8. Dog-Napper

Chapter 8 Dog-Napper "We have to tell Officer Fallon!" Brian said. "We tried before, and he's gone somewhere with Jimmy, remember?" Bradley said. "Then I'm calling Nate and Lucy," Brian went on. He tiptoed out of the room. Two minutes later, he was back. "They're coming over."

"I can't believe someone snuck in here and stole the puppy," Bradley said. "Besides Nate and Lucy, who else even knows we found him?" "That guy Leonard," Brian said. "And Ellie. Oh, and whoever I talked to at the police station." Bradley nodded. "And don't forget we told Jimmy Fallon's mom," he said. "So those four people knew we had the puppy," Brian said. "But why would any of them steal him?" Brian sat on his bed. "Maybe he's worth a million dollars!" he said. "Maybe he's a famous dog on TV or in the movies!" Bradley grinned. "Bro, he's just a baby puppy," he said. "He's too young to be famous." "Well, someone took him, and this is totally a clue!" Brian said, pointing to the clump of boot snow. He slid a sheet of drawing paper under the clump, folded the paper carefully, and ran out of the room. Bradley thought about a dog-napper sneaking into their house. Maybe the person wore a ski mask! He got goose bumps.

Brian burst back into the room. "I put the snow in the freezer," he said. "Why?" Bradley asked. "In case we need it to show Officer Fallon," Brian said. "When we catch the bad guy!" "What bad guy?" Nate asked as he and Lucy walked into the room. They were still wearing their jackets. "How'd you get in?" Brian asked. "We didn't hear you." "Josh let us in," Lucy said. "He was heading over to Dink's when we got here. Your mom made us take off our boots." "It's a house rule," Bradley said. "What bad guy?" Nate asked again. "And why wouldn't you tell us anything on the phone?" Lucy asked Brian. "You said it was an emergency." "WHAT BAD GUY?" Nate asked for the third time. Bradley opened the closet door. "The bad guy who stole the puppy," he said. Nate and Lucy stared at the empty box. "Someone stole the puppy!" Nate yelped.

"When did it happen?" Lucy finally asked. "We just left him in the closet a little while ago!" Bradley explained how they'd been downstairs eating popcorn and opening presents. "We didn't see or hear anybody," he said. "We heard the puppy bark," Brian said. "And we heard a door slam. Then when we came back up here, he was gone!" "Maybe he just ran away, like last time," Lucy said. "No way," Brian said. "We found a clue. There was snow in our room!" "Snow?" Nate asked. "Why is that a clue?" "Snow from the bottom of someone's boot, and it wasn't ours!" Bradley said. "We're going to show it to Officer Fallon, if we ever find him!" Nate looked around the room. "Show him the snow? Won't it melt?" he asked. Brian grinned. "I put it in the freezer downstairs." "You think whoever took the puppy left the snow?" Lucy asked. "How will it help Officer Fallon find the crook?"

"It's in a pattern," Brian explained. "Little shapes like you see on the bottom of boots and sneakers. Detectives on TV check out the soles of shoes and boots all the time!" "My boots have little triangles on the bottom," Lucy said. "Brian's and mine have zigzags," Bradley said.

"Can you show us the snow?" Nate asked Brian. "Sure. Let's go downstairs," Brian said. In their stocking feet, the four kids crept down the stairs. They could hear Christmas music coming from the living room. In the kitchen, Brian opened the freezer. He carefully pulled the folded drawing paper from behind some frozen peas. "Just take a quick peek," Brian said. "I don't want it to melt." He unfolded the paper. The four kids stared at the boot print. They saw a bunch of squares of snow. Anyone could tell it came off the bottom of someone's shoe or boot. Nate started to laugh. "Dude, that's no dognapper. That came from my sister's boot. She leaves clumps just like this all over our kitchen floor."