house to meet the others, and the policeman saw them. He wondered if they were doing something he ought to know about. He felt so certain that the children were on the track of some mystery, and old Clear-Orf couldn’t bear the idea of their getting in first again.
    He decided to follow them. He couldn’t very well ride his bicycle in the thick snow, so he set out on foot, keeping them in sight, but trying not to be seen himself.
    However, as soon as Pip and Bets joined up with the others, Buster knew they were being followed. He stopped and growled, looking back along the road. The children turned too, and caught sight of the familiar dark-blue uniform slipping into a gateway.
    “It’s Clear-Orf following us,” said Fatty, in disgust. “What a nuisance he is! We can’t possibly go to Milton House with him hard on our heels all the time. What shall we do?”
    “We’re not very far from my house,” said Larry. “Shall I slip in and write a note of some sort that will make him think we are solving a mystery - but not the one we really are in the middle of? A make-up one?”
    Every one giggled.
    “Yes,” said Fatty, “and we’ll drop it behind us for him to pick up! I bet he’ll pounce on it and read it - and then he’ll be properly on the wrong track! Maybe he will give up bothering us then.”
    So Larry popped in at his gate and wrote a hurried note in pencil:
    “DEAR FATTY, - Just to tell you that I am on the track of the robber who stole those jewels. Meet me on Felling Hill, and I will show you where he hid the things before he took them away again. - Yours, L.”
    Larry grinned as he stuck up the envelope. He ran out to the others, and they set off down the road again, hoping that Mr. Goon was still watching them.
    Fatty laughed when Larry told him what he had written.
    “Good!” he said, “now old Clear-Orf will think we are tracking a jewel-thief, and he’ll hare off to Felling Hill and do a bit of exploring there. Keep him quiet for a bit!”
    “There he is - behind that tree,” said Bets. “Don’t look behind, anybody. You two boys begin to push one another about, and then drop the note as you do it. Clear-Orf will think you really did drop it by accident then.”
    “Good idea, Bets,” said Fatty, approving. “You’re getting to be quite a good detective.”
    The children set off again, and when they thought they were nicely in view of Clear-Orf they began to jostle one another, as if in play.
    Larry and Fatty tried to push each other off the kerb, and in the middle of the tussle Larry dropped the note. Then the five children, with Buster, went on their way again.