The Very First Case News Flash! Flash! A large camera snapped a picture of the P.I. Pack office as if it were a true crime scene. The photographer was a kangaroo. He hopped around the office, taking more pictures. Flash! Flash! "Hey! What's hopping--I mean, happening around here?" Westie Barker asked. The furry inventor pointed to a sign. "This area is top secret! Who are you?" "It's okay, Westie," said lead detective Rider Woofson. "This is Scoops Hopper. He's a reporter from the Pawston Paw Print. He's writing a story on the P.I. Pack." "Nice to meet you," Scoops said. He held up his camera and snapped another picture. Flash! Westie rubbed his eyes. "I wish I could say the same." "Don't mind Mr. Science," said a scruffy pup. "He's camera-shy." It was Ziggy, the team's youngest detective. "Not me though! Snap away. What kind of story are you doing about Pawston's greatest detectives? Is it about the time we battled Icy Ivan, the evil Penguin Prowler? Good thing I brought my appetite. I saved the day by eating my way out of an Ice Cream, You Scream trap!" Rider opened a cabinet drawer and took out a case file. He showed the reporter a picture of Icy Ivan and Ziggy, after he ate all the ice cream. "Yes, well, you're not the only hero here," Westie added. "Don't forget about the case of the Mountain Goat Bandit. That sneaky thief could climb anything. In fact, he tried to rob the tallest building in Pawston. Too bad for him, I invented the Super Slip-Up. It's the world's most slippery stuff. The Mountain Goat Bandit slipped and slid all the way to prison." Rider pulled out another case file to share with the reporter. Westie's hand-drawn map showed a path from the top of the building to the inside of a jail cell. "This is great!" Scoops took another picture. "Wow, I am very impressed." "You should be," Ziggy said. "I am very awesome." "Ahem, I think the reporter was talking about me," Westie noted. "Actually, I was talking about the files from your past cases," the kangaroo reporter said. "I've never seen such perfect organization." Rider smiled. "A good detective must be organized. It's important to have access to every file at a moment's notice. You never know when something from the past will pop up again." "So you have every file for every case you've ever worked?" Scoops asked. "Even your very first case?" Rider walked over to another file cabinet and opened it. He pulled out a very old folder. "Take a seat, Scoops. You're going to love this story. It started way back, when we were in elementary school." Excerpted from The Very First Case by Walker Styles All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
