Judy Moody, Girl Detective - Megan Mcdonald [18]
“Yeah, looks to me like you caught the thief all right. The chocolate-chip cookie thief — our own Mr. Chips.”
Judy wasn’t so sure. She, Eagle-Eye-Moody, was going to keep one eye peeled, just in case.
“We’ll never know for sure, but I think Mr. Chips is an escape artist — a regular Houdini. Best we can figure is that he pushed the bottom of the fencing just enough and squeezed out through a tiny opening. Then he ran all over town looking for food, he got so hungry.”
“So that’s why he stole a dog bone from Speedy Market?” asked Frank.
“And Jack Frost’s baloney sandwich!” said Stink.
“Then he got into the lunches at school and ate the chocolate-chip cookies,” said Judy. “That’s how he got the name Mr. Chips. Because he loves chocolate-chip cookies. Am I right?”
“Not quite,” said Officer Kopp. “Mr. Chips doesn’t eat chocolate-chip cookies. He buries them.”
“Huh?” everybody asked.
“Most dogs have a sweet tooth. And they have a nose for chocolate. When Mr. Chips first came home with me, my wife was baking chocolate-chip cookies. He went right for the chips and ate a handful before we could stop him.”
“Oh, no,” said Frank. “Dogs aren’t allowed to eat chocolate. It’s like poison. It makes them sick.”
“That’s right,” said Officer Kopp. “Poor guy had the throw-ups. We took him to the vet, and she told us that chocolate makes dogs sick. So before he even got any police-dog training, he was trained not to eat chocolate.”
“Then why would he steal all those cookies?” Judy asked.
“Go ahead and give him a cookie,” said Officer Kopp. “Watch what he does.”
Judy held a cookie up to Mr. Chips. He sniffed it, then ran with it between his teeth, the way he’d carried the egg across the stage at school that day. He started digging under a tree.
“He’s going to bury it!” Judy said. They ran after Mr. Chips. Judy peered into the hole he had dug in the soft earth.
“Hey, there’s a bunch more cookies in there,” said Stink.
“Where’d he get those?” Rocky asked.
“He has a whole stash,” Frank said, pointing and laughing.
“Thin Mints,” said Judy. “Mom bought Girl Scout cookies from Jessica Finch, and I left some in the tent.”
“What did I tell you?” said Officer Kopp. He scooped up Mr. Chips. “Well, now that these super-detectives found you, I better get you home, huh?” He rubbed noses with Mr. Chips. “I was worried I’d never see this guy again. I thank you, and Mr. Chips thanks you.”
“RARE!” said Judy. “I finally got to solve a mystery. The Mystery of the Missing Doggy Detective. This is just like the time Nancy Drew rescued a police dog puppy in book #1, The Secret of the Old Clock. No lie.” She felt as shiny as the penny in Nancy Drew’s penny loafers.
“Is there a reward?” Stink asked.
“Are you gonna arrest Mr. Chips for stealing that dog bone?” Frank asked.
“Will Mr. Chips still get to be a police dog?” Rocky asked.
“No, no, and yes,” said Officer Kopp. “But it’ll be a while — he still has a lot to learn. A lot more training to do. Back to Doggy Detective School for you.”
“Aw, I wish I could keep him,” said Stink.
“Stink, he’s not a pet,” said Judy. “He’s a crime buster. Aren’t you, Mr. Chips?” She rubbed noses with the puppy, too.
“Looks like this mystery’s solved,” said Officer Kopp. “No more cookie stealing for you, little fella. Case closed.”
Case closed? If Judy Moody had learned one thing from Nancy Drew (besides Never Leave Home Without a Bobby Pin), it was that a detective’s work was never done. Haunted houses. Secret diaries. Stolen diamonds. Around every corner was a mystery, just waiting to be solved. And where there was mystery, there would be Judy.
The kids waved to Officer Kopp and Mr. Chips. “If any diamonds go missing,” said Judy, “you know who to call.”
“Who?” asked Stink.
“Judy Moody, Girl Detective,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.
* CASE CLOSED *
by Megan McDonald
Judy Moody was walking with her nose in Nancy Drew #32, The Scarlet Slipper Mystery, when — BAM! — she ran smack-dab into a fourth-grader. A fourth-grader carrying a giant stack of library books.