The Mouse Detective Agency

By Ray A. Jones and Allison C. Fulghum

Mouseville is a unique town in which cats and owls dont chase mice and rats. In fact, cats, mice, foxes, owls, flying squirrels, and raccoons all live in harmony. However, one thing the animals have in common with the human populace is greed. Sometimes, even animals want something somebody else has, and some of them dont want to pay for it.

Enter the M&C Detective Agency, owned by two mouse friends, Murray and Cathy. They take on the crooks of Mouseville and Rattown with confidence. Whether searching for stolen cheese or solving a bank robbery, the M&C detectives always get their man, er, cat! A problem at the circus, a mystery at the baseball game, missing diamonds, and even a great train robbery cannot deter the mouse detectives.

The sleuths drive a bright, yellow Mousemobile convertible. They are well known around town, especially to the chief of police, who often calls on them for help. The mouse detectives turn even the most challenging case into a bit of fun, and the celebration of success always takes the form of a picnic with their friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480837607

Ray A. Jones

Ray A. Jones is a professional engineer who has written nine technical books on electrical safety. Jones lives in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, with his wife, Jane. He and Jane enjoy traveling and have visited all fifty states and several countries. Allison Fulghum is Jones’ nine-year-old granddaughter. She is in the fifth grade and lives in Concord, North Carolina. Fulghum enjoys reading, playing the piano, swimming, computer games, movies, friends, and her miniature schnauzer, Mollie.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Missing Clock Mystery

B ong … bong … bong . The clock in the Mouseville tower at city hall chimed and told Murray the Mouse that it was three o’clock in the afternoon. He had been daydreaming about his new business. When the tower clock struck three, Murray realized that the day was almost gone, and he hadn’t talked to his friend Cathy about what they needed to do.

Murray and Cathy, his mouse friend, had known each other since the first grade, and they remained friends all through school. Since graduating, they had talked about starting some kind of business. They loved mysteries, and they frequently talked about becoming detectives. They decided that they would just open their own detective agency, and then they could solve any crimes that happened in their town.

Murray and Cathy were both excited. They decided to call their business the M&C Detective Agency—M for Murray, and C for Cathy. The two mouse friends wanted to ask their friend Clifford if he would like to join the business, but they decided to wait awhile before inviting him to join. They knew Clifford would make a good partner, but they weren’t sure they would have enough business for three mouse detectives just yet.

The new detectives accepted a case that involved an antique clock missing from the local history museum. The chief of police

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Murray

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Cathy

recommended that the museum director call them to see if the new M&C Detective Agency could help find the missing clock. Murray had been thinking about the case, but he had let his mind wander a bit.

Murray had talked with the purchasing agent at the museum, but he didn’t even know what kind of clock had been taken. He wasn’t sure whether Cathy knew anything about the clock or not. In fact, since receiving the phone call from the purchasing agent, Murray hadn’t thought much about the missing clock. Hearing the tower clock chime was a reminder that he needed to do something.

Just as he was getting up from his desk, Cathy walked into the room. She was bringing coffee and macaroon cookies from the local bakery. Are you awake now? Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me? Cathy asked. She could see that Murray was just beginning to move around.

Well, yes. That would be very nice. I was just daydreaming a little and let the time get away from me, Murray replied. "Oh! I love macaroon cookies. I especially like their chewy goodness," he continued.

After pouring a cup of coffee and devouring a cookie, Murray asked Cathy what she knew about the clock missing from the museum. Cathy said that she thought that he was working on the case. They both were embarrassed when they realized that they had done nothing since they signed the contract the day before.

The M&C Detective Agency expected their reputation to grow after they solved a few cases, but they had to start with this one. The detectives headed over to the museum to gather information. The clock had been at the museum since it opened twenty-four years ago. The museum supervisor had donated a grandfather clock from his personal collection. He wanted everyone in Mouseville to enjoy the grandfather clock, just as he had enjoyed it for many years.

When they arrived at the museum, Murray and Cathy went straight to the supervisor’s office. They wanted to hear first-hand what had happened to the grandfather clock. The museum supervisor stood to greet Murray and Cathy when they walked through the door to his office.

I’m very glad you’re here. My name is Harry Hedgehog, and the grandfather clock is very special to me. You see, my father bought the clock on the day that I was born. He kept it for forty-one years and then gave it to me. It’s been standing by the door in my house for many years since then. I am so anxious to get it back! It has never stopped running, and I’m afraid that the thief might damage it.

Murray said, I understand. The grandfather clock was special, and the museum values it highly. We will try to get it back for you.

Cathy looked at Harry and asked him to describe what happened when the clock was taken from the museum. Okay. I will try to tell you everything I know, Harry said as he began to tell the story.

I had been very busy all day and finally closed the building to go home. Someone must’ve been in the building when I locked the doors. Well, when I came to work the next day, the grandfather clock was gone. I guess there must have been more than one thief, as the grandfather clock is very heavy and would be hard to carry. One person would probably have a hard time getting the clock down the stairs. I don’t really know anything else to tell you, the museum supervisor said.

Murray said Well, that story gives us some information to get started on. (He did not tell Harry that this was his first real case.) You gave us some important facts. First, the robbery happened at night. Second, the thief was probably hiding in the building when it closed for the day. Third, the clock is heavy and awkward to carry. That’s all good information. By the way, Murray continued, how did you notice that the grandfather clock was missing? Do you normally look around when you come to work in the morning?

Harry Hedgehog laughed and said, "No. I don’t look around each day. I don’t expect anything to be missing. As a matter of fact, I went to my office and began the day by getting a cup of coffee. Then I noticed that the normal sounds of the building were different. I can’t explain it. It was just that something was different—I noticed the quietness. I didn’t hear the grandfather’s tick tock, and I looked to see if it had stopped. When I looked, the clock was gone. I looked around the building and noticed that the back door was unlocked. I am pretty sure I checked that door before I left. That’s when I called the chief of police and told him about the robbery. The chief suggested that I call you, and here you are."

Murray said, I’m glad you called. We’ll find out what happened.

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Before leaving the building, Murray and Cathy looked around the museum. They looked at the place where the clock stood for many years. They noticed the plaque hanging on the wall with the words to the poem My Grandfather’s Clock, by Henry Clay Work, hanging near the place where the grandfather clock stood. The mark on the floor showed where the clock had stood for many years. They examined the floor, the wall, the nearby doors, and the steps that led to the back door. Murray noticed tracks in the dust that had accumulated on the steps. He pointed them out to Cathy and asked what she thought of them. Cathy said that she had not seen the tracks before but that they were interesting. Murray noted that two tracks were visible. They were about two feet apart and seemed to be aligned, as if they were made by some kind of vehicle.

Murray and Cathy told Harry good-bye and headed toward their car. Both Murray and Cathy were silent during the walk, but both were thinking about what their next move should be. When they got to the car, Cathy asked Murray, How well do you know Harry Hedgehog? Do you trust everything he told us? I know the grandfather clock is missing, but I’m not sure if he told us everything he knew.

Murray said, I don’t know him at all. This is the first time we have met, but I thought he was a nice guy. I am sorry that the grandfather clock he loaned the museum is missing. But why did you ask that question?

Something just seemed to be wrong. Maybe it’s intuition, but I felt that something was missing in the story he told us. Maybe it was his facial expression or tone of voice or something else. I just wanted to hear something else from him, she said.

After thinking about the story that Harry told them, Murray said Maybe you’re right. Harry did seem to know more than he told us. Let’s see. He’s not the person who hired us. That call came from the museum director. Maybe I should call him and ask about Harry.

After placing the call and talking with the museum director, Murray told Cathy that Harry had been at the museum for many years. He is reliable and has never missed a day at work. He is kind to the volunteers at the museum and frequently has lunch brought in for the crew, Murray said.

Cathy said, There is nothing suspicious in that information. Maybe I’m just being a little too cautious.

Maybe you’ve been reading too many detectives stories, Murray laughed. Just to be on the safe side, maybe we should go back to the museum and investigate some more. Maybe we’ll find something that we missed earlier. After all, when we looked then, we expected to find a clue telling us that the thief was someone from outside the museum, but the thief could be someone from the inside.

Harry comes to work and opens the doors each morning around nine o’clock. Maybe we should get there earlier than that. It would give us a while to look around by ourselves. The museum director gave me a key to the door so we can get into the building whenever we wish, Murray said.

Excellent idea, Cathy responded. I think we will learn something.

The next morning, Murray and Cathy got to the museum at seven o’clock, two hours before Harry. Murray unlocked the door, and the detectives went inside. Each of them carried a flashlight, because they did not want to turn on the lights. The flashlights enabled them to see quite well. Cathy relocked the door so no one would know they were there.

The detectives looked in every room in the museum. They looked again at the place where the grandfather clock had been. They looked at the windows and all the doors. They went to Harry Hedgehog’s office and looked everywhere. The time was passing, and pretty soon Harry would open the museum for business. Just as they were about to leave, Murray spotted a doorway that he had not seen before.

Look over there, Cathy. I never noticed that door before. Did you open that door? Murray said.

No. I didn’t know that door was there. It is pretty well hidden from view. Let’s open it and find out what’s behind it, she said as both she and Murray walked over to the door.

The door did not make a sound as Cathy opened it slowly. Murray shone his flashlight into the darkness on the other side of the door. He saw stairs that led down into a basement.

Would you look at that? Murray said excitedly. Look there, at the bottom of the stair on the right-hand side. There is a hand truck with wheels that are about two feet apart. With that hand truck, one person could easily move a grandfather clock.

Murray and Cathy both descended the stairs and looked closely at the hand truck.

Look at the floor, Cathy said. The hand truck has been moved recently and returned. It could have been used to move the grandfather clock from the museum to a van, or truck. I think that the thief used the hand truck and returned it afterward. It seems to me that Harry should know about the basement and the hand truck, she continued, but why didn’t he tell us?

Let’s just wait until Harry gets here and ask him about the truck, Murray said.

As Murray said that, they heard the door to the museum being opened. Harry had arrived. The detectives turned off their flashlights and waited for him to start through his morning routine. Harry went to his office and began to get his first cup of coffee ready. When the water was hot, he poured the water through the coffee and removed the cup from the coffee machine. After taking his first sip of coffee, the supervisor sat down is his chair. He heard footsteps in the museum and stood up to see who was there.

Murray and Cathy walked into his office. Good morning! Murray said to Harry. Cathy and I have been here for a while, and we need to ask you another question or two.

How did you get in? Harry asked.

We used the key to the building that the museum director gave us when we took the case. We have been looking around and learned that the building has a basement. You forgot to tell us about that yesterday. We also found a hand truck that could have been used to move the grandfather clock. You didn’t tell us about that either, Murray said.

Oh, that is embarrassing, Harry said. "I completely forget about the basement. We never go down there. None of the volunteers even know about it, I’m sure."

Murray explained how the hand truck had been moved recently and returned to its storage position. He told Harry that the truck makes tracks exactly like the tracks at the back door to the museum. He also explained that tracks were visible in the dust on the floor of the basement.

Harry had no explanation for the tracks. He could only apologize for not telling the detectives about the basement yesterday.

Cathy was more skeptical now that the hedgehog had no realistic explanation. She could hardly believe he forgot about the basement. Murray was beginning to suspect Harry, but he couldn’t understand why the supervisor might take his own grandfather