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NECKLAC7 9' Detective and the case of the stolen necklace

Michaela, the world's greatest detective, solved this case by
using a three-thousand-year-old story. So, before we talk about
today's story, let's tell the story of....

THE TROJAN HORSE

Once upon a time a long time ago in a land far far away there
were two kings. One king was strong, handsome, kind and gentle.
The other king was weak, ugly, mean and violent.

When it came time for the good king to be married, hundreds of
fair maidens from all over the world came to his kingdom hoping
to become his wife. But one day, the most beautiful woman in the
world came to his kingdom and the two fell in love with each
other.

But the evil king also wanted to marry. But he was so mean and
ugly that noone wanted to marry him. When the evil king heard
that the good king would marry the most beautiful woman in the
world, he sent several of his palace guards to kidnap her. They
brought her to the palace of the evil king, who invited all the
kings of the world to come to his wedding -- all kings except
the good king.

The good king wanted to rescue her, but the evil king's palace
had walls all around it that were one hundred feet high. There
was no way for the good king to get into the palace by force.
So, the good king decided not to attack the palace.

At dawn the day before the wedding, the palace guards looked
down from the high walls of the palace and saw a golden horse
standing in front of the palace gates. They called the evil king
and asked him what to do. He opened the gates and went out to
see the golden horse. It was carved from wood and it was covered
all over with pure gold. But it was four times as large as the
largest horse the king had ever seen.

There was a note attached to the front leg of the horse that
said the horse was a wedding gift from the king of a land far,
far away. The evil king ordered the palace guards to move the
huge horse into the palace saying, "This beautiful horse will be
the centerpiece of my wedding banquet tonight!"

That night, after the wedding banquet and after all of the
visiting kings were asleep, just before dawn on the day of the
wedding, a hidden door in the belly of the golden horse open and
five of the palace guards from the good king quietly climbed out
of their hiding place inside the horse. They overpowered the
evil king's palace guards who were guarding the palace gates.
Then they opened the gates and let in the entire army of the
good king and conquered the rest of the evil kings soldiers.
They through the evil king in prison and rescued the most
beautiful woman in the world.

Later that day, the visiting kings from all over the world,
attended the wedding of the most beautiful woman in the world
and the good king. And they all lived happily ever after.

MICHAELA AND THE STOLEN NECKLACE

After being caught trying to steal the world's most valuable
necklace, that evil villain Lucifer Snidely was thrown into
jail. While in jail, he plotted to escape from jail and steal
the necklace again.

"But this time," he said, "I won't make the same mistake. Last
time, whenever my henchman stole some tools for my escape, the
robberies were reported on the television news. By the time I
escaped from jail and broke into the bank, that little brat saw
what I was up to and called the cops. Never Again."

So, Lucifer Snidely stole the tools and dynamite he needed for
the escape and the bank robbery from stores and warehouses far,
far away. That way the robberies weren't reported on Michaela's
television. Snidely's henchman stole everything he needed for
both the escape and the bank BEFORE he broke Lucifer Snidely out
of jail.

By the time anything was reported on television, Lucifer Snidely
was already living in a foreign country half way around the
world enjoying the world's most valuable necklace. He was one of
the richest men in the world. So, he used his money to buy a
museum. In the television news, Lucifer Snidely was shown
smiling and pointing at the necklace on display in a glass case
in his museum in a foreign country.

"Can you please get my necklace back for me?!" begged the old
lady.

"Sure." replied Michaela.

"But," said Michaela's grandfather, "Lucifer Snidely is living
in a foreign country where our police are not allowed to go. And
he has guards with guns guarding the museum. There is no way we
can sneak in there! How will you get the necklace back this
time?"

Michaela thought for a moment, then replied, "We'll use a Trojan
horse."

"What do you mean?" asked Papa.

"We'll give Lucifer Snidely a gift." replied Michaela.

About a week later a big truck backed up to the loading dock of
Lucifer Snidely's museum. On the side of the truck, was a sign
saying "Egyptian Treasures". The driver unloaded a steamer trunk
and a large steel box the size of a refrigerator that was
covered all over with pictures of an Egyptian Pharaoh's
sarcophagus.

Lucifer Snidely said, "I didn't order these boxes."

The driver replied, "It's a gift from the Prime Minister of
Egypt for your new museum. He will be here tomorrow to open it
with you in front of the television cameras."

The driver handed a clipboard to Lucifer Snidely and said, "Sign
here."

Snidely asked, "What's in these boxes?"

The driver replied, "In the big box is the sarcophagus of one of
only two female pharaohs in history. She's wearing a necklace
that is more valuable than the necklace you stole from that old
lady."

"MORE valuable?!" exclaimed Snidely.

"The Prime Minister will be here at ten o'clock tomorrow morning
to present it to you."

"What's in the steamer trunk?" asked Snidely.

"According to the receipt, here, there's a key in there that
will open the big steel box." replied the driver. "Sign here."

After Snidely signed the receipt, the driver drove away. Snidely
had the museum workers push the two boxes into the museum, into
the main showroom. He tilted the big steel box on end and
positioned it next to the glass case where the old lady's
necklace was on display. He wanted to get a sneak peak at the
sarcophagus. So he opened the steamer trunk to get the key. But
it was empty. There was no key.

Snidely called the phone number on the receipt.

The driver answered, "Trucking company."

Snidely shouted, "You numskull! You delivered the wrong box to
the museum"

"Oh, really?" asked the driver.

"How am I going to show the sarcophagus to the television
cameras tomorrow without a key?!" shouted Snidely.

The driver replied, "Just a second, let me look... Oh Oh!
According to the paperwork, I delivered the wrong box. That
steamer trunk was supposed to be delivered to the harbor. The
key to the big steel box is in a small wooden box back at the
warehouse."

"Well?! Bring it here!" shouted Snidely.

"I can't." replied the driver. "The warehouse is closed for the
day. I tell you what. You don't need the key until tomorrow
morning at ten o'clock. I'll drop off the small wooden box and
pick up the steamer trunk tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.
Should be plenty of time."

The next morning the driver dropped off the small wooden box and
picked up the steamer trunk at eight o'clock as promised.

But at ten o'clock, the Egyptian Prime Minister never showed up.
It turns out the Prime Minister didn't know anything about the
steel box.

"I think you've been swindled!" said the Prime Minister.

"Swindled?!" shouted Snidely.

He thought a moment, then dropped the phone and ran into the
main showroom of the museum. When he opened the big steel box,
it was empty.

"Why would somebody send me an empty box?!" he shouted.

Snidely gasped, "The necklace!"

He put his nose up against the glass of the necklace display and
examined the necklace.

"It's a fake!" shouted Snidely, "Somebody stole my necklace and
left me a fake!"

Snidely paced the floor crying, "But how? How could they get
into my museum? I have guards with guns outside."


(Can YOU guess how Michaela switched the necklaces?)


Here's how she did it.

The truck driver was Michaela's dad. They rented a truck and put
the fake sign on the side. Michaela knew that Lucifer Snidely
couldn't resist the free gift of the world's most valuable
pharaoh's necklace. So, they bought a steel box and put the fake
pictures of the sarcophagus on the sides. Michaela and Papa were
hidden inside of the big steel box when it was delivered to the
museum.

After the museum closed for the night, Michaela and Papa climbed
out of a hidden door on the top end of the box. They stood on
top of the box while they removed the glass from the top of the
necklace display case. Papa held Michaela's ankles and lowered
her upside-down into the case, where she removed the old lady's
necklace and replaced it with the fake.

Then Michaela and Papa climbed down from the steel box and hid
with the necklace in the steamer trunk until the driver --
Michaela's dad -- loaded the trunk onto the truck and hauled it
away. By the time Lucifer Snidely discovered the fake necklace,
Michaela, Dad and Papa were in an airplane on the way back home.
And they all lived happily ever after.

©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties.
Do not sell this story or rewrite it.
You may reproduce and distribute this story freely,
but all copies must contain this copyright statement.
http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid  email: bobsnook@fea.net

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