Judy Moody, Girl Detective (5 page)

“Jessica Finch doesn’t know everything,” said Stink.

“Ya-huh. Why do you think we call her Miss Know-It-All?” said Frank.

“We should start at Officer Kopp’s house. Scene of the crime,” said Judy. “But wait! First I have to swear you in.”

“I’m not allowed to say swears,” said Stink.

“Stink, in Detective Land, that means you take a super-serious oath and promise to be a good assistant detective and help solve the mystery.”

Judy handed a name-tag sticker to each boy. “Here, wear these on your shirts. Agent Stink. Agent Pearl. Agent Rock.”

“I want to be Agent 714,” said Stink.

“And can I be Agent Dragnet?” asked Frank.

“How come mine says
Agent Rock,
not
Rocky
?” asked Rocky.

“It sounds cooler,” said Judy. She took out a set of dino-bug pins.

“Hey, those are my paleo-insect pins!” said Stink.

“Why do we have to wear these?” asked Agent Rock.

“Quit
bugging
me,” said Judy, passing out the pins. “All detectives wear badges. These are your official badges.”

“Can I be the stinkbug?” asked Stink.

Judy handed Stink a yucky millipede.

“I said Agent Dragnet, not Agent Dragonfly,” said Frank. Rocky/Agent Rock pinned on the Jurassic beetle.

“Fine,” said Judy. “I’ll be the cockroach.”

“I know how we can make real badges,” said Stink. “I saw it on public television. First you take cardboard and cut out the shape of a shield. Then you glue silver foil —”

“Stink. This is no time for arts-and-crafts class.”

“Fine,” said Stink. “I’ll be the ladybug. But I’m going to pretend it’s a prehistoric stinkbug, and you can’t stop me.”

“Raise your right hands and repeat after me,” said Judy. “I, Agent Stink, Pearl, or Rock . . .”

“I, Agent Stink, Pearl, or Rock . . .”

“Do solemnly swear . . .”

“Do solemnly swear . . .”

“Even though I’m not allowed to swear,” said Stink.

“That I will obey all detective laws . . .”

“That I will obey all detective laws . . .”

“And listen to Judy . . .”

“And listen to Judy . . .”

“Because she is the WBMS — World’s Best Mystery Solver . . .”

“Because she is the —”

“You said
BM,
” said Stink. “You can’t make me say
BM
.”

Judy grinned. “Never mind.” She put on her own cockroach badge and pointed down the street. “To the crime scene!”

Before you could say
Password to Larkspur Lane,
Judy and her two assistants (plus one stinky brother) were
knock-knock
ing on Officer Kopp’s front door.

“I’ll do the talking,” said Judy, elbowing her way to the front. Officer Kopp came to the door in his blue jeans and sock feet. He was holding his phone in one hand and a stack of flyers in the other.

Judy started her speech. “Hi, we’re from Virginia Dare School —”

“These aren’t bug pins,” Stink interrupted. “They’re badges.” Judy turned on Stink and gave him her best Hercules-beetle stare. “We heard about Mr. Chips and we’re detectives and —”

“Detectives, huh?” said Officer Kopp.

“Where’s your uniform?” Frank asked, staring at Officer Kopp’s socks.

“We rushed right over as soon as we heard that Mr. Chips had been stolen,” Rocky added.

“We don’t know that he’s been stolen,” said Officer Kopp. “Most likely he just escaped, though for the life of me, I can’t see how. But I sure am glad to see you guys.”

Judy stood up straighter. “You are?”

“Sure. I was hoping you kids might help put up flyers around town.” He held up flyers that said
LOST
in big letters and showed a cute picture of Mr. Chips.

“We’ll put them up at Fur and Fangs,” said Rocky.

“And Speedy Market,” said Frank.

“And all over the whole entire town,” said Stink.

“Great!” said Officer Kopp.

Judy took out her notebook. “So Mr. Chips was last seen where?”

“In the backyard this morning,” said Officer Kopp.

“Uh-huh,” said Judy. Scribble, scribble. “When was this?”

“My wife let him out at around six thirty, I think. Then I filled his dish and put him in the kennel around seven. At seven forty-five, I went out to get him, and he was gone. And the food was still in his dish.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” said Judy. Scribble.

“Poor Mr. Chips,” said Frank.

“Can we see the kennel?” Judy asked. A good detective always took a look at the scene of the crime.

“Sure. C’mon around back,” said Officer Kopp. In his sock feet, he led them back to a tidy, fenced-in backyard. Along the side was a kennel, much bigger than a doghouse, made out of chain-link fence.

Officer Kopp scratched the back of his head. “He’s never done anything like this before. The whole yard’s fenced, and the kennel is supposed to be escape-proof.”

The door was latched with a U-shaped hook. “Was the latch open when you came out at seven forty-five?” Judy asked.

“That’s just it. The latch was still closed, and the door wasn’t open.”

Scribble. “Have you seen any suspicious characters lurking around?”

“Anybody with a name like Grumpy or Scurvy?” Stink asked.

“Not that I know of. This is a quiet neighborhood.” Just then the phone rang from inside. “They’re patching calls through, and the phone’s been ringing off the wall. Maybe it’s a lead. ’Scuse me.” Officer Kopp trotted toward the house.

Judy tapped her pencil on her pad. “Fact: Door is closed, latch down. Fact: Dog food still in dish. If you were going to run away, wouldn’t you finish your breakfast first?” The boys nodded.

“Brilliant idea number sixty-seven,” said Judy. “Get in the cage, Stink. We’ll latch the door and see if you can bust out.”

“Is this a trick? Are you gonna lock me in the kennel and run away?”

“This is not a trick. It’s a real detective thing to act stuff out so you can figure out what happened. C’mon, Stinker, you took the oath.”

Stink dragged his feet into the kennel, and Judy flipped the latch down. “Now act like a dog.”

“I’m not gonna crawl around on all fours and pretend I’m a dog!”

“Dogs can’t talk, Stink.”

“Arf!” Stink got down on all fours and pawed at the air.

“Now bump up against the door of the kennel. No fair using hands.”

Stink bumped against the chain-link door. “Ow!” He rubbed his shoulder.

“See?” said Judy. “He can’t open it. And he’s way bigger than Mr. Chips.”

Judy bent to the ground, looking for more clues with her pocket magnifier.

“Aha!” Judy shrieked so loud that all three boys jumped.

“Did you see a bad guy?”

“Did you see a burglar?”

“Did you see a bear?”

“No, but I saw bad-guy burglar boot prints the size of a bear. Look.” She pointed to a patch of mud in front of the kennel door.

“They’re probably just Officer Kopp’s footprints,” said Rocky.

“Or a bad guy like Stumpy or Snorky,” said Judy.

“But they’re
gi
-normous,” said Stink. “As big as four footprints put together. Give me your ruler so I can measure them.”

“I don’t have a ruler,” said Judy.

“That whole detective kit and no ruler?”

“In
The Witch Tree Symbol,
Nancy Drew used her skirt as a ruler.”

“Then give me your skirt.”

“Hardee-har-har, Stink.”

“No way are these footprints human,” said Frank.

“Maybe Mr. Chips got eaten by a bear!” said Rocky.

“Or a yeti!” said Stink.

“The Abominable Snowman,” said Frank.

“Get real,” said Judy.

“There are more footprints over here,” said Stink. “These look more like sneakers.”

“Stink, get a clue. Those are your prints,” said Judy.

Frank pointed to something caught on the fence. “Judy. Over here!”

“What have we here?” Judy asked. “A clump of fur!”

“Could be from the dog,” said Agent Rock.

“Or a yeti,” said Agent Pearl.

“Move over. Let the Nose take a whiff.” Stink sniffed it and turned up his nose. “It’s dog hair, all right. PU! Smells worse than a yeti.”

“When’s the last time you smelled a yeti?” Judy took out her tweezers and collected the dog-hair evidence in a plastic zip-top bag.

“So do you think Mr. Chips brushed up against the fence when he was being dragged out by bad guys?” Frank asked.

“Dognappers!” Judy whispered.

“You think somebody
stole
Mr. Chips? For real?” asked Rocky.

“Hello! Read the clues,” said Detective Judy. “One, Mr. Chips didn’t even get to finish his breakfast. Two, he can’t open the latch on the door himself. And three, bad-guy big-foot boot prints are everywhere.”

“Burglars!” said Rocky.

“Thieves!” said Frank.

“Dog stealers!” said Stink.

She, Eagle-Eye-Moody, had found one clue after another, just like Nancy Drew. She read the evidence. She was on her way to cracking the big case. All she had to do now was track down a couple of downright dirty dognappers with size sixteen stompers!

The next morning, Judy was already hard at work on the case by the time Stink woke up. She sprawled on the floor with a rainbow of markers all around her.