The Pet Show Mystery

angry. I’m going to show you how angry she can get,” Trixie said. From the bottom of her pile of books, she produced a thin stack of fliers that she’d secretly picked up from the sign-up table. Waving them in the air like a battle flag, she said, “Follow me.”
    The two girls trooped into the school office. They stood in front of the counter, waiting for Miss von Trammel to look up from her desk. When the secretary saw them, she bustled over to them immediately.
    “I’m sorry to bother you so late in the day,” Trixie said, “but we need to have these fliers initialed, so we can put them up on the bulletin board.”
    Miss von Trammel took one of the fliers and read it.
    Trixie watched her closely. I have to try to make Miss von Trammel really angry again, Trixie thought, so Honey can see—even though it’s a mean thing to do. Trixie cleared her throat before she spoke aloud. “We had these printed up because there was a rumor that the pet show wasn’t on the up-and-up. Can you imagine—when we have the town’s best veterinarian doing the judging?” Trixie hoped she sounded more innocent than she felt.
    Miss von Trammel’s face hardened into a gray mask. I always thought that was just an expression—but she really does look as though she’d been carved out of stone, Trixie thought. Her stomach tightened with guilt as she realized that she’d brought that change about deliberately.
    “Dr. Chang is a quack. I told you that before,” Miss von Trammel said sharply. “Any negative rumor about him would be very easy to believe. As for these fliers, I’d say everyone in school must have seen them by now. There were certainly enough of them littering the halls. Since you didn’t bother to get my permission before you handed them out, I’m going to withhold my permission for you to post them. Someone has to teach you young people that rules are meant to be obeyed.” She tried to speak calmly, but two bright red spots had appeared high on her cheeks. Without another word, she turned and walked back to her desk.
    Trixie and Honey quickly left the office. “You see?” Trixie hissed. “Didn’t I tell you she was angry about the pet show?”
    “You’re right about her not liking Dr. Chang,” Honey said. “That’s a mystery I’d like cleared up. We’re going over to Dr. Chang’s office after school anyway. Let’s ask him why Miss von Trammel has such strong feelings against him. Maybe then we’ll know whether she’s the one who’s sabotaging the pet show.”

    Only Honey, Trixie, Jim, and Brian went to Dr. Chang’s office that afternoon. Di and Dan, busy with chores, had taken the first bus home. Mart, still trying to fix his computer program, was staying at school and taking the second bus.
    Jim parked the station wagon in the empty parking lot in front of the veterinarian’s office. At the sound of the slamming car door, a dog began to bark. A second, a third, and then countless other dogs chimed in. As the Bob-Whites opened the door of the office, they were struck by what seemed to be a solid wall of noise.
    Dr. Chang greeted the young people in the reception area. “I left the door unlocked for you, even though it’s past office hours. Somehow,” he said with a smile, “I didn’t think you’d be able to take me by surprise. Come on
    back to the office.”
    As they followed him, the noise gradually dropped off. Finally it was quiet again.
    Crowded into Dr. Chang’s tiny office, the Bob-Whites quickly reviewed the plans for the pet show and the progress to date.
    “The worst problem we’ve encountered so far,” Honey said casually, “is that we’ve irritated the school secretary by distributing fliers without getting her permission first. Miss von Trammel was very upset about it.”
    “Miss von Trammel—that’s the secretary’s name. Do you know her, by any chance?” Trixie added.
    “Yes, Miss von Trammel and I know each other,” Dr. Chang said. “She was one of my first clients when I came to Sleepyside. She had an Irish setter, like the Beldens’ Reddy. Rather better behaved, though.
    “Rusty was a beautiful animal. He was well trained and well treated. Miss von Trammel loved him.” Dr. Chang’s face grew sad as he spoke.
    “What happened?” Trixie asked, breaking a short but heavy silence.
    “Well, in the end, she killed the dog with love. You see, Rusty had a tumor. The lump appeared on the dog’s side, and Miss von Trammel tried for a long time—too