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Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Where Are You?
By Marlee N
Everyone always asks me what my first case was before I became our town's most successful detective. That is why I am writing this story to tell you all about it. My story begins two years ago, a day like any other day...... well it was blistering hot out, but other than that it was a day like any other day. I had just finished deleting my emails, all 21 of them. It seemed like everyone out there was always trying to advertise their products. Suddenly, a new email popped up from my best friend. It read...
Please help me! I am stuck baby-sitting for my mother's friend and I have to
baby-sit three exhausting kids. They all have way different personalities and
one of the kids isn't even their own. He is just over playing! Things around
here are out of control, they never pick up after themselves, and there are toys
strewn everywhere! The rug rats are hungry but won't all eat the same food and
I can't cook very well. All I can hear is whining, crying and arguing. , To make
matters worse the littlest girl lost her favorite teddy bear. Nobody can find
it anywhere in the house. Think... if you come and help me, this can be your first
case. You could call it, "The case of the missing teddy Bear." Please, I
really need your help! I can't even hear myself think. Well I have to go, the
kids are calling me, the popcorn is burning and the pizza is smoldering in the
oven. Come help me please!
From your best friend,
p.s. Their house is located at 5818 46 st.
I quickly logged off my computer, yanked my detective gear off of the hanger and
headed out the door. As soon as I opened the door I almost fainted from the
heat. I grabbed two mini fans and an umbrella to block the sun with. About
halfway there I started to feel the heat more intensely. It seemed to be
burning a hole through my sandals. Then I looked around I noticed that NOBODY
was outside but me and I knew why. Nobody wanted to burn up like a lobster!
It seemed like an eternity before I arrived at the correct address.
Even before I had a chance to knock, my friend hurriedly opened the door and let
me in. Right when I stepped in the house I saw toys, dolls and half-eaten food
everywhere. The unpleasant smell of scorched popcorn and overdone pizza reeked
throughout the house. I heard whining, and shouting coming from every which
way. It seemed like I couldn't sit, stand or lay anywhere without touching a
toy, doll, or sticky sandwich! The only kid I saw was the little girl whose
teddy bear was lost. Obviously the tears streaming from her face and her sad
expression told the whole story.
I went around the house searching for the suspects that could have
snatched the teddy bear. The first kid I spotted was Mike Brooks. He was a short
little kid that looked very tidy in spite of his surroundings. His shirt was
tucked in his pants, and his hair was combed neatly in place. Then I noticed Sam
Cartland. He was looking for his sister in the pantry. He was extraordinarily
tall. His hair was all messed up, his clothes ragged and he looked like he had
just played in some mud. Sam found his sister Stacey (with the help of me)
quietly hiding behind the couch. She looked sweet and innocent, her hair all up
in a ponytail held in by a green ribbon and she had the cutest smile ever.
I gathered them all in the living room and asked the littlest girl
what time her teddy bear went missing. She told me about the time she went to go
eat her sandwich. I turned to my friend and she told me that was about 11:00
a.m. - 11:30 a.m. I then questioned all the possible suspects about what they
were doing at the time of this crime.
Mike told me that he was on the computer organizing his daily planner,
and then took a short break to go pick a flower from the front yard for the
baby-sitter. Now I turned to Stacey. She informed me that she had been playing
with her dolls until Sam asked if she wanted to go play hide-and-go-seek with
him, so she did. Now it was Sam's turn. He told me that he was with the
baby-sitter, then went to go play hide-and-go-seek with Stacey. My friend
confirmed all of their alibis. At this point, I asked her what their motives
might be. She told me that Sam hated it when his sisters played with dolls or
stuffed animals. Stacey liked to play pranks on everyone for fun and Mike had
always longed for that teddy bear.
I asked the little girl what the teddy bear looked like and she told me that it
was hazel-nut brown with an ear that was about to fall off. She also informed me
that it had a green bow tie just like the one Stacey was wearing in her hair.
All of our eyes immediately jerked over to Stacey's hair. I asked Stacey to take
out her ribbon. She whined and complained that it would wreck her hair. Stacey
put up a good fight, but in the end we got it out. I examined the ribbon, and
then tied it in a bow. I asked the little girl if that was it and she told me it
looked exactly like that. Stacey now confessed that she did take the little
teddy bear for the bow tie, but when Sam asked if she wanted to go play
hide-and-go-seek she ran to hide her and the teddy bear. Stacey told me that she
left the teddy bear behind the front curtain and when she returned it was gone.
Case not solved.
I started to look around for more clues but I couldn't find any around
the house. I needed more leads or clues. I asked the kids to empty their pockets
for any physical evidence left behind. Stacey was wearing a dress with no
pockets. Sam had holes in his pockets so if he put anything in his it would
have fallen out and Mike told me his pants had no pockets. At that moment Mike
told me that he had to go to the washroom. When he turned around I noticed
something unusual. He had a back pocket with something bulging out of it. I
asked him to empty his pockets once more, but again he said he didn't have any.
So I grabbed him by the shirt and told him to empty his pockets. He squirmed a
little, then reached for his back pocket and pulled out an ear (a brown, furry
teddy bear ear.) We all gasped and I jerked the ear from Mike. He told me that
he saw it on the floor and decided to try to put it back on, but he couldn't
find the bear. Now I had one strike against Mike and one strike against Stacey.
Case still not solved.
I was hoping I could wrap this case before supper because mom made me
promise to be home at 6:00. I needed to find that teddy bear now or get someone
to confess where they put it. I couldn't think of any more ideas, but then
remembered that Mike had gone out to go get a flower and give it to the
baby-sitter. I asked him where he got the flower from and he told me he went out
to the front of the house where the best flowers were. I looked at my friend's
flower, the one she had received. It looked exactly like the one outside the
front window, but it also looked exactly like the one in the flower pot inside
the house. I examined the flower garden outside and noticed that to get to the
flower you would have had to go through a big pile of dirt. Therefore Mike would
have been covered in dirt. Mike's clothes were spotless, no dirt, or even dust
on them. I asked Mike what he wore outside. He told me that he just wore his
pants and coat. Suddenly I remembered that when I walked over here it was
blistering hot out, so I wondered how Mike got outside without fainting from the
heat. I needed a fan and an umbrella, shorts, and a tank top just to get over
here without fainting myself. Plus when I was walking over I remembered looking
around and noticing that not a soul was outside because of the extreme heat. I
asked Mike where the teddy bear was. He looked puzzled as to how I knew it was
him. I told him he just made up that story about the flower to buy time before
he stole the teddy bear. He had just picked the flower from the flower pot in
the kitchen. Finally he caved in and went to get the teddy bear from the
bathroom. He went to the very last cupboard. Inside the soap basket there was
the teddy bear, with a missing ear. He gave it back to the little girl who gave
him a great big hug and went back to playing with her stuffed animals. Soon
everything was back to normal... well at least normal for this house. Kids were
screaming, running everywhere and the smell of burnt pizza overpowered the
house. My friend and Mike thanked me and I was off. I didn't want to miss
dinner. Case finally solved.