and Goon catch Fatty spying on Tally Ho Cottage in the middle of the night while also watching the house themselves. They are found in the morning by Ern locked in the boiler room. Minor characters Ernest "Ern" Goon – Mr Goon's nephew. Ern is introduced in the book The Mystery of the Hidden House. Ern is a great lover of poetry, or "portry" as he calls it, though he never finished any poem (or 'pome' as he calls it) but Fatty can always finish it for him. That is one of the reasons that he is a great admirer of Fatty. Ern might be considered to be an unofficial seventh member of the group, although class distinctions are maintained, e.g. Ern is not permitted to eat dinner with the children but instead eats in the kitchen with the Cook. He is also seen in "The Mystery of the Vanished Prince", "The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage", "The Mystery of the Strange Messages" and "The Mystery of the Banshee Towers". Miss Trimble – Lady Candling's companion. The children call her Miss Tremble, because she is scared of everything. Her glasses often fall off and Bets loves to count how often this happens, much to Miss Trimble's annoyance. First appearing in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat, she reappears in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters, when the children question her about the regular passengers on the 10:15 Monday bus to Sheepsale. In The Mystery of the Hidden House, the children (save for Fatty) see her at the railway station but that is the last time she is mentioned. Miss Harmer – The person who takes care of the cats belonging to Lady Candling in The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. She is very upset after the most valuable cat Dark Queen is stolen twice, both times she was away for the day. When the children are smelling the cat cage she asks them to leave because she feels unsafe about the cats since the second time Dark Queen is stolen. When the children need her key to the cage they play a trick on her so she leaves her coat out of sight and Pip takes the key out of her coat pocket. Gladys – Pip and Bets' maid in The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters. When she receives a spiteful, anonymous letter, she flees the house to live with her