The Golden Bat by Fred M. White — Read

Barle mounted on the driving seat of his little two-seater, and the superior-looking young Oxford man hopped up beside him before they set out for a leisurely tour of the neighbourhood. Barle drove along the London road for three or four miles until he came at length to a big white house lying well back from the road, and surrounded by a high stone wall.

"This place belongs to a Miss Seddon," he said. "She is a wealthy old lady who lives entirely for herself, and, having nothing else to think about, imagines herself to be a confirmed invalid. As a matter of fact, she is as strong as I am. All the same, she is entirely in the hands of her servants, and when they want a quiet time they persuade her that she is not looking her best, whereupon she retires to bed and sends for her doctor. Of course, he naturally plays up to a rich patient, and lets her do anything she likes. I have found out all this through my local intelligence department, and when I discovered that the lady is the owner of a big Daimler car, which only goes out once a month. I began to see where Keen would borrow his next conveyance when he came a-marauding in this locality next. You know what I mean. The gang stop within a few miles of their objective and borrow a car. When the raid has finished, and the stuff is hidden, they leave the car on the roadside, and thus get rid of what might otherwise be an important piece of evidence. But you know all about that. The chauffeur in this case is a man named Grimm, and the garage and his quarters over abut on the back lane. I will drive you round that way and show you."