Marjorie Weinman Sharmat - Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas

I , Nate the Great, am a detective. I do important things. Today I was doing something important.

I was shoveling snow. My dog, Sludge, was chasing snowflakes. Suddenly I heard a jingling sound.

Annie was coming up our walk with her dog, Fang. Fang had bells on his collar and an elf hat on his head. Doesnt Fang look cute? Annie said.

Just like a giant elf. Sludge looked at me. I looked at Sludge. We both knew that all the bells and elves and jingles and jangles in the world could not make Fang look cute. Fang looked hungry. Fang is not a happy elf, Annie said.

This was not good news. Every year, two weeks before Christmas, Fang gets a Christmas card from his mother in the mail, Annie said. It is now a week before Christmas and Fang has not received his card. Perhaps she didnt send it, I said. Would a mother forget Fang? Annie said. I, Nate the Great, wished I could.

I need your help to find the card, Annie said. I have to shovel snow, I said. Fang sat down and glared at me. I, Nate the Great, was thinking. It was the holiday season.

It was not a good idea for a giant elf to be unhappy.

I will take your case, I said. Wait here. I went into my house. I wrote a note to my mother.

I went outside. I spoke to Annie.

The mailman leaves your mail in your mailbox, right? Most of the time, Annie said. Sometimes he drops it on the ground near the mailbox. Why does he do that? Sometimes Fang is so happy to see the mailman that he runs out of the house to greet him. The mailman drops the mail and flees. I, Nate the Great, knew exactly how the mailman felt. I said, Then what? Fang runs after the mailman.

They both disappear. I run out to get the mail. So, there is no chance for anybody else to take that mail?

No chance, Annie said. We must go to your mailbox and look for clues, I said. Annie, Fang, Sludge, and I walked through the snow. It was crunchy under our feet.

Are you missing any other mail? I asked. No, Annie said.