Showing posts with label
The Casebook of Constable Crab.
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Showing posts with label
The Casebook of Constable Crab.
Show all posts
"I was relaxing on the beach one sunny day when I heard someone call my name in an excited tone of voice. I looked in the direction of the call and recognized one of my young friends 'Sandy' Sand Crab.
Sandy came running up to me and breathlessly began to inform me about some what seemed to be a rather serious problem--I caught the name of Madam Claire Clam--but could not understand anything else.
STOP, Sandy! Slow down--take a deep breath--and tell me CALMLY what it is you need to say."
"Oh Constable! You must come quickly! Madam Clam is in GREAT need of your skill! Her famous pearl is GONE and probably STOLEN!!"
Well, this WAS serious news--and no small thing either!
Everyone knew that Madam Claire Clam was the proud owner of one of the finest and most valuable pearls in the entire world--The famous Plumbago Pearl!
I was immediately on my feet and hurrying toward the sea cove where Madam Clam had her home with Sandy scampering after me.
...
"It's a HOUSE! An EMPTY HOUSE!! And WHAT a HOUSE!!! A genuine Chambered Nautilus!!!!"
"But..." I began...
"No 'BUTS'!!!" Exclaimed Hermit! "I've waited all my life for a house like this! THIS is MY HOUSE and I'm moving in RIGHT NOW!
And he did!
...
"Fine for YOU--you--you JELLYFISH! But what am I going to do for a house? AND for me that is highly important, because Hermit crabs ALWAYS have houses!! And (sob) I DON'T!!"
"Cheer up, old friend." I said, "Every cloud has a silver lining--perhaps..."
"Oh, I know you are trying top cheer me up," said Hermit, "but I just know I'll NEVER find another sweet little house like--like..."
"What's the matter?" I asked--because suddenly Hermit had a VERY strange look in his eye.
"It's just that I thought I saw--over there in the sand by those big stones--a--a..."
...
"But WHY would a jellyfish even WANT a house?" Hermit Crab asked.
"I KNOW it is unusual" retorted the jellyfish, "But I am tired of just floating around! Owning my own house gives me a feeling of dignity and prestige! AND as you well know--it offers great protection from the predators of the deep! Finally I can relax and enjoy life without worrying about being eaten! I expect lots of jellyfish will start looking for new homes soon!"
...
"SO, Jellyfish!" I demanded when we were face to face with the creature, "Where do you think you are going with Hermit Crab's House?"
"Who's house?" asked the Jellyfish.
"MY house!" Hermit blurted. "My own cozy little whelk shell HOUSE!"
"Your house? MY house!" Jellyfish replied indignantly. "Surely you are familiar with The Law of the Sea: 'If you HAVE it, it's YOURS!' and I HAVE IT! So it's MY house!"
I looked at the sad expression on my old friend's face.
"I'm afraid the jellyfish is in the right." I said.
...
Hermit and I made haste to overtake the moving house and soon cought up with it.
But we were not prepared for what we found!
Incredibly, INSIDE Hermit Crab's "empty" whelk shell house--was--a--a--JELLYFISH!
Jellyfish simply NEVER enter empty whelk shells--and they MOST certainly NEVER walk away with one---carrying it on their back like a hermit crab carries its house!
...
We hurriedly scrambled down the slippery rocks and soon saw--just in front of us but moving slowly around the edge of a mossy cliff-- Hermit's whelk shell house.
BUT it was moving purposefully!
SOMEONE or SOMETHING was INSIDE the shell!...
"Wasn't empty!" I said--not TOO surprised since I suspected someone had stolen Hermit's house for their OWN habitation.
"Nah!" said the starfish, "Some critter was IN it all right--but it was something that didn't seem to FIT any too well."
"And how long ago was that?"
"A few minutes is all--it was heading downhill into the deeper water though--so it MAY be gone entirely!"
"Then QUICK Hermit! We'll try to head it off!"
And we scrambled down the stones through the weeds into the deeper sea.
...
We were soon IN the tide pool.
The water was fresh and clear.
I sauntered over to a scruffy starfish who was lying under a mossy rock near the shore and casually started a conversation.
"Hello there. Nice day isn't it. Have you been hanging out here long?"
"Hullo ", said the starfish, " Yeah, I been here all morning. Nuttin' much doing down here today! Say, you're Constable Crab, ain'tcha--what's happenin', Constable?"
"I'm here with my old friend Hermit Crab--seems like his house has gone missing--"
"Missing house, you say, well I haven't seen and houses running loose around here--hyuck! hyuck!"
"Well, you know old Hermit's habits, Mr. Starfish--his house was actually sort of an abandoned whelk shell."
"No kidding! I DID see a whelk shell a while ago--but it WASN'T empty!"
...
"Then the best thing to do--it seems to me," I said, "Is to return to the tide pool. We may find some clue there--"
And off we went!
...
"No. I don't know WHERE my dear little house is! I have no idea where it could be!" Hermit cried.
"Well then--WHERE did you see it last?" I asked.
"I was down in the tide pool--and of course it was WITH me since I usually carry it on my back--I just stepped out of it for a quick seaweed snack and when I returned--just a few moments later--it was--(sob!)--GONE!"
Here poor old Hermit was overcome with weeping. I felt pity and patted him on his antenna to show my fellow-feeling.
...
"Ah, yes--a cozy whelk shell..."
As an expert in The Law of the Sea, I knew very well that when some creature HAS something--it's HIS!
True, Hermit had been living in "his" whelk shell for quite a while, but the shell was really the shell of an unknown whelk! (Now gone AND forgotten!)
But I went on to ask the usual detective questions:
"Do you have any idea where your house might have gone--or any clues to where it might be now?"
...
I was taking a leisurely stroll one morning when my old friend Hermit Crab scuttled up the beach to meet me.
It was easy to see by the anxious look on his face that something bad had happened.
I hurried to set him at his ease--
"Dear old Hermit Crab," I said, "Why the long face--is something the matter?"
"You can say that!
Oh, Constable Crab--I am afraid I am going to have to ask you for your help.
I am really in a tight spot!
Please, my Old Friend--help me!"
"Of course, Hermit!" I replied, "What seems to be the matter?"
...
"But before I could get to the box--a hungry seagull plopped down next to the almost empty box and began to fill his beak with cookies and crumbs!
So--THAT'S how the cookie foot got dropped on the beach!
It was carried there and dropped by the same gull which I saw come back and "steal the evidence" of the mysterious cookie foot!
Mystery solved!!"
...
"My search for the origin of the mysterious cookie foot led me down to the beach--to one of the places where humans often came for picnics.
There I saw, half buried in the sand--a box--a box which might have contained animal cookies.
As I moved closer I became more certain.
Sure enough, it appeared to be an animal cookie box--almost, but not quite--empty of cookies.
I approached cautiously....
"Wait a moment!
I KNOW!
My great powers of deduction have revealed to me that the creature that dropped the animal cookie foot--MUST be--could ONLY be--A HUMAN CHILD!"
...
"BUT--Sea Turtles only come out of the sea once every year --and that is to lay eggs! Not to eat animal cookies!!"
"What kind of creature that comes to the beach eats animal cookies?"
...
"No--It COULDN'T be a squid!" mumbled Constable Crab.
(Ask the child why not. Replies will vary.)
"Right again!" cried Crab.
"Because squids NEVER come out of the water!
How could a water creature drop a animal cookie foot on the sand?!
BUT--maybe it was a sea turtle--THEY come out of the water sometimes!"
...
"No, no seal!" said Constable Crab.
"No--I don't think it was a seal that left the cookie foot on the beach."
(Why do you think Constable Crab thinks a seal did NOT leave the cookie foot on the beach?
Wait for the child to offer several suggestions.)
"Right-O! What do seals eat?"
"Absolutely right! Seals eat FISH! NOT COOKIES--not even animal crackers!"
"Well, if it wasn't a seal--what other creatures are around at the beach?" thought Constable Crab.
"Maybe it was a squid??"
...
"What kind of creature", thought Constable Crab, "would leave a foot-shaped cookie on the beach?"
Constable crab scratched his head with one of his large claws and thought.
"What kind of animal or bird would leave such a thing?"
He thought about the creatures he knew on the beach.
"Maybe a seal?" he thought.
...
