A writer can soon grow tired of inventing suitably euphemistic ways in which to account for some of the phrases that have been used in reference to Percy Dale in situations such as the one detailed above. Suffice it to say that those words uttered by the boatman did not serve to lessen the strength of Percy's powerful neck lock.

"I can assure you that my parents went about it at the correct time," said Percy, "and I would like you to tell me why you are so keen to burgle this house."

The man may have delayed responding, but Percy increased the pressure on his neck immediately after he had asked his question.

"Well something of mine sort of went missing, and I thought the owner of this place might have stolen it."

"What did you lose?"

"It was a bag with all the trophies that I won at school in it, and-"

"And that just about confirms that you're one of the men I am looking for. Would it hit you like an atomic blast, if I told you that we already know what was in that bag? How did you come to lose it in Middle Harbour? How did you come to be in possession of such a lot of sparkling goodies in the first place? ... No answers, eh? Well you're definitely in it up to your neck, which I shall hurt considerably more, if you don't tell me where your two friends are."

"I can take you there. It's my house."

"And I can restrain a burglar in a public street with ease, and attract no attention at all! No way, your aquatic majesty. You can stay here, tied up with the rope left in my charge by the owner of this house, and I'll go to your house."

Percy tied the man tight, and swung a knife in front of his face, until he heard what he wanted.

"And it had better be the correct address, or I can come right back here and beat the brains out of you until I get it."

Percy wandered out into the street, and found his way to the Algorithm , and took the boat to Clive Park's own waterside. (Canton had given Percy the key at the beginning of the day, along with his house key. The cupboard was locked, and Percy would have to wait around if he wanted to see the jewels again. Besides, Canton had all the trust he needed, and had placed that trust in the Sneaky Spy).

According to the man he had tied up, who had confessed his name to be Roger Vermouth, Percy would find two houses in Coolawin Road, both of which were of significant importance. One was the address of Roger himself, and the other was a flat shared by the Merry Twosome, otherwise known as James Tyson and Chester Hargreaves.

Percy's only plan was to tell them both about what had happened to Roger, and ask them to explain where they acquired the jewels. This last piece of information was one of which Roger had denied any knowledge. Percy would have to take further measures in order to find out.

Roger knew something that Percy did not; and he also knew that he had to escape and find the jewels. Percy had tied him to a chair. So he swayed from side to side, until the chair began to rock, and he was able to use a crude form of motion in order to make his way to a reading lamp on the near side of the room. He got as close as he could, craned his neck forward and gripped the handle of the lamp in his teeth, turned his head, and dropped the lamp into his hands, with its cord dangling over his left shoulder.

Even with his hands tied behind his back, Roger could smash the lamp against the window if he threw it hard enough. No. It would not work. Better to try something else. He gripped the cord in his mouth and pulled the lamp up to his face, and then held the handle in his teeth until he had edged the chair far enough to yank the plug from the socket. Then he worked the plug end of the cord up into his teeth, spun his head like a pair of bolas, and eventually sent the lamp crashing through the closed window.

This brought the lady next door over to the broken window.

"I didn't think you would hear me if I shouted," said Roger, "Could you open the window and help me? It was a bad day for burglars, and my cousin left me in the place on my own, while he went off to work."

The lady kindly obliged, and Roger expressed his thanks, and then she left him to "call the police."

Which he did, but not for Canton's house. He tipped them off, that a burglar was going to break into the flat owned by the Merry Twosome; and then proceeded to look for a means of forcing the lock on the cupboard in Canton's living room.

However, Percy had no intention of going to the flat. He now knew exactly what had transpired over the last few days, and he was willing to bet the extra few minutes of time that he would save, that there would be a special dividend awaiting him in Roger's house. Percy arrived at the building by midday, and looked at the front windows.

"Curtains conveniently closed in the middle of the day. It's the lock on the front door that will have to avoid the melting effect of my special acid - filled fountain pen."

Which took care of the front door. Percy opened it with ease, and confirmed his suspicions. Tied to a pair of rocking chairs were James Tyson and Chester Hargreaves.

"You're going to have to answer one more question, fellows. Your dear Roger has already provided enough information for me to guess most of it, but what I want to know is where did the jewels come from?"

No answer.

"I can always do terrible things to you chaps, you know? However, I am sure Roger's tried that already."

At that point the three men heard a police siren. Percy did not know how it had been done. However, he was very quick on the uptake.

"So you might as well tell me, because it will make it easier for you, if I tell them."

So they told him. Percy wondered why there was still no knock on the door. So he opened the curtains, and saw three policemen peeping into the window of the flat next door, and guessed the rest. So Roger had escaped and put the police onto him at the flat. Roger would not have mentioned his own house, because he had left two prisoners tied up in it, two prisoners who had just confessed the full story in the hope that Percy might save them from at least Roger and possibly the police. Roger had sent the police to the same house to which he had sent Percy.

The Sneaky Spy closed the curtain and waited for the policemen to leave. With nobody there, and no evidence of breaking-and-entering, or any other suspicious behaviour, they could only conclude that they had wasted their time on a prank call.

By the time Percy got back to Canton's (having left Tyson and Hargreaves tied up), he found Roger to be nowhere in sight, and the cupboard was bare. Roger would not return to his own home. Nor would he be likely to stray too far from the scene of the crimes, with so many loose ends to be taken care of.

He would need a place where he could wait, until he had a chance to finish off the others, a place where nobody could get to him.

"The King of the Waves!" thought Percy, "a mobile place to hide out; but how will I convince the boys in blue after Roger's prank?"

He telephoned the police and explained the truth, and persuaded them to take a helicopter out over the harbour in search of a boat with the label King of the Waves in clear sky blue italics. It was then a routine matter of handing Tyson and Hargreaves over to the police, and amusing himself until Canton came home.

* * * *

"So you see, Canton, we were only dealing with petty thieves to begin with. They offered to include Roger in a job that they planned to pull on the houses of Laura Street, on the other side of the harbour. They were only in it for paltry gain, and Roger declined to involve himself. They happened to start with the house of an extremely wealthy man, who kept his finest trinkets on display instead of in a safe. 

"They took their power boat back across the Harbour to Clive Park, assumed that you were a private investigator when you followed them, and fought over what to do. The cookies were dropped into the teapot by accident, and they had to help recover them. However a power boat was far too conspicuous. So they needed a man with a yacht. 

"So again they made an offer to the proud and naughty owner of King of the Waves, who accepted it that time, asked them to drink to it, drugged their drinks, tied them up, and insisted that they tell him where to look. I began to suspect that the naughty ones were divided into captives and captor, when it occured to me that we only ever saw Roger.

"Hargreaves and Tyson had left the party on Sunday, and were obviously suffering from strong hangovers, brought about by Roger Vermouth. When he saw us right over the approximate area where the cookies fell in, he assumed the worst and bothered us, until it all backfired."

"So you made a happy ending for it all. I must say you're quick and resourceful."

"And you're rich."

"How's that?"
"The owner of the jewels has offered us a reward which I don't need, so it's yours. I think I shall catch the bus to North Sydney and go home on the train, but you must come and see me at 66 Burnseid Street sometime."

Canton Algor saw him to the front door, and the Sneaky Spy wandered down the driveway.

"By the way Canton," he called, "When you get that reward money, you'll notice that you have a broken window, a smashed globe in your reading lamp, a broken cupboard, and..."