"Here she is! Chelsea has been returned, safe and sound!" Farkle Minkus said, as he handed over a fish swimming happily in her bowl to his teacher, Mr Cory Matthews. "Who's getting her next, Mr Matthews?"
Riley is." Cory replied. He looked over at his wife, Topanga, and son, Auggie, who were at school to help take the class goldfish home.
"Yay- we're taking Chelsea home!" Auggie cheered. He adored the class goldfish and he was looking forward to when his older sister got to take her home so he could spend time with her.
"Well, Riles, old Chelsea's with you now." Maya announced.
"Yes- I can't wait!" Riley replied. "I like looking after Chelsea."
She smiled when she saw that her little brother was dressed like Sherlock Holmes- it was a tribute to his favourite owl detective show 'whodunnit?' When her father was busy talking to her mother, Riley quickly dug her phone out from her pocket, and decided to take a selfie with Chelsea before he noticed removed her phone.
So she did, and then she pressed 'Recent Pictures' to view the photo she had taken.
Maya, Farkle and Lucas, as well as Auggie and a couple of random classmates also went over to have a look at the picture.
"Wait, that's not right," Lucas pointed at the photo. Chelsea was upside down!
"Aw, she's doing a headstand in the water!" Riley exclaimed happily, unaware of the truth.
"No, Riley- Chelsea's dead." Maya replied bluntly.
"There is a fish killer in this room, and I'm going to find out who is responsible for killing her!" Auggie announced boldly to the class.
"Well you do that. Riley and I are heading to Phil's for a replacement." Maya decided, and so Riley went to explain the goldfish's death.
Cory sighed, but nonetheless, allowed them to head over to Phil's Fish Store to get a new fish to replace Chelsea, and he also gave the girls money to cover expenses.
...
"Hey Phil, we'd like this fish please."
"Hey, Maya! Haven't seen you here in a while!" A man behind a till exclaimed as Maya and Rile approached him with a new goldfish, which looked wary of what was going on around it.
"You guys know each other?" Riley asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, I know her." Phil answered.
"So do you have a son or a daughter at John Quincy Adams?" Riley asked.
"You could say I have a whole class of 'em." Phil answered, as he accepted the money for Chelsea II and put it in the till.
Riley considered this. "You know, that is a very strange thing to say, Phil." She remarked.
Maya just rolled her eyes good naturedly.
...
Meanwhile, at the Matthew's flat, Auggie and his friend/crush Ava were discussing the fish's death.
"So you're saying that someone killed the fish before Riley got it?" Ava asked.
"Yes, and our job is to find out who killed her, and why." Auggie replied.
"Don't you mean how?" Asked Ava.
"Well, it'd be good to know, but the best detectives always want to know why, not how- and we're the best detectives in New York!" Auggie exclaimed.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Riley's classmates all entered, looking round warily.
"You, uh, wanted to see us?" Lucas inquired.
"Yeah, you said it was to do with Chelsea?" Zay Babineaux added.
"Yes I did-you're all suspects in Chelsea's death, and I'm going to find out who's responsible!" Auggie replied, this time in a strange accent.
"Um, why is he speaking like that?" Zay asked in confusion.
"He's imitating Agatha Christie's all time famous detective Hercule Poirot." Farkle realized.
No one showed any sign of understanding what he was on about.
"Seeing as you were the last with the fish, I'm interviewing you first Farkle." Auggie decided.
"Oh boy." The teenage boy answered. He did not like where this was going.
...
CRUNCH!
"You'll never make me talk!" Farkle said defiantly.
Ava munched on a graham cracker. Farkle hissed and winced at the noise. It made his skin prickle and his hair stand up on end.
"Alright Farkle, how did she die?" Auggie interrogated.
"I don't know!"
Auggie accepted a graham cracker from Ava and they both munched on them at the same time.
"Alright, I'll tell you what I know! Just please stop that noise!"
"We better do what he says," Auggie told Ava, and the two friends turned detectives paused to let Farkle regain his senses.
"Thank you. Right, I didn't kill the late Chelsea, but the Chelsea I brought back to class wasn't the same one I took home. I replaced her three times."
"How?" Auggie asked.
"One was in my birdbath and died, the second ended up in my cat's water dish, and the last fell off the top of the Empire State building."
"So what happened when you brought her back?" Auggie questioned.
"I brought the one I got after the Empire State building incident back with me- I swear she was alive the whole time I took her back to school. Mom and Dad both saw her alive."
"Hm," the little boy mused. This case was going nowhere- he needed another suspect to question. He decided to question Lucas- and Maya if she had returned from Phil's fish store.
"Thank you Farkle. You can go now."
Auggie followed a relieved Farkle out of his room, and summoned his next suspect.
"Lucas, you're my next suspect." He said which caused the older boy to sigh.
...
But all that Auggie gained from that interview was that Lucas had accidentally let two fish die in two separate baseball games.
"What's everybody doing here?" They heard Riley ask suddenly.
"Ah, my next suspect has arrived!" Auggie exclaimed.
"Wait, why would you suspect Riley? She discovered the fish." Lucas inquired.
"No, Maya's his next suspect!" Huffed Ava. "Hot boy." She added cheekily.
"Ava!"
"Lucas!" Riley's voice said.
"Me?" Lucas asked in disbelief.
Both Matthews siblings were cross at what was going on, so Maya broke the tension by proving to Riley they were all responsible for at least the death of one fish.
Once they had all revealed the totals of their fish deaths, Maya went last and told Riley she had been one of the worst, with seven dead goldfishes haunting her memory.
"I cannot believe you!" Riley exclaimed. "I thought you were all more compassionate to one goldfish than that!"
"Hey, I invited her to the Empire State building- well, one of them – for a half off day at the Empire State Building! Those tickets ain't cheap!" Farkle protested.
Meanwhile, the new goldfish was swimming around, ignorant to all that was happening around her.
"Hey, Chelsea- how are you doing? I bet you must be hungry- here, have a graham cracker." He said, breaking one up and putting crumbs in for her.
However, his best friend heard, and she spun round in horror. "Auggie, what are you doing? Fish aren't meant to eat graham crackers!" Ava gasped, and ran over to her friend, whose face was slowly dawning with realisation.
"I fed Chelsea graham crackers." He said. "I sneaked over to see her as soon as Farkle put her down and gave her some graham crackers before Riley took the picture. I killed a living thing...I killed Chelsea," Auggie whimpered, heartbroken at the emerging truth that hit him.
"Maybe that wasn't it, Auggie?" Topanga suggested, in attempt to comfort him.
"Oh, it was it." Ava answered, looking at Auggie with disbelief.
"Ava!" Topanga admonished.
"She's right. Graham crackers expand in water." Farkle said, in a matter of fact tone.
"Farkle!" Exclaimed Topanga in shock.
"He's right. So the crumbs expanded in her." Lucas evaluated.
"Lucas!"
"He's right." Maya shrugged.
"Maya!"
"Auggie, it's okay- it was just an accident. I know you didn't mean to kill her." Riley answered, placing an arm round her little brother's shoulders comfortingly. "Tell you what- I'll let look after Chelsea's replacement. Deal?"
"Deal," Auggie grinned. He still felt guilty for killing his fishy friend, but he was glad he was still allowed to help look after the new one.
...
Later, Riley's class and Auggie were all gathered at Phil's fish store with a new fish swimming about, looking oblivious as to the fact she was in the presence of the John Quincy Adams Accidental Fish Slayers (or JQAAFS)
"Another one? But you've all replaced this fish at least 100 times!" Phil exclaimed. "Besides, you two girls were here earlier to get a new fish- how irresponsible are you?"
"I gave her to my little brother, Auggie, as he needed to alleviate his conscience, and I decided she would help him heal. He calls her Topanga- Ava, after the two most important wo-people, in his life. This one's for our whole class."
"And we're hoping that with proper care and responsibility, this Chelsea may live a lot longer than her 104 predecessors- and in turn we lose our reputation as being members of the JQAAFS." Lucas explained.
"But if not, Chelsea's name is going to be changed." Maya decided. "The name 'Chelsea' and kids is not a good combo for a fish."
...
Later, as they watched the fish swim around after a week of no mishaps, the class began to wonder if Cory had put a lesson in this adventure somewhere.
"He's Mr Matthews- he would never lose the opportunity to tach a lesson." Zay said.
"You're right," A warm voice answered. It was Mr Matthews, who was holding a pile of permission slips. "The lesson is to show responsibility for other living beings and look after them."
He began handing out the slips.
"You'll be expected to look out for each other on this trip, so it's safe and fun for everyone."
The slip was about a trip to the Berkshire Mountains for a few days.