Chapter 4

Shirley went outside and saw Lisa and Cindy handing out campaign flyers. Shirley thought they were doing fine, so she went to her car. When Shirley arrived, she drove off in her car and headed for the library to investigate. On her way there, she saw the hooded figure on the other side of the road. The hooded figure turned right, and Shirley chased after him. Shirley chased the hooded figure across town. When the hooded figure saw Shirley following him, he hit his car on a light post, tipping it over. The fallen street light hit Shirley's car and broke her windshield. When Shirley stopped her vehicle, she saw the hooded figure's car was gone. Shirley said, "Not again."

Shirley returned to the school, where she found Lisa and Cindy protesting. Lisa put up posters saying "Shut Down Your iPod" all over the school. Cindy said, "Yawn. Here's something better." Cindy pushed a button on a remote, and it turned off all the lights and brought down a vast T.V. screen from the ceiling. Next, Cindy pressed the play button on her clicker, and it showed the whole school a video commercial about her protest. Shirley, Lisa, and all the students watched the commercial. The commercial said, "They play music, they plug into computers. There will be no more downloading if Lisa wins. So, unless you hate them, SAVE THE IPODS!"

Meanwhile, somebody unplugged a wire in the back of the T.V. and plugged in an identical one. The whole school clapped, and a few kids signed Cindy's petition. Then, the saboteur changed the frequency on his remote to work on Cindy's T.V. When he pushed the clicker's play button, Cindy's T.V. showed another video commercial for Cindy's campaign. The commercial said, "Cindy Buzzer says to all you morons. You better sign my petition, or I'll punch you so bad you'll spend a month in the hospital."

After all the kids saw that video, they ran off as fast as possible, but Cindy didn't know why. Then, the hooded figure filled a water gun with fruit punch and blasted Lisa's posters. When all the signs got wet, they fell off the walls all around the school.

Later that day, Shirley looked at Cindy's T.V. Shirley looked in the back and found an unplugged wire. She then looked at the TV and saw an identical wire blinking. Shirley said, "This doesn't look like it belongs here." Shirley took the wire, put it in an evidence bag, and put the bag in her backpack. She then took her magnifying glass from her pack and looked at the wet posters. Shirley saw nothing through her magnifying glass, so she returned it to her backpack.

Shirley then went to Vice-Principal Felicia's office. When she got there, she opened the door, but it wouldn't open. So, Shirley said, "Principal Bat must keep his office locked." Shirley then used a hairpin from her hair to open it. Once Shirley got in, she shut the door and re-locked it. While Shirley was there, she looked around, hoping to find clues. Shirley looked through the papers on Felicia's desk, found a letter, and read it. Shirley said, "Dear V.P. F., The new plan is in progress. Something tells me the students will love it. P.B."

Shirley was puzzled by the note and thought about it. Finally, Shirley said, "Who are these people?" Shirley folded the letter up in four and put it in her backpack. While Shirley was looking around, Vice-Principal Felicia was outside her office and used her key to unlock it. Shirley heard Felicia coming, so she jumped out the window before Felicia came in. When Shirley got outside, she looked around the corner of the school and saw the hooded figure. The hooded figure used his key to unlock a hidden door in the school's walls and went inside. Shirley ran for the door, made it in before it locked, and went behind the school's side again.

Shirley took her flashlight from her backpack and looked around the tunnel. Shirley walked down the tunnel, and when she got to the end, she found a few clues. Shirley said, "Wow, water balloons, a tennis ball shooter, a bag of pretzels, a slingshot, a box of picnic ants, a shredder, a piccolo, and everything else the hooded figure used for his crimes." The hooded figure walked in and saw Shirley. The hooded figure said, "You're clever to put it together like that." The hooded figure pulled a lever, then a net rose, and Shirley got trapped. The hooded figure stole Shirley's backpack and threw it on the ground so she couldn't use it. Then, the hooded figure went over to his laptop and started to design his new sabotage plan. Shirley said, "I don't know what you're doing, but it's not good." Shirley reached for her backpack but couldn't get it. Then Shirley looked in her pocket for something to help and found only a few objects. Shirley said, "Please be something here I can use. Let's see, my wallet, a paperclip, and cellphone." Shirley opened her wallet, removed her library card, rubbed it on the net, and broke it. Shirley held onto the net's ropes, jumped, and landed on her feet. Shirley crawled to her backpack, grabbed it, put it back on, and ran down the second tunnel.

The hooded figure looked at Shirley's net and saw that she had escaped. Then he saw her footprints and chased after her down the second tunnel. Shirley climbed a ladder, but the hooded figure climbed up after her. Shirley made it to the top and ran. When the hooded figure reached the top, he saw Shirley running down a staircase, and the hooded figure chased after her. Shirley saw a cave, tripped, and slid down a rockslide to the bottom. When the hooded figure heard Shirley screaming, he looked inside the cave. The hooded figure said, "Why do I care? She's as good as dead down there. Lisa and Cindy will have their final debates at the assembly soon anyway. Time to pull off the most extensive sabotage yet."

The hooded figure ran in the opposite direction and continued with his plan. When Shirley reached the bottom, she tried to get up but was too weak. So, she fell asleep and got knocked out. Then she started to dream about what might happen if she didn't solve the mystery. Shirley saw an out-of-business sign on her detective agency, and Cindy and Lisa were suspended from school. She also saw the hooded figure sabotaging the whole school.

Shirley woke up after her dream. Then she looked up and saw a trap door in the ceiling. Shirley took the rope from her backpack, tied it into a lasso, and lassoed a stalactite atop the cave. Shirley climbed up her rope to the trap door, opened it, and saw she was in the school cafeteria. Shirley then climbed out of the trap door and shut it. Shirley said, "That was close." After Shirley got out, a breeze from outside blew in through the window, and a copy of the school's newspaper got in her face. Shirley took it off and read the front page. Shirley said, "Debating Goes Off Tomorrow. Lisa vs. Cindy To Decide Who Wins. That might be where the hooded figure is going to strike next. Too bad I still don't know who he is."