Jessica Finch pointed and laughed. “Pink icing! From my cupcake.”
Mr. Todd swiped off the icing and licked his finger. He raised his eyebrows. He rubbed his glasses with a hankie. “Good as new,” said Mr. Todd.
Judy Moody, Frank, and Rocky sat in the second-to-front row, waiting for the all-school assembly to start.
“Why did you bring your backpack?” asked Frank.
“It’s not my backpack. It’s my detective kit,” Judy told her friends. “You never know when a mystery might pop up, just needing to be solved.”
“In the multipurpose room?” asked Rocky. Judy frowned.
“I can’t wait to meet Officer Mr. Chips,” said Frank.
“That’s a funny name,” said Judy.
“Not if you’re a dog,” Frank said, laughing.
“A police dog is coming here? To school?” Judy asked.
“Earth to Judy. Come in, Judy. Didn’t you listen to anything Mr. Todd told us this morning?” Rocky asked.
“Sorry,” said Judy. “I was on a case.”
“It’s a police puppy,” said Frank.
“Girls and boys,” the principal announced, “as you know, October is Crime Prevention Month. We are very pleased to have with us today two crime fighters: Officer Kopp and his partner, Mr. Chips.”
A policeman in a dark blue uniform with patches on his sleeves came onstage. He was leading a brown puppy on a leash. The puppy had blue eyes, floppy ears, and a shiny, wet nose. He was all legs, with huge puppy paws.
“Aw! So cute!” kids from the audience said all at once.
“I’m Officer Kopp, and this is Mr. Chips,” said the policeman. “Mr. Chips is a chocolate Lab. Labs are smart, friendly, dependable, and good-natured. He likes to run, fetch, and play ball. And he really likes kids.”
Officer Kopp showed the kids how Mr. Chips could chase after a ball and bring it back. Next, Mr. Chips carried an egg in his mouth all the way across the stage without breaking it! The crowd went wild.
“Mr. Chips is my best friend and my partner and the newest member of our K-9 team at the police department.” Officer Kopp scratched the dog’s head and patted him on the back.
“This little guy is learning to be a police dog. He’s being trained to help us sniff out bad guys, search buildings, and even locate stuff that’s been stolen. This guy’s sense of smell is so great that one day, Mr. Chips might help us catch a bank robber or he could find a missing child.”
“Mr. Chips lives near my house,” Jessica Finch bragged. “He wore a fancy collar in the Fourth of July parade, and I got to feed him dog treats!” It didn’t take a super-sleuth to figure out that Jessica Finch was Miss Know-It-All.
The audience clapped like crazy for Mr. Chips.
“Does he eat bones?” a first-grader asked.
“Mr. Chips eats mostly puppy food. And he likes doggie treats.”
“Does he live at the police station?” a fourth-grader asked.
“Nope. I’m his handler, so he lives at home with me and my family.”
“On my street!” Jessica Finch blurted.
Officer Kopp called on Stink. “Does he ride in your police car?”
“Mr. Chips likes riding in cars more than anything. Every morning, he barks at me, begging to go for a ride. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Car! Car! Car! Car! Car!’”
Officer Kopp stroked Mr. Chips’s ears. “Who’s a car dog? You are. Oh, yes, you are.” Mr. Chips gave Officer Kopp a giant slurp with his cherry-pink tongue.
The audience laughed. “And now I need some help from the audience,” said Officer Kopp. “Anybody have an object they can bring up onstage? How about you, the young lady with the backpack?”
“Who? Me?” Judy asked, jumping up with a big smile.
“Yes. Bring your backpack up here, and let’s give Mr. Chips a whiff. Since he’s at school today, we’ll give him a test. A super-sniffing IQ test.”
Judy climbed the steps to the stage. “This is my detective kit,” she told Officer Kopp. “For solving mysteries.”
“I like a person who’s prepared for anything,” said Officer Kopp, smiling. “Let’s see if Mr. Chips can solve a mystery, too. C’mon over and pet him. Then we’ll let him sniff your backpack to pick up the scent.”
Mr. Chips sniffed Judy from head to toe, then he licked Judy’s face all over with his pink slobbery tongue. Slurp, slurp.
“I hope you don’t mind dog kisses,” said Officer Kopp.
“Nope,” said Judy. “They tickle!”
Next, Mr. Chips sniffed Judy’s backpack all over. Finally, Officer Kopp held the backpack up to Mr. Chips’s nose and gave him a voice command. “Find.”
“Okay, I’ll take Mr. Chips backstage now. That will give you a chance to hide your backpack. It’s like a game of hide-and-seek. Ready?”
“Ready,” said Judy. Officer Kopp took Mr. Chips behind the thick velvet curtain. “No peeking, Mr. Chips!” Judy called over her shoulder.
Judy walked down the center aisle, snaking through the first-graders. She cut through the row in front of the second-graders and hopped right over Stink’s legs. Then she walked backward all the way to the center aisle.
“Hide it under Mr. Todd’s chair,” yelled some third-graders. But Judy only walked around Mr. Todd’s chair, then zigzagged through the fourth- and fifth-graders.
“Behind the bleachers!” kids yelled.
“Hide it in the basketball hoop!”
“Trash can! Trash can!”
Finally, she stopped in front of the closet where the gym teacher kept all the gym balls, jump ropes, and orange cones. Judy checked to make sure Mr. Chips wasn’t watching. Quietly, she opened the door. “Ooh-ee!” The closet was dusty and smelled like feet — Stink’s smelly sneakers times ten. Judy pinched her nose. “This smells so bad it’s giving me a nose wedgie.” The audience laughed like crazy.
In the closet sat a big wire basket loaded with soccer balls and basketballs, volleyballs and kickballs. Judy buried her backpack deep down in the middle of the pile of dusty, dirty balls. Judy shut the door silently behind her and returned to the stage.
Everybody hushed when Mr. Chips came out from behind the curtain. The puppy led Officer Kopp down the side steps. Then he padded down the center aisle, following Judy’s trail. He sniffed his way through the second grade, trotting up to Stink. He hopped over Stink’s legs and sped up the center aisle.
When he got to Mr. Todd’s chair, he ran in circles like crazy.
“He’s chasing his tail,” yelled Frank.
“Give him a chance,” somebody else yelled.
“C’mon, Mr. Chips,” Judy coaxed. “You can do it.” But Mr. Chips had stopped in his tracks. He looked confused.
“Give him a minute,” said Officer Kopp. “It’s not over yet.”
Suddenly, Mr. Chips raised his nose in the air. He sniffed left. He sniffed right. Zoom! He shot off again, zigzagging his way through the fourth-and fifth-graders. At last, he came to the door of the closet.
“Arf! Arf! Arf-arf-arf,” Mr. Chips barked at the door. Officer Kopp opened the door. Mr. Chips bounded in and knocked over the wire basket full of balls. Boing! Boing! Mr. Chips pawed his way through the bouncing balls. In no time, he was trotting up to Officer Kopp, Judy’s backpack hanging from his mouth.
The whole audience went cuckoo, clapping and cheering. “Good boy!” said Officer Kopp. Mr. Chips wagged his tail like crazy.
“Whoa.” The crowd buzzed.
“How’d he do that?”
“Wow.”
“It’s magic.”
Officer Kopp went back onstage with Mr. Chips and took a bow. “Sergeant Super-Sniffer! The best partner a guy could have. Thanks, Virginia Dare School. You’ve been a great audience!”
Mr. Chips hung out his tongue and wagged his windshield-wiper tail. From where Judy sat, it almost looked as if Mr. Chips were smiling.
The next day, and the day after that, all anybody could talk about at Virginia Dare Sc
hool was Sergeant Super-Sniffer, aka Mr. Chips.
Then, late Friday afternoon, something happened. Something big. Judy was smack-dab in the middle of an important case — Nancy Drew book #15, that is: The Haunted Bridge — when the loudspeaker crackled. Judy jumped five feet and yelled, “Yurp,” wrecking the silent in silent reading.
“Teachers and students,” said Principal Tuxedo over the intercom. “I have an important announcement to make. Officer Kopp called to alert us that Mr. Chips has gone missing!” This was terrible news. Awful news. No-good, way-bad news. “The dog was last seen in the Bird Neck neighborhood on Abigail Lane at seven this morning.”
“That’s close to where I live,” said Judy.
“That’s my street,” said Jessica Finch, pointing at herself.
“Since we all met Mr. Chips just a few days ago and know what he looks like, Officer Kopp is asking us to please be on the lookout. If any of you super-sleuths out there spot Mr. Chips, call 1-800-MR-CHIPS right away. Thank you.”
Mr. Chips was missing! Escaped! Lost! This was just about probably the worst announcement in the history of principal announcements at Virginia Dare School.
Wait just a Nancy Drew minute. She, Judy Moody, was smack-dab in the middle of a real-life, not-book mystery! A missing-persons case. A missing-puppy case, that is. For sure and absolute positive! In fact, this was almost like the time in Nancy Drew: Girl Detective graphic novel #6 when a chimp named Mr. Cheeters, who was wearing a diamond necklace, went missing.
Maybe Mr. Chips didn’t escape or get lost. Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Chips was stolen! As in kidnapped. As in dognapped. Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Chips had been wearing a fancy-schmancy diamond doggy collar and some bad guy with an eye patch or a tattoo or a snaggle tooth wanted it!
While Judy hoped nothing bad had happened to Mr. Chips, she couldn’t help wishing for a mystery. A real-life Nancy Drew mystery. This was a case for Judy Moody, Girl Detective. Judy Drewdy!
WWNDD? What Would Nancy Drew Do? She would take a deep breath and use her detective thinking, that’s what. Judy wrote a note to all three members of the Toad Pee Club — Rocky, Frank, and Stink.
When they got to the Toad Pee Clubhouse after school, it wasn’t the Toad Pee Clubhouse anymore. It was the JUDY MOODY DETECTIVE AGENCY. That’s what the crooked sign duck-taped to the front tent flap said. Inside were a chair, a lamp, and a poster that said WANTED: STUMPY, SNIGGS, AND SNORKY.
“I brought binoculars,” said Rocky.
“I brought snoopware,” said Frank. “You know, spy stuff. Telescope, sunglasses, fake noses, and walkie-talkies.”
“I brought . . . my . . . super-sniffer nose. For sniffing out clues,” said Stink. “So what’s the big mystery?”
“I think Mr. Chips was stolen,” said Judy. “Fact: Jessica Finch lives across the street from Mr. Chips, and she told me at lunch that no way would he ever run away from Officer Kopp. Fact: Jessica Finch said that Mr. Chips has a fancy collar. He wore it in the Fourth of July parade. Fact: Bad-guy burglars could have taken him to get their hands on his diamond doggy collar.”
“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-knocking 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.