Jaylyn Super Detective

Jaylyn Caton was a very smart young man.

At age 8, he was already solving

cases. He was an average boy, happy

home, and a love for playing, having fun

and helping people. One day when he walking

home from school, a neighbor came out

on the porch and called out to him.

They asked if he had seen “FUFEE”,

their dog. He had been missing

since early that morning. Jaylyn

had not seen “Fufee”, but told the

lady he would keep his eye out.

Jaylyn got home and made a quick

snack before getting right to his

homework. He had just finished

when he got a phone call. It was his

friend Jason. His dog “Rufus", was

missing. That's strange Jaylyn thought.

He told Jason he had not

seen “Rufus” but he would keep

an eye out.

Jaylyn went outside to play. He loves to ride

his bike and skate on his skateboard. He

wasn’t outside very long when his mother called out to

him and said he had another phone call. He was popular today.

It was his friend Amy. Her dog “Jack”, was not in her back

yard. Jaylyn began to think this was not right. What

are the chances that three people would have a missing

dog on the same day. The chances of that are not likely.

HE HAD A CASE !

There must be a dog thief. Some one is taking these dogs Jaylyn

thought. He went to his mom and told her about

the missing dogs. She promised to keep their dog “Sage”

inside the house. He told her he was going to go around

the neighborhood and see if he could pick up any clues.

Jaylyn went by Mr. Cloud’s house where “ Brutus “ lived.

He was still there. No one had taken “ Brutus” yet.

He told Mr. Cloud to keep a close eye on “ Brutus “

because dogs are coming up missing. Mr. Cloud gave

Jaylyn a piece of chocolate and called “ Brutus “ inside.

Jaylyn headed around to the other street behind his house.

Janet lived there. He would check with her next.

Janet wasn’t home but he could see her dog “ JUJUBEE”

was still there. That hairy, messy dog came charging at

the fence barking and snarling and snapping

to bite at Jaylyn. “JUJUBEE” was mean and ferocious.

It would tear you to pieces if it had the chance.

Thank goodness it didn’t know it could climb the fence.

Jaylyn didn't think JUJUBEE had worry about being stolen.

The dog thief needs to be worried about JUJUBEE!

Next Jaylen went by mean old Mr. Keen’s house. He wasn't really mean.

He just didn't like people. And he liked people walking across the grass

even less. Jaylyn usually helps Mr. Keen do his yard during the summer for

a few extra dollars. Mr.Keen was not happy today… His poodle “Fancy ",

was missing. Jaylyn told Mr. Keen about all the other missing dogs and

promised to keep him informed about his investigation.

Next on his list of stops was Ruben’s house. Ruben

was a friend from school. Sometimes he would come and

spend the night and they would make playdough cities

and watch funny movies. Ruben had an Irish setter

named” Alice “. Ruben was home and Jaylyn told him all

about the missing dogs. The two boys went into Ruben’s back yard.

“ Alice “ was still there. She had not been out there long.

She only goes out to use the bathroom. She is an inside dog.

“Alice “ kept pointing past the back gate. There is a dog park there.

She never points when Jaylyn is there. This is new. It is a clue!.

Jaylyn walked around the dog park . Beyond the park

was the beach and the ocean. If you walk down the

beach a bit you come to the professional buildings and

factories. He was about to turn back home when he saw

“ Fufee’s” ball. Why was it in the park.? “Fufee” is

owned by Mrs. Carmichael. She is very old and doesn’t

walk real good. She never leaves her house.

Jaylen left the dog park and fallowed the trail that

led to the beach. The ball was on the ground right next

to the trail. He walked down the beach a ways but

found no more clues. It was getting late. Tomorrow was

Saturday. He would get up early and start his

investigation again but right now he needed to go home

and eat dinner before his mother would get mad that he was

out too late.

Jaylyn had a big day today. Investigating mysteries took

a lot out of you. After eating dinner he sat on the living

room floor to watch some t.v. He fell fast asleep. His

mother picked him up and put him in his bed. He didn't even

budge as she tucked him in and kissed his forehead.

Jaylyn woke up and ate hid breakfast. He had an

investigation to get to. However, he is still just a little

boy and found time to do a little playing with his toys.

Unfortunately, He had to pick them all up before he

left the house. He thought all morning about what he

was going to next. He had a plan .

The corner sore faced the neighborhood. He would go

in there and ask Mr. Wayne if his surveillance cameras

Were working yesterday. Maybe , his cameras caught

something . He liked Mr. Wayne . Sometimes Mr. Wayne

would pay Jaylyn $2.00 to take out his trash to big

trash dumpster out back. Then Jaylyn could buy some

pop rocks and cotton candy. Today Mr. Wayne was very

sad. His dog was missing too! Jaylyn explained

everything about the missing dogs to Mr. Wayne and in

turn Mr. Wayne agreed to pull up his camera feed.

The camera on the back side of the store did catch

something. There it was! A thief! He was stealing dog

right over the fence. Jaylyn’s heart started to race a

bit. How could someone do this? Too bad the thief didn’t

try that with Janet’s Dog “JUJUBEE”. We might not have

any missing dogs if he had!. It came to the end of the

tape and there was no more to see. Mr. Wayne had to

change tapes to the camera on the other side of the store.

There is was! Right there on tape. Mr. Wayne's dog was being

dog napped! Mr. Wayne had a little place out back of his store

where he lived with his dog. Mr. Wayne got very upset and he was

going to call the police . Jaylyn wrote down the names of the

other people who had missing dogs. He felt the police should

probably know about those too. He told Mr. Wayne good-bye

an took off running to the dog park and out onto the beach.

This time he would go the other direction toward the

professional buildings .

Jaylyn only walked for a little ways when he saw them.

Doggie paw prints headed toward the small forested

area before the professional buildings. Jaylyn's heart

started beating even faster. He couldn’t help but take

off running. The thief had to have taken the dogs this

way. The evidence was piling up. Now there was even

more paw prints and some people foot prints too. No

body ever came this way on the beach. All this was isolated

beach.

Jaylyn ran into the forest but, he stopped short. He

heard yelling. He quickly hid behind a tree and very

quietly inched closer so he could see what was going

on. It was a man. He was cussing at a dog. He was being

very mean to the dog. Apparently the dog had to poop.

Probably because it was scared to death being yanked

from its home and hauled off by a stranger into a

forest. Jaylyn’s heart started to level out. Now he

could feel anger coming up from with in. The more the

man screamed at the little dog, the more upset Jaylyn

got. The man didn't hurt the dog though. He just

yelled a lot.

That’s It! Jaylyn couldn’t take no more. He was

definitely mad. Very mad. He slowly backed out of the

forest and headed to his house. He knew he could not

confront this man about the dogs. He was just a little

boy and that was a very mean man. Plus, he might have

friends or partners around somewhere. Jaylyn knew he

needed to gather evidence. He would eat some lunch

and go back with his binoculars and tiny telescope. Maybe,

the man would be gone by then.

Jaylyn ran home faster than he ever ran before. He

was very close to solving his case. He ate a ham

sandwich his mother made him and drank a big glass of

apple juice. He grabbed his binoculars, telescope and his

mothers phone. She said he could use it for a little while

and he better not break it!

Farther into the forest a small wooden house backed

up to the parking lots of the professional buildings.

He approached with caution. He didn’t know if that man

might be here. The closer he got he could see that no

one was here. There was no sign of any dogs either so

he went around the right side of the house. It

opened up to a large field. And, to the left was a large

parking lot with a four story warehouse and a couple of

smaller buildings. There was a lot of movement going on there.

Jaylyn stayed hidden in the bushes for a while. He was

watching through the binoculars. Trying to see what was going

on. Some people were coming out of a side door with two

dogs on leashes. The dogs were rearing up. The acted like they

didn’t want to go where ever they were being taken. The

person was leading them into another door of a side building.

The wind was starting to puck up and with it Jaylyn clearly

heard the barking of many dogs.

Jaylyn found a tree he could climb. He was very good at

climbing and he found the perfect one. HE got up there

and started using his binoculars again. What he saw was

unbelievable. It looked like some kind of puppy mill.

The kind you see pictures of on t.v. when safe the dogs

commercial comes on. He could also see there were

several people there. Why would they want dogs that

were grown and belonged to somebody already. That did

not make any sense. He needed a camera.

Jaylyn climbed down from the tree and ran home. He

talked his mom into letting him use the camera. She

almost didn’t let hi go back but he assured her he was

no where near it. He was across a big field in the

forest. He just wanted to take a few pictures for the

police . He grabbed some cheese crackers and a soda

pop and ran back to his tree. He took a couple pictures

of the cars and cages . So many dogs.

Jaylyn was able to take several good pictures. One of

the people was out there feeding the dogs. At least

they are getting food. That’s good! But, he knew it was

coming time to call then police. He needed to rescue

these dogs and get them back to their rightful owners.

So once again he left. This time he went back to

Mr. Wayne’s store and told him what he found.

Jaylyn could hardly contain himself when he called

the police. He explained everything to the police and

told them all about the puppy mill and all the pictures

he had taken. He carefully explained exactly where it

was. He told them the way he took to get there. He

didn’t know any other way but through the forest. The

police said they could call in a couple of units and go

check it out, so Jaylyn went back to wait and make sure

the police found it ok.

When Jaylyn went back ,something had changed. There

were several large box trucks there. A couple of the

men were bring dogs out of the building. There was a

female who was taking the dogs out of their cages and

putting collars and leashes on them all. Jaylyn

wondered what was going on until he saw one of the

man loading the cages into the box truck! Oh NO! They

were going to leave with all the dogs. Where were the

police?

Jaylyn continued watching and takin pictures. Then he

saw something ! Hay! How’d that cat get in in there ?

Well, Jaylyn was getting worried. The police had not

gotten there yet and they were going to leave. He could

not let that happen. They almost had all the dogs in

the trucks . He was scared to go out into the open. He

did not know what they would do to him. He managed to

get across the field without being seen.

The police final got there and the people ran inside the

door in the corner of the building, leaving the dogs

outside. The police announced themselves but the

thieves wouldn’t open the door. They had no choice but

to bring in a huge batting ram. They busted the door

open and started arresting people. Jaylyn was in a

small crop of trees at the corner of the property. He

was close to the trucks. With all the commotion the

police didn’t notice one of the men sneaking out the

back and he was headed for he truck that was full of

dogs. Jaylyn had to do something. He can’t leave!

Jaylyn spotted the water hose . It ad a high pressure

sprayer on it. He jumped into action. Jaylyn turned on

the water full blast and when the man came around the

truck to get in, Jaylyn let him have it. He aimed for the

mans face, so he couldn’t see. The man stared yelling

profanities and that got the attention of the police.

They came running around the back and saw Jaylyn .

The police quickly took control of the escaping man .

They told Jaylyn to turn off the water . He could hear

them laughing. The man was mumbling , “stupid kid”

under his breath. The police called the ASPCA to come

take charge of the dogs. They took the thieves to jail.

Jaylyn was very happy and felt good that he was able

to save the dogs from who knows what? Jaylyn finally

went home .

Jaylyn’s mom was proud of him. She had received a

phone call from the city mayor asking her to please

bring Jaylyn to the park. The ASPCA had moved the

dogs to the park so the owners could come and claim

them. There were a lot of dog owners who wanted to

meet Jaylyn and thank him for getting their dogs back.

All of Jaylyn’s friends were there too. They made him

blush when they started signing, ”For he’s a jolly good

fellow ‘. His mom said he turned very red.

The fallowing Monday while Jaylyn was in class , seven

police cars came to the school. All the students were

taken to the auditorium. All the police walked out on

stage and the principal asked Jaylyn to please come up

there. He was shy at first. He didn’t want to go up on

stage. Why? But, finally he went up there. The mayor

came in and walked up to the podium. Jaylyn was named

an honorary Jr. Police Officer. He was awarded a real

badge the mayor had made for him. Turns out . One of

the dogs taken was the mayors. Dogs are just like

children to some people. After the small ceremony

Jaylyn went back to class and took some pictures to

show his mother when he got home and he daydreamed

about his next big case.

- The End -

By-Deborah Zbieronek