Chapter 1 Quite the Trip The fourth grade students of Edwin West Elementary and Edwin East Elementary arrived at Triple Crest on separate buses just before nine a m Both schools were there on a trip to study the historical Battle of Triple Crest We had been studying the battle in third period social studies It was a subject I was not entirely in love with No I was only interested in my detective work I rode on the Edwin West Elementary school 8
bus But I was familiar with Edwin East after a brief stint as their resident detective My best pal Larry MacGuffin and yours truly investigated cases at both schools Principal Links and Principal Ant were each chaperoning his school’s bus I discovered a while ago that they used to be classmates but they had not spoken to each other in years I decided this trip would be a fine time to figure out that mystery Both Principal Links and Principal Ant guided their students off the buses We stepped out and inhaled the fresh air I was not usually a fan of field trips but for some odd reason I felt like this would be a good one There were three things that I noticed when we arrived at Triple Crest First I noticed that Triple Crest was surrounded by mountains Second there was a coffee shop at every corner and every single one had a line out the door Apparently the coffee was really good here And 9
finally there was a giant waterfall right behind the Triple Crest Hotel I mean that if you took a step out the back door well you’d better bring a life jacket MacGuffin was stretching after sitting for so long He had been stuck with Frankie Flats on the bus Hey Mac good trip I asked About as good as any trip can go crammed into a seat with Frankie Flats That kid does not stop talking about you I opened my backpack and pulled out two walkie-talkies I brought along our walkie-talkies just in case we need them during this trip I told Mac I just put fresh batteries in so we should be good if we get separated Thanks MacGuffin said grabbing a walkie talkie Hey by the way what happened with your dog Little Ricky He was locked up or something 10
I let out a disappointed sigh Yeah some joker by the name of Animal Control Officer Tommy Donkers nabbed him He gave Little Ricky the pinch for digging up the flowers in front of City Hall I said I wish I could prove he didn’t do the crime Little Ricky isn’t into public destruction It just isn’t his style But when I go out looking for clues I usually let him off his leash so he can do his own thing So he got picked up for not having a license too I blew out some more air And boy it’s going to cost me a pretty penny to get him out Principal Ant walked up to the rowdy crowd of kids All right students let’s all face here he said with his hand raised Now we are just on the peak of Triple Crest The great Battle of Triple Crest and many other historical wonders have occurred right where we are standing He looked around to see that he’d lost our attention But I will leave it to the tour guide to tell us more exciting tales 11
