Chapter 6

While everyone was panicking, Shirley chased Mr. Fletch into the fair but lost him. When the outside lights of the haunted house came on, Shirley walked up to it. Shirley walked into the haunted house and looked around for Mr. Fletch. While Shirley was looking, a ghost came out of the wall, and she started to hear Mr. Fletch's voice in every room.

Shirley walked through the haunted house and saw a witch making a potion in her cauldron. Mr. Fletch said, "You don't understand." Shirley said, "Oh, I think I do." Mr. Fletch said, "You brat. How could you understand the pain of losing every year?" Shirley said, "I know losing is hard to accept, but cheating is no answer." Mr. Fletch said, "Are you crazy? A win against St. Charleston is what St. Glisten truly deserves."

Mr. Fletch slid out of the haunted house on a slide, but Shirley did, too. The scorekeeper said, "The score is tied seven to seven, and there are only ten minutes left on the clock. Where's Slimy when St. Charleston needs him?" So, Shirley chased after Mr. Fletch to the merry-go-round. Mr. Fletch climbed on the merry-go-round and then jumped off it. Then he pulled the switch on the control panel to start the merry-go-round to slow Shirley down. Shirley stopped, took her scooter from her backpack, and rode around the merry-go-round.

Shirley rode her scooter down a big hill after Mr. Fletch. While Mr. Fletch was running, he saw a skateboard rental booth at the bottom of the hilltop. He grabbed a skateboard and rode away when he got to the bottom. Shirley stopped her scooter and saw that Mr. Fletch was trying to escape. Shirley said, "There has to be something I can do." Shirley rode her scooter after Mr. Fletch and saw that he was returning to the game. Shirley said, "He's heading for the field."

Shirley rode her scooter faster and rode right next to Mr. Fletch. Then Shirley jumped off her scooter and pushed Mr. Fletch off his skateboard. Shirley pinned Mr. Fletch to the ground, but Mr. Fletch kicked Shirley off. Then Mr. Fletch ran up to Shirley, but Shirley climbed to the top of a balloon-popping game booth. Mr. Fletch climbed up to the top after her, but Shirley jumped down and ran off.

When Mr. Fletch jumped, he tried to punch Shirley, but Shirley smacked his fist away and fell to her knees. Then Mr. Fletch got on Shirley's back, but Shirley kicked Mr. Fletch off, and he got slammed into the merry-go-round. Next, Shirley tried to run away, but Mr. Fletch grabbed her backpack and threw her to the ground. Finally, Mr. Fletch said, "This will teach you to get involved."

Mr. Fletch tried to jump on Shirley, but Shirley got up, and Mr. Fletch landed on his arm. Shirley said, "Thanks for the lesson." Shirley reached her hand out and offered to help Mr. Fletch up. Then, Mr. Fletch took Shirley's hand. Mr. Fletch said, "Thank you, Shirley." Shirley said, "Since I'm helping you up?" Mr. Fletch said, "No. For sticking your hand out like an idiot."

Mr. Fletch squeezed Shirley's hand, and Shirley shrunk down to her knees. Then Mr. Fletch kicked Shirley down, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Mr. Fletch said, "You about ready to give up?" Shirley said, "No way." Shirley tripped Mr. Fletch by swinging her leg under his legs. Then Shirley got up, took the rope from her backpack, and tied Mr. Fletch up.

When Shirley finished tying up Mr. Fletch, she brought him to the football field. Shirley took a bullhorn from the scorekeeper's booth and spoke through it. Shirley said, "Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Shirley Holmes, and I'm here to explain the mystery I just solved. Mr. Fletch was the flute player and was the one who bought all that hypnotizing stuff. He attached it to the inside of this flute, which guaranteed to hypnotize animals to dance and do whatever he told them when he played a song based on the corresponding animal. Since Slimy the Snake was long, he stole all the books from the books store. The next night, the rabbits robbed the jewelry store. And the next night, the sheep robbed the TV store." Shirley played Snake Charmer on the flute, and then Slimy danced toward Shirley. Shirley said, "My first clue was finding the connection between the songs and the animals. My next clue was these notes in the jewelry store and on my car. I went back to the pet store and found this magazine." Shirley held the magazine sideways and opened it to show the audience.

When the magazine opened, the audience saw it had a bunch of cut-out letters in it. Shirley said, "This magazine has cut out letters that Mr. Fletch used to make those notes. But the most important clue was this slip of paper. It got torn, but it had Mr. Fletch's address, where I found his cloak in a trunk in his attic." Shirley said, "Mr. Fletch did it to release all his collected animals on the game, and then St. Glisten would win for once. Plus, with all the stuff the animals stole for him, he would be proud of the win, and everybody would blame the animals for the robberies and never find the stuff." Mr. Fletch said, "It would have worked too if it wasn't for that pesky girl detective." The whole audience clapped and cheered for Shirley. Principal Michele said, "But where are all the stolen goods?" Shirley said, "I think I know."

Shirley brought Principal Michele, the Sheriff, and Mr. Fletch to Mr. Fletch's pet store. Then she opened the backroom door, and they saw all the stolen goods behind it. So Shirley said, "Here they are." The sheriff then handcuffed Mr. Fletch and took him to jail.

Everybody got their stuff back the following day, and Shirley was thrilled that she had solved the mystery. Shirley looked at the town's and the school's newspapers and saw that her story was in both. The school paper said, "Slimy Returns Thanks to Shirley Holmes." The town's article said, "Animal Piper Put Away Thanks to Shirley Holmes." Shirley went back to St. Charleston and spoke with Principal Michele and Susan. Shirley said, "I solved another case." Principal Michele said, "Plus, thanks to you, our school won against St. Glisten again." Shirley said, "Did anybody cheat?" Susan said, "Nope, I watched it from beginning to end. Our school won fair and square." Shirley said, "Congratulations." When they finished talking, Shirley started to walk to her hotel. While walking to her hotel, her cell phone rang, and she answered it. Shirley said, "Hello." The person on the other line said, "Hello Shirley, somebody has stolen every cow in Texas." Shirley said, "I'm on it."

Shirley went to a costume store and bought a cowgirl suit. Then she put on her cowgirl hat, vest, belt, pants, and boots. Principal Michele said, "Bye, Shirley." Susan said, "Bye, Shirley." Shirley said, "Bye. But don't worry, you'll see me again." Shirley waved goodbye to Principal Michele and Susan, and they waved back. Then Shirley drove to the airport and got on a plane to take her to Texas for her next big case.

The End