The Case of the Fire Alarm Read Online Free PDF Page A

,” Mouse says after a little while.
    “I am!” I say from halfway under the fence. “I just have to ... finish ... this ... tunnel!” There! I’m through! I scramble up out of the hole and across the Deerbergs’ yard.
    Unfortunately, there’s another fence between the Deerbergs’ yard and Mouse’s yard. But it’s shorter than my fence. Maybe I can climb over it. I take a running jump. I am up ... and over!
    “THERE YOU ARE!” Mouse says as we greet each other the dog-fashioned way. “WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAD TO COME OVER?”
    I tell Mouse about the fire alarm and who I think pulled it.
    He growls at me.
    “What?” I say.
    “I DON’T LIKE YOU TALKING BAD ABOUT MY BOY.”
    Mouse thinks Michael is “his boy”? Already?
    “Well, Michael has pulled a fire alarm before,” I tell Mouse. In fact, I tell Mouse everything I know about Michael, Jillian, and Zack.
    “NONE OF THAT MEANS MICHAEL PULLED THE ALARM!” Mouse says.
    “Well,” I say. “I don’t think Jillian did it. And Zack is too short. Who else could have done it?”
    “SOMEBODY WHO IS NOT MICHAEL!!!” Mouse says. This time he’s showing teeth.
    “Okay, okay,” I say, backing down.
    Maybe I should just go home. Mouse isn’t going to help me find proof that Michael pulled the alarm. And I don’t want to get into a fight with him.
    I start toward the fence. But a shuffling in the pile of firewood at the back of Mouse’s yard stops me in my tracks. A single log shifts and falls onto the lawn.
    I freeze. Someone is back there.
    “Hello?” I say, peering into the darkness. But I don’t see anyone.
    Mouse comes to stand beside me. “WHO’S THERE?” he barks. “SHOW YOURSELF!”
    A shadowy figure with pointy ears slo-o-w-l-y climbs to the top of the woodpile.
    It’s Cat with No Name! “What makes you dogs so sure a human pulled that alarm at the school?” Cat asks.
    Mouse and I look at each other. What is that cat talking about?
    “ I didn’t pull it,” I say. “And Mouse didn’t pull it.”
    Then it hits me. “Did you pull it?” I ask Cat.
    Cat with No Name looks at me like I’m an idiot. “No!” he says, blinking his eyes.
    “Well, what other nonhuman could have pulled it?” I ask.
    “Duh! How about the ghost of Four Lakes Elementary?” Cat says.
    “THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS GHOSTS,” Mouse says. “IS THERE, BUDDY?”
    “Of course not,” I say. How dumb does Cat think Mouse and I are?
    “Just because you dogs can’t see ghosts doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Cat says. “ I see ghosts all the time. I’ve even seen the ghost at that school.” With that, Cat leaps into the Deerbergs’ yard and scampers away.

    “DO YOU THINK HE’S TELLING THE TRUTH?” Mouse asks me. “COULD THERE BE GHOSTS? DO YOU THINK CATS CAN SEE GHOSTS?”
    “I don’t know,” I say.
    A dog can tell when a human is lying, but with cats you never know.
    Cats are into some pretty weird things. It’s possible they see ghosts.
    It’s also possible Cat with No Name made the whole thing up.

7
It’s Hard to Talk to Humans
    I need to talk to Jillian. I need to find a way to ask her what she was doing in the art room. And I need to make her understand what I’m asking so she can answer me.
    I don’t think a ghost pulled the fire alarm. Even if there are such things as ghosts, how would a ghost do it?
    And I still don’t think Jillian did it, either. If I can prove she didn’t, maybe Mouse will agree that it’s possible Michael did it. Then maybe he’ll help me prove it.
    But how am I going to talk to Jillian? I could probably find her if I went looking for her, but I’m not supposed to wander around the school by myself. I’m supposed to stay here in Mom’s office and be a Good Dog.
    Well ... I don’t think Mom would mind if I sat up and looked out the window. I see kids playing outside right now, but they are all younger than Jillian.
    Hey, maybe Jillian will come outside in a little bit. When she does, maybe Mom