Westie was covered in tape from head to tail. “If this doesn’t get the Lunchtime Bandit’s attention, then nothing will.”
The pups had decorated the entire school with signs for the biggest banana split ever. Students were talking about it. Teachers were talking about it too.
Even the principal was talking about it—and nothing surprised the principal!
Rider, Rora, and Westie walked to the cafeteria.
“Okay, everyone, keep your eyes peeled,” Rora said with a snicker. “Get it? Like banana peels.”
Rider smiled. “Let’s be serious. We need to catch this thief, and we can’t afford to slip up. Now where’s Ziggy?”
Just then a giant banana jumped at the pup detectives. It was Ziggy and he was so excited. “Guess what? They are giving out these banana costumes to every student to celebrate our big banana split,” he explained. “Pretty cool, right?”
Sure enough, the hallways were filled with banana costumes. Banana fever had taken over the entire school.
Rider scratched his whiskers. “Actually it’s not cool, Ziggy. The Lunchtime Bandit is onto us! Everyone looks the same.”
The lunch bell rang and students in banana costumes flooded into the cafeteria. It was almost impossible to tell them apart. In the middle of the room was a giant banana split. All the students surrounded it and held their spoons in the air.
“One of these bananas must be the Bandit,” Rora said. “Look for anything out of the ordinary.”
“You mean like a room full of kids in banana costumes?” asked Westie.
“Over there!” cried Ziggy, pointing to the tallest banana costume in the crowd. “We know the Lunchtime Bandit is tall . . . tall like that banana!”
“Good call,” said Rider. “Pup detectives, it’s time to play fetch!”
The pups raced across the room, but the Bandit spotted them right away. He grabbed the banana split first and ran for the exit.
“Hey, that’s our dessert!” the students shouted.
The four pups kept up the chase and were almost to the Bandit when the panda slipped out of his banana costume and threw it at them. Rider, Rora, Westie, and Ziggy became tangled in the giant banana peel. Luckily Ziggy was on the case. He ate the costume.
“Kid, that was not a real banana,” said Rora.
“Yeah, but I was real hungry,” said Ziggy.
Suddenly, a lunch lady walked in front of the pups carrying a tray of banana cream pies.
“I need to borrow these,” Rora said. She grabbed the tray and hurled the pies at the Bandit.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
“Hey! You’re not hitting him at all!” Ziggy cried. “Quit wasting yummy pies!”
Rora smiled. “Don’t worry. I have excellent aim. I’m missing him on purpose and forcing the Bandit into the gym.”
“The gym?” wondered Westie. “Well, I suppose he’s going to need to work out after eating that entire banana split.”
“Wrong, Westie,” said Rider. “The front door is the only way in or out of the gym! Great thinking, Rora!”
The pups marched onto the basketball court. The Lunchtime Bandit was trapped!
“There’s nowhere to go!” Rider shouted. “Get ready to do time for skipping the lunch line.”
Rora added, “You found these bananas too appealing. We knew you would try to take the banana split, so we turned it into a banana splat!”
Westie pulled out a remote control. “Oh, you’re going to go bananas over my new invention.” He pressed the red button and the banana split burst into a flurry of chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and cherry sauce.
But the sauce explosion was bigger than Westie intended. The pup detectives were covered in ooey-gooey sweet stuff. By the time they shook off the sugary trap, the Bandit was gone.
One gym rope dangled down from the ceiling next to an open skylight.
“See?” Rora pointed upward. “I told you bad guys love skylights.”