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The Fishy Prize!
This is the grand prize for the smartest animal contest. "Any pet would love to have it." - Rosamond
The contest starts in one hour, but the prize is missing! Can Nate the Great find it on time to save the contest? -
The call
Nate the Great rides his bike home after shopping for some dog shampoo and ingredients for pancakes, passing by Rosamond's house. He hears quite a ruckus coming from inside the house, but chooses to continue home. Once he arrives, he hears the phone ring. -
Rosamond's call for help
Rosamond tells Nate that she is in charge of making the prize for today's contest, but the prize has gone missing. She asks Nate to help find the missing prize, to which he replies he cannot help because he needs to get his dog (Sludge) ready for the contest, but ultimately accepts the task. -
Accepting the case
Nate the Great accepts the case of the missing prize. He informs his mother via a quick note and he runs off with his dog, Sludge, to Rosamond's house. -
Rosamond's house
Nate the Great and Sludge arrive at Rosamond's house. "Show me where the prize was" - Nate the Great.
Upon entering the room where the prize was stored, Nate and Sludge see a big mess. Rosamond explains that all the contestants brought their pets to the room, where they started chasing each other. -
Hypothesis
After hearing of the events that led to the missing prize, Nate the Great formulates a hypothesis. Based on the evidence, it appears as though the prize went missing during the scuffle, which could only mean that either the prize was knocked down, or it was stolen. -
The search begins
Nate the Great and Sludge begin their search for clues. They begin by looking through the mess in Rosamond's room, but find nothing. Then they search outside the house, thinking the prize would have fallen nearby, but do not find any clues. -
The search continues
Nate the Great returns to the room and searches for smudges of paint, but finds none. Since the prize is a can of tuna, Nate the Great knows to look for a fishy smell. Sludge's nose sniffs the air, but finds no trace of the smell. They conclude the can is not in the room, and head off to Claude's house to investigate. -
Claude and the pig
Nate the Great and Sludge arrive at Claude's house and find him brushing Anastasia the pig while she eats. Nate the Great notices the pig eating with incredible speed, leading him to believe the prize was swallowed. He asks to see the pig's mouth, but finds no trace of paint, which means the prize is not inside the pig. Nate the Great knows he has little time to visit the houses of each person present during the animal stampede, so he decided instead to visit Esmeralda. -
Esmeralda's house
Esmeralda was present during the animal stampede, but she did not have a pet of her own, so Nate the Great asks her for information on what she saw. Esmeralda tells Nate the Great that she saw Fang standing under the prize with his right side to the window while his tail wagged. Nate the Great and Sludge rushed on to Annie's house. -
Annie and Fang
They arrive to find Annie giving Fang a bath. Before she has a chance to wash his tail, Nate the Great spots paint on the right side of Fang's fur. "Happy bath." -Nate the Great -
Theory
After rushing back to Rosamond's house, Nate the Great develops a theory: the prize was knocked outside the window by the wagging motion of Fang's tail, as evidenced by traces of paint on the right side of his tail. Due to the positioning of Fang and the paint placement on his tail, Nate the Great deduced that the prize fell outside the house. He and Sludge resume their search outside the house, looking up and down the sidewalk -
Defeat
After fruitlessly scouring the sidewalk for clues, Nate the Great loses hope of solving the mystery of the missing tuna can prize, and returns home. He ponders the case and all the variables, while Sludge sniffed the grocery bag, which contained ingredients for pancakes and dog shampoo, things Sludge did not like. Seeing this made Nate the Great think... -
Discovery
Nate the Great knew where the prize was! While passing by Rosamond's house, the tuna fish can fell into his grocery bag without him knowing. He and Sludge had solved the case, so they rushed back to inform Rosamond and get the contest underway. All the pets were there when he and Sludge arrived. -
Conclusion
Nate the Great informs the crowd that his dog, Sludge, had found the prize and solved the case, for which he won the contest of smartest pet. Sludge was awarded with the tuna fish can, which he sniffed. Upon returning home, Nate the great throws away the dog shampoo and serves himself a big plate of pancakes. The end.
