06 The Case of the Dog-Bone Bandit

The Case of the Dog-Bone Bandit 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. "What're you doing to Officer Kopp's flyers?" Stink asked. "Fixing them," said Judy, coloring in blue eyes on the picture of Mr. Chips. Stink tilted his head, reading upside down. He was trying to figure out the words Judy had just added. "'Have you seen this goo?'" "'Have you seen this dog.'"

"Oh. Your D looks like an O." "Stink, a good detective can read backward and upside down." Judy colored in a black letter R. "'Drawer'?" Stink asked, squinching up his face. "'Reward'!" said Judy. "We have to offer big bucks so that anyone who has seen Mr. Chips or has any information on his whereabouts will call the police. Rule Number One of being a good detective is don't be afraid to ask for help."

"You mean Rule Number One Gazillion!" said

Stink. "So, whoever finds Mr. Chips gets a reward, not a drawer?" "Yep." "So if I find him," Stink asked, "I get the money?" Judy ignored him. She wrote in $23.80. "Whoa," said Stink. "Twenty-three dollars and eighty cents. That's a lot of money. How'd you come up with $23.80?" "That's all you had in your piggy bank, Stink." "You broke my bank?" Stink ran into his room and grabbed his piggy bank. "That's weird. My bank's not broken.... And the lock is still on," said Stink. He put the piggy bank up to his ear and shook it. Empty. "The Mystery of the Missing Money," said

Judy. "You picked the lock! With one of those Nancy Drew bobby pin thingies." "You can't prove it, Stink." "No fair! You can't just keep taking my stuff. First it was my president dollars, then my dinobug pins. Now this. That's called stealing. It makes you just as bad as Snarky, Snuffy, and Stingy— those Nancy Drew bad guys." "For your information, it's Snorky, Sniggs, and Stumpy." "Whatever. It's still my money." "Well, you stole a whole bag of my gummy mice. Just think, Stink. If you find Mr. Chips, you can win back your money." "But that money's already mine! I shouldn't have to win it back."

"It's for a good cause," Judy reminded him. "If you ask me, that lock was just asking to be picked." "Give it!" said Stink, holding out his hand. "ROAR," said Judy, handing over the money. Now she had to think of something else to offer as a reward. Something good. Something anybody would want a whole big bunch. She looked around her room at her collections. At last she had an idea.