Mystery #04 — The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters

‘About this anonymous letter-writing business, sir,’ said Fatty. ‘You see, we couldn’t let a mystery like that happen under our very noses, so to speak, without going into it a bit. And we were all sorry for Gladys.’

‘Quite so,’ said the Inspector. ‘Another case for the Five Find-Outers - and Dog!’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Fatty. ‘A very difficult affair too, sir. We got on a lot of wrong trails.’

‘We found out that the letter-writer caught the 10.15 bus to Sheepsale,’ said Bets. ‘And we went on it on Monday, to see who the passengers were. But nobody posted a letter there!’

‘Except Master Frederick!’ shot out Mr. Goon.

‘There - I told you Mr. Goon would put you down on his List of Suspects if he saw you posting that letter!’ said Bets.

‘I rather hoped he would!’ said Fatty, with a grin. Mr. Goon scowled. This interview wasn’t coming off quite as he had hoped it would. That wretched boy, Fatty! He always seemed to get away with anything. And the Inspector didn’t seem to be taking the matter very seriously, either. It was too bad.

‘I expect Mr. Goon has told you about the bus to Sheepsale, though, sir, and how the letters were always posted there by the 11.45 post,’ said Fatty.

‘And how nobody posted any that day - except me! - and I expect, like us, he made inquiries to see if any of the regular bus-passengers failed to go on the bus that day for some reason or other - and got his Suspects narrowed down to Old Nosey, Miss Tittle, and Mrs. Moon.’

‘Yes. He did tell me,’ said the Inspector. ‘And I think, if I may say so, that it was pretty smart work on the part of you children to work all that out!’

This was too much for Mr. Goon. ‘Smart work! Interfering with the Law, that’s what I call it!’ he said. ‘I suppose he’ll tell you next that he knows who that letter-writer is!’

‘Yes. I was going to come to that,’ said Fatty quietly. ‘I do know who the letter-writer is!’

Every one gaped at Fatty. Even the Inspector sat up straight at once. As for Goon, his mouth fell open and he goggled at Fatty in disbelief.

‘Who is it?’ he said.

‘Mrs. Hilton - may I ring the bell?’ said Fatty.

She nodded. He went over to the wall and rang the bell hard. Everyone waited.

 

WELL DONE, FATTY!

 

The bell sounded loudly. The door opened in the kitchen and footsteps came up the hall. Mrs. Moon appeared in the drawing-room. She looked surprised and rather scared when she saw so many people sitting quietly there.

‘Did you ring, Madam? ’ she asked, and her voice shook a little.

‘I rang,’ said Fatty. He turned to the Inspector. ‘This is the anonymous letter-writer,’ he said. ‘Mrs. Moon!’

Mrs. Hilton gasped. Mr. Goon snorted loudly. All the children drew in their breath sharply. Only the Inspector seemed unperturbed.

Mrs. Moon went pale. She stared at Fatty. ‘What do you mean?’ she said fiercely. ‘How dare you say things like that to a respectable law-abiding woman?’

‘Hardly law-abiding, Mrs. Moon,’ said the Inspector’s stern voice. ‘It is against the law to send spiteful and untrue letters through the post anonymously. But Frederick - please explain. I have enough faith in your intelligence to know that you are making no mistake, if I may say so - but I want to know all about it.’

Mrs. Moon began to cry. ‘Sit down and keep quiet,’ commanded Inspector Jenks.

‘I won’t be treated like this, I won’t!’ wailed Mrs. Moon. ‘An innocent woman like me! Why, I’ve even had one of them awful letters meself!’

‘Yes - you nearly took me in over that,’ said Fatty. ‘I thought that ruled you out - but it was just a bit of artfulness on your part. I see that now.’

‘You bad, wicked boy!’ moaned Mrs. Moon.

‘Silence!’ said the Inspector, in such a fierce voice that Bets jumped. ‘Speak when you’re spoken to, Mrs. Moon, and not unless. If you are innocent you will be given plenty of chance to prove it. We will hear what you have to say when Master Frederick has told his story. Frederick, begin.’

Fatty began, and the other children leaned forward, knowing most of the story well, but longing to hear what the end of it was. Only Fatty knew that.

‘Well, sir, you know already that we worked out that as the letters were posted in Sheepsale each Monday to catch the 11.45 post there, that it was probable the guilty person was some one who took the 10.15 bus from Peterswood to Sheepsale,’ said Fatty.

‘Quite so,’ said the Inspector.

‘Well, we found that none of the bus-passengers last Monday could be the letter-writer,’ said Fatty, ‘and certainly none of them posted a letter. So then we decided to find out if any regular Monday passenger was not on the bus that Monday, and make inquiries about them. And as you know, we found that three regular passengers didn’t travel that day - Miss Tittle, Old Nosey, and Mrs. Moon.’

‘Mr. Goon also worked on the same lines,’ said the Inspector. A sound from Goon made everyone look up.

‘How did you get to see them letters, and see the post-mark?’ demanded Mr. Goon. ‘That’s what I want to know.’