Ghost and Max Monroe, Case #2: The Missing Zucchini
To young detectives everywhere
PROLOGUE Max sat down beside his grandfather Your brother Larry is a ghost Yup And he haunts the detective agency in the backyard Yup Harry shot some whipped cream into his mouth Sometimes he hangs around the house But mostly he sits in the coach house bawling his eyes out I heard crying That’d be Larry He likes to have a good cry around this time of day Max shook his head Crying ghosts haunted detective agencies I’ll wake up any minute and everything will be normal
CHAPTER 1 THE BIGGEST POOP I’VE EVER SEEN Max woke up to the sound of a train whistle The sound made him think of traveling and traveling made him think of his dad a reporter who covered the news all over the world Max’s mom had died two years ago and his dad’s latest assignment had taken him to China so Max was staying with his grandpa Harry and his great uncle Larry in a big old house in the country Max slept in a room just down the hall from his grandpa And Uncle Larry Well who knew where he slept or even if he slept being a ghost and all But if he did it was probably in the old detective agency in the backyard Max rolled out of bed pulled on his jeans and headed downstairs for breakfast Grandpa Harry was in the kitchen lying in his hammock with a frog on his head Why is there a frog on your head Grandpa asked Max His name’s Fred and he’s helping me get rid of my headache I
don’t believe in taking pills for every little thing Just then Larry poked his head through the pane of the big bay window His hand on the other side of the window held a filled pooper-scooper What the heck are you feeding that dog Harry Puppy Chew I had a coupon Buy one get one free Puppy Chew said Larry This is the biggest poop I’ve ever seen No way this mutt is a puppy It doesn’t take a detective to figure that out BUMBLING DETECTIVE Back when Larry was alive he was a detective But he wasn’t very good His nickname was the Bumbling Detective because he never solved a case Everything changed when Max came to stay with his grandpa Harry After Max got used to the idea of living with a ghost he and Larry became a successful detective team Max loved solving mysteries and an invisible grown-up made a great partner Fred jumped off Harry’s head and hopped away along the floor Harry sprang out of the hammock Where d’you think you’re going He’s behind the fridge shouted Larry coming in through the window There he is There he is Harry crouched down Get back here you little rascal
