1 Chapter 1

A teenage girl named Shirley Holmes was in a closet with a curtain. While in the closet, she spied on a couple of men who were her mystery's culprit. Then she accidentally knocked down a shelf in the closet, and the bad guys heard it. Then they looked at where that sound came from and saw Shirley spying on them. Then Shirley closed the curtain so the bad guys wouldn't see her. Then, the bad guys walked up to the closet, opened it, and saw her. Luke said, "Who are you?" Shirley stood up and shook the guys' hands. Shirley said, "Hi, I'm Shirley Holmes. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jake said, "Not going to be after we finish you off." Shirley got worried and made a run for it. She ran out of the room they were in and ran into the library. After Shirley left, Luke and Jake ran after her.

While she was running from the villains, the police arrived at the library. Shirley ran out of the library, and so did Luke and Jake. Once they got outside, they saw the police were waiting for them. The officer then arrested Luke and Jake and asked Shirley what they were up to and how she knew. Shirley said, "It's simple. They were after this." Shirley took the briefcase they were holding from them, set it down, and opened it. Once it did, the diamond inside shined on them. Shirley said, "A rare diamond worth over $1,000,000." The police chief said, "But how'd you know?" Shirley said, "Also simple." Shirley showed the police a photograph of the diamond and a picture of the jewelry store to which it belonged. Shirley said, "This is how I knew someone was planning a heist, and how I knew it was them, and where they were hiding it. I researched the facts and discovered that Luke Simons and Jake Hazelden are international jewel thieves and best friends, so they always pull their heists together. So, they stole the diamond and then stashed it in the briefcase I took from them. They also figured that the backroom in a library would be the last place anyone would think to look for jewel thieves. I figured that out when I found this book leading me to them." Shirley showed them the book, and a police officer read the title. The police officer said, "Ten best ways to steal." Shirley said, "Shut it and open the cover." The police officer shut the book, opened the cover, and saw a library slip with Luke's name. The police officer said. "Great work, Shirley." Shirley said, "Thanks." Shirley then put her shades on and drove away in her car, looking for another case to solve while the police took Luke and Jake to jail. The cops also returned the diamond to the jewelry store from which it came.

Lisa Sweet wrote an English class poem the next day at Lutheran Sumatran High School. While writing, the other kids who were always playing on their iPods in the class annoyed her. Lisa said, "Please stop." One of her classmates said, "No way." Lisa said, "That's it. It's time to start a petition." Lisa walked out of the classroom mad.

Later that day, Lisa was constructing a protest stand near the athletics field to start protesting. While she was building, someone loaded balloons filled with paint into a tennis ball machine and flipped the switch on. Once Lisa finished her stand, she got hit with one of the balloons, which covered her in paint. Lisa said, "What the?" Then, more paint balloons fired at her, destroyed her stand, covered her with different colors, and wrecked her flyers by covering them with paint. Lisa tried to stand but fell to the ground when the attack ended. Principal Bat came to the athletics field to see Lisa's protest and saw her smacked down and covered in paint. Principal Bat then took Lisa to the school nurse and told Vice-Principal Felicia to call Shirley Holmes after he did.

Shirley was reading a magazine when her phone started to ring. Shirley picked up the phone and answered it. Shirley said, "Hello." Vice-Principal Felicia said, "Hello Shirley, this is Vice-Principal Felicia from Lutheran Sumatran High School." Shirley said, "What's the mystery?" Vice-Principal Felicia said, "Something weird is happening here at Lutheran Sumatran High School." Shirley said, "Which is what?" Vice-Principal Felicia said, "One of our best students, Lisa Sweet, just got splat with balloons filled with paint while setting up her stand to start a protest." Shirley said, "I'm on the case."

Shirley got in her car and drove to Sumatran High. When she got to the school, she went to the athletics field to investigate. Shirley took a pair of tweezers to pick up a few paint balloons without touching them. After she grabbed them, she put them in a bag labeled "Evidence." Shirley then questioned Lisa about the attack while Lisa cleaned up her face with a towel. Shirley said, "Lisa, can you tell me what happened?" Lisa said, "All these paint balloons ruined my protest, just like that, but I didn't see who did it." While Shirley was questioning Lisa, Cindy Buzzer walked by the athletics field. Cindy said, "Ha, ha, ha. It looks like someone has a new hairstyle. The name of it, 'Color Disaster.'" Lisa said, "Just leave, you creep." Cindy said, "Oh, so I'm a creep. Well, for one thing, I'm glad your stand got shot. I love my iPod, and I hate you. Plus, I'm thinking about setting up a protest opposing yours. The name of my protest is 'Save the iPods.' Ha, ha, ha!"

Shirley heard the whole thing and had her suspicion. Shirley said, "Excuse me, Lisa, who was that?" Lisa said, "Oh, that's Cindy Buzzer. We hate each other because we're practically opposites." Shirley said, "Interesting. I think I found my #1 suspect." Principal Bat came over to the athletics field to give Shirley a clue. Principal Bat said, "Shirley." Shirley said, "Who are you?" Principal Bat said, "I'm Mr. Bat. The Principal of the school." Shirley said, "Why did you come over here?" Principal Bat said, "I think I found something." Principal Bat showed Shirley the hidden tennis ball machine he found. Principal Bat said, "The paint balloons got shot out of this tennis ball machine from the equipment closet. Only equipment managers have access."

Shirley went to the room where all the permanent records for the students were, looked up Lisa's file, and tried to find a student who was an equipment manager. Shirley read Lisa's file and said, "Lisa Sweet. An A+ student who has a perfect attendance record. But there's nothing about being an equipment manager." She looked up Cindy's file and saw nothing about her being an equipment manager. Shirley said, "According to this, Cindy Buzzer gets straight Cs on her report card, always keeps her black hair in a long ponytail, says and does mean things to people, and constantly insults Lisa Sweet. She has twenty tardies, ten absences, and fifteen detentions this year. So, she does have a motive. Maybe I should talk to her." Shirley went to Cindy's stand to question her and wrote everything on her notepad. Cindy said, "Yes, Lisa and I hate each other. What of it?" Shirley said, "I'll ask the questions. You both said you hate each other because you're mean and she's nice. Why?" Cindy said, "Because if there's anything I can't stand, it's a goody-goody." Shirley said, "And you call Lisa a goody-goody?" Cindy said, "Yes because she's always perfect, and everyone likes her." Shirley said, "I wouldn't say everyone, but that's all I need for now."

Shirley walked away and still suspected Cindy. Shirley said, "She has a motive, but Principal Bat wanted me to find out how an equipment manager did the crime. Faculty like Principal Bat also have access to the equipment room. Maybe I should check him out." Shirley went to Principal Bat's office, snuck in because the door got unlocked, and looked around because she had a theory about him. Shirley sat down in his chair and went through his computer files. Shirley searched the student files and found a file on Buzzer, Cindy. Shirley whispered, "Bingo." Shirley clicked on it, and it showed her all the info they had on Cindy. Shirley read all the information in the file, hoping it would give her a clue. Shirley said, "According to this, Cindy Buzzer isn't their best student, but she does spend a lot of time insulting people." Shirley then researched equipment managers and found Kyle Wilton in the database. While Shirley was on his computer, Principal Bat came to his office, and Shirley heard the knob turning. Shirley said, "Uh oh." Shirley quickly closed everything she opened and hid somewhere in the office before Principal Bat walked in.

When Principal Bat came into his office, he saw nobody. Principal Bat then left his office, and Shirley saw him. Then she exited her hiding place and thought about what she had read on Principal Bat's computer. Shirley said, "Cindy could be a suspect." Later that day, Cindy was handing out flyers for her campaign. She went to the bathroom for a minute when all her brochures were gone. While she was gone, a fishing reel dropped from the vents and grabbed Cindy's petition. The person holding the pole lifted the petition into the vents and dropped another paper onto her stand.