Fins and the Legman 3: The Super Bowl Mystery
Chapter 1
Klaus, in his cup, Roger, Steve, and Hayley were all playing Hint. Francine was dusting in the kitchen and Stan was reading the newspaper. Klaus was Col. Ketchup, Roger was Professor Violet, Steve was Mr. Emerald, and Hayley was Miss Magenta. Klaus' eyes widened as he figured out the possible suspect. He raised a fin.
"I have an accusation!" The fish told the other players. He grabbed the envelope with all the solution cards in it.
"You know," Roger said to him. "If your accusation is incorrect, you'll only make a fool out of yourself. You can't play anymore. If we get another 'Fins and the Legman' mystery, I might not let you join."
"And I can go again?" Steve wanted to know, excitedly. "It was originally called 'Wheels and the Legman' you know. I was in it, not Klaus."
"Sure, I never liked the fish anyway." Steve pumped up his fist and cheered.
"YES!"
"Well, that won't be the case." Klaus said. "Because I'm pretty sure." He opened up the envelope and dumped out the cards. He smiled to himself. His cards matched his thoughts!
"You can't be 'pretty sure'." Roger said. "You got to be 100% accu…" Klaus put the envelope aside and showed them the cards. He talked as he put each one down. "It was Col. Ketchup in the gazebo with flagellation, aka, a whip. Also this person's mouth was filled with cotton balls so people wouldn't hear this person scream as loud. "
"So in other words it was you." Klaus looked at his piece in the Gazebo. He frowned.
"Oh yeah, I am Col. Ketchup. But this is just a game, I didn't really do it."
"How do we know?"
"Because it's make-believe, it's not rea…you know what? I don't know why I'm even talking to you." They all began to put the game away.
"But I can still be in the detective group, right?" Steve asked the alien.
"Yes, of course." Roger told him. "If another mystery comes up, Klaus will be out of the picture and it'll be 'Wheels and the Legman' like the good ol' days." Steve pumped his fist again.
"YES!"
"I'll put this away." Hayley offered, putting the lid on the game. She grabbed the game in her hands and stood up. She was about to put it away when Stan cried out.
"NO, NO, NOOOO! They can't do this!" Francine stopped dusting and went over to her husband. The others went to him.
"What's wrong, honey?" Francine wanted to know.
"Yeah, Dad." Hayley put in. "Are you okay?"
"Tell us!" Steve pleaded. Stan muttered so softly that nobody heard a thing.
"We didn't catch that, Stan." Francine said. Stan muttered softly again.
"Stan, you need to speak up."
"Yeah!" Steve said. "Speak up!"
Stan sighed and looked at his family, tears in his eyes.
"The Super Bowl might be cancelled this year.'' He informed them. Everyone gasped.
"Oh no!" Roger said in a sarcastic tone. "No Super Bowl? What a tragedy! That's super- bad; how could they?! Who do they think they are cancelling the Super Bowl like that? They should be arrested! Serves them right scheduling Super Bowl Sunday on Groundhog's Day. I don't get you humans and your 'football craziness'. At least now, you can see if the groundhog sees his shadow or not."
"An animal can't predict the future." Klaus said. "Not that far in advance anyways. That's impossible and stupid!" Roger put his hands on his hips.
"Oh yeah? Then what about all the times he did predict the weather and it came true? Explain that, wise guy!" Klaus shrugged.
"He was just lucky." Roger put his hands up in disbelief.
"Unbelievable!" He pointed at him. "You're unbelievable, you know that fish?"
"Can we get back to the major problem, here?" Steve asked. Roger nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes. Let's get back to the 'major problem'." They all looked back at Stan.
"Why is the Super Bowl cancelled, Dad?" Steve asked his dad.
"Someone stole all of the equipment." Stan answered.
"From which team?" Francine wanted to know.
"From both." They all gasped again. "They also wrote graffiti on the field and on the goal posts."
"Can't they borrow from another stadium?" Stan nodded.
"They're planning on doing that." They then smiled.
"Then there you go! If they can get other equipment, then there's no need to worry! The Super Bowl will go as planned." Stan smiled at his son.
"Hope you're right, son." He then frowned again. "But who would do something like this?"
"Someone who doesn't want the Super Bowl to happen." Hayley rationalized.
"Or some animal!" Roger said. Something then struck him. "I got it; the groundhog did it! He's jealous of the Super Bowl landing on his day this year. That's it; the groundhog's the culprit." Everyone gave him glares. Roger noticed this. "Okay, okay; the groundhog didn't do it, but someone must be behind this!" Steve then smiled.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" He asked.
"It sure does, kiddo." The alien told him. They then shouted in unison.
"WHEELS AND THE LEGMAN TIME!" Steve looked at him.
"We got to go to New Jersey right away." He was about to change into Wheels when Francine pulled him back.
"Oh no you don't mister!" She told him. "You got school to go to. You don't have time to go to New Jersey and solve a mystery with Roger."
"I won't. I'll be solving it with Legman."
"Whatever! You're still not going."
"But Mom!"
"Don't 'but Mom', me!"
"Francine's right." Roger told him. "You got school. Besides, in order to be a good detective, you got to be smart. So, I'll just go myself."
"What are you talking about?" Klaus said to him. "I'll be going with you. I so happen to like American football, and I want to know why they might not have it this year." Roger sighed.
"Should've seen that coming I guess."
"Und this time, I'm getting my outfit." He then scooted away.
"I'm going to get my stuff too." Roger said and went for the stairs.
"Once again," Steve said. "High School ruins everything."
"Cheer up, Steve." Roger told him on the stairwell. "Once we have solved the mystery; they might have us on right before kickoff."
"That doesn't make me feel better!" Steve shouted as Roger went up the stairs.
"Relax Dad." Hayley told her depressed father. "If worse comes to worse, we can always watch the Puppy Bowl." Stan just looked at her.
"What's that?" He asked.
"It's been on Animal Planet on the same day as the Super Bowl since 2005. It's practically the same thing but with adorable puppies as the players. How cute is that? They say it's the tenth year anniversary even though it was 2005 when they started because it's the tenth episode broadcast so they're going to do something special. Michelle Obama is going to be there, along with Bo and Sunny. Oh, and there is also a Kitten Bowl and a Fish Bowl this year too with Goldie the goldfish and kittens." Stan looked annoyed.
"Just put the board game away."
"Then again, the Fish Bowl is just about Goldie swimming in her bowl for four straight hours, so that might be boring. But studies have shown that watching fish in a tank, bowl, or an aquarium lowers blood pressure and reduces stress. So in a way, it's kind of a good thing we have Klaus as a pet." Stan groaned.
"Hayley!"
"It is on TV and TV kills brain cells." She thought about this a moment. "Just forget about the Fish Bowl. It's a stupid idea."
"JUST PUT THE DARN GAME AWAY, HAYLEY! And who would watch that, Hayley? Who in their right mind would watch that?" Hayley frowned and went off with the game.
"Well," Roger said in his Legman outfit the next morning, carrying his suitcases in each hand. Klaus was in his glass ball behind him, in his trench coat, pipe, and detective hat. He too had his a fish-size suitcase in his fin. "We're leaving for the airport and then we'll solve the mystery of what happened to the Super Bowl." He waved to them. "Wish us good luck!"
"Good luck!" The Smiths all said together as Roger left and headed for the taxicab Roger had called earlier that morning. Klaus rolled behind him. Steve looked at his mother.
"Are you sure I can't go, Mom?" He asked.
"Pretty sure." Francine replied. Steve looked down in disappointment.
"And there's a Kitty Halftime Show." Hayley explained to her dad, much to his dismay.
"HURRY!" Stan shouted. "Next she'll be telling me about a bunny bowl, a guinea pig bowl, a parrot bowl, hamster bowl and many other animal bowls. I don't want my day ruined by animals! I have Klaus for that!"
Klaus hopped into Roger's pocket and they got into the cab. The cab drove off.
The cab driver adjusted his rearview mirror so he can see his passengers.
"Where are you headed to, sir?" He asked Roger.
"New Jersey." The disguised alien answered.
"Small world; me too! This is my last run before I go and pack. I got tickets for the Super Bowl. Did you hear about…"
"Yeah, I heard. That's why I'm going. I'm a detective and I'm going to try to figure out what happened."
"Good for you! Hope you solve it before the big day."
"Me too."
"It's a tragedy for us football fans to hear. I'm not giving up hope though, I believe that it'll go on as planned."
"Good for you."
"My son begged me not to go. Ever since my wife passed away four years ago from cancer, he constantly wants to do stuff with me, but every time he asks, football is on. And when a game is on, I just can't pass it up, you know?"
"Uh-huh!"
"A father picking football over his son?" Klaus said in Roger's pocket. "Sounds like a bad father to me."
"Klaus, shhh!" Roger shushed him.
"What was that?" The man asked.
"Nothing!" Roger lied.
"Okay then. So, he ran away, along with my other kids. Police are still looking
for him, but I got to be in New Jersey for the Super Bowl, so I'm going. The police will call me as soon as they catch them and send them home with their babysitter."
"Yep, bad parent!" Klaus said again.
"Klaus, hush!" Roger said, shushing him again"
"Well we still got a ways to go." The man continued. "I'll tell you how I first got
Interested in the sport." Roger did a groan, but not loud enough so the man could hear as he started his tale.
"Shoot me." He told Klaus.
"We're here." The taxi driver said as he stopped at the airport.
"Finally!" Roger said, getting out.
The man handed Roger his suitcases, Roger grabbed them, paid the driver and was about to go in the airport when the man spoke up.
"Do I get a tip for that awesome story-telling?" He did a wide grin. Roger looked at him, shook his head, and left. The man looked down in disappointment and headed back to his vehicle.
Klaus and Roger were having their lunch before taking off for their gate where their plane was going to take off. They overheard two men talking at the table net to them.
"Can you believe it?" One man said to his friend who was busy eating his burger. "The person who stole all of the football equipment has struck again! You know what they did?"
"No." The other man answered between bites. "What?"
"You heard that New York has loaned their football equipment to New Jersey?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the bus carrying the equipment crashed."
"Oh my gosh; really?"
"Yeah. Fortunately the driver of the bus tumbled out before the crash and no others were onboard."
"I'm happy for the driver but upset about what happened. Did they find all of the equipment?"
"Police are searching for them, but they found nothing yet."
"Whoever's doing this, I hope they get caught. Super Bowl Sunday won't be the same. What else am I supposed to watch on Sunday?" The first man shrugged. "Beats me! I'm sure they'll find a way for it all to work out otherwise they'll disappoint trillions of football fans across the country. Not to mention the sponsors."
"I hope so." The other man said.
"Oh, don't worry." Roger thought to himself. "The Fins and the Legman are on the case! You'll be able to watch your precious football on Sunday, along with the rest of the crazy fans. Just wait and see!" He turned to Klaus. "Fins!" He told him, looking at his watch. "It's time to go." Klaus has drinking out of a can of Dr. Pepper though the aid of a plastic straw.
"Just let me finish my Dr. Pepper."
"There's no time for that." He went over to Klaus, put him back in his ball, and went off.
"Hey; I was almost done with that!" Roger just ignored him and continued for their gate.
After Klaus and Roger left their luggage in their hotel room, they hopped on a bus and hopped off in front of the MetLife Stadium.
As they were about to enter, a guard stopped them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He said. "What do you think you're doing? You can't enter here." Roger showed him his fake badge.
"I am Braff Zacklin head of the Fins and the Legman detective Agency."
"I thought your name was Roger Silvermore." Klaus whispered to him.
"I'm Braff Zacklin now." Roger told Klaus. "That was my original name to begin with and I'm sticking to it."
"Okay!"
"Well, detective or not, I still can't let you in. Plus the teams aren't in there, they're boarding their charter buses to go to New Yor…" Just then, a man in a 'NJ/NY Super Bowl Host Committee' uniform ran up, breathless. His nametag read 'Hank'. Hank looked at Roger then was disappointed.
"I…thought…you were a…police officer."
"No, but I am a detective. Can I help you?"
"Well all both of the Seahawks and the Broncos' charter buses caught on fire and crashed."
Roger and Klaus gasped.
