It was a beautiful, sunny day in the jungle. The animal detectives had just finished their morning exercises led by Giraffe Zofia and were enjoying their breakfast. Each had their favorite treat: Desert Mouse Patricia nibbled on cheese cookies, Giraffe Zofia munched on palm-flavored biscuits, Lion Kuba savored steak cookies, and Anteater Alfred enjoyed ant cookies he had baked himself.
After breakfast, the daily advice session for the jungle residents began. The animal detectives gathered around a round table, and Patricia opened her notebook, ready to record all the new cases.
The first to arrive was Rabbit, visibly worried.
“I have a very urgent matter,” he began, nervously shifting from foot to foot. “Someone is stealing my carrots from the field! At first, I thought I was mistaken and had eaten them myself, but when I came back the next day, two carrots were missing again. The day after that, three.”
“Did you draw a map of your field?” Patricia asked.
“Yes!” Rabbit replied. “I marked the spots where I pulled out carrots on the map. When I came today, five carrots were marked on my map, but seven were missing in the field, so someone must have taken two more during the night.”
“Have you noticed any tracks?” Alfred inquired.
“Yes, but they’re very strange tracks,” Rabbit answered. “They’re not fox tracks, nor badger tracks, nor any animal tracks from around here. I even tried to follow the trail, but the tracks start and stop right at the lake.”
The animals looked at each other. This sounded like a serious mystery.
“We’ll take care of this case immediately,” Patricia decided. “This will be our main investigation for today.”
After the meeting, the detectives went to Rabbit’s carrot field. Patricia examined the tracks carefully with a magnifying glass.
“They are indeed very strange,” she murmured. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”
Alfred sniffed the tracks and shook his head.
“I can’t recognize the smell. It’s… artificial, somehow.”
Kuba studied the tracks closely and suddenly his face lit up.
“You know what? These tracks remind me of Badger Bartek’s footprints, but reversed and a bit bigger!”
“Badger Bartek?” Zofia was surprised. “But he’s our friend. Why would he steal Rabbit’s carrots?”
“Maybe he’s in trouble,” Alfred wondered. “Or maybe he’s planning a surprise?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Patricia decided. “We have to follow him!”
The animals split up. Patricia and Kuba went to Badger’s den to watch him, while Zofia and Alfred stayed in the carrot field to prepare a trap.
Patricia and Kuba hid in the bushes near Badger’s den. They waited patiently for hours until Bartek came out carrying a basket, looking like he was going shopping.
“Let’s follow him,” whispered Patricia.
They followed Badger through the forest until he arrived at the fruit market. There, he bought apples, pears, and… carrots!
“See?” Kuba whispered. “He’s buying carrots! That means he’s not stealing from Rabbit!”
“Or maybe he’s buying them to mislead us,” Patricia thought. “We have to keep watching.”
Meanwhile, Zofia and Alfred set a trap in the carrot field. They spread a net designed to catch the thief as soon as it approached the carrots. They hid behind a big rock and waited.
As darkness fell, they heard rustling. Something was moving among the carrots!
“Now!” Zofia whispered and pulled the rope.
The net fell down, but instead of the thief, they caught a small hedgehog!
“Sorry!” Alfred said, embarrassed, freeing the hedgehog. “We thought you were the carrot thief.”
“Me?” squeaked the hedgehog. “I was just passing by! I don’t eat carrots!”
The trap had failed, and Patricia and Kuba returned with news that Badger didn’t look guilty.
“That was a false lead,” Patricia sighed. “We have to think of something else.”
The animals returned to their base to think over the case. They sat around the table, analyzing all the clues.
“These tracks,” Patricia pondered, “they start and end by the lake. That must be an important clue.”
“Maybe the thief comes by boat,” Kuba suggested.
“Or it’s a water animal,” added Zofia.
“But we haven’t seen any boat tracks,” Alfred reminded them. “And there’s no water animal here that eats carrots.”
Suddenly Patricia slapped the table.
“I have an idea! The thief must use something that doesn’t leave tracks on the water. Maybe a paddleboard?”
“That would explain why it looks like they’re standing on water!” Alfred agreed.
“We need to make a new trap,” Patricia decided. “But this time, we’ll be ready for a thief arriving from the lake.”
The next day, the animals set up a new, improved trap. This time they positioned themselves on both land and water. Kuba and Alfred hid in boats with spotlights among the reeds at the lake’s edge. Patricia and Zofia lurked near the carrot field, and Parrot Ala kept watch from the air.
At midnight, when the moon shone like a small crescent, the animals saw movement on the water. Something—or someone—was approaching the shore. In the dim moonlight, they spotted a figure standing on a flat board—it really was a paddleboard!
The mysterious figure stepped onto the shore, approached the field, and started pulling out carrots. The animals waited until the thief took more than one carrot to be sure. When the figure took a second carrot and put it in a bag, Patricia gave the signal.
Kuba and Alfred came out of hiding, turning on powerful spotlights. Patricia and Zofia blocked the escape route on land.
“Stop! You’re surrounded!” Patricia called.
In the light they saw… a penguin! But not an ordinary penguin.
“Congratulations,” said the Penguin, bowing slightly. “You performed excellently.”
“Who are you?” Kuba asked, surprised.
“I’m the Examining Penguin. Every detective must take a yearly test. We check whether they can follow mysterious clues and take on missions that seem the hardest.”
“This was a test?” Zofia asked.
“Exactly,” the Penguin confirmed. “And you passed with flying colors, despite the false lead and the failed first trap. What’s most important is that you didn’t give up and changed your approach. Here are your certificates,” he added, handing over official documents. “You’ve passed another year as detectives.”
“But how did you make those strange tracks?” Patricia asked.
“That’s simple,” the Penguin laughed. “I used special shoes that confuse the tracks. I asked my computer to design footprints of a non-existent animal—a mix of a deer’s hoof, a penguin’s paw, and a gazelle’s hoof. Then I reversed them and laid a cat’s paw print on top.”
“Clever,” Alfred admitted. “And what about the carrots?”
“They’re all safe,” the Penguin assured, pointing to the bag. “And I have a surprise for Rabbit.”
The next day, Rabbit found two crates in front of his burrow—one full of carrots and the other filled with carrot-flavored sweets.
The animal detectives returned to their base, pleased with the successful end of the investigation despite the initial difficulties. They poured themselves lemonade into glasses and lounged on deck chairs to rest after the exciting day.
“That was a good lesson,” said Patricia. “The first clue isn’t always the right one, and the first trap not always successful.”
“The most important thing is not to give up and try new solutions,” added Alfred.
“And always be alert to unusual clues,” added Zofia, sipping her lemonade.
“I’m just glad Rabbit’s carrots are safe,” said Kuba, stretching comfortably in his chair.
And so ended another adventure of the jungle animal detectives, who once again proved that even the hardest mysteries can be solved if you are persistent and ready to change strategy.