Secret Seven Adventure (1950) (edit title/settings)

In this second mystery in the series, the Seven are now having regular weekly meetings. Again there are biscuits on the table, and apparently Mummy remembered the lemons for the lemonade this time.

After the obligatory introductions—"Here come the others... Yes—Colin—George—Barbara—Pam and Jack. And you and I make the Seven"—the meeting is again about nothing. Rather than snowmen this time (the season has obviously changed), the children decide to play Red Indians in Little Thicket. Susie makes her first appearance, crashing the meeting with Jack's badge and shouting out their secret password.

Their innocent game of Red Indians turns into a mystery—amazing how that happens!—when Colin and Jack spy a strange man jumping over the wall from Milton Manor. Neither of them can identify him, and their only clue is a bald spot on the top of his head and that he's clean shaven with dark hair, nothing much to remember him by. They then read in the paper of a burglary at the Manor—a valuable string of pearls has been stolen! After a visit to the Inspector to tell him what they had seen, of course they begin to investigate with the help of the kindly gardener at Milton Manor. They find some other clues there, round holes in the ground near the wall "as if someone had been pounding about with a large-sized broom handle", and also a coloured piece of wool on the wall and a dirty old tweed cap high in a tree.

Janet has the bright idea that "only an acrobat could have scaled that high wall", and just as she says this they most coincidentally come upon a poster advertising a circus—with acrobats! Of course this necessitates a quick trip to the circus the next day, where they wander around the circus field after the show, examining the circus-folk they meet. Nothing comes of it, but four of them return the next day just in case they missed something. Pam (of all people!) is the one who spots the next clue—a pair of socks hanging on a line, made of the same wool they found on the wall.

At their next meeting, another bright idea comes out—George, Jack and Barbara have found some holes made in the ground that are similar to those at Milton Manor. These are made by One-Leg William, a man with a wooden leg. They quickly dismiss him as a suspect after realizing he couldn't possibly scale a wall with this disability—and dismiss him as an accomplice as well after measuring the holes and finding them nearly an inch smaller.

Now the Seven are thoroughly confused—a one-legged man, who is an accomplice to somebody who must have two legs because he wore a pair of socks. Another trip to the circus spent squinting at peoples' ankles to spot the sock wearer yields a coat to match the cap they found in the tree. However, the man wearing the coat cannot possibly be the thief, as he has no bald patch! Further investigation involving much squinting and peeping find some more of the strange marks in the ground—this time the right size! A little tracking and they are led to a caravan, but a nasty young man—stilt-walking, lion-keeping Luis—spots them and forces them off the field.

Peter and Colin investigate the caravan further, and are trapped inside when somebody hitches it to a horse and rides away! After hearing a little of the whispering between the bad guys, the boys finally escape and see the light! The holes were made by...well, that would be telling! :-D

The whole story comes out then, and the only thing left to do is find the pearls. The Seven go to see the gardener again, and run into the Inspector, who arrests the culprit and finds the missing goods. Once more all is wrapped up neatly with a minimum of fuss. The Inspector urges the Seven to help him again in the future—rather irresponsibly when you think about it. Seven young children running around, being locked in caravans and in imminent danger from two hardened criminals...But then, that is Blyton, and it wouldn't be the same if the adults acted like adults!