Mystery of the Strange Bundle by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online

unfortunate. He opened the front door from inside at exactly the same moment that Mr. Goon unlocked it from the outside. Mr. Goon stared at Fatty as if a thunderbolt had hit him. His mouth fell open and he went a familiar purple colour. He swallowed hard.
    “Good morning, Mr. Goon,” said Fatty, smoothly. “Do come in. I’ll shut the door for you.”
    Mr. Goon stepped in, still wordless. Then he exploded into speech.
    “What you doing here? HERE, in this house that’s under police supervision. You want to get locked up, I suppose - Being Found on Enclosed Premises, and up to no good, I’ll be bound! HO!”
    Fatty stepped back out of range of Mr. Goon’s explosians. “I heard a kitten mewing here,” he said. still politely. “And being a subscriber to the R.S.P.C.A. - if you know what that means, Mr. Goon - I naturally had to come into the house to find it.”
    “Pah!” said Mr. Goon, disbelievingly. “This here house is habsolutely hempty! I’ve been through it me-self with a tooth-comb already!”
    “This ’ere ’ouse hisn’t habsolutely hempty,” said Fatty. “Dear me, I seem to be getting muddled. Hark, Mr. Goon - can’t you hear the kitten mewing now?”
    “Miaow!” said the kitten, and obligingly crept out from under the hall-stand. It went to Fatty and rubbed affectionately against his legs. Then it looked at Mr. Goon, hissed at him and spat.
    “Most intelligent behaviour,” observed Fatty. “I hope you believe in the kitten now, Mr. Goon.”
    Mr. Goon did. He had to. “Take it away and take yourself off too,” he said to Fatty. “I’ve work to do here. And Keep Out of This, see?”
    “You’ll be careful of the dog here, won’t you, Mr. Goon,” said Fatty. “I’m not quite sure where it is - you may possibly hear it growling somewhere, and trace it by that.”
    “There’s no dog here,” said Mr. Goon, stalking past Fatty. “A kitten I might have missed, being so small like, but not a dog. What do you take me for?”
    “It would be better not to tell you,” murmured Fatty. “Not here, anyway.”
    He was just behind the policeman, and it was as well for Mr. Goon that he couldn’t see the innocent expression on Fatty’s face - a look that all his form-masters knew only too well.
    A blood-curdling growl suddenly came from somewhere in the house. Mr. Goon stopped as if he had been shot. “What’s that?” he said.
    “Sounded like the dog,” said Fatty. “What a horrible animal it must be. I think I’ll go, Mr. Goon, and leave you to tackle him.”
    Another growl came from somewhere, and the policeman took two hurried steps backwards, treading heavily on Fatty’s foot.
    “Ouch!” said Fatty. “Look out where you’re going if you want to walk backwards, Mr. Goon! Well - goodbye - I’ll leave you now.”
    “You come and help me find that dog,” said Mr. Goon, changing his mind completely about wanting Fatty to clear off. “It might want two of us to get him. Funny I didn’t see him or hear him when I was here before this morning.”
    Fatty grinned behind Mr. Goon’s broad back. He debated whether to produce another animal-noise. This ventriloquism was Most Useful!
    “All right, Mr. Goon,” he said. “If you think it’s my duty to stay and help you, I will. I’m always around when Duty Calls, you know.”
    Mr. Goon was very thankful. He began to tiptoe forward into the little dining-room. Fatty followed a few paces behind. He suddenly gave a shout that made Goon nearly fall over backwards.
    “Look, look - what’s that - over there! LOOK OUT!”
    Mr. Goon was so anxious to get out as well as to look out that he almost fell over Fatty, trying to rush out of the room. Fatty clutched him as he went.
    “It’s all right! It’s all right! I just caught sight of you in that mirror over there, Mr. Goon, and it was such a dreadful sight I thought it must be some one lying in wait for us. Gosh, thank goodness it was only your reflection!”
    Mr. Goon was very angry and very relieved. He glared at Fatty. “Any more of this funny business,” he began, and