Mystery of the Secret Room Read Free Page B

to Clear-Orf again, sealed up the apparently blank sheet of paper in an envelope and printed Clear-Orf’s name on it.
    “It’s rather a silly thing to do, I suppose, but it’ll puzzle old Clear-Orf,” said Fatty, blotting the envelope. “Well, now I’ve taught you to write in invisible ink. Simple, isn’t it?”
    “Awfully,” agreed Pip. “But I don’t quite see what use it will be to us, Fatty.”
    “You never know,” said Fatty. “One of us might be captured in one mystery we solve, and we might want to get a message to the others. If we wrote it in invisible ink our enemies wouldn’t be able to read the message.”
    Bets thought this sounded rather thrilling, though she didn’t very much want to be captured. Then a thought struck her.
    “We’ll all have to carry an orange about with us, if ever we have enemies,” she said. “Won’t we? We’d better not take very juicy ones, or they’ll get squashed.”
    “And we’d have to take a pen,” said Pip. “Well, I shan’t bother till we have enemies.”
    “I shall,” said Fatty seriously. “You never know when you might need to write an invisible message. I take tons of things about with me in my pockets, just in case I might need them.”
    This was quite true. The others were often amazed at the things Fatty carried about with him. As a rule he had practically anything needed in an emergency from a lemonade-bottle opener to a pocket-knife that contained twelve different kinds of tools.
    “My mother goes through my pockets each night and won’t let me keep half what I want to,” said Pip.
    “My mother never does things like that,” said Fatty. “She never bothers about my pockets.”
    The others thought that it wasn’t only Fatty’s pockets his mother didn’t bother about - it was Fatty himself! He seemed to come and go as he pleased, missed his meals if he didn’t want them, went to bed what time he liked, and did more or less as he wanted to.
    “Fatty, you said you’d show us how to get out of a locked room if the key wasn’t on your side,” said Bets, suddenly remembering. “There’s time to do that, too. Will you?”
    “All right,” said Fatty. “Take me up to one of your boxrooms, where I shall be out of the way. Lock me up, and leave me there. Come down here, and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
    “Fibber,” said Larry and Pip together. It really did sound quite impossible.
    “Well, try me and see,” said Fatty. “I don’t usually say I can do things if I can’t, do I?”
    In excitement the children took Fatty upstairs to a big boxroom, with bare boards inside it, and on the landing as well. They put him inside, then turned the key in the lock. Larry tried the door. Yes, it was well and truly locked.
    “You’re locked in, Fatty,” said Pip. “We’re going down now. If you can get out of here, you’re clever! You can’t get out of the window. There’s a sheer drop to the ground.”
    “I’m not going to try the window,” said Fatty. “I shall walk out of the door.”
    The others went down, feeling rather disbelieving. Fatty surely couldn’t be as clever as all that! Why, it would be like magic if he could go through a locked door!
    Only Bets really believed he could. She sat with her eyes on the playroom door, waiting for him to come. Pip got out the ludo board.
    “Let’s have a game,” he said. “Old Fatty won’t be down for ages, I expect. We shall hear him yelling to be let out in about ten minutes’ time!”
    They set the counters in their places. They found the die, and put it in the thrower. Daisy threw first - but before she could move her counter, the door opened and in walked Fatty, grinning all over his plump face.
    “Golly! How did you do it?” asked Larry, in the greatest surprise.
    “I knew you would!” squealed Bets.
    “How did you do it?” asked Pip and Daisy, burning with curiosity. “Go on - tell us.”
    “It’s easy,” said Fatty, smoothing back his tidy hair. “Too easy for words.”
    “Don’t keep on saying that! Tell us how you did it!” said Larry. “It’s