The Mystery of Banshee Towers (Discontinued-Nearly Finished)

Fatty does a little detective work!

Fatty picked up the key that he had so carefully pulled under the bottom of the door. 'Hope I can turn it!' he said, making a face as he put the key I uin the lock. 'My wrist feels as if it hasn't even the strength to turn a key if the lock is stiff!'

  But the key turned easily! Fatty opened the door and peered out cautiously into the picture hall. He knew that he had seen the car and van go off but he didn't want to run into anyone who might still be in the place.

  All was quiet. Buster and Bingo, very much on-guard, stood by the boys, ready to growl and fly at anyone who might be going to hurt them.

  'There can't be anyone here now,' said Fatty. 'The dogs would be growling if there were. Hello - look, there's a step-ladder over there - and a tin of something, with a brush on it. Looks as if somebody's been up to something. You remember we heard a ladder being pulled across the floor, Ern - and the slapping of a brush?'

  They were puzzled when they came to the tin. They had expected it to be full of paint, but it wasn't! 'It's some kind of gluey-paste,' said Fatty, dipping his finger into the tin. 'My word - don't get it on your clothes, Ern - it's about the strongest paste or glue I've ever felt. I just can't get it off my finger! Now, what on earth was it used for?'

  They gazed at the two sea pictures on each side of the tin. Nothing to help them there - but wait a minute! Fatty suddenly noticed a thin, shining streak of what looked like something sticky down the inner side of one of the frames. He touched it. It was sticky!

  He was very puzzled. Why had someone used glue of some kind? - had the frame cracked, and needed a little glueing? Pictures weren't glued into their frames - they were backed with board, and then the frames were neatly placed over them. Fatty gave it up, putting the strange fact into a corner of his mind to consider later.

  'Come on, Fatty, what are you dreaming about, standing there gazing down at that tin of glue, or whatever it is,' said Ern, impatiently. 'I want to get out of this place. So do the dogs!'

  Bingo was whining. He didn't like Banshee Towers. he wanted to have a good long run and stretch his legs.

  'All right, Bingo, old thing,' said Fatty. 'We'll soon be off and away. I just want to have a little look around - a "snoop" is a better name, perhaps - and see if I can unearth a few of Mr Engler's strange little secrets!'

  They went to a big staircase that had a very large board at the bottom with the words 'PRIVATE. NO ENTRY.'

  Fatty took not the slightest notice of the big board, but went straight up the stairs. He went rather slowly, and so did Ern, for their ankles were still swollen and painful after the cruelly-tight cords. The dogs raced up before them, barking. 

  They came to a big room. There was a large desk there, and a smaller one. pictures and empty frames were stacked all over the place. There was a great pile of catalogues on the big desk, and a scattering of letters. 

  'Very interesting,' said Fatty, turning over the canvases on which various pictures had been painted. 'All sea pictures, of course. Look here, Ern - remember this one?'

  'Yes, it's a double of the one we saw in the frame by the tin of glue,' he said. 'Can't see any difference! That's a copy, I suppose. Done by that French artist. That's all he did, seems to me - sit there and copy somebody's else's pictures! Funny, I should have thought a real artist wouldn't want to copy.'

  'He might - if he were well paid, Ern,' said Fatty. 'Hello - here's a pile of letters all neatly stacked together and tied with pink tape. Let's have a look and see who they're from!'