The Mystery of the Missing Man, published 1956, is the thirteenth novel (of fifteen) in the children's mystery series The Five Find-Outers, written by Enid Blyton and originally illustrated by Lilian Buchanan.
The thirteenth book in the series introduces Mr Tolling, an old school friend of Fatty's father who comes to spend a week with the Trottevilles so he can attend the coleopterists' conference at a fair in Peterswood. Coleopterists are of course beetle-lovers, and not (as the gang joke) owners of collie dogs, growers of cauliflowers, or sufferers from colly-wobbles. Mr Tolling is rather like a beetle himself, a small man with a huge black beard, large glasses and always wearing a dark suit. He's very likeable, even if he is a little boring, always going on about beetles and how fascinating they are. He's extremely eager to get along to the coleopterist meetings, which are being held at Petersood's Town Hall.
But Mr Tolling pales into insignificance compared to his daughter Eunice, who has come along to stay with the Trottevilles as well. Fatty is supposed to entertain her during her stay, and she's ready and willing to join in with whatever Fatty and his friends are doing, but she's domineering, and her highly efficient, extremely helpful attitude for some reason rubs Fatty and the others up the wrong way. In short, she's "simply awful."
The mystery starts when Fatty dresses up as a tramp in an effort to shake off Eunice. He puts on his disguise and then hides out in his shed—and Eunice peers in through the window and screams at the sight of the intruder. Mr Goon is nearby and comes to the rescue, demanding that the tramp show himself, so poor Fatty bursts out of the shed and takes off with Buster, who is barking excitedly around his feet. Naturally Mr Goon makes out afterwards that the tramp was strong, and Buster must have taken large chunks out of the tramp's ankles as he tried to escape.
Chief Inspector Jenks visits Goon and tells him to be on the lookout for a dangerous escaped criminal, who has a nasty scar above his lip but is a master of disguise so can hide it pretty well with a beard. An astonished Mr Goon realises the tramp might be the man they're after. While he tracks the mysterious tramp, the Five Find-Outers are on the trail of the real criminal.
Characters
Fatty (Frederick Algernon Trotteville) – The chief of the Five Find-Outers
Daisy – A member of the Five Find-Outers
Bets – The youngest member of the Five Find-Outers
Larry – The former chief of the Five Find-Outers
Pip – A member of the Five Find-Outers
Buster – A dog owned by Fatty.
Mr. Goon – The local Peterswood police constable.
Eunice – The daughter of Fatty's father friend, Mr Tolling.
Chief Inspector Jenks – A friend of the Five Find-Outers
Bert – The clown at the fair.
Josef – An employee at the fair.
Lucita – An employee at the fair.
Harris – The criminal in the story.
Mr Tolling – A friend of Fatty's father, he is also a coleopterist.
