The firemen could not believe what they had heard. What was happening?
Terry pulled off his fireman's helmet.
'It's me, Terry Mason,' he said. 'This is Miss Peters. She's been kept here a prisoner in her own house. She is very sick and we must get her to hospital as quickly as possible.'
'Terry Mason,' said one of the firemen. 'The private investigator! What are you doing here?
Why are you pretending to be a fireman? That's against the law!'
Bill pushed past the people standing in front of Number 12. He walked over to Terry and took the woman in his arms.
'This is not Miss Peters!' Bill said. 'I've never seen this woman before.'
When Terry heard the words, 'not Miss Peters,' he was very worried. Who was this woman? Had he made a terrible mistake? Was this Mr Jones' wife?
But when Isobel heard the words, 'Miss Peters.' she ran down the steps of Number 13
towards the street.
She ran straight into a policeman.
What's happening here?' he asked.
'That's the man you should ask,' said Terry, pointing behind the policeman.
The policeman turned round and saw Mr
Jones.
Mr Jones had been surprised when he saw the crowd in front of Number 12. He wanted to find out what was happening. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd. When he saw Isobel running away, he turned and started to run away
too.
A police car arrived in Oakwood Avenue.
It stopped quickly when the driver saw a man running away. A policeman jumped out, caught Mr Jones and held him.
While everyone was looking along the street, Terry quickly pulled off the fireman's uniform and hid it behind his back.
'This woman is not well, Terry said to the policeman. 'We must get her to hospital!"
One of the policemen spoke into his radio.
'There's an ambulance on its way, he said to Terry. 'Now Mr Mason, Mr Private Investigator, can you tell us what you are doing here?'
'That man and that woman will tell you everything,' said Terry, pointing to Mr Jones and his sister.
The Lonely Laday
