The Pet Show Mystery

Trixie gathered up her lunch refuse and headed for her locker.

    “Brr!” Honey said as she and Trixie started off on foot for downtown Sleepyside. “Maybe we should have let the boys do this, since they could have taken the car.”
    “Huh-uh. We’ve done more than our share of sitting at that sign-up table. We started this whole project because we were sick of being stuck indoors, so why get stuck at school?”
    “It is good exercise,” said Honey, pulling her head down into the protective collar of her jacket. “The store isn’t far, anyway.”
    “N-o-o. And if we get too cold, we can always stop in someplace to warm up,” Trixie said in an overly casual tone.
    Unable to turn her head in her bulky coat, Honey looked at Trixie out of the corner of her eye. “Just what kind of someplace did you have in mind?” she asked.
    “Oh, I don’t know. Someplace where people wouldn’t mind giving shelter. Someplace where the people are, you know, charitable. Someplace like, um, the World Anti-Hunger Foundation.”
    “So that’s it!” Honey said. “I wondered why you were so eager to run this errand. But, Trixie, you know what the boys said, and they’re right. We don’t have time—”
    “To chase wild geese,” Trixie said. “I know, I know. But we won’t be any good to the pet show if we get frostbite. The foundation office is right on the way; I checked the phone book. We’ll stop on the way back from Roberts’s Trophy Shop. C’mon—let’s hurry.” Trixie picked up her pace, and she kept the pace brisk enough so that Honey couldn’t protest.
    By the time they reached the trophy shop, Trixie felt warm under her layers of woolen clothes.
    The shop was cozy and comfortable. Unlike the previous store, which had burned down, this one was bright and cheerful, even on a bleak winter day. There was more display space, and the colorful T-shirts and hats that had helped to make the store successful were pinned up on the walls.
    Nick came out of the back room and smiled when he saw the girls. “Surviving the cold?” he asked.
    “Just barely,” Trixie said, feeling her cheeks start to tingle as the warm air hit them.
    “We’re fired up about the pet show, anyway. That helps,” Honey told him.
    “Ah, yes, the pet show.” Nick reached under the counter and drew out a cardboard box and a thin catalog. “Ribbons first.” He opened the box and drew out ribbons in purple, blue, red, and yellow. Some of the ribbons were plain, and some had rosettes on the top. “You told me everyone’s to be a winner at this show, so I wasn’t sure you’d want a different color for first-, second-, and third-place. Still, all blues or purples could be boring.”
    “Hmm. Good point.” Trixie considered the ribbons that were lying on the counter.
    “Every animal has its own category—or will, if Mart ever gets his computer program running. So there can’t be any second-places,” Honey said.
    Suddenly, Trixie had an idea. “Of course. We need all first-place ribbons.”
    “They aren’t really first-place, if there’s only one animal per category. They are all champions, though, so let’s make all the ribbons purple,” Nick said.
    Trixie nodded emphatically. “Perfect solution.”
    “But still a little boring,” Nick said. “Isn’t there some way to liven things up?”
    “Not without getting Dr. Chang into trouble with the pet owners,” Honey said. “We can’t risk that. He agreed to judge only because we promised to have a prize for every pet.”
    “Wait a minute!” Trixie said. “What about a ‘People’s Choice Award’? Everyone who buys a ticket can get a ballot, and they can vote for their favorite pet. Then we’ll have a special award without putting Dr. Chang on the spot.”
    “Oh, Trixie, that’s perfectly perfect!” Honey exclaimed.
    “It is, indeed,” Nick said. He flipped through the catalog. “Here’s a trophy that would work well. It’s a simple loving cup on a walnut base with a plaque that we can en-grave: ‘People’s Choice Award, Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson Pet Show,’ and the date. How does that sound?”
    Trixie’s shrug showed that she had nothing to add. “It’s perfect!”
    “Fine. I’ll have everything ready by a week from Saturday,” Nick said.
    “Gleeps! That sounds so close!” Trixie exclaimed.
    “It is close. And there’s so much more to do!” Honey added.
    “That means we’d better get going,” Trixie told Nick. The girls pulled on their