The Great Shelby Holmes by Elizabeth Eulberg Read Free Book Online Page A

Believe me, I’ve seen my share of family fighting, and no good could ever come from it. “Can we all just calm down? Please?”
    Nothing. It was like I was talking to the walls.
    “Let the professional handle this.” Shelby rolled her eyes as she approached the siblings in an attempt to restore order. “Would it be possible to display some decorum during these proceedings?”
    Shockingly, that did nothing. Mostly because there wasn’t a dictionary handy to decipher whatever Shelby was trying to say.
    The girls did finally quiet, only because Mrs. Lacy began shouting as she climbed the stairs. “I will not tolerate this behavior in our house! We’re all upset Daisy’s missing, but that doesn’t mean you can blame each other.”
    “You wouldn’t be this upset if Roxy were missing.” Zareen glared at her mother.
    “Mommy,” Tamra cooed sweetly, “did you take the photo of us in London?”
    “No.” Mrs. Lacy came over to the bureau and searched through the photos. She turned to Zareen. “Did you knock it over in your sleep?”
    “ WHY DOES EVERYBODY BLAME ME FOR EVERYTHING !” Zareen ran into her room and slammed the door shut.
    Once again, the hallway became a battlefield of yelling and accusations, with the added tension of Mrs. Lacy banging on Zareen’s door.
    It was pure chaos.
    Here I always thought having money would make life easier. But apparently money couldn’t cure crazy.
    Shelby hung her head. “This case is suffering from too many cooks in the kitchen.”
    “The cook!” I stated again, not being able to shake my suspicion of the antidog chef.
    Shelby moaned. “As I explained in the kitchen, it wasn’t the chef.”
    “I’m just saying—”
    She cut me off. “What did you notice when we entered the kitchen?”
    “What?” It was difficult to concentrate with all the noise the Lacys were making.
    Shelby was as focused as ever. “When we entered the kitchen, please tell me everything that you had observed.”
    My mind went back to our rushing into the kitchen. “Besides the huge kitchen that looked like it belonged on the cover of some cooking magazine? I saw the little dog barking and Zareen trying to control her. Mr. Lacy was yelling at her.”
    “And that’s it?”
    “Yeah.” What else was there to see?
    “This was what I had observed: upon entering the kitchen, I took a sweep of the room. Miss Eugenia was pressed up against the counter with a tissue in her hand. Once Zareen picked up Roxy, Miss Eugenia went into a drawer and pulled out an inhaler, which she quickly used, and then blew her nose. She is extremely allergic to dogs, which is why they aren’t allowed in the kitchen. I also noticed that there was a bag of walnuts on the counter and a dish that was drying that could be used to make brownies. I had once observed Tamra eating a delicious walnut-fudge brownie a couple years ago, so that’s how I knew what Miss Eugenia baked this morning.”
    “Wait.” I stopped her. “You remember a brownie that someone who isn’t even your friend was eating a couple years ago?”
    “I never forget a good dessert.” Shelby looked wistful as the memory of the brownie no doubt entered her mind. “But I digress. The reason Miss Eugenia couldn’t have takenDaisy is twofold: one, Roxy certainly would’ve barked at her, as we witnessed earlier, and two, she wouldn’t have gotten more than ten feet without having an allergic reaction.”
    “Oh.” Maybe being a detective wasn’t as easy as I thought.
    Well, at least we now had one less suspect to worry about.
    Shelby stepped forward. I could barely hear her over the arguing Lacys—who were only getting louder. “There’s a difference between seeing and observing, Watson. You must learn not simply to see, but observe the whole scene that is placed before you. Usually, the answer is right in front of you, if you know how to look.”
    I was so distracted by a little dog that was making a ton of noise I didn’t take in anything