Judy Moody, Girl Detective Read Online Free PDF Page A

reporter and lights and cameras were crowded around, and the store manager was talking to some cop. Not just any cop.
Of
f
icer
Kopp!
    “I’m not kidding ya,” Mr. Keene, the manager, told Officer Kopp. “That little guy headed straight for the pet food aisle like nobody’s business. Crazy pup grabbed a bone worth $2.79. I yelled, ‘Drop it!’ Did he drop it? No, sirree. He ran right out the front door before anybody could catch him.”
    “Sorry about the bone, Mike,” said Officer Kopp. “I’ll pay you back.”
    “That’s one smart pup. How he knew which aisle had the dog treats . . .”
    “Is that all the suspect seems to have taken?” asked a lady reporter.
    “Suspect? He’s a dog, for crying out loud,” said Mr. Keene.
    “Did you get a look at the shoplifter?”
    “Yeah,” said Mr. Keene. “Brown and hairy.” He turned to Officer Kopp. “I guess you could say instead of taking a bite
out of
crime, he took a bite
into
crime.” When he laughed, his round belly shook where his shirt had popped a button.
    The reporter turned to the camera and spoke into her puffy microphone. “A thief remains at large after a daring heist in the pet food aisle of the local Speedy Market,” she said. “You might say the four-legged man’s best friend was too
speedy
for this market manager.” She fake-smiled at the camera. “Cut!”
    Judy followed Officer Kopp out of the store. “Do they think it was Mr. Chips?” she asked.
    “All anybody saw was a streak of brown and a tail, but it must have been him. Keep looking!” Officer Kopp called as he hopped into his black-and-white and headed out of the parking lot, lights flashing.

    Judy and her best chums (the Nancy Drew word for friends) searched all over the parking lot of Speedy Market — under cars, behind a tree, in the Dumpster. They asked every shopper they saw, “Did you happen to see a little brown puppy with big paws?” But the answer was always no. Until . . . a lady with funny glasses pointed to the back corner of the parking lot. “Those guys in that van had a dog.”
    “Where? What van?” asked Judy, snapping her head around.
    “Was he brown?”
    “Was he cute?”
    “Was he Mr. Chips?”
    Just then, a dark green van peeled out, tearing through the parking lot, tires squealing. Judy and her friends jumped out of the way. The van swerved out of the parking lot without stopping. “Stop! Thief!” Judy yelled, but the van sped off down the street before she could make out the letters on the license plate.

    “Did you see that? It’s gotta be them — the bad-guy dognappers!” Judy was breathing fast and pointing down the street. “This is SO just like Nancy Drew mystery #1,
The Secret of the Old Clock.
”
    “How is this like some old clock?” Rocky asked.
    “C’mon, guys. You read the book.”
    “No, we didn’t,” all three boys said at the same time.
    “First of all, there’s a dark van. Second of all, there’s this girl named Judy. She’s trying to cross the street and she almost gets hit by a moving van and she falls off a bridge and Nancy Drew has to rescue her and it turns out the bad-guy jewel thieves stole an old clock and stuff.”
    “I thought you said the jewel thieves were in
The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk
,” said Stink.
    “And
The Mystery at Lilac Inn
and
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall
and —”
    “Wow, Nancy Drew must have more jewels than the queen of England!”
    “She doesn’t get to keep them, Stink.” Judy took out her notebook. “So, did anybody see anything? Like a license plate?”
    “The first three letters were K-G-B,” said Rocky.
    “K-F-C,” said Frank.
    “K-L-F,” said Stink. “Or E-L-F.”
    “Great,” said Judy, putting her pencil behind her ear. “So we know who took Mr. Chips. Some secret bad guys who eat chicken and look like elves.”
    “I think the one guy did have pointy ears,” said Stink.
    “ROAR,”
said Judy. “What about the van? Did it say anything on