Dog-Napped
Mike held out the note. Kate’s and Manny’s eyes grew wide as they read the message:
I love Louie, but I love the Cardinals and their World Series wins more! So I’ll make a trade: Leave a Cardinals’ World Series trophy in a paper bag outside the stadium behind the statue of Stan Musial, with no security around, and I’ll give Louie back. But if you don’t drop the trophy off at the end of the ninth inning, you’ll never see Louie again!
“Oh no!” Manny said. “This is horrible. Louie’s been kidnapped!”
“I think the word is dog-napped,” Mike said. “Like in 101 Dalmatians.”
“That would be bad!” Kate said. “Cruella de Vil wanted to make those Dalmatians into coats! We can’t let anyone do that to Louie!”
Mike scanned the room. “We won’t,” he said. “If someone left a note, they might have left a clue. Let’s search this room again.”
“Yes, good idea,” Manny said. “But I’ve got to tell Tommy about this. And then I’m going to find Mr. Lee, the Cardinals chief of security, to ask for help.”
Mike tapped his sneaker on the ground. He bit his lip and looked at Kate until Manny disappeared through the door.
“What if Tommy kidnapped Louie?” he asked.
“Tommy?” Kate asked. “Why would he do it?”
“Maybe he’s trying to make his life easier by making Louie disappear,” Mike said. “Think about it. Tommy doesn’t like dogs. And he didn’t seem to care when Louie escaped outside before the game.”
Kate thought for a moment. Then she shook her head. “I really don’t think so,” she said. “He might like horses better than dogs, but it seems like a stretch that Tommy would kidnap Louie.”
“Well, I think he’s a suspect,” Mike said. “Let’s keep an eye on him while we look for clues.”
“Okay,” Kate said. She glanced up the hallway. “Since the guard didn’t see Louie, we know he didn’t go that way,” she said. “Let’s take one more pass through this room in case we missed anything.”
Kate and Mike zigzagged across the room. But all they found were grass clippings and bits of red clay from the warning track. They stopped when they reached the far wall.
Kate frowned. “Whoever took Louie must have left some clues,” she said.
“I know!” Mike said. “But where? And where’s Manny? I thought he’d be back from talking to Tommy by now. Maybe they discovered something! Let’s go find them.”
BRIIING! BRIIING! BRIIING!
A telephone on the wall at the other end of the room rang.
“I’ll get it!” Mike said. He started for the phone.
“Hang on!” Kate said. “It’s probably for the groundskeepers.”
Mike and Kate looked around. There were no groundskeepers in sight.
BRIIING! BRIIING! BRIIING!
“Okay, then,” Kate said. “If no one else is going to answer it, I think we can.”
Mike ran across the room and picked up the receiver.
“Hello,” he said. “It’s Mike Walsh.”
His eyes grew wide. He looked at Kate and pointed to the phone. Then he twisted the receiver away from his mouth and said, “It’s Red Gibson!”
When Mike hung up and walked back to Kate, he was shaking his head.
“Red heard from someone on the grounds crew that Louie was missing,” Mike said. “He was worried and wanted to know if anyone had found him.”
“Did you tell him about the note?” Kate asked.
Mike nodded. “I had to,” he said. “He asked if we’d found any clues.”
“How did he take it?” Kate asked.
“Not well,” Mike said. “Red was really upset that Louie had been dog-napped. I hope it doesn’t mess up his game!”