The Labor Day Mystery: Mystery Template

Section 1: Suspects

1. The new egg delivery man
2. A transient 
3. The dog catcher
4. Benny

Section 2: The Case of the Black Bouvier

A door slammed, a truck backfired and tires squealed in the distance. 

Jenny’s dog did not bark so she knew something was amiss.

"Woofer!" she hollered, racing towards his kennel. The door was open. "Oh no, my dog is gone!"

She saw Terry's, Uncle Joe on his garage roof next door, shaking his fist at his housekeeper.

"Woman, I've been shingling roofs for sixty years. I know how to be careful. Go make cookies and get out of my hair!" he yelled. "That woman never stops talking. It is so nice to be on the roof where it is quiet," he thought to himself.

"Uncle Joe, Mrs. Chattery, have you seen Woofer?" Jenny asked them, a moment later.

"No dear," replied Mrs. Chattery. "Your mom just left for work. I am making peanut butter cookies."

Jenny shook her head.

"I have to find Woofer."

"Good riddance, if you ask me," said Uncle Joe. "That dog drives me nuts with his infernal barking!"

"Uncle Joe!" scolded Mrs. Chattery. "This child is upset. See if you can spot him from up there. Maybe I should look?" She started to climb the ladder. "Maybe that new egg delivery man picked him up?" she wondered.

"Stay down there!" he ordered. "You might fall! Then, who is going to make cookies? You'll find him, sweetie."

Just then, Domingo, their Mexican newspaper carrier, walked up to them. "Hey, where's Terry? No paper today, Uncle Joe, it’s Labor Day and a holiday!"

"Nobody's supposed to work on Labor Day!" replied Uncle Joe. "Not even me." He was cranky. "I don't see him," he said.

"Si," said Domingo.

"I have to get up on the roof to get away from that woman, even on a holiday," he thought to himself. "Thank God I don't have two broken legs and I can still climb that ladder." He began putting shingles in place and nailed them down.

Jenny was about to burst into tears. "I can't find Woofer!"

"Oh no!" said Domingo, touching her hand gently. "I'm not going to miss that black bouvier," he decided, silently. "He's chases me when I deliver my papers, but I hate to see girls cry."

"Woofer's gone?" Terry asked, as he came around the corner just then. "Come on, guys, let's find him!"

"I'm making cookies," said Mrs. Chattery, heading into the house. "That man will be the death of me yet! That dog is such a messy critter. I will be happy if they don't find him," she thought to herself.

"I heard a door slam and truck backfire!" Terry said. "It squealed its tires. It may have been Benny's Meat Market truck!"

"Benny, Si," said Domingo, knowingly. He always spoke Spanish, when he was upset. "I know that 

Benny does not like Woofer! He caught him stealing ribs from the front stall. He said that he would kill that dog if he catches him again!"

"Oh no!" said Jenny. "Maybe he ran over Woofer with his truck?"

Running down the street, the three children looked for tire tracks, hoping that they were not going to find Jenny's bouvier lying on the street, or in a ditch. They found some tire tracks but no sign of Woofer.

Benny told them that he had not seen him. "That dog is always getting into trouble," he commented.

"Why are you working on Labor Day, Benny?" Terry asked.

"People have to eat, even on a holiday," replied Benny, returning to his meat grinder.

"Let's check his truck," said Terry, "Just in case."

"Si," said Domingo. "Jenny, stay here and keep him busy for a moment."

"There is no damage on the truck, but we couldn't get into the back. If Woofer was in there, he would have barked," Terry told her, a couple of minutes later.

"Benny said that I could come by tomorrow for some bones. Look, I found a piece of frayed rope. It has been chewed and it is still wet," Jenny started to cry. "Somebody kidnapped him."

"Maybe Woofer got away!" said Domingo, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I know what to do. Let's report this to the dog pound. They always work on Labor Day."

"Maybe it was their truck?" Domingo thought to himself. "Please stop crying! It makes me want to cry too."

"Let's tell the nurse in the hospital Emergency," suggested Terry. "The ambulance attendants are working today; the policemen and the firemen will watch for him, too. We'll report him missing everywhere and I'll leave my e-mail address, just in case. Lots of people work on Labor Day, especially those who offer essential services."

Two young children told them that they had seen an old transient down by the railway tracks. "He had a dog," one of them said.

By late afternoon, it was plain that no one else had seen the huge bouvier. There was no sign of the transient either, as he must have hopped on a train. Jenny was beginning to wonder if she would ever find Woofer.

"Let's go e-mail some of our friends too," suggested Terry.

"Uncle Joe, we can't find him," Jenny called out, when she saw him in the front yard with Mrs. Chattery, drinking tea and eating cookies.

"Come children. Have some juice and peanut butter cookies," Mrs. Chattery said.

"After we send out some e-mails," replied Terry. "No, I'll do that. You two go and have a snack. We'll rest and we’ll start looking again later."

"Who would want a dog that big?" asked Uncle Joe. "He would eat them out of house and home."

"He slobbers too," said Domingo.

Everybody laughed, as it was true. Woofer loved people and would come right up and lick their faces. 

"Somebody has him and we are going to find him."

"I got an e-mail from the pound!" hollered Terry from his bedroom window. "They just found him with a piece of rope around his neck."

"Thank you God," Jenny said. "Uncle Joe, can you take us to get him, please?" Mrs. Chattery wiped a tear from her eye. Domingo almost started to cry, too.

Uncle Joe, being softhearted by nature, could not say no to Jenny.

Later, as they put Woofer on the back of his pickup truck, the attendant handed him a frayed rope about four feet in length.

"I am pretty certain I know who stole your bouvier," Uncle Joe told Jenny, later. "I saw someone buy a rope, when I picked up my shingles. This looks like the same rope. He ought to have his hide tanned for trying to steal your dog."

"Was it like this, Uncle Joe?" asked Terry, handing him the other piece of rope that Jenny had found earlier. It matched perfectly.

"You are a very lucky young lady," said Uncle Joe. "And you have a smart dog."

"I know," replied Jenny as Woofer licked her face. "He got away! Let's celebrate Labor Day!"

Section 3: The Clues

1. A truck door slammed, tires squealed and there were tire tracks.
2. The children found a piece of frayed rope.
3. A transient, with a dog, was seen by some younger children.
4. Uncle Joe saw someone buy a rope when he bought his shingles.