One day, John Phoenix was at the local elementary school but it was actually a primary school because it wasn't American. He had brought Penny the Pencil along because he thought it was finally time to do the right thing and return her to her rightful owner.
"Where is Ralph, the owner of this pencil?" John Phoenix wondered.
Just then there was a loud stabbing sound and a shriek!
John Phoenix ran down the hall to find the source. Some ignorant worm shouted "no running" and he got zapped with a psychic beam for his insolence.
The crime scene was a classroom. But the door was locked. He tried looking in through a peephole but couldn't see anything amiss.
Penny the Pencil jumped out.
"Don't worry John Phoenix I'll look around inside!" she said and she jumped through the peephole.
John Phoenix went outside and looked through the window.
A teacher was dead! Gumshoe broke the window and climbed in.
"There's nobody here John Phoenix it's a locked room mystery," said Penny the Pencil.
"Then who did it?" said John Phoenix.
"I know, I bet it's that flat kid!" said Gumshoe.
John Phoenix laughed at Gumshoe's funny joke wait holy shit he's not kidding because the cops just piled on one of the students and he was flat like Paper Mario!
"Flat Stanley you're under arrest," said the cops and they violently threw him into the police car while everyone screamed "brutality!"
John Phoenix would save him.
"John Phoenix help me please," said Flat Stanley.
"Okay."
John Phoenix would save him.
John Phoenix investigated the crime scene.
The door was locked.
A small cupboard was blocking the door.
They went to court.
"John Phoenix help me please," said Flat Stanley.
"I already said I would twice, Jesus boy calm down," said John Phoenix.
The trial began.
"Court is in session for the trial of Stanley Lambchop!" said the judge.
"Mr. Stabbycorpse was savagely stabbed to death in a locked room and only Flat Stanley could've done it!"
Payne called the witness a little bully called Bert to the stand.
"Yeah Stanley did it, he got into the room through the gap under the door, like in the book cover!" said Bert.
"Objection!" shouted John Phoenix. "There was a cupboard blocking the door so he couldn't slide under it, the cupboard would be in the way!"
"Well then how else could the culprit get in?" asked the judge.
"He must've used the little peephole, that's how Penny got in!" said John Phoenix. "AND FLAT STANLEY COULDN'T FIT THROUGH THAT!"
The police rolled Flat Stanley up and tried to fit him through the peephole but it didn't work, he couldn't be rolled up thin enough.
"Hmm I see," said the judge. "But then who DID fit through the peephole?"
"Wait a second!" said Penny and she noticed one of the teacher's writing implements was a black marker, or should I say, a black TEXTA?
It was Black Texta!
"You're under arrest for murder Black Texta," said Gumshoe. Black Texta said nothing and lay still. Pretending to be an ordinary black texta, clearly. Gumshoe put Black Texta in his pocket and chuckled as he started writing notes with him.
John Phoenix wondered what Black Texta was doing here. Oh well.
"This court finds Flat Stanley NOT GUILTY!" said the judge.
"Thanks John Phoenix," said Flat Stanley.
"Save the thanks. Just tell me where Penny's owner is," said John Phoenix.
"Okay," said Flat Stanley and he returned Penny to Ralph.
"Until we meet again, my friend..." said John Phoenix.
Which may be sooner than either of them think!