Luckily, Wanda’s bulldozer had landed safely on an old sofa, so she was able to clear away a lot of the wrecked cars, trucks, tricycles, etc.
And at the bottom of it all . . . I still had a tight grip on the sloth!
We had landed in a Dumpster filled with stolen priceless artwork, gourmet cookie sprinkles, linguini pans, a used presidential limo, a lovely garden, William the Goat, and a solid-gold jewel-encrusted pickle paperweight!!!!!
“AHA!” I shouted. “I’ve caught the Master Criminal AND found the secret hideout where he hid all of your stuff!”
Everyone cheered! Wanda gave me a big kiss! The pigs lifted me in the air!
And just as the TV news crews arrived, the President made an announcement.
“Attention, everyone here at the city dump or watching this on television!” he proclaimed. “This fine plant, Inspector Flytrap, is officially the World’s Greatest Detective!”
“NO!” someone shouted.
The cheering stopped. Everyone looked around to see who had yelled no.
It was me.
“WE,” I said, putting a leaf around Nina, “are the World’s Greatest Detective . . . Team!”
“Big feels,” said Nina, and she wiped away a tear with her hoof.
Chapter 23
My phone rang.
“Hello,” I said. “Flytrap and Goat Detective Agency. This is Inspector Flytrap speaking.”
An excited voice told me about the greatest, most thrilling, BIG DEAL mystery ever!
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Nina and I are currently on vacation here at the city dump. We look forward to solving your mystery in two or three weeks . . . after Nina finishes eating.”
I hung up the phone and leaned back in my new pot—a priceless Grecian urn given to me by the art museum—and enjoyed the peace and quiet.
Well, quiet except for the buzzing of the countless flies that swarmed around the dump.
Mmmmm . . . Tasty, tasty flies!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOM ANGLEBERGER is the author of the bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Fake Mustache and Horton Halfpott, both Edgar Award nominees, the Qwikpick Papers series, and Fuzzy, with Paul Dellingero. Visit Tom online at origamiyoda.com.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
CECE BELL is the author of the New York Times bestselling El Deafo, which won a Newbery Honor. She is also the author of The Rabbit and Robot books. Tom and Cece are married and live in Christiansburg, Virginia.
Inspector Flytrap in the Goat Who Chewed Too Much Page 3