Sly the Sleuth and the Pet Mysteries Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Case # 1: - Sly and the Fat Cat

  Case #2: - Sly and the Wish Fish

  Case #3: Third Case - Sly and the Third Case

  DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

  A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

  Published by The Penguin Group

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  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Text copyright © 2005 by Donna Jo Napoli and Robert Furrow

  eISBN : 978-1-101-14404-6

  [1. Pets—Fiction. 2. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Furrow, Robert, date. II.

  Maione, Heather Harms, ill. III. Title.

  PZ7.N15Sl 2005

  [Fic]—dc22 2003024090

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  To Taxi. Love, Robert and Mamma

  For my children, Luke and Lindsay, with love —H.M.

  Case # 1:

  Sly and the Fat Cat

  My Name

  I was born Sylvia. My parents called me Sylvia. My friends called me Sylvia.

  A couple of years ago a new family moved in next door. They had a son, Brian. Brian was two then. (He’s four now.)

  Brian couldn’t say “Sylvia.”

  He called me Thi. Then Si. Then Sly.

  I liked that. And the name stuck. Now everyone calls me Sly.

  What’s in a name?

  Who knows.

  But my friend Melody plays the piano. And my friend Jack is always jumping out of places.

  And I am a sleuth.

  A sleuth must sneak around. And gather clues. And be smart enough to figure out what the clues mean.

  A sleuth must be sly.

  I am Sly the Sleuth.

  So maybe there’s a lot in a name.

  My Agency

  I run an agency called Sleuth for Hire. I solve problems. But I am picky. I take only cases that are fun. And only cases a cat would care about.

  Why?

  I like cats. Cats sneak around, like sleuths.

  And I have a cat. Her name is Taxi. She’s my buddy. Every sleuth needs someone to talk to.Taxi is a good listener. She purrs when I tell her how I solved a case.

  When I want her, I go outside and call, “Taxi, Taxi.” Strangers passing on the sidewalk think I am crazy. But that’s okay. It’s good for business. My father says there’s no such thing as bad advertising. The important thing is that people remember you.

  Taking My First Case

  My first case was about a fat cat. It happened just a week after I had announced the opening of my agency.

  Kate stopped me on my way to the playground with Melody. “My cat is fat and getting fatter.”

  “So what?” I said.

  “I don’t want her to be fat,” said Kate. “It’s not good for her.”

  “Feed her less.”

  “I do,” said Kate.

  Melody pointed her toe. “Bring her to my house and I’ll play the piano and she can dance off her fat.”

  “My cat’s too fat to dance,” said Kate. “She can hardly move.”

  This seemed like a pretty dumb case. I didn’t want to take it.

  But then Kate said, “I’m worried.” She looked like she might cry. She added, “I love Clarissa.”

  I believed her. No one would name their cat Clarissa unless they loved her. And I understood, because I love Taxi.

  “Let me think about this,” I said.

  Melody and Kate went on to the playground.

  I went home. I stood on the front step and called, “Taxi!”

  A man on the sidewalk looked at me, then looked away fast.

  Taxi came running.

  I rubbed her behind the ears and on her back right above her tail, which is her favorite spot.

  Brian came over from next door.“Play with me.”

  “Not now,” I said. “I’m thinking.”

  Brian screamed, “Think stink.” He pulled Taxi’s tail and ran away.

  This case was about a cat. And it was about food. Taxi was a cat and Taxi loved food. So I knew Taxi would like listening to me talk about this case. Probably any cat would.

  I went to the playground and found Kate.

  “Okay,” I said. “Take me to see Clarissa’s food dish.”

  Clarissa

  Clarissa’s food dish had her name on it, drawn in big letters with a blue marker. It also had pictures of fish drawn in green marker. It was pretty. And it was empty. And clean.

  “Did you wash this dish?” I asked.

  “No. Clarissa always licks it clean.”

  Wow. Clarissa was quite a cat.The dish was perfectly clean.

  “It’s time for Clarissa’s breakfast,” said Kate. She put one-third of a can of cat food in Clarissa’s dish. Then she added a small handful of crunchy, dry cat food.

  “That’s all?” I asked.

  “Yup.”

  “How many times a day does she get a meal like that?”

  “Breakfast and supper,” said Kate.

  “That’s all?” I asked.

  “Yup.”

  That was less than Taxi ate, and Taxi wasn’t fat. “Clarissa should be a thin cat.”

  “The vet said that too,” said Kate. “But see for yourself.” Kate went to the window and called, “Clarissa, breakfast!”

  The next thing I knew, a very large fuzzy gray head came through the middle of the rubber cat door. Clarissa looked around. “Meow,” she said. Then her two front legs came through. “Meow!” she said louder. She was huge. And she was stuck.

  Kate grabbed Clarissa’s front legs and gently pulled her inside.

  Clarissa was the fattest cat I’d ever seen. And she didn’t have a collar. People who love their cats put collars on them. “Why don’t you have a collar on your cat?”

  “It pops off,” said Kate.

  “How can a collar pop off?”

  Kate opened a drawer and took out a collar.

  Clarissa was eating away happily.

  Kate put the collar on Clarissa. Clarissa’s neck was so big, the collar barely made it around.

  As soon as it was on, Clarissa stopped eating. She worked her front paw under the collar. The clasp gave and the collar popped off. Clarissa went back to eating.

  Easy Answers

  Clarissa ate every morsel in her dish. She licked the plate. Then she sat and cleaned her paws and face.

  Kate petted Clarissa tenderly.

  “Clarissa is even fatter now than she was when she came in,” I said.“How will she get out her cat door?”

  Kate opened the people door and Clarissa waddled outside. “Can you help me figure out what’s making Clarissa so fat?”

  “Maybe she’s going to have kittens,” I said.

  “The vet said she can’t,” said Kate.

  Oh, well. So much for
easy answers.

  We stood side by side and watched Clarissa lie down in the sun.

  A couple of sparrows hopped about in a bush.

  I got an idea. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. “Do you have stale bread?” I asked.

  “What?” said Kate.

  “You know, bread to feed birds. Got any?”

  “Sure.” Kate opened a bag on the counter. She handed me a piece of old bread.

  I crushed it in my hand and threw the bread crumbs on the ground near Clarissa.

  Clarissa looked, but she didn’t move.

  The sparrows flew down and ate the crumbs.

  Clarissa watched them. Then she rolled onto her back.

  “Well, your cat didn’t get fat eating birds,” I said. “I bet she’d be too slow to catch them even if she tried.”

  “Poor Clarissa,” said Kate.

  The Search for Clues

  Clarissa slept.

  While she slept, I went around the yard looking for clues.

  Kate followed me. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for clues.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What good is it to keep looking, then?”

  This was not an encouraging question to hear on my first case. I held my head high.“That’s what sleuths do,” I said.

  “That seems dumb to me,” said Kate.

  “Do you want Clarissa to lose weight or not?” I asked, which was not a fair question for two reasons. First, I knew the answer. Second, I wasn’t sure I could help make Clarissa lose weight.

  “I do,” said Kate.

  “Are you hiring me or not?”

  “I am,” said Kate.

  “Then go away.”

  Kate went into her house.

  I looked harder for clues. I found none.

  Clarissa woke up. She walked slowly to the bushes and disappeared under them.

  I followed her.

  Another Fat Cat

  Clarissa was not under the bushes.

  I crawled through and watched Clarissa cross the backyard of Kate’s neighbor.

  Maybe Clarissa was a friendly cat who visited the neighbors for fun.

  But Clarissa kept on going. She came to a hole in the fence and struggled through to the second neighbor.

  The hole was large enough that I could get through just by holding my breath. I could see why Kate was worried. Clarissa sure was a fat cat.

  By the time I got out on the other side, Clarissa was nowhere in sight.

  I walked around the fence, looking for another hole. There wasn’t one.

  Clarissa had disappeared.

  “Boo!”

  I jumped.

  But it was just my friend Jack, jumping at me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked Jack.

  “This is my yard. What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, I didn’t recognize your house from the back.”

  “You didn’t answer me,” said Jack.

  “I’m being Sly the Sleuth today. And I’m looking for Clarissa.”

  “You’re not supposed to go in other people’s yards unless they invite you. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that? And there’s no Clarissa here.”

  “Did you see a fat cat?”

  “Of course I saw a fat cat,” said Jack.“That’s my cat.”

  “Your cat is fat?” I said. Maybe it was something in the water on this block.

  “I think she looks tough,” said Jack.

  “That’s fine with me,” I said. “Could I meet her?”

  “She’s eating, and she doesn’t like to be bothered when she’s eating. Then she’ll nap. And she doesn’t like to be bothered when she’s napping either.”

  “I’ll wait,” I said.

  “Good.You can practice passing the soccer ball with me.”

  “Uh, I play baseball. I stink at soccer. I’ll go wait on the front sidewalk,” I said.

  All Cats Do

  “What are you doing sitting on the sidewalk?” It was Kate. She was standing over me. “You’re supposed to be working.”

  “We never talked about my fee,” I said.

  “What is it?”

  Since this was my first case, I had no idea. “The usual,” I said.

  Kate blinked. “Will two doll dresses be enough?”

  “I don’t like dolls,” I said. “I don’t even have any.”

  “Well, that’s what I have.”

  I could always trade doll dresses for something better. “Okay,” I said.

  “So get up and work,” said Kate.

  “I am working,” I said. “Do you drink the same water that Clarissa drinks?”

  “Sure,” said Kate. “Except she also drinks from rain puddles, and I don’t.”

  Kate was thin. So that ruled out the idea that the water was the cause.

  “Get up and work,” said Kate. Boy, she could be bossy.

  “I happen to be working very hard,” I said.“I’m tracking Clarissa.”

  “Well, if you’re tracking her, you better go before she gets out of sight.”

  “What?” I looked where Kate pointed. There was Clarissa, trotting slowly along the sidewalk toward the corner. “Does your cat wander a lot?”

  “Of course,” said Kate. “All cats do.”

  I didn’t know if that was true.Taxi always came when I called. But maybe she knew when I wouldn’t call her and that’s when she wandered. Maybe she wandered far when I was at school or sleeping. “Bye,” I said. I followed Clarissa.

  Two Too Many

  Clarissa turned the corner and cut into someone’s yard. She went around the side of their house.

  I remembered what Jack had said about going into other people’s yards. But what choice did I have? I followed Clarissa.

  When I got to the side of the house, she was gone.

  I ran to the backyard.

  No Clarissa.

  I could see a woman standing at her kitchen sink. I went up and knocked on the side door.

  The woman opened the door. “Yes?”

  “I’m looking for a fat cat.”

  “My cat is slightly overweight,” said the woman with a sniff. “But I wouldn’t call her fat.”

  “You have a fat cat?” I practically yelped. This was remarkable.

  “I told you that’s not the word I would use. Although I admit that’s what our vet’s assistant said.”

  Now I was totally suspicious.Three fat cats was two too many. “Is her name Clarissa?”

  “No. She’s Punky.”

  Punky was not half bad for a cat’s name. This woman surprised me.

  “Is she gray?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve got it,” I said. “Please bring your cat to Kate’s house.”

  “I beg your pardon,” she said. “I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”

  “Kate has something in common with you, and she lives in the green house around the corner. Be there in fifteen minutes, please. It’s important. Please? Bye.”

  Getting It Together

  I ran back around the corner and stopped at Jack’s house. I rang the doorbell.

  When he opened the door, he said, “You’re too late. My cat went out already.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “Oh. Did you change your mind about soccer?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you here?” said Jack.

  “You have to come to a meeting at Kate’s house in ten minutes.”

  “Kate? Why? She’s so bossy.”

  “She’s all right,” I said.

  Jack made a face. “What’s this all about?”

  “Something important. Be there. Bye.” I ran to Kate’s house.

  She was waiting for me on the front steps. “Did you follow Clarissa?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “So where is she?”

  “She’ll be here in a few minutes,” I said. “Have you got any cookies and milk
?”

  “Cookies and milk are the last thing Clarissa needs,” said Kate.

  “Right. But they’re exactly what the people will need.”

  “What people?” said Kate.

  “You’ll see. They’ll be here soon. And they’ll need a treat.”

  “I thought you liked fruit,” said Kate.

  “I do.” I’m a fruit fiend.

  “Then everyone else gets cookies and you get cherries.”

  Sometimes I’m glad Kate’s bossy.

  Sharing

  The woman showed up with Clarissa in her arms. I knew she would.

  “Why are you holding Clarissa?” said Kate.

  “Why are you holding Fluffy?” said Jack.

  “This is Punky,” said the woman.

  Kate’s mother came down the stairs. “I thought I heard an adult’s voice. Hello.” She held out her hand to the woman. “I’m Sarah, Kate’s mother.”

  The woman looked at Kate’s mother’s hand. She couldn’t shake without putting Clarissa down. She blinked. “I’m Julie. I live around the corner. That child . . . ” She looked at me. “That child told me to come here with my cat.”

  “Your cat?” said Kate’s mother. She peeked behind the woman. “Where’s your cat?”

  “This is my cat,” said the woman named Julie.

  “No it’s not,” said Kate. “Mother, make her put Clarissa down.”

  Kate bossed her mother like that a lot. And her mother usually let her get away with it.

  “Well, now,” Kate’s mother said in a reasonable tone. “There’s some mistake here. That’s Clarissa.”

  “This is Punky,” said the woman named Julie. She didn’t sound at all reasonable. She sounded like Kate.

  “Everyone please sit down and have cookies and milk,” I said.

  “I don’t eat cookies and milk,” said the woman named Julie.

  Jack jumped beside me and took the dish. “I’ll eat them all.”