Chapter 4

Chapter 4 And now," said the Countess, "my personal policewoman will tell you about the crime." "Yo, I'm Sergeant Sniff," said a tough-looking Pekingese. "See, the Countess just bought the gold pickle in Fancitonia. Then we brought it back here on this choo-choo." "You mean the train?" "Yes." "I wish you wouldn't call it a choo-choo," I said. "It is a fine example of a mountain-type 4-8-4 streamlined steam-powered Z-class standard gauge New York & Montreal Express locomotive, one of the most advanced machines ever built." "Big wheel," said Nina, nibbling at a brake line.

"Flytrap!" yapped the Countess. "Would you PLEASE focus on my pickle paperweight?" "Oh, yes, of course!" I said. "Where is it?" "It's MISSING, you fool!" "Er, sorry. I meant: Where WAS it?" "This way," said Sergeant Sniff. "It was locked inside this armored boxcar before we left Fancitonia." She pointed to a boxcar with thick walls. It looked like

a big bank safe on wheels. The door was open, and I noticed cameras and laser beams inside. "When we pulled into the station, the gold pickle was gone!" continued Sergeant Sniff. "The thief struck while the choo-choo was choo-chooing down the choo- choo track!" "What about the cameras and the laser-beam alarms? Didn't they catch the thief?"

"Obviously not," said Sergeant Sniff, glaring at me. "The cameras only picked up a blur, and the thief' somehow dodged all the laser beams." "Nina, please wheel me over so I can have a closer look," I said. Nina pushed me over to the boxcar—way too fast, as usual—then jumped up on the back of the locomotive and started eating the coal. "Hmm," I said, examining the floor of the boxcar. "Look at these scratches! Are these dog claw marks?" "They are claw marks, but not from a dog," said Sergeant Sniff. "The police lab says they were made by something bigger and tougher than a dog claw."

"Hmm... Who else was on the train?" "Just us," said Sergeant Sniff. "The Countess and I were the only passengers. And MC FunkyFoot was driving the train." "So," I said, "if the thief wasn't on the train when it left the first station and wasn't on the train when it got to this station, then he must have gotten aboard the train while it was moving, stolen the pickle, and gotten back off again." "Isn't that what I said a minute ago?" snarled Sergeant Sniff. "The choo-choo bandit got on the choo-choo while it as choo-chooing from the choo- choo station to—" "AHA!" I interrupted. "I have solved the World's Greatest Mystery!"

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