The Movie Theater Mystery Page 3

  The little poodle looked especially sad. He was whimpering and whining.

  “Oh dear,” sEDaid the police chief. “This is urgent. This little fellow must be looking for a lamppost.”

  Jerry crouched down and whistled to the poodle. The poodle immediately howled in reply and started toward him.

  On his way across the floor, he stopped to lift his back leg and relieve himself against Popcorn Pete’s pant leg.

  After Doodle Bug finished his business, the police chief lead the dog thief away with a firm grip on his arm.

  Miss Bloom and Zorba took the dogs upstairs and started to call their owners.

  “I bet she’s going to give him an earful,” said Maya.

  Just then the doors to the theater opened. Jerry and Maya walked out with Bert Anderson and the other moviegoers as they left the Rio Cinema.

  The next day Ivy Rose and everyone else in the town of Pleasant Valley woke to read the following news:

  Stolen Dogs Found

  The singing poodle, Doodle Bug, and his three canine companions have finally been reunited with their owners. Thanks to Maya and Jerry, Pleasant Valley’s own doggy detectives, the mystery of the missing mutts was solved before the little creatures came to

  any harm.

  The culprit? Popcorn Pete from the Rio Cinema. Instead of selling snacks, he was striking fear into the dog owners of Pleasant Valley. The reason for his crime? To pay for a top-of-the-line, very expensive home-entertainment system. “Popcorn Pete will have to change his viewing habits,” joked the police chief. “The prison has a small black-and-white TV—and it even works . . . sometimes!”

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