Chapter 4

Shirley took the paper to her hotel room and said, "I have a haunch." Shirley took a pencil, rubbed the lead on the pencil on the sheet, and looked for clues. Shirley said, "Nothing yet, but wait. Bingo." Shirley saw numbers and words on the paper and read them. Shirley said, "224...Wilson Way..." Shirley drove to Wilson Way Street and looked for a matching address. Shirley said, "Two choices, 2246 or 2248." Shirley went to 2246 first and rang the bell. Shirley stood outside, but the door remained closed. Then Shirley looked on the front lawn and saw a For Sale sign, meaning nobody lived there. Shirley said, "This house is out."

Shirley went to 2248 and saw the light coming from the attic window. Shirley took her rope from her backpack, tied it into a lasso, and threw it to the window cell. Shirley climbed up the house walls to the attic window, looked inside, and saw nobody there. Then Shirley opened the window and snuck in. Shirley looked around and saw an old trunk. Then Shirley opened the chest and found a purple cloak inside it. Shirley whispered, "This looks like the flute player's cloak."

Shirley looked at the back of the cloak and saw a hawk picture. She said, "A hawk? The same hawk as the St. Glisten mascot." Then she reached into the cloak's pocket and found a flute and a notepad with a torn page. Shirley took the paper she found, held it up to the torn page, and saw that it matched the missing piece on the torn page of the notepad. Shirley whispered, "Looks like I found my friend."

While investigating, Shirley heard someone walking up the stairs to the attic. Then she opened the window, climbed outside, and ran away before anybody saw her. Then, the person who came to the attic opened the trunk, removed the cloak, and put it on. Shirley drove back to her hotel and started thinking about the mystery. While she was thinking, she began to hear somebody playing B-I-N-G-O on a flute. Shirley ran outside and saw a dog dancing toward her. Shirley said, "What? That's Trudy, Principal Michele's dog. Is she dancing?"

Shirley looked in front of herself and saw more dogs dancing out of their homes and out of dark alleys. The dogs jumped three times and then waged their tails. Then they got on two legs, grabbed a dance partner, and started to dance with each other. Shirley said, "These guys aren't bad either." Shirley got her scooter out and rode after the dogs on it. The dogs danced towards the bank. Then, a Great Dane used its tail to unlock the bank's door while dancing, and then all the dogs danced into the bank. Shirley looked through the bank's window and saw all the dogs dancing while stealing the money from the vault. Shirley whispered, "So that's how the culprit's doing it."

The dogs kept dancing until they stole every money bag in the vault. Shirley whispered, "Time to end this animal dance party." The dogs danced out of the bank with all the moneybags in their mouths. While dancing, Shirley got on her scooter and chased after them. Shirley followed the dogs to the abandoned library and chased them in. Then Shirley followed the dogs to the Reference Section, climbed up to the top of the shelf, and saw the flute player in the middle of the library with the dogs dancing around him.

Shirley took her camera from her backpack, turned off the flash, and took pictures of the dogs dancing around the flute player. Shirley put the photo and camera back in her bag and fell off the shelf. The flute player saw Shirley when she fell and stopped playing his flute. When he stopped playing his flute, the dogs stopped dancing. Shirley said, "Um. Excuse me."

Shirley got up and ran away, screaming as fast as she could. When the flute player saw Shirley trying to run, he started to play B-I-N-G-O again and pointed at Shirley. Then, all the dogs began to growl and ran after Shirley. Shirley ran out of the library screaming, got on her scooter, and rode away fast. While she was riding, the dogs chased after her.

A Golden Retriever jumped on Shirley, and Shirley fell off her scooter. Then, a Great Dane and a Poodle gave Shirley's scooter two flat tires by chewing on them. Shirley ran for her life, but a Dalmatian jumped on Shirley and pinned her to the ground. Then Shirley lifted her arms and legs and threw the Dalmatian off her. Shirley said, "Sorry, but I'm the good guy."

All the dogs saw what Shirley did to the Dalmatian and got angry at her. Shirley said, "They're mad at me now." Shirley got up and looked at the dogs when the song was over. The dogs stopped growling, shook their heads, and almost all ran away. Then, the Dalmatian that attacked Shirley ran up in front of her and started to lick her. Shirley said, "Weird, these dogs don't hate me anymore."

Shirley walked around the school the next day, thinking the mystery through. Then, Shirley went outside and saw Susan giving Jeanine a briefcase. Jeanine opened the suitcase, looked at what was inside it, shut it, shook Susan's hand, and walked in opposite directions. When Susan was gone, Shirley followed Jeanine into the park. Shirley said, "Jeanine, freeze."

Jeanine turned around, saw Shirley, and ran off. When Shirley saw Jeanine trying to run, she chased after her. Shirley said, "Why don't they ever freeze?" Jeanine pushed a kid down and stole his motorboat. Jeanine turned on the motor and rode across the lake. When Shirley got to the lake, she saw Jeanine trying to escape. Then Shirley took her rope from her backpack and a cardboard sign she found. Shirley tied the line into a lasso, threw it at Jeanine's boat, and lassoed it. Jeanine's boat pulled Shirley after her, and Shirley used the sign as a surfboard.

Jeanine looked behind her and saw that Shirley was hot on her trail. Then Jeanine kicked the lasso off her boat, and Shirley fell into the lake. Shirley quickly put her scuba gear on and swam under the water. When Jeanine stopped her ship at the docks, Shirley climbed out of the lake and jumped on Jeanine. Jeanine said, "Who are you?"

Shirley took off her goggles, and Jeanine saw that Shirley had jumped her. Jeanine said, "Shirley." Shirley said, "Yes, now what's in the case?" Shirley took the briefcase from Jeanine's hand, opened it, and saw it was full of money. Shirley said, "Money." Jeanine said, "A hundred dollars. Susan gives me a small donation of the money her family makes at their store, and I do the same for her."

Shirley wrote down everything Jeanine said on her notepad and tried to think if it was helpful. Finally, Shirley said, "Maybe it's Susan I should talk to." Shirley returned Jeanine's briefcase, which was full of money, and went to spy on Susan. Shirley saw Susan walking out of her family's store with a paper bag in her hand. Shirley quietly followed Susan across the neighborhood and down a dark alley. Then Shirley used the flashlight from her backpack to look for Susan in the passage. Shirley said, "Where did she go?"

Shirley cast her light ahead of her, found Susan, got down on her knees, and spied on her. Shirley saw Susan opening her paper bag. Susan blew a whistle from inside the bag, but it didn't make any noise. Then, all the dogs from the alley came around her. Shirley said, "That must be a Silent Dog Whistle humans can't hear." While the dogs were around her, Susan gave each of them a bone from inside her bag. Shirley said, "Trained dogs. It looks like I found a clue."