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

Chapter 5

Shirley got someplace safe when she saw a girl on the road. Shirley turned her wheel and spun around in a circle. When she hit the brakes, she stopped by the girl. Shirley said, "What were you thinking walking in the street?" The girl said, "To see you." Shirley said, "Me." The girl said, "Yeah, I want to be your partner." Shirley said, "Well, I suppose a partner could be helpful. What's your name?" The girl said, "Diane Watson." Shirley said, "Get in." Diane got in Shirley's car. Then Shirley gave her a walkie-talkie and drove her to the next place where they would look for clues. Shirley stopped the vehicle at City Hall in New Jersey. Diane said, "What are we doing here?" Shirley said, "Solving a mystery." Shirley and Diane went through the town's files, hoping it would give them some clues. Diane said. "Anything?" Shirley said, "Here's something: Mr. Flipper put an emotion in the FBI to install his new security system fifteen times." Diane said, "But his invention failed." Shirley said, "Maybe we should go pay him a visit."

Shirley and Diane went to Mr. Flipper's house, knocked on the door, and waited for him to answer it. When he answered the door, Shirley said, "Mr. Flipper, you need to come with us." Mr. Flipper said, "Ok, but first." Mr. Flipper slammed the door and ran off. Then Shirley and Diane opened the door and chased after him. When they got inside, they lost Mr. Flipper's trail. Shirley said, "Here could have gone left, towards upstairs, or right, towards the kitchen." Diane said, "You take upstairs; I'll take the kitchen." Shirley ran upstairs and looked for Mr. Flipper but couldn't find him.

Meanwhile, Diane looked in the other rooms but still couldn't find him. Shirley said through her walkie-talkie, "Diane, find him yet?" Diane stated through her walkie-talkie, "Not yet." Shirley opened a door and saw Mr. Flipper in the closet. Then he jumped out of the closet, pushed Shirley down, and ran downstairs. Shirley said through her walkie-talkie, "Diane, I found him; he's heading down the stairs." Diane ran for the stairs and saw Mr. Flipper running down them. Mr. Flipper jumped off the stairs and ran off, but when Shirley got downstairs, she and Diane chased after him. Mr. Flipper ran into his basement, but so did Shirley and Diane. Diane dumped a bag of marbles on the floor when they got downstairs, and Mr. Flipper tripped on them. Then Shirley helped Mr. Flipper up and took him to his study.

They stayed in his study for hours, but Mr. Flipper refused to answer their questions. Shirley said, "For the last time, tell us what you know about animal crimes worldwide." Mr. Flipper said, "And for the last time, I'm not talking." Diane said, "We've been here for hours, and he won't budge." Shirley said, "Maybe we should just leave." Shirley and Diane let Mr. Flipper go and left his house. Diane said, "I can't believe we're giving up." Shirley said, "Oh, we're not, trust me." When it got dark, Shirley and Diane wore spy outfits and returned to Mr. Flipper's house. Shirley looked in the living room window and saw nobody inside. Shirley whispered, "Cost is clear, let's go." Diane whispered, "Are you sure about this?" Shirley said, "Will you keep it down? Mr. Flipper is asleep and could catch us doing this."

Shirley and Diane opened the window and snuck into the house. While Mr. Flipper was asleep, Shirley and Diane snuck upstairs and used their flashlights to look around. Diane saw a triangular door at the end of the hallway, walked up to it, and opened it. When they got in, they saw the room was red and mysterious. Shirley sat down in a chair, and it shackled her wrists. Shirley said, "Hey." Diane pushed a button on the chair and freed Shirley. Diane said, "He is in the FBI." Shirley approached the door, and an iron shield went over it so they couldn't escape. Shirley said, "Locked, try the windows." Diane said, "Also locked, but I know how to open a window." Diane picked up a wooden bat and hit it against the window. The bat broke in half. Shirley said, "Great. We'll be stuck all night if we don't leave here." Diane said, "I have an idea." Shirley and Diane grabbed a lamp and banged it against the door. Then, the room's air conditioning dropped from seventy to twenty degrees. Shirley and Diane put on their jackets and started to freeze. Diane said, "I think we have a bigger problem than a locked room," The air conditioning in the room dropped from twenty degrees to zero degrees, and Shirley and Diane started to scream. Shirley and Diane kept shivering while banging the lamp against the door. When they got the door open, Shirley and Diane ran out and hid in the seller. Shirley and Diane turned on their flashlights and saw they were in the seller. Shirley said, "OK, we should be safe here."

Shirley and Diane stayed in the seller for hours until they fell asleep. When morning came, Shirley and Diane left Mr. Flipper's seller and drove around town looking for clues. Shirley and Diane sat at the counter at a diner, and their waiter gave them their drinks while they thought their case through. Diane turned her chair around and saw a strange guy in a black cowboy bandit outfit. The guy saw Diane looking at him and left the diner. Diane got off her chair, looked out the window, and saw the guy put on his helmet and ride away on his motorcycle. Diane left the diner, rented a bike, and chased after the guy on it.

The guy looked behind him, smiled, and rode faster. Diane said, "He's trying to get away." Diane looked to her left and saw a car with a box that fell off it. Diane rode up the box and jumped off it like a ramp. Diane finally caught up with the guy, and he saw her. The guy turned to the left, but Diane rode straight ahead into a wall. Diane turned her motorcycle around before hitting the wall and went after the guy on the bike. The guy saw a gorge ahead and jumped it, and so did Diane.

Meanwhile, Shirley came out of the diner's restrooms and saw that Diane was gone. Shirley looked out the window and saw that their car was still where they had parked it, so she didn't leave. Shirley called Diane on her walkie-talkie. Shirley said, "Diane, where are you?" Diane took her walkie-talkie from her backpack and answered it. Diane said, "Chasing after a suspect in question." Diane hung up her walkie-talkie and continued to chase after the guy on the motorcycle. The guy on the bike stopped his motorcycle by a fence and saw Diane chasing him there. The guy said, "Here we are." Diane stopped her bike and got off it. Diane said, "Look, I want to know everything about the animals of the world since they're no longer acting like themselves." The guy said, "Then why chase me? I may be innocent, you know."