Shirley Holmes and the Mystery of the Stolen Project

Shirley Holmes and the Mystery of the Stolen Project

By Madison Nef

It was a cold, stormy day in the town of RedBrook. Puddles covered the roads, and people with umbrellas hurried home. But at RedBrook Middle School, students were bustling about. In 3 days, there was to be a science fair at the school. Now, many fairs were very small, but this one was being sponsored by MIT (Massachusetts Institute to Technology). Whoever won first place got a certificate from the college and a scholarship when they were older. But not all the students were bustling.

In the science lab in the basement of the school, two girls were sitting at a counter together. One of the girls was tall and wiry, with thick black hair and green eyes. She was wearing experiment goggles and gloves, and was working on a machine. The other girl is also tall, but shorter than the other girl and has brown hair and eyes. She is reading a sleuthing magazine.  “Shirley, are you done yet?” asked the brown-haired girl. “Not quite, Dot,” said the black-haired girl, whose name was Shirley.

Dot sighed. She knew that this science fair was important to Shirley, but did she HAVE to spend their after-school time in the lab every day? “What are you building, anyway?” asked Dot, who had forgotten. “I am building the Shirley 5000. It is a helpful robot; all you have to do is program it with your list of chores, and it will complete them all,” replied Shirley, connecting some wires together. “I only have 3 more days to finish it, and I have to figure out why these wires keep glitching. PLEASE do not distract me because this is very complex work.”

“Alright, geez,” muttered Dot, turning back to her magazine. There was a very good article in it about recognizing clues, and how clues could look like other things at times. About 15 minutes later, she nearly jumped out of her skin when an electronic voice said, “I am the Shir-r-r-rley 5000. How ma-y-y-y I help yo-o-u-u?” “YES!” cheered Shirley.

“Look Dot!” she cried. “I am going to give it a command….” She said, breaking off her sentence as she pressed some buttons on the machine. “Y-y-y-es, mistress,” stuttered the machine, and it rolled over to Dot and gave her an uncomfortable hug. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” screeched Dot, who didn’t like anything that talked and moved when it was supposed to be inanimate. She frowned at Shirley, who was on the floor laughing.

“Come on, I’m going home,” grumbled Dot to her friend. “Ok ok, fine,” said Shirley, and she took her robot and put it on the top-most shelf in the lab. Since she was the tallest girl with access to the 5^th grade lab, she was the only person other than teachers that could reach the top shelf without the step stool. After putting her robot away, she dashed out into the rain with Dot.

The girls lived next door to each other, so they walked home together. When they were 2 blocks away from their houses, Shirley suddenly stopped. “What’s the matter?” asked Dot. “I forgot my backpack in the lab,” said Shirley. “All of my homework is in there, and I DON’T want to break my average of A. I am going to go get it… wanna come with me?” “UGH… Sure,” said Dot.

The girls raced back to school and out of the rain. Shirley used her key to the lab, given to her by the principal himself, and went down to the basement. “I am glad we came back,” chuckled Dot. “I left my magazine here!” Shirley laughed as she grabbed her backpack. The girls raced up the stairs and headed home.

The next day at school, Shirley could barely wait for science. She wanted to show off her robot to her class; everyone, including Dot, had told her she wouldn’t be able to do it. Finally, it was 1:30. Shirley raced down to the lab, grinning. Her teacher, Mrs. Mickle, smiled and said, “What’s the big hurry?” even though she knew quite well that Shirley loved science and was ready to show off her project.

At about 1:35, the rest of the class trickled in, slouching themselves into chairs and slumping their projects onto the counters. Dot scooched in next to Shirley and asked “Well? Where is it?” “Still on the shelf…. I am saving it for last,” replied Shirley. “OK,” said Dot. After a boring talk about the fair, Mrs. Mickle finally called out, “Would anyone like to show off their science fair projects?”

Pandora Chesney’s hand went up first. Pandora was a short, heavyset blonde girl that was known for being popular and very bratty. She brought out a sparkly pink bag with fluffy feathers all over it. “THIS,” she began in a preppy voice, “is the ‘Super Bag 200 by PaNDorA’. All you have to do is press one of the buttons, either lipstick, compact, cellphone, or gum, and it will open up and a mechanical hand will give it to you. However, it still has a bit of a glitch… But don’t worry, it’ll be ready for the science fair!”

Next, Rose Neret raised her hand. Rose was a quivery little redhead with brown eyes. She was very small, very shy, and also got picked on a lot. She was also very passionate about science. Next to Shirley, she was the best in the class. She pushed out a large silver machine and smiled. “This is called ‘the Knit It’. All you have to do is enter the yarn of your choice, and press what you want it to make, and voila! You have a new hat, or mittens, or even a stylish new scarf.”  She put in a small red ball of yarn, hit a button, and after a minute, out came a cute red scarf. She bowed and went back to her counter, taking her machine with her.

A few more people went, and finally it was Shirley’s turn. She grinned and turned to her class. “What you are about to see is a do-it-yourself robot that I like to call ‘The Shirley 5000’. Enter your list of chores, turn her on, and find yourself kicking back to relax!” With that, Shirley went to the shelf to get her project. But it wasn’t there!

Shirley gasped. Where was her science project?! “Um, uh, I actually seem to have misplaced my project. Come back later,” said Shirley, in awe. The class stared at her awkwardly. She blushed and returned to her counter. Dot said, “WHAT HAPPENED?!” “I don’t know!” said Shirley. “I put it there yesterday when we left… somebody must have taken it!”

After the class had finished, Shirley and Dot stayed behind to look for Shirley’s project. “Where did you see it last?” asked Dot. “Well, I had put it on the shelf, then I had run out with you. When I went back to get my homework, it was still there… I must have forgotten to lock the door when I left!” she exclaimed.

Dot looked around the shelf for clues as to where the project was. Shirley looked around the stepladder. “Who would even want my project?” asked Shirley. “Uhm, ANYONE?” said Dot. “You’re the best in class, and anyone in the science class would want that scholarship. So to get it, they’d have to knock the best person out of the competition. Right?” “Right,” said Shirley.

Shirley examined the stepladder closely. The person who moved it would have had to have stepped on the stepladder. She looked, and sure enough, there was a mud mark on the ladder that was very fresh. “Aha!” she said. “Come here, Dot!” Dot ran over to see. “That is definitely a girl’s shoe print,” said Dot after examining it. “Look, you can see the little heel mark in it. However, the toe mark is more defined, meaning that whoever took your project was so small that even with the ladder, they had to reach.”

Shirley looked up on the shelf with Dot, but all they could find was a pair of knit gloves kept for cold days. The shelf was covered with dust, and Shirley had bad allergies, so she climbed down. However, Dot saw something that she hadn’t before- two jars were missing. Not that she was a science whiz, but she saw the two marks in the dust where something had been there before.

Upon asking Shirley, she found out that the jars missing were oil for creaky machinery and the manual of science, a big, off-limits book that teachers used for assigning projects and keeping student project records and diagrams. “If a teacher ever caught ANYONE poking around with that book….. OUCH,” stated Shirley.

By this time, it was starting to get dark out, and the girls headed home. The next day was Friday. In the morning, Dot got to school early to use the bathroom and brush her teeth, as the water had been shut off that night. As she walked in, she heard a girl talking on her phone. “…Yeah, and now it just shut down! …Yes, I know it was a bad idea to take it…. No, of course I won’t get caught! Goodbye Gracie.”  Dot turned on the water and started brushing her teeth casually, and was shocked to see little Rose walk out of the stall!

As she brushed her teeth, Dot thought about it- it all made sense. The bootprint had been very small, and looked like it had come from someone about Rose’s size. Also, Dot saw dried mud on her shoes as she walked away. Rose WAS very small, and would need to stand on tiptoe to grab the robot. Also, she must have left the knit gloves- Shirley hadn’t mentioned anything about extra gloves.

It all made sense to Dot. Now all she had to do was confront her- and she knew how. That day in science, she raised her hand. “Yes?” said Mrs. Mickle. “I know where Shirley’s project is!” announced Dot. She called Rose over. “I know you took it! I heard you on the phone this morning! You were worried about people finding out you took something! Besides, you left a boot-print on the step-ladder AND you have muddy boots. PLUS, you left a certain pair of mittens on the shelf!” Dot yelled triumphantly.

The whole class was watching in a stunned silence as Dot made this accusation. Suddenly, an older woman who until this point Dot had not noticed raised her hand and stepped forward. “Excuse me,” she said kindly. “My name is Jenny Ginter, and I’m the school’s janitor. I was cleaning the lab the other day, and since your project was in a box, I mistook it for my cleaning supplies. I just now realized my mistake…. Does this machine belong to anyone?” she asked, and with that she rolled The Shirley 5000 forward.

Shirley jumped up and cried “YES! Oh, thank you so much!” as she ran to her machine. Dot held up her hand. “Wait,” she said. “There is one thing I do not understand. Why is the manual of science gone?” At this point, Rose was slowly slinking out of the room. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” yelled Mrs. Mickle. Rose sighed and went up to the front of the room. “My machine stopped working, so I stole in here and grabbed the oil and my plans. I’m sorry,” she said, with tears in her eyes.

“I’m very disappointed in you,” said Mrs. Mickle. “I am giving you 1 month’s detention after school, and you will give that book over to me RIGHT NOW.” Rose nodded and pulled the book and oil out of her backpack. She handed them to Mrs. Mickle and muttered “I’m s-s-sorry.”

Shirley showed off her robot, letting each student give it a command, even Rose. Dot apologized to Rose for humiliating her like she had. Rose said it was ok, and that she was glad she had humiliated her- after what she did, she definitely deserved it. Dot and Shirley couldn’t help but agree.

Dot and Shirley decided to have a sleepover the night before the science fair. Dot helped Shirley pick out what to wear: a cute jean skirt with a clean white t-shirt and black flat shoes. Then, the girls stayed up watching monster movies, telling secrets, listening to music, and snacking before falling asleep at 12:00 midnight.

In the morning, Shirley got up bright and early to get ready for the fair. She took a shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth and ate a nutritious breakfast of sausage, eggs, and a yogurt before getting into her outfit. Then, she woke up her mom, dad and Dot. Dot was rather annoyed at Shirley, as she was used to getting up late on Saturdays. However, when reminded about the science fair, she got ready fast.

By 11:30, Shirley was at the science fair. She went over to her booth and set up her board, telling about her robot, and set her robot up with it. She also put up a sign that said: TRY IT NOW! GIVE THE ROBOT A COMMAND OF YOUR OWN! She couldn’t wait for the fair to open at 12.

Soon, more and more people started to come, and at 12, the judges arrived. There were three: A kind, fair skinned lady with blonde hair name Claire, a heavyset man with a big black moustache and large front teeth named Joe, and another young woman with darker skin and black hair that had a rather large nose named Joan.

Slowly, the judges walked from table to table, nodding, whispering among themselves, and taking notes. Shirley watched as Claire went towards Pandora’s table. She heard her giving her cheesy little speech. “…yes, push that button and it will give you lipstick,” said Pandora with a smile. But when Claire pushed the button, instead of lipstick, the metal bag shot out a glob of hair, chewy gum, and lipstick right into Pandora’s face.

Shirley couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Pandora’s face. It was SO funny. But Shirley quickly put on her business face again, because the judges were heading towards her table. She smiled politely as she told them about her machine, and Joe tested it out. The judges smiled at her, wished her good luck, wrote down their notes, and moved on.

The clock ticked, and time flew by. Finally, Claire got up onto a podium and spoke into the microphone: “And the winner of the RedBrook Middle School Science Fair (sponsored by MIT) is….. Shirley Holmes, with her invention “The Shirley 5000, a Do-It-Yourself Robot”. Congratulations, you have won a scholarship to MIT when you grow up!” Shirley quickly accepted her award, and felt the happiest she had ever felt. As for Dot, she was very happy for her friend….. but mostly, she was happy to only be spending an hour in the musty school lab for classes.

The End