Shirley Holmes and Diane Watson. Case #6: Thinking Like Half An Animal

Chapter 1

A girl named Sam Ashburg was walking across town in New Jersey when she walked down an alley. Then she saw a bunch of cats surrounding a pack of scared dogs. Sam said, "That's odd. I know something that might work." Sam reached into her pocket and brought out a ball. Sam threw the ball, and a cat jumped and caught it in her mouth. When she landed on the ground, she started to wag her tail. Sam said, "Ok, this is officially weird."
Meanwhile, in Australia, a few people went to see the kangaroos. When they found them, they saw the kangaroos drinking the water. Then, all the koala bears started to waddle like penguins toward the kangaroos. Then, they all jumped in the water and swam like penguins under the water. While they watched the koalas swim, they saw the kangaroos put their heads inside the ground like ostriches. The tour guide said, "That's weird."
Meanwhile, in Texas, all the horses jumped slowly over a fence in a straight line like sheep. Then they all started to say "baa," and everybody in Texas was getting scared by them. The sheriff said, "This is strange."
Meanwhile, Shirley was on vacation in Kentucky. Shirley then looked up and saw a Hawk in the trees. Shirley said, "Hello, Mr. Hawk." Then the hawk repeated everything Shirley said like a parrot. The hawk said, "Hello, Mr. Hawk." Shirley said, "Did you just talk." The hawk said, "Did you just talk?" Shirley said, "Stop repeating what I say." The hawk said, "Stop repeating what I say." Since Shirley was annoyed by that hawk, she walked away from it without saying anything. Shirkey was walking to her hotel when she saw the news on the TVs in a TV store. The news reporter said, "And this is Michele Lans saying animals everywhere are acting in an unlike animal behavior. The penguins in Antarctica are pecking like chickens, the cows in Tennessee are rolling around in the mud like pigs, and the raccoons in Montana are running away and hiding from people like foxes. Shirley said, "Looks like I have a mystery to solve."
Shirley went to her hotel, ponytailed her hair, put her backpack on, and went to Tennessee. Shirley climbed to the top of a hill, took her binoculars from her bag, and looked through them. Then she saw the cows who were acting like pigs earlier. Shirley said, "I don't know, they look like average cows." Shirley went down to the farm and investigated it. The farmer tapped Shirley on the shoulder, and Shirley turned around. The farmer said, "May I help you?" Shirley said, "I'm Shirley Holmes, investigating your case." The farmer said, "I don't know what happened. I did all the work yesterday, and the cows started acting like pigs this morning." Shirley said, "That means whoever's behind this struck during the night." Shirley turned around and stepped on something. Shirley said, "What?" Shirley looked at the ground and saw a piece of paper. Shirey picked it up and read what was on it. Shirley said, "An order form from the Colorado Shiping Company. Looks like that's where I'm headed."
Shirley drove to Colorado and saw a sign for the shipping company. Shirley said, "Colorado Shiping Company 10 Miles Ahead." When Shirley got to the shipping company, she saw a mysterious figure with a ray gun. Shirley peered around the corner and saw a dolphin jump out of the water. Then the mysterious figure blasted the dolphin with his ray gun, giving the dolphin razor-sharp teeth, and it started to crave fish like a shark. Shirley said, "Hey you, drop the ray gun, and nobody gets hurt." The mysterious figure put the ray gun in his gun pocket and ran off. Shirley said, "I hate it when they run." Shirley chased after the mysterious figure across the docks and lost him when she saw all the crates. Shirley strolled through them when the hooded figure jumped out at her and rolled her inside the shipping company. Shirley kicked the mysterious figure off her, and he got slammed against a wall. The hooded figure got up, got on a chair with wheels, and skated away on it. Shirley jumped on the conveyor belt and ran across it. When she saw the mysterious figure, she jumped off the conveyor belt, tried to grab him, and landed on the floor. Then Shirley got up and saw the hooded figure run out of the building. Shirley said, "He got away."
Shirley looked at the floor and saw something. Shirley picked it up and took a good look at it. Shirley said, "Looks like some microchip. It could be a clue." Shirley checked into a hotel, went to her room, and ran a few tests on the microchip she found. Shirley looked closer at it through a microscope and analyzed data on her laptop. The microscope showed her a DNA match of animal DNA. Shirley said, "I don't believe it..." Shirley picked up the microchip and looked at it. Shirley said, "This microchip can mix animal DNA with other animals." Shirley put the microchip in a drawer and locked the drawer so nobody would find the microchip. Then Shirley put her backpack on and went to look for more clues. Shirley got in a jet, set the plane on autopilot, and went to do some research. Shirley opened her laptop and searched for her past villains. Shirley clicked on a link that showed her pictures of all her past villains, but they all had Xs on their photographs. Shirley said, "No, not one has escaped from jail since I sent them back with The Clue Crackers' villains."
Shirley then went to the front of the jet, turned off the autopilot, and drove the plane to Australia herself. When Shirley got to the desert part of Australia, she didn't see one animal. Shirley said, "This is weird." Shirley took her binoculars from her backpack and looked around the desert for animals. Shirley looked near a watering hole and saw a bunch of camels mooing like cows. Shirley smiled, wore a helmet, and rode to the watering hole on a dirt bike. When Shirley made it to the watering hole, she saw a regular camel that was still a camel. Then Shirley thought about the difference between the cow camels and the regular camels. Shirley said, "The only difference is that the camels at the watering don't think they're camels." Shirley set up camp for the night but couldn't fall asleep. Shirley said, "I can't sleep; there are too many unanswered questions." Shirley got out of her tent, packed it up, and snuck off to town on her dirt bike in the middle of the night.
Shirley got off her dirt bike when she made it to town. Shirley said, "I forgot how beautiful Australia is." When morning came, Shirley went to the highest point she could find and looked through her binoculars. Shirley said, "No animals yet, but wait, I see somebody." Shirley looked without her binoculars and saw a girl getting in a truck with a satellite on the roof. Shirley said, "I wonder." Shirley rented a motorcycle and chased after the girl in the car. The girl looked at her side mirrors and saw Shirley chasing her. The girl said, "A bad biker, go to lose her." The girl hit the gas and went faster. Shirley said, "I'm losing her." Shirley rode faster and drove right next to the girl's truck. Shirley said, "Pull over." The girl said, "Make me." The girl threw a box of tacts at Shirley and gave her motorcycle a flat tire. Shirley lost control of her bike, jumped off it, and onto the top of the girl's truck. The girl said, "Company." The girl got up on the roof with Shirley but didn't see Shirley's face because it was masked with her biker helmet. Shirley kicked the girl, but the girl dunked and tripped Shirley. Then Shirley tripped the girl, jumped back on her feet, and tied up the girl. Shirley said, "Wait. Since I tied up the driver, who's driving the car." The truck spun out of control because no one was driving. Shirley looked where they were headed and saw a cliff ahead.
Shirley grabbed the girl, held her in her arms, and jumped off the truck while it fell off the cliff. Shirley said, "That was too close." The girl said, "Oh, thank you." Shirley said, "Now, you answer a few questions." Shirley took the girl back to her hotel room and started questioning her. Shirley said, "Before I question you, I have to ask you your name." The girl said, "I'm Jasmine Fliper." Shirley said, "OK, now why do you have a satellite on your car?" Jasmine said, "That, that's my father's van; he's an FBI agent." Shirley said, "Do you have any record of what your dad does in the FBI?" Jasmine said, "I wish I did, but I don't. I last heard from him six months ago when he sent me this telegram." Jasmine showed Shirley the telegram, and Shirley read it. Shirley said, "Dear Family, Something important has come up. I hope you understand, Dad." Shirley said, "OK, you're free to go." Shirley let Jasmine go and thought about what she said. Shirley said, "Her father's in the FBI, the animals don't act like themselves, and the microchip I found mixes animal DNA. What does it all mean?" Shirley looked at her desk and saw a magazine. Shirley picked it up and read the cover. Shirley said, "'African animals acting in an unlikely behavior.' Looks like I'm going to Africa."