Budget & Beagle
CASE 1: WILL THE REAL VIOLET GRAY PLEASE STAND UP?
Things at Birchwood Elementary School were seemingly normal. All of the kids were getting ready for a long day at school where they would be either receiving their homework back, taking tests, doing science projects, or just some random assignment. And one of those kids that were ready for her day was one Violet Gray. She was considered one of the popular kids. She didn't suffer fools lightly, to say the least. She was part of the upper-crust of the kids. And she ruled the playground with an iron fist. When she liked you, consider yourself lucky, but when she didn't like you, she took no prisoners. She would let you know if she approved of you or not. Many wanted to be part of her small inner circle, her clique, they wanted to be friends with her. She was good friends with Patty Swanson, who was her best friend, as well as Frieda, one of the prettiest girls in school. She rarely had a good thing to say about the boys, though.
Shermy she tolerated and was the only boy she would allow as part of her inner circle. Pig Pen, the resident dirty kid, she didn't hold in high regard, but still tolerated him enough because he actually fought back when she insulted him. But one boy she hated more than anything in the world was, ironically, the nicest boy in town, Charlie Brown. Mainly because she got annoyed with his "woe is me" attitude and how clumsy and how much of a loser he was. While others were nice or barely cordial to him, she and Patty ruthlessly teased him with no shred of remorse. One thing they liked to do to him was not invite him to parties and tell him that they weren't inviting him. He wondered why they got such a kick out of his misery.
Violet was heading to her class. Patty sat next to her. She was anxious to tell her about Charlie Brown's latest folly.
"Vi, am I glad to see you!" she chirped. "You will never guess what happened to Charlie Brown this morning!"
"Give me all the detail, Patty," said a gleeful Violet.
"He was helping the custodian with wheeling out the old grease from the fryers. Don't worry, they weren't hot. (Even though they relished in his humiliation, they still didn't want any real harm to come to Charlie Brown) Anyway, he was heading down the ramp to the grease holders near the dumpster. And he lost control of the cart the barrels were on and they spilled all over him!"
"Ha ha! That is too much!"
"Well he was sent back home so he could clean up. He should be back soon."
"I cannot wait to rub this in his face. His FAILURE FACE!" And both girls cackled about his humiliation. Schroeder looked over at the girls, and made a frown.
"And they wonder why I don't date," he muttered under his breath. Schroeder was one of Charlie Brown's biggest defenders and closest friends. He was also a musical prodigy, knowing how to play the piano. And he was an avid fan of all things Beethoven. He idolized the composer and wanted to live his life like he did, sans the deafness, of course. And Beethoven was a lifelong bachelor, so Schroeder wanted to be a lifelong bachelor like him.
As the day progressed, Violet mocked Charlie Brown making him even more miserable than he was before, and continuously talked about Pig Pen and his dustiness. No one was safe from her wrath, especially those she held in low regard. So most students turned the other way when they saw Violet and Patty coming because they didn't want to deal with their tyranny. As school got out for the day, all made beelines towards the busses, cars waiting for them, and running down the sidewalk, lest they ran into the terrible twosome. But they'd have to deal with them again the next day.
As the next day began as normal, something was different. Patty was her normal self, but Violet seemed different. She seemed nicer. She was greeting all of those folks she insulted just the previous day with a warm "Hello" and even told them to have a nice day. Most were confused by her change in demeaner but wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and went along with it, thinking she was in a better mood. Even Pig Pen was glad she wasn't criticizing him like she usually did. But there was still one kid left.
Charlie Brown didn't get treated nicely by Violet, even when she was in a good mood, or nice to everyone else. So when she walked by him, he was ready for her.
"Look, Violet, I'm already in a bad mood," he began. "If you're going to rub salt on my wounds, forget it! I'm in no mood for you or Patty coming after me!"
"Oh no, Charlie Brown, I'd never do that to you," said Violet.
"Are you kidding?!"
"I think you are one of the nicest boys around." Charlie Brown was confused. "I just wished more boys were like you. A girl should consider herself lucky to even get a boy as sweet and kind as you." And she did something Charlie Brown would never think Violet would be capable of, even when she was "cordial" to him in rare occasions. She kissed him on the cheek. He blushed a bit, but was still shocked.
"Anyway, I need to get to class," she chirped. "I'll see you later, Charlie Brown. You wonderful boy, you." And she left.
"Okay, tell me the world is flat, snow comes up from the ground, fir trees make fur coats, you may be able to sell me on those!" Charlie Brown ranted. "But what had just happened?! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!" He went to find Lucy.
Lucy was getting her books out of her locker. Charlie Brown ran up to her. "Lucy, I need your help!" he began.
"Of course, Charlie Brown," said Lucy calmly. "You know I'm always willing to help. For a fee, obviously."
"Well Violet came to school today. And you know how she is towards me. Well today it was the total opposite. She was actually…" He gulped for a second. "…nice to me!"
"Well we all have our good days and bad days, Charlie Brown," Lucy shrugged. "Sure she can be mean and even a bigger fussbudget than even myself, but we al can have good days where we'll actually be nice to someone. Even I can be nice to my brothers from time to time."
"You don't understand. She actually kissed me!"
"No!"
"Yes! Even when she's tolerant of me and not being mean towards me, she would NEVER kiss me! Look!" And Lucy saw a lipstick kiss left by Violet on Charlie Brown's cheek.
"Good grief, you're right, Charlie Brown! No matter how nice she was to you, she'd NEVER kiss you! Tell you what. I will monitor her throughout the day and after school gets out, Budget and Beagle will be on the case!" And the kids went to their class.
As the day progressed, Lucy watched as Violet was uncharacteristically nice to her fellow classmates who wasn't Patty or Shermy. Even Pig Pen was doted on by Violet, and she never did that to him! But Pig Pen enjoyed her seemingly "nice streak" she was having. Lucy was convinced that the girl she was staring at WASN'T Violet! Sure she looked like Violet and she sounded like Violet, but her personality WASN'T Violet-like. Once school got out, she was hot on the case.
The first thing she did was grab her partner. Snoopy was asleep on top of his doghouse. Lucy woke him up.
"Get up, beagle!" she began. "We have a big case. Violet may have been replaced by a duplicate of her, who's nothing like the original! I will give you your usual pay!" Snoopy got up and dressed into his detective outfit. And they got to work.
Soon they spotted "Violet" heading for home. They followed from a far distance. But this Violet wasn't heading for her house, instead she was heading for a treehouse on the rough side of town. The detective team hung back for a bit. Then they climbed the tree and walked along the edge of the house. They peaked into a window to see a shocking scene. The "Violet" they followed had a compartment opened up in her back, exposing what looked like a computer motherboard. Then they say the real Violet tied up and gagged. They also saw three kids; two burly boys and a girl, who was the ringleader.
"It's that no-good Mara Cooper and her fat twin brothers, Mike and Mark," growled Lucy to Snoopy. "Mara was the winner at last year's Junior Science Expo. She created an android version of herself. She must've done the same to Violet!"
"Well my plan seemed to work!" chuckled Mara. "People seem to believe my android is you, Miss. Meanie Pants!" She removed Violet's gag.
"Mara, you blockhead!" yelled Violet. "No one is going to believe THAT droid is the real me!"
"With your double being nicer to people, she will replace you," said Mara. "And NO ONE will be the wiser!" And Mara laughed loud.
"OH NO?!" Lucy climbed into the window, with Snoopy blocking the entry.
"Lucy! Snoopy!" cried Violet. "Am I glad to see you two!"
"Mara, your kidnapping days are over!" Lucy announced.
"Come on, Van Pelt!" laughed Mara. "Even you can see the benefit of a NICER Violet Gray! That'll leave you as the only mean girl in school!"
"Okay, admittedly I can be a bit opinionated," Lucy admitted, " as well as crabby most of the time, but even I can't do this alone! Violet and Patty helps out with their meanness. Sure they can go a little too far, but it's up to them if they want to change their personalities, NOT YOU!"
"Mike, Mark, GET THEM!" ordered Mara.
Lucy made short work of both boys, slugging them out cold. Snoopy untied Violet and they fled, leaving Lucy and a now-scared Mara.
"Please, don't hurt me, Lucy!" cried Mara. "I'll stop making android replacements. I swear!"
"Oh no, you're not getting off THAT easily, Mara!" said Lucy, with a devious grin on her face.
The next day at school, the real Violet was back in school. She walked up to Lucy, Charlie Brown, and Linus, who were talking to each other.
"Lucy," she began, "thank you for saving me from that crazy Mara and her ugly brothers. I just want to know, how were you able to figure out that the android version of me wasn't real?"
"Well, you can thank Charlie Brown here for giving me that clue."
"Charlie Brown?!" said a shocked Violet. "How were YOU able to figure out that wasn't the real me?!"
"Simple, Violet," shrugged Charlie Brown. "You were actually nice to me. Even kissed me."
"That was part of Mara's plan," Lucy continued. "She was going to replace you with a nicer version of you, but she didn't equate Charlie Brown into the formula."
"Well I guess I owe you, Charlie Brown," said Violet.
"Don't worry, everything is taken care of," said Charlie Brown. The droid Violet walked up to Charlie Brown.
"So are you ready for our date to the movies later, sweetie?" asked the android Violet.
"Absolutely!" said Charlie Brown. And they walked away arm-in-arm.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" groaned the real Violet. Everyone else laughed. And as for Mara, she and her brothers were doing grounds work with the school landscape after school per Mara's deal with Lucy so she wouldn't go to the authorities about their kidnapping Violet.
CASE CLOSED