Free The Case of the Gasping Garbage by Michele Torrey Page A

blink of an eye!
    “Drake,” said Gabby, “Drake, are you there? I said you have to come over immediately and get rid of it or else I’ll call Frisco!”
    “Check. I’ll be right there.”
    Click.
    Drake phoned Nell. She was the most fabulous partner an amateur scientist and detective genius could have. Whenever they had a serious case, Nell dropped everything and reported for duty.
    “Doyle and Fossey,” she answered, picking up the phone on its first ring.
    “Drake here. Meet me at Gabby’s house right away. Gabby’s garbage is gasping.”
    “Right.”
    Click.
    Nell was already waiting on Gabby’s porch by the time Drake arrived. He wasn’t surprised, as she was the fastest runner in the fifth grade. With her coffee-colored hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, her scientist cap shoved atop her head, and her mouth set in a firm line, she looked ready to take on this most difficult case.
    “Afternoon, Scientist Nell.”
    “Afternoon, Detective Drake.” And so saying, Nell rapped sharply on the door.
    Inside Gabby’s house, Gabby pointed to a dark corner of the garage. “There,” she whispered. “There’s the bloodsucking monster. Inside that garbage can. Hurry up and get rid of it before it eats us all.”
    Suddenly, the garbage can gasped.
    It trembled.
    It burped and yurped.
    It belched and yelched.
    All in all, it was very scary indeed.
    Drake and Nell immediately went to work. They pulled on surgical gloves.
    Snap!
    Gabby edged toward the door. “You’re not going to take off the lid, are you?”
    “If there’s a monster inside,” Drake replied, “removing the lid would be most foolish. Now, stand back, we’ll take it from here.”
    They tapped the sides of the can. “Sounds hollow,” whispered Nell. She scribbled in her lab notebook and tapped again.
    Drake sniffed the air. “Smells like fresh-baked bread,” he observed. “Hmm. That reminds me. Ms. Talberg, isn’t your dad a baker?”
    “The best baker there is,” answered Gabby. “He won the blue ribbon last year at the county fair. Why?”
    “Just wondering,” Drake muttered as he recorded his findings in his lab notebook.
    Meanwhile, Nell peered at the garbage can with her magnifying glass. She checked its temperature. She drew diagrams and charts. She was a most efficient scientist.
    Finally, Drake and Nell stood back and their surgical gloves.
    Snap!
    “Well?” asked Gabby.
    “Puzzling,” said Drake.
    “Fascinating,” said Nell.
    Drake pushed up his glasses. “Tell me, Ms. Talberg. Does your garbage can always sit here next to the furnace?”
    Gabby shook her head. “My dad moved it a few days ago. Why?”
    “It’s very warm next to the furnace, that’s all,” said Drake.
    “Eighty-seven degrees, to be precise,” added Nell.
    “Curious. Very curious,” mumbled Drake. He jotted a note to himself in his notebook.
    “What are you going to do now?” asked Gabby.
    “Nell and I will take the garbage can back to the lab for further analysis. Expect our report within twenty-four hours.”

D rake and Nell slogged through mud puddles, lugging the garbage can between them. For a monster, it wasn’t very heavy. Even so, Drake slipped and almost fell because his glasses had fogged. Nell helped him up and brushed him off. She was a great partner. (And besides, she was his best friend.)
    Finally, they pushed the garbage can through Drake’s back door, dragged it up two flights of stairs, and into the attic lab. They set the garbage can in a corner next to a heater. “We must simulate the same environment,” said Drake.
    “Eighty-seven degrees, to be precise,” said Nell.
    Drake cleaned his glasses and put on his white lab coat. Nell did, too, except she didn’t have any glasses to clean. They stuck sharpened pencils behind their ears, sat on stools, and opened their lab notebooks. Drake pulled a book off the shelf and shuffled through it until he found the right page. It read: “Monster Analysis: What to Do