Samantha PI

It’s a fact of life that nobody likes a snoop.

I know because I am one, and a lot of people resent me for it. But I never let that stop me!

“Quit sticking your nose where it don’t belong,” my daddy says as we walk home for lunch. “You're supposed to be helping your old man, not driving him crazy.”

“But I need experience too, Daddy," I say. "And watching you do your police work is really quite educational."

But before my daddy can reply, we hear a tremendous shout coming from across the street.

"Oh no!" wails our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Harris. "Somebody help me!"

With a sigh, my daddy veers away from the sidewalk leading up to our front porch and walks over to her fence. "Everything okay, Mrs. Harris?"

"It's Ralphie, my dog! He's gone!" says Mrs. Harris.

"Your dog? Well, I'm sure he'll turn up," says my daddy. "Good dogs always do."

"I know my Ralphie, and it isn't like him to disappear like this," says Mrs. Harris. "And look, my gate's open. I think someone took him!"

My daddy chuckles. "Now, why would anyone want to take an old mutt like that?"

Mrs. Harris's eyes go wide. "He's not a mutt! He's my darling Ralphie!"

My daddy shrugs. "Sorry, ma'am. Wish I could help, but it don't exactly sound like police business."

"Well, if you won't do anything about it, then maybe I should call someone who will!" sniffs Mrs. Harris. "This is just unacceptable!"

My daddy sighs and then walks back across the street. "Come on now, Samantha. Lunch isn't gonna fix itself."

"Wait one second," I say. As soon as my daddy goes inside the house, I scamper across the street and knock on Mrs. Harris's door.

She opens the door a moment later, looking down at me with a scowl. "What do you want?"

"I want to help," I say. "I know your dog means a lot to you. Maybe I can find him for you."

Mrs. Harris scoffs. "What's a little bitty girl like you know about finding lost dogs?"

I ignore her insult. "Mrs. Harris, you don't have to agree to hire me, but what have you got to lose?"

After a moment of thinking, Mrs. Harris shakes her head. "No. Maybe Chief Johnson was right. Maybe my Ralphie just got out somehow, and he'll come back home on his own."

I nod, feeling crestfallen. "Okay then, I guess I'll leave you alone." I turn around and start heading back to our house when Mrs. Harris calls after me.

"Hey, wait a minute there, young lady. How much would you charge to bring my Ralphie home to me?"

I stop and turn around, grinning. "Fifty dollars."

"Fifty dollars?! Why, that's highway robbery!" Mrs. Harris splutters.

"That's how much I charge," I say. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine, fine, fifty bucks it is," says Mrs. Harris. "Now find my sweet Ralphie!"

I wait until I turn around to do a fist pump. Yes! My very first case!

Inside the house, while we're eating lunch, I explain to my daddy that Mrs. Harris has officially hired me to find her dog.

"I'm telling you, Samantha. He's probably just down at the creek hunting up a woodchuck or wandering through the woods, having himself a good old time. Ain't nobody take that woman's dog," he says.

"If that's so, then who opened her gate?" I counter.

"Who knows?" says my daddy, helping himself to another forkful of coleslaw. "Could've been the wind. Or maybe the old fool did it herself and forgot."

"I'm assuming you saw the muddy bootprints on her sidewalk, too, right?" I say as I debate whether or not to eat another piece of cornbread. It's tasty, but it's also fattening. "You know, the ones leading away directly from Mrs. Harris's yard?"

"So, there was a little mud on her sidewalk. What of it?" says my daddy, using his fork to scoop up a mouthful of beans.

"Not just mud, but a particularly bright red-orange shade of mud. I don't recall seeing anything like that here in town," I say. "More like something you'd see out in the country."

My daddy raises an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you suspect someone from out of town might've taken Mrs. Harris's dog?"

"Could be," I say. "What do you think?"

"I think you've got an overactive mind," says my daddy with a grin. "After all, why in the world would someone come all the way into town just to steal a mangy old dog?"

"I don't know that part yet," I say. "But I aim to find out!"