Maximum Murph Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Ball
Finnegan, the boxer, loved his squeaky ball. He would play with it for hours unless Max stole it, which he did often.
Finnegan would lie on the floor, chewing on his squeaky ball and Max would come up and try to grab it from Finn. Sometimes, he was successful and Finnegan would chase him up and down the hallway. Other times, Max was unsuccessful, and they’d end up both holding the ball in their mouths as they ran up and down the hallway.
Finn’s favorite thing about his ball is that it squeaks. If he could, he would chew on it and make it squeak for hours. Unfortunately, none of the humans could take more than a few minutes of it.
One day, Finnegan was playing with his ball in the house. Mom and Grandma were getting their hair cut, and Auntie Laurie was in the office.
“Squeak!” “Squeak!” “Squeak!”
“Finn!” yelled Auntie Laurie. “That’s enough, baby.”
Finnegan pretended he didn’t hear her.
“Squeak!” “Squeak!” “Squeak!”
Auntie Laurie came out of the office. “Ok, let’s get a treat. It’s time to go outside,” she said as she took the squeaky ball from Finnegan. She didn’t need to say anything after “treat,” as all three dogs — Max, Murphy, and Finnegan — raced to the Room With Food.
Auntie Laurie was always a soft touch for treats.
When the boys came back in, Finnegan went to look for his squeaky ball, but he couldn’t find it. He looked under the entertainment center, where it normally rolled, but it wasn’t there.
He went into Mom’s bedroom and looked under the bed, but no luck.
When he came back into the living room, he lay down, looking very sad.
“What’s the matter, Finny?” asked Murphy, licking Finn on his face.
Max came over and said, “Cheer up, buddy. Can we help?”
“I lost my squeaky ball. I was playing with it before we went outside, but now I can’t find it,” Finnegan said, almost crying.
Max and Murphy looked at each other. A case had just presented itself. It was time for them to get into their detective gear.
“We’ll take the case!” Murphy said as he came skidding back into the living room.
Max and Murphy talked for a minute, then split up. Max went into the office to ask Auntie Laurie if she’d seen the ball.
Max started whining at Auntie Laurie.
“What is it, bud?” Auntie Laurie asked. “Are you looking for Finn’s ball? I haven’t seen it in a while.”
Max left the office, continuing to whine as he made his way down the hall. (Max whined often when Mom was away from home … or in the bathroom.)
Murphy decided to take a different course. He started by looking under the couch.
No squeaky ball.
“I’ve got it. Maybe it ended up back in the toy box,” he said to himself.
He got a bit distracted in the toy box; there were too many awesome toys to play with.
When Mom and Grandma came home, the boys rushed over to tell them about the missing ball. All they heard was whining, especially from Max.
“Mom! Mom!” said Murphy. “Finnegan lost his squeaky ball!”
“Let’s go outside boys, so Grandma can get into the house,” Mom said.
When they came back in, Mom was in her room, moving the dresser.
“Do you need help?” asked Auntie Laurie.
“No,” Mom said. “I just need to replace this smoke detector.”
As she set up the ladder, Mom looked down and saw …
Finnegan’s ball had rolled out from under the dresser and toward the nightstand.
“Finny!” Mom yelled. “I found your squeaky ball!”
Auntie Laurie looked at Mom and smiled. She said, “I wonder how that got under there.” Both laughed.
All three dogs ran into the bedroom, careful to avoid the ladder in the middle of the room.
Finnegan was SO happy. He reached down to take the ball in his mouth when Max came under him and grabbed it.
“I’ve got the ball! I solved the case!” Max said, running down the hallway.
The chase was on. And another Maximum Murph Detective Agency case — solved.
NOTE: All images were created by the author using Midjourney on Discord.
© 2024 Laurie Leiker