THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL MYSTERY
by Toby Arguello

Chapter 1
Charlie was heading towards the Normaltown Museum of Natural History on a sunny summer Saturday morning.  He always went to the museum on these types of mornings for 4 good reasons:

1. He always played with Sherlock, the janitor’s hairy playful Labrador.  2.  The exhibits were interesting.  3.  Mr. Smartmen, the owner, was kind and usually in a good mood, and ( most importantly). 4.  IT WAS FREE!!!!  However, today, Mr. Smartmen was running around in circles, looking anything but happy.  “Charlie!  We’ve been robbed!  We’re missing T-Rex bones, and Incan sculpture, pieces of gold, 2 prehistoric tools and lots of food from the snack bar!!” screamed Mr. Smartmen.  “Woof” added Sherlock.  Charlie was amazed.  This had never happened before.  He was also a big fan of the Museum’s T-Rex skeleton, so he was extra-disgusted.  Since Charlie liked the museum and Mr. Smartmen, he decided to take the case.  “Don’t worry Mr. Smartmen.  I’ll take the case.  I’ll find the culprit!”  Charlie announced, as he bravely walked to the museum. 

Chapter 2
As Charlie walked into the museum, he automatically noticed some big changes.  First, the large T-Rex skeleton in the main entrance was definitely missing some bones.  Plus there was mud around the model skeleton.  Charlie followed a mud trail to the Ancient Kingdoms, and, yes, there was no Incan sculpture.  There was mud in its place.  Charlie inspected the gold, prehistoric exhibit and snack bar and they all had mud.  Mud. His first clue.  He reported this clue to Mr. Smartmen.  Then, went back inside.  He decided to examine the mud more closely.  Taking out a magnifying glass, he discovered Clue #2.  His magnifying glass showed hair in the mud.  Lots of hair near the T-Rex, hardly anything by the snack bar (whew!).  Allright!  2 clues.  Charlie walked outside and told Mr. Smartmen the good news.  “So, we’re looking for a hairy, muddy kind of guy,” reasoned Charlie.  “Joe, the janitor, went crawling through the last night.  Some teenagers threw his mop,” suggested Mr. Smartmen.  Charlie was thinking about this suggestion, when a car pulled into the lot.  But not just any car.  A police car.

Chapter 3
“They’re finally here!”  cried Mr. Smartmen.  Charlie followed as Mr. Smartmen walked to the police car.  Officer Strict was, well, strict.  “Where have you been?  I called 911 half an hour ago.  So far a twelve-year-old has found more things than you!”  screamed Mr. Smartmen.  “There was traffic,” said Officer Strict.  He started asking questions, “Did you find any clues?”  Charlie told the officer about the mud and hair.  “Are there any theories about the culprit?”  Strict asked.  Charlie told him Mr. Smartmen’s theory about Joe the Janitor.  “Oh really?  How’s the security system?” Offcier Strict asked.  “Here, I’ll show you, said Mr. Smartmen.  He walked Charlie and Officer Strict inside to the prehistoric exhibit.  He pointed to a tiny red light bulb on the wall, about one foot off the ground.  “That’s a sensory laser.  We turn them on at night.  If anything moves in front of these lasers, an alarm goes off.  There were more lasers above this one, but no lasers under it.  “Why aren’t the lasers closer to the floor?” asked Chalrie.  “When the alarm goes off, it automatically calls the police, locks all the doors, makes a loud, ringing noise, and causes a net to fall.  If a mouse passed the laser, the only good that would come out of it would be a free exterminator,” explained Mr. Smartmen.  “I think that happened last year,” added Officer Strict.  “Can’t someone just, be really short or crawl under them?” said Charlie.  Clue #3.  “You’re right,” exclaimed Mr. Smartmen.  “I think I should interview Joe,” announced Officer Strict.  Officer Strict walked to the janitor’s office.  He came out of the office 5 minutes later.  “What a strange man,” exclaimed Officer Strict.  “He has a dog, but hates cats. He says last night he spent crawling around in the mud under the thornbush,  looking for his mop.  Says you hardly pay him, and that the cheapest thing in this museum is worth more than his salary,” reported Officer Strict.  “That is not true!  There are things in the gift shop that are cheaper than his salary,” complained Mr. Smartmen.  “Back on topic people!  We’ve still got a mystery to solve!” shouted Charlie.  The trio started looking for more clues. There was npthing by the t-rex, but the Incas had a clue. The cat statue was torn to shreds.
Chapter 4
”Clue 4. Everything’s pointing to Joe.” Announced Charlie. “Yes,” replied Mr. Smartmen. “It’s Joe.” They decided to go outside to look for clues. After looking for about 10 minutes, they found clue #5. Joe’s mop. Outside. Broken. “It HAS to be Joe! All the clues prove it!” exclaimed Mr. Smartmen. “I’ll dust for fingerprints” said Officer Strict. He came out of the museum a few minutes later. “No fingerprints,” he reported. Joe was wearing gloves. “All right,” said Mr. Smartmen and Charlie together. They marched to the Janitor’s Office. They knoced on the door. Joe came out. “We know it was you! You were out in the mud last night, there’s mud at the scenes of the crimes! You said you were crawling, and you have to crawl to get past the security system. You hate cats, cat sculpture ripped to shreds. You’re mop’s outside, and there’s no fingerprints, but you’re wearing gloves” they said together. “What about the hair?” said the bald janitor. “Oh, yeah…uhh…um…it came from your…mop?” “The mop’s outside,” replied the janitor. The trio knew it wasn’t Joe. But who was it?
Chapter 5
Charlie sat on the steps, wondering who could have done it. They were so close! Who could it have been? Sherlock dropped a bone at Charlie’s feet. “Not now, Sherlock,” replied Charlie sadly. It was a big bone. It looked familiar. It was the T-REX BONE! Sherlock was the thief. All the clues made sense! The mud, the hair, the lasers, the car, the mop, and the fingerprints! Sure enough, in the dog house were the bones, sculpture, gold, tools, and candies. Charlie ran inside and told the others about his discover. “So it was the dog all along,” said Mr. Smartmen. That was a smart dog!