Mariella Mystery Investigates the Huge Hair Scare. Kate Pankhurst

way, Watson would have tracked Violet down and raised the alarm that she was trapped. I’m not giving up. I’m sure Watson is destined to be the greatest sniffer cat, eventually.

      2:15 PM

      22 SYCAMORE AVENUE (MY BEDROOM)

      It’s been really quiet since we solved our last big case, the Cupcake Conundrum. The Young Super Sleuth’s Handbook says that a good detective never wastes time relaxing; he or she uses any non-mystery solving time to become a better detective. That’s why this is the perfect opportunity to focus on things like Sniffer Cat Training.

      I’ve been a little worried recently that nothing mysterious will ever happen again. But this is all part of being a detective – one day everything is completely normal, the next – BOOM! – a totally mysterious mystery arrives.

      Poppy has gone now because she has to practice for the big swimming gala next week. She’s determined the Puddleford Puddles will beat the Sunnyfield Swimmers. Poppy is really competitive with the team captain of the Sunnies, this stuck up girl called Pearl Swishay.

      Violet went home quite soon after Poppy. I think she was a little upset about getting trapped in the closet. It’s all Arthur’s fault for being so obsessed with Coco Nutello.

      Ever since Arthur heard Coco was coming to Puddleford on her Big Beautiful Hair Tour, he hasn’t stopped talking about her. The Coco concert is this Saturday. Which is also Halloween – potentially the most mysterious day of the year.

      Poppy, Violet, and I are having a sleepover in Mystery Girls HQ, in case a call comes in about a really mysterious mystery. Mom is knitting us some totally amazing costumes. (She runs an online knitting shop called Knitted Fancies. You Name It, We’ll Knit It!)

      I don’t see why Arthur is so crazy about Coco. Her songs are bad. The worst one is all about dancing on tables.

      She just sings the same line over and over again. I Love Dancin’ on Tables, Yeeeaahhhh!

      And as if anyone would go around swishing their hair that much – you’d just get weird looks if you did that in real life.

      2:45 PM

      STILL IN MY BEDROOM

      Arthur is being really annoying. He keeps begging Mom to take him to the fancy new hairdressers in Puddleford. It’s called Hair by Marco – apparently Marco is a top celebrity stylist and used to do Coco Nutello’s hair.

      But Mom said Hair by Marco is far too expensive and Arthur will have to go to see Shirley and Barb at our usual hairdressers, Kurl Up and Dye* instead. Ha!

      *KURL UP AND DYE: Usually people want to “curl up and die” (correct spelling) if they are embarrassed. Who wants to go to a hairdressers where you’ll get embarrassing hair?

      Last time Mom took us to Kurl Up and Dye, Barb spent two hours (which is a long time) blow drying my hair straight. I didn’t even want straight hair and I lost valuable mystery solving time.

      A lot of the kids at school have gone crazy about Coco Nutello too. Miss Twist, our head teacher, is not very happy.

      Miss Twist: Head teacher of Puddleford Elementary School. Always in a mood about something. Currently on a mission to stop children from wearing any items that are not officially school uniform.

      Miss Twist went crazy in assembly last week – she said if she sees students wearing Coco Nutello t-shirts under their school shirts, or with giant sequinned bows in their hair (Coco says big bows are “so in”) they will be in BIG trouble.

      She even told me to take off my detective’s hat! Doesn’t she realize I am doing a very serious and important job?

      6:00 PM

      MYSTERY GIRLS HQ

      I’ve been preparing for the Astronomy Club meeting tomorrow night. As well as training Watson, Poppy, Violet, and I have also signed up for Galaxy Gang. (That’s what our Astronomy Club is called.)

      The poster in school said that we’d look for stars and planets, but what I am really interested in is looking for signs of alien activity. If the Mystery Girls spot a UFO, we could solve the mystery of whether aliens really do exist.

      Poppy and I have really gotten into it. The other day Poppy read about a man who said aliens sucked his brain out through his nostril then replaced it with an alien brain. Totally cool!

      There have been some famous unsolved cases of extra-terrestrial* mysteries in the past, and if we look very carefully I’m sure we’ll be able to discover whether aliens really are out there. Sebastian, who runs the Astronomy Club, thinks this is a great idea.

      *EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL: Another way of saying that something is not from this planet (aliens).

      SEBASTIAN: Runs Galaxy Gang and works at Puddleford Museum Planetarium.* Knows some totally-unbelievable-but-true facts about planets and asteroids. Also doesn’t mind being called by his first name, which is cool, not like the teachers at school who get really mad about it.

      Violet says she’s not sure there are such things as aliens. (I think this is because she’d be totally scared if she saw one.) But a good detective remains open-minded and doesn’t get freaked out by aliens or closets.

      *PLANETARIUM: Dark room with pictures of the solar system projected onto the ceiling. Makes you feel totally small compared to the size of Outer Space, which is BIG.