The Great Shelby Holmes Read Online Free PDF Page A

black car that was parked across the street.
    I didn’t know what to do. Shelby was definitely going to do that Shelby thing she does, and I didn’t want to miss it. So for the second day in a row, I found myself calling out to her. “Wait!”
    Both girls turned around and looked at me expectantly.
    “Can I come along?” I asked, feeling foolish and a little guilty knowing that Mom would definitely not approve. I was basically getting in a car with strangers. And who knew what we were going to get up to?
    Tamra looked at Shelby. “Does he work with you?”
    Shelby scoffed. “I work alone.”
    “Well, maybe I can help? I did grow up on army posts and have a lot of experience with the military.” Okay, that was stretching it, but maybe there was something I could do to help? Crazier things have happened. (See: everything Shelby Holmes had done in the last forty-eight hours.)
    Shelby rolled her eyes at my puffed-up statement. I should’ve known better than to try that in front of her.
    I was about to head inside the house when Tamra shrugged her shoulders. “It’s fine with me.”
    I ran so quickly across the street Shelby didn’t have a chance to object. Before I knew it, I was in the car with Shelby and Tamra on our way to solve a crime.

CHAPTER
    6
    S helby H olmes doesn ’ t waste time .
    “Tell me everything that’s happened,” Shelby ordered Tamra. “And don’t leave a single detail out.”
    Tamra wrung her light brown hands in her lap as she started to fill us in. “There’s not much to say. I woke up this morning and Daisy was just … gone. She sleeps in bed with me, but at some point in the night she’ll go downstairs.So when I woke up and she wasn’t there, I didn’t think anything of it. But when I went downstairs, she didn’t come to greet me. I called her, but she didn’t come, and she always comes. Then we all looked around the apartment and couldn’t find her. At first, I thought that maybe she was locked in a closet, but we looked in all the closets. We looked everywhere. Dad called security and the doormen hadn’t seen her since I walked her last night before bed. It’s like she vanished.”

    While I should have been paying attention to the details of the case, I kept getting caught up in the fact that Tamra lived in a building with an elevator, doormen, and security. Plus, I didn’t need Shelby to tell me that this car and personal driver belonged to her family.
    “I can’t believe it.” Tamra’s voice wavered. “The show’s in three days. Everybody knows that Daisy’s the favorite, but I can’t believe someone would take her away from me.”
    Shelby did need to fill me in that the show Tamra kept talking about was the Manhattan Kennel Club’s annual dog show. Daisy came in second last year in the toy breed category.
    Toy breed? I nodded like I understood any of that.
    “Does Daisy have any enemies?” Shelby asked. I had to stop myself from laughing. How could a dog have enemies?
    “Not at all. She’s the sweetest dog in the whole world. Although …”
    Shelby’s posture straightened. “Although what?”
    “Maybe it’s nothing.” Tamra bit her lip. “In the last six months, Daisy’s taken titles away from Mr. Wiggles, who always used to win. But I don’t think Mr. Wiggles’s owner even knows where we live, let alone be able to break into our apartment.”
    “Never underestimate an underdog,” Shelby said with a confident nod.
    A laugh escaped my throat, and I started coughing to cover it up.
    Underdog? Mr. Wiggles? Really? What had I gotten myself into?
    The car turned as we headed toward a park that seemed to stretch for miles and miles. I didn’t know the city that well yet, but I knew it had to be Central Park. The driver made another turn and pulled up alongside a tall stone building with two towers.
    “We’re here,” Tamra said as she exited the car.
    A doorman greeted her as he opened the intricate glass doors that led us into a lobby with marble