12 ONE-LEG WILLIAM

CHAPTER TWELVE ONE-LEG WILLIAM THE OLD circus woman gave Pam a little push. 'Didn't you hear me say go away!' she scolded. They all decided to go at once. Pam thought the old woman looked really rather like a witch! They walked quickly out of the field, silent but very excited. Once they were in the lane they all talked at once. 'We never thought of socks! We thought we had to look for a pullover!' 'But it's socks all right– that pair is made of exactly the same wool as this bit we found caught on to that wall!'

'Gracious! To think we didn't dare to ask whose socks they were!' 'If only we had, we'd know who the thief was.' They raced back to the farmhouse, longing to discuss what to do next. And down in the shed, patiently waiting for them, were Jack, George and Barbara! They didn't give the others a chance to tell about the socks– they immediately began to relate something of their own. 'Peter! Janet! You know those strange round marks we saw on the inside of the wall! Well, we've found some more, exactly like them!' said Jack. 'Where?' asked Peter. 'In a muddy patch near old Chimney Cottage,' said Jack. 'George and I saw them and went to fetch Barbara. Then we came to tell you. And what's more, Barbara knows what made the marks!'

'You'll never guess!' said Barbara. 'Go on– tell us!' said Janet, forgetting all about the socks. 'Well, when I saw the marks– round and regular, just like the ones we saw– I couldn't think what they were at first,' said Barbara. 'But then, when I remembered who lived in the nearby cottage, I knew.' 'What were they?' asked Peter, eagerly. 'Do you know who lives at Chimney Cottage?' asked Barbara. 'You don't. Well, I'll tell you– it's One-leg William! He had a leg bitten off by a shark, and he's got a wooden leg– and when he walks in the mud with it, it leaves round marks– just like the marks we saw on the other side of the wall. It must be One-leg William who was the thief.' The others sat and thought about this for a few moments. Then Peter shook his head. 'No. One-leg William couldn't possibly be the thief. He couldn't have climbed over the

wall with one leg– and besides– the thief wore a pair of socks– and that means two legs!' 'How do you know he wore socks?' asked Barbara, astonished. They told her about the socks on the line away in the circus field. Barbara thought hard. 'Well– I expect the thief was a two-legged man with socks– but I don't see why One-leg William couldn't have been with him to help in some way– give him a leg-up, or something. The marks are exactly the same! What was One-leg William doing there, anyway?' 'That's what we must find out,' said Peter, getting up. 'Come on– we'll go and ask him a few questions– and see those marks. Fancy them being made by a one-legged man– I never, never thought of that!' They made their way to Chimney Cottage. Just outside was a very muddy patch– and sure enough, it was studded with the same

round, regular marks that the children had seen over Milton Manor wall. Peter bent down to study them. He got out his notebook and took from it the bit of string that George had cut when he measured the width of the other round marks. He looked up in surprise. 'No– these marks aren't the same– they're nearly two centimetres smaller– you look!' He set the string over one of the marks, and the others saw at once that it was longer than the width of the marks. 'Well! Isn't that odd!' said George. 'It couldn't have been One-leg William, then. Is there another man with a wooden leg in the district? One whose leg might be a bit wider and fit the marks?' Everyone thought hard– but nobody could think of a man with a wooden leg. It was really exasperating! 'We keep on thinking we're solving things, and we aren't,' said Peter.

'There's no doubt in my mind that a man with a wooden leg was there with the thief, though goodness knows why– but it wasn't One-leg William. And we do know that the thief can't have only one leg because he definitely wears two socks!' 'We know his socks– but we don't know him!' said Janet. 'This mystery is getting more mysterious than ever. We keep finding out things that lead us nowhere!' 'We shall have to go back to the circus field tomorrow and try to trace those socks,' said Peter. 'We can't ask straight out whose they are– but we could watch and see who's wearing them!' 'Right,' said Colin. 'Meet there again at ten– and we'll have a look at every sock on every foot in that field!'