Joe Sherlock Kid Detective 2 The Neighborhood Stink
Read Joe Sherlock Kid Detective 2 The Neighborhood Stink Online
Authors: Dave Keane
Dave Keane
简介
Can a goofy kid detective overcome a sudden and strong gag reflex? Will he stop stepping in the evidence? And will he solve the case in time for dinner? On a carpetlike lawn in a gated yard sit mysterious, smelly piles of dog poop. Mrs. Fefferland puts Joe Sherlock on the case to sniff out the culprit. But even Sherlock Holmes never encountered a case as baffling or stomach-churning as this. Most of the evidence is right under Joe Sherlock's nose, but danger is never far behind!
Age 7 and up
Case #000002:The Neighborhood Stink
Copyright
Typography by Christopher Stengel Cover art c 2006 by David J. Keane Cover design by Christopher Stengel Copyright
JOE SHERLOCK,
KID DETECTIVE, CASE #000002:
THE NEIGHBORHOOD STINK.
Copyright c 2006 by David J. Keane. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader February 2009
ISBN 978-0-06-189816-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Paris, Jade, and Sutter,
my Baker Street Irregulars
—D.K.
Joe Sherlock Kid Detective
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One: Mystery Child
Chapter Two: Something Stinks
Chapter Three: Mrs. Fefferland Explains
Chapter Four: Collecting Evidence
Chapter Five: Help Around the House
Chapter Six: The Unusual Suspects
Chapter Seven: Suspect Numero Uno
Chapter Eight: Running on Empty
Chapter Nine: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Chapter Ten: A Man’s Best Friend?
Chapter Eleven: The Pooper Strikes Again
Chapter Twelve: What’s at Stakeout?
Chapter Thirteen: My Pants Are Alive!
Chapter Fourteen: Fort Sherlock and the Wicked Gatekeepers
Chapter Fifteen: The Human Cork
Chapter Sixteen: Stand Back, I’m Going to Blow!
Chapter Seventeen: The Sherman Tank
Chapter Eighteen: When the Going Gets Tough, Consider Quitting
Chapter Nineteen: The Tip of the Iceberg?
Chapter Twenty: Run, Joe, Run!
Chapter Twenty-one: Animal Instincts
Chapter Twenty-two: Alarm Bells
Chapter Twenty-three: The Ghost Appears
Chapter Twenty-four: Case Closed
About the Author
About the Publisher
Mystery Child
My name is Joe Sherlock.
But everyone calls me Sherlock, even my own parents. It sounds crazy, but my little sister didn’t know my first name was Joe until she was almost six years old.
Of course, it makes perfect sense that I would be called Sherlock.
Why? Well, there’s a bunch of old books written about a guy named Sherlock Holmes who smoked a pipe, wore a creepy hat, and solved mysteries like nobody’s business. I’ve never read any of them. But I’ve seen lots of movies about him. So he’s kind of like my hero.
We almost have the same name—except for the Joe and Holmes parts. And like the great Sherlock Holmes, I was born with a natural gift for solving mysteries.
Some kids my age can play the piano, break a board with a karate chop, or remember to make their beds every day. Not me. Not even close. But I can find just about anything that’s lost. I can figure out the answer to a riddle way before grown-ups can. And I just love a good mystery.
But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m no brain.
In fact, I’m pretty crummy at school. Miss Piffle, my teacher, once told my parents at back-to-school night that I was “a bit daffy,”
which is basically a nice way of saying “Your kid’s a dope.” But that’s okay with me. I was born with a gift. Sometimes I get a little help from my little sister,
Hailey, who is sort of like my assistant. Actually, she’s a bit of a troublemaker, so I have to make sure she doesn’t play in the kitty litter or drop Dad’s golf balls into the garbage disposal. She tags along sometimes. To be honest, sometimes she sees things that I miss . . . but mostly that’s because she’s a lot shorter than I am.
Anyway, before you start snoring like a banshee, I’d like you to sit back, relax, and watch your step as we plunge into my second official case as a private detective: Case #000002.
Something Stinks
I’m in my room watching a Sherlock Holmes movie when I hear a knock on our front door.
“Is your son, Sherlock, at home?” I hear our neighbor Mrs. Fefferland ask my mom.
“He is, Mrs. Fefferland,” my mom answers.
“Please come in.”
Mrs. Fefferland lives across the street from us. Her husband travels around the world selling plastic sprockets, gears, and 4
other junk to people who need that kind of stuff. So Mrs. Fefferland has lots of free time to work in her yard, a well-clipped work of art that’s surrounded by a white picket fence and off-limits to everyone.
“Did Sherlock break one of your windows again?” my mom asks.
Already my heart is thumping in my chest.
Not because I think I might have my second official case, but because I never knew that Mrs. Fefferland knew I broke her kitchen window. Geez, that was like eighty decades ago, and my mom is still bringing it up!
“Nothing like that,” Mrs. Fefferland says.
“It’s just that there’s been some mysterious poop on my gated front lawn the past few days.”
“You think Sherlock is pooping in your yard?” my mom gasps.
Now I’m ready to barf. My head starts spinning. I’m ready to run out the back door and never come back . . . until I hear Mrs. Fefferland say, “Oh, no, dear.
I just want to figure out whose dog is responsible. I want it cleaned up! Your Sherlock has a reputation in this neighborhood as a problem solver. I’m hoping he can help me catch that mystery mutt.”
Whew! I thought I was being accused of being the Mad Pooper . . . but now I know it’s just a mystery that needs solving. And like I said, I love a good mystery.