Disclaimer: Mumbly and Shnooker are characters from The Mumbly Cartoon Show. They are owned by Hanna Barbera Productions.
Robbed Rust Bucket
It seems like an ordinary day in a busy city for two detectives, Lieutenant Mumbly and Chief Shnooker. In the police department, they are impatiently waiting for a distress call.
Chief Shnooker: It's not like we want something bad to happen. If we don't have anything to do, we're bored out of our minds.
Lieutenant Mumbly: *mumbles unintelligibly *
Shnooker: Oh, so you know what we can do today, eh Mumbly?
Mumbly: *mumbles* Yeah. We can go drive somewhere.
Shnooker: All right, I guess we could do that.
The detectives head for Mumbly's car.
Shnooker: What I don't get is why you're always driving that rust bucket. It's slow, and it falls apart at the most inappropriate times.
Mumbly: *mumbles unintelligibly *
Shnooker: Okay, so you chased down some crooks with that wreck. Big deal. I'm the one who usually arrests them, thanks to brilliant observations of my surroundings.
Mumbly: * mumbles* credit stealer.
Shnooker: You're just jealous of my superior rank. Not to mention my intelligence, courage, and of course my detective skil-
Shnooker tells him this while getting in their car. However, Mumbly's vehicle isn't there. As a result, when he sits down he falls to the ground.
Mumbly: *laughs*
Shnooker: You think you're so smart, don't you? All right you smart aleck, stop pulling your pranks and show me where your car is!
Mumbly: Huh?
Shnooker: You mean you didn't do this on purpose?
Mumbly: No, sir.
Shnooker: But that means we've been...
Mumbly: Robbed?
Shnooker: Yeah, we've been robbed. No problem, all we have to do is call the police.
The detective rushes to his office, and Mumbly follows him while attempting to tell him something.
Mumbly: *mumbles unintelligibly *
Shnooker: Not now, Mumbly! Can't you see that I'm busy calling the police?!?
Mumbly: *mumbles* Uh, sir, we are the police. You're the police chief of this city.
Shnooker: I knew that. I was just, er, testing you. Yeah, that's it. There's no way I would forget that. What do you take me for, an idiot?
Mumbly: Uhuh.
Shnooker: What we have here is an open and shut case of car theft. We should look for clues to find out where that thief ran off.
Mumbly: *mumbles* You mean drove off. And the tracks are right in front of us. You can't miss 'em.
Shnooker: That's exactly what I meant. Mumbly, you can be so clueless at times.
Mumbly: *growls*
The detectives try to track down their car by following the tracks, and parts that broke off the vehicle. The tracks and wreckage lead to a marketplace. After questioning a few store owners, they notice a large crowd of people surrounding a salesman in a multicolored suit.
Salesman: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm offering this fine, antique car for the low low price of one million dollars!
Shnooker: Antique?!? How can that hunk of junk be an antique? If anything, it's a perfect example of my partner's poor choice in patrol vehicles.
Mumbly: *growls*
Mumbly sneaks off while muttering something unintelligible about his boss.
Salesman: I think you're mistaken. I, Sam Slicker, can guarantee that this car definitely does not belong to your dog.
Shnooker: What about the license plate?
The car has a license plate that says, "LT-MB-R-D-D" (Lieutenant Mumbly, Relentless Dog Detective").
Sam Slicker: Uh, it was a novelty license plate that I received from the original owner.
Shnooker: You mean stole from the original owner. And a novelty plate wouldn't have an official police department logo on it.
Sam: That's ridiculous! It's definitely not stolen. Why, I could show you the inside of it and prove that this is a genuine, authentic antique.
He opens the hood, and is shocked when Mumbly pops out of the hood and puts handcuffs on one of his wrists.
Mumbly: *laughs*
Shnooker: So that's where you ran off to. Well, that case was easy and it was all thanks to me. I'll be sure to get a promotion for this!
Mumbly: *mumbles* You always have to try to steal the credit, don't you?
Shnooker: It's one of my hobbies.
Sam: Okay, you were right. I stole your car and tried to sell it. But there's a whole bunch of other stolen vehicles in my secret hideout. And you'll never find out where it is, because I'm not easy to catch!
He uses his other hand takes a key from his pocket, and unlocks the handcuffs.
Sam: You'll never get me, coppers!
The salesman hops in Mumbly's car, and attempts to escape. It falls apart as soon as he closes the door. He gives up and runs away with one million dollars.
Shnooker: Lieutenant Mumbly, it's your job to arrest Sam Slicker and bring back the stolen vehicles.
Mumbly: *mumbles* How could I possibly transport everything? He probably has dozens of them.
Shnooker: You'll think of something. If you fail to arrest him, you'll have to turn in your badge!
Mumbly whistles, and his car immediately rebuilds itself. He proceeds to pursue the thief.
Shnooker: ...How did you do that?
Mumbly: *mumbles* You'll think of something.