Zoopy The Jack Russell Pet Detective. Robert Villalobos

      CHAPTER 4

      As any good detective knows, and as Zoopy quickly learned after watching CSI Miami with Tom every Friday night at six o’clock, in order to find this ruthless criminal at large, she had to start her investigation at the scene of the crime, at Cracker Jack’s farm.

      Zoopy accompanied Olaf back to his place so that he could show her his super-secret hiding place. Olaf crawled under the porch of his house, and in the far corner next to some stacked wood, there was the hole—a big hole. Poor old Olaf must have gone crazy when he couldn’t find the bone at first. The hole was big enough to bury a horse, she thought.

      After inspecting under the home, Zoopy took a stroll around the perimeter of the property, not finding any clues as to what could have happened. There were no out-of-place paw or hoofprints, only Olaf’s prints from where he had trampled frantically looking for his treasure. Every square inch of the crime scene was trashed.

      Silly Sue Squirrel was just that, a silly squirrel. She lived high in the trees behind Olaf’s home. She liked to play her silly little games all day long and store her silly little nuts anywhere she could find to hide them. Zoopy also remembered that Silly Sue frequented the porch when Olaf and Cracker Jack were inside or away from the farm. She liked to feast on the sweet goodies left behind by Cracker Jack and Olaf, who always dropped large unseen crumbs of cupcakes and sweet munchies on the porch. As Zoopy sniffed around for clues along the back side of the property line, she caught a glimpse of Silly Sue Squirrel. With as close as she lived to the crime scene and with as good a view as she had from her house, Zoopy realized Silly Sue might be of some use; she may have witnessed the crime.

      Silly Sue Squirrel loved to share silly gossip, so it was easy for her to approach Zoopy and Olaf when they asked her to join them for some silly interrogating. She was fast to share her silly news. Yes, she admitted to seeing a curious suspect, maybe even two, but she also admitted that her silly suspects were not carrying the silly special bone when she saw them.

      Silly Sue had seen the special bone many times; in fact, she was quite aware that it was uncommon. Although Olaf sometimes left his bone unguarded, she never could tell exactly where he hid it every night. She also admitted that it was by far too big of a bone for her to even think of carrying, much less storing it in her silly little home. Silly Sue Squirrel called it “the magic golden bone.” Zoopy wondered why she would call it that, but after looking at Olaf, he made no comment.

      “Whom or what did you see?” barked Olaf, as he grew impatient with her silly squirrel testimony. Then Silly Sue Squirrel stated with her squeaky squawky voice “at first I saw Armond the Armadillo sniffing around the house, specifically by the corner of the porch.” Both Zoopy and Olaf looked surprised. Then she asked, “Is Bongo the bulldog supposed to be digging in your yard?” Olaf took off running in the direction of Bongo the bulldog’s bungalow down by Copper Creek.

      Bongo the bulldog was a shady character indeed. He always had a disgusting rash and a severe dandruff problem. He slobbered more than any dog in the county. When he spoke, he spat all over everything. Nothing was safe from his slobbering waterfall or his snowflake avalanches. He was also known to dig in everybody else’s yard, where he wasn’t supposed to. He was a certified bone digger. It almost seemed too easy to close this case so soon, but if Zoopy wanted to conclude her findings, she would have to catch Bongo’s paw in the bone hole with the golden bone. She quickly caught up to Olaf, who had slowed down to catch his breath before reaching the prime suspect’s bungalow. He was getting old, and he knew it. After a few extra breaths, Olaf continued to run full blast, as he was ready to confront the bulldog and bound his Bongo butt to the ground.

      When Olaf and Zoopy reached Copper Creek, they saw the bulldog’s shady bungalow, and next to it they noticed Bongo’s bloated body basking in the sun. Zoopy ran in between both canines before Olaf had a chance to blindside the bewildered bulldog. Blatantly Bongo blurted, “What the heck’s going on here?” as Zoopy held Olaf back from biting. Zoopy quickly asked Bongo what he did with Olaf’s magic golden bone. Bongo was so fat and full of Twinkies that he was slow to get up, but then he barked out, “The magic golden bone? So Silly Sue Squirrel was squealing the truth?”