Chapter 3

After her plane landed, Shirley got off and left the airport. Then Shirley looked around town but didn't find anything. Then, a strong wind blew by her, and a piece of torn paper flew by her in the wind. Shirley picked up the paper, looked at what was on it, and saw half a letter. Shirley said, "This symbol looks familiar, but I don't remember it. Could be a clue." Shirley put the paper in her pocket and went to look for more clues. Shirley walked across town, thinking the mystery through, and had a thought about something. Shirley remembered that Jasmine told her that her father was in the FBI. Shirley said, "Time to go to the belly of the beast." Shirley researched Jamine's father and found his address in England. Shirley went to England and found Mr. Flipper's house.

Shirley climbed to the second floor with her rope, kicked open the window, and jumped into his Study. Shirley said, "Time to see what I can learn about Flipper." Shirley opened his filing cabinet and tried to look for clues. Shirley said, "Nothing in these files." Then she sat down in his desk chair and went to his computer. Shirley typed on the keyboard, and it showed her a picture of Mr. Flipper along with some info on him. Shirley said, "Bingo." Shirley read the information on the computer, hoping it would help her solve the mystery. Shirley said, "Says here he's a computer genius and has been working on an invention that can hack into other computers. There has to be a connection somewhere." Shirley pushed the enter key, and it showed her a password bar. Shirley said, "Password Protected. How do I research what he's been working on?"

Shirley typed on the keyboard, and it showed her more information on Mr. Flipper. Shirley said, "Maybe this will help." Shirley pushed the enter key and zoomed in on the information. Shirley said, "It says here Flipper was a headmaster at George Washington's Boy School in Wahington, D.C., but he quit under certain reasons. But why would he quit his old job for something he made himself?" Shirley moved her leg and stepped on something under the desk. Shirley said, "What?" Shirley looked under the desk and saw a file outside the filing cabinet. Shirley put the file on the desk, opened it, and saw a design picture for Mr. Flipper's invention. Shirley picked up the picture and read all the information on it. Shirley said, "C. H. R. I. S. Computer Hacking Regulation Intelligent System. Ok, that qualifies as strange."

While Shirley was on the computer, Mr. Flipper used his key to unlock his study, and Shirley heard him coming in. Then Shirley climbed up in the air vent so Mr. Flipper wouldn't see her. When Mr. Flipper walked in, he had a strange feeling that someone was in his study, but he didn't see anybody. Shirley crawled through the vents, jumped out of them, and landed in the living room. Shirley said, "I better get out of here." Shirley shut the front door so Mr. Flipper wouldn't hear her leave. When Shirley got outside, she looked at the paper she had found. Shirley said, "Still nothing." Shirley walked across England in the middle of the night and went to the animal shelter dressed as an employee. Shirley saw that the animals were the only things in the animal shelter. Shirley said, "Looks like I won't need my disguise after all."

Shirley got out of her disguise and got back into her detective clothes. Shirley walked by the dogs, looked in a cage, and saw three jumping like sheep. Shirley looked in another cage and saw five chewing wood as beavers would. Shirley left the room and headed for the manager's office. Shirley tried to open the door, but it was locked. Shirley said, "Dang it, this door has three locks, and they're all computerized. Maybe there's another way to get in; there's an air vent above the door." Shirley crawled through the air vents and found an exit. Shirley removed the air vent hatch and jumped out of it. Shirley said, "This is it." Shirley looked at a table and saw a few books. Shirley looked at the middle book and saw a Ferris wheel on the cover. Shirley opened the book and saw that it was a journal. Shirley said, "That's weird. This journal dates back to the 5th century in the Middle Ages, and this is the 21st century." Shirley looked through the journal and found the last entry. Shirley said, "May 23rd, 1443, I had just defeated the pirates in a one-on-one ship battle. Now that the town is saved, its people can burn the witches they caught at the stake." Shirley turned the page and saw a picture of the townspeople burning witches at the stake in Old Salem." Since the door was locked, Shirley returned the journal and left the office through the air vents.

The next day, Shirley went to Washington, D.C., disguised herself as a professor, and went inside George Washington's Boy School to investigate. The people by the doors had their suspicions when they saw Shirley, but Shirley waved hello to them and walked in. Shirley walked into the headmaster's office and looked around while he wasn't around. Shirley opened the drawers on his desk but didn't find any clues. Shirley looked on the bookshelf and saw a bunch of spare school books. Shirley said, "Not one clue in here." The school's headmaster then unlocked his office, and Shirley heard him coming in. Shirley said, "Gotta hide, gotta hide."

The headmaster opened his office door and saw that nobody was in there. Shirley was on the ceiling's support beams and slowly crawled across them. Shirley slid down one of the support beams and to the window. Then she unlocked the window, opened it, jumped out, and fell three stories down. The headmaster heard Shirley screaming but thought it was just his imagination. When Shirley got to the bottom, she fell into many thorn bushes. Shirley crawled out of them covered in thorns and saw the guard dogs. Shirley said, "Good doggies, nice doggies." One dog looked at Shirley, got on his belly, and slithered away like a snake. Another got on two legs and clucked like a chicken. Shirley got out of her professor outfit and back into her detective clothes. Shirley looked at the ground and saw a pin. Shirley picked the pin up and read what was on it. Shirley said, "Glacier Express. Probably a boat."

Shirley went to the headmaster's office and threw the pin on his desk. The headmaster said, "And you are?" Shirley said, "Shirley Holmes, worldwide girl detective." The headmaster said, "How dare you bring a cruise pin into my office and think it belongs to me." Shirley said, "Don't toy with me. Your guard dogs aren't acting like themselves, and you're the only one who could have done it." The headmaster said, "The only person in the whole world." Shirley said, "You do have a point there." Shirley took the pin back and put it in her backpack. Shirley left the school and sat down against a tree. Shirley researched the pin she found on her laptop. Shirley said, "According to this, three hundred of those pins were sold this year. None in this area, though. The most sold were sold in the Alaska area."

Shirley called the airport and got a pilot to take only her to Alaska in a two-person airplane. When Shirley arrived, she walked across the ice while it was snowing. When she reached the water, a walrus jumped out like a dolphin and went back in like a dolphin, too. Shirley said, "This mystery is getting more mysterious constantly." Shirley moved her leg and stepped into something. Shirley said, "What the." Shirley looked at her boot and saw it covered in black muck. Shirley rubbed her fingers on what was on her boot and rubbed her fingers together. Shirley said, "Oil. Probably leftovers from the culprit's laser."

Shirley turned in the opposite direction and saw a frozen lake. Shirley stepped on the ice with one foot, and the ice started to crack. Then Shirley got back on the snow and thought about how she would get across. She got on her hands and knees so her weight wouldn't break the ice and slowly crawled across the ice. When Shirley got to the other side, she saw a town. Shirley went to a coffee shop and interviewed the person at the counter. Shirley said, "Shirley Holmes, worldwide girl detective. Let's talk." Shirley said, "How long has it been since the animals started acting like other animals?" The person at the counter said, "Just a few weeks." Shirley said, "Seen anybody strange around town?" The person at the counter said, "No." Shirley wrote everything on her notepad and put it in her coat pocket.

Shirley left the coffee shop and saw the mysterious figure in town. Shirley said, "Hey, freeze." The hooded figure saw Shirley and ran off. Then Shirley chased after the hooded figure. The mysterious figure ran into a back door, but Shirley chased after him. The hooded figure ran out of the back room of the coffee shop, and so did Shirley. Then they jumped from table to table until they reached the front door. The mysterious figure ran out the front door and headed for the ice. Shirley said, "He's heading for my plane." The hooded figure pushed a button on both his shoes and turned them into ice skates. Then he skated across the ice while Shirley could not get across. Shirley crawled across the ice again and saw that the mysterious figure disappeared. Shirley then looked on the ground and saw a notepad with a torn page. Shirley looked at the notepad and read what was on it. Shirley said, "Half of it's torn off, but this says Big Plans to go to Spa... The rest of the Spa is torn off, so Spa must be short for Spain." Shirley got her pilot to take her to Spain so she could investigate there.