One morning while I was combing my feathers with my orange-colored beak, along came Ruby.

"Gertrude!" said Ruby, a first place Rhode Island Red.

"Yes, what's the problem?" I asked.

"There's a footprint," said Ruby.

"A footprint, where, how big?" I asked with excitement.

"Come here and I'll show you," said Ruby.

When we got outside, Gerald, a Chocolate Indian Runner duck, cannon-balled into a puddle...KER-SPLASH! "It rained last night!" he said as he swam in the mud puddle.

"Look, over there, it's the footprint," said Ruby.

"Let's go check it out," I said. As we waddled along, I pulled out my magnifying glass to examine the mysterious footprint. "Boy this footprint is awful small."

"You're holding it wrong, Gertrude," said Ruby, a chicken with an eye for mistakes.

"Oops, my mistake," I said, "that's very flustering. This impression looks like a Turken footprint."

"There aren't any Turkens in this flock though," said Ruby.

Which can only mean that this mystery is a lot harder than it looks. "Ruby, we're going to have to investigate!" I said confidently. "Ruby, we don't have to ask the hens, because none of us were outside yesterday. We were all at our Annual Knitting Contest," I explained. "Also, whatever kind of animal it was, it ate some of our pellets."

"Gertrude, why don't you ask the three ducks and I'll ask the two geese, and then when we're done, we'll meet by the corner of the coop," suggested Ruby.

"Good idea," I said.

"Gerald, where were you yesterday?" I asked.

"The whole day?" asked Gerald. "Well, I was at the water pool, corn feeder..."

Meanwhile, "Goldie, where were you yesterday? asked Ruby.

"George was sick yesterday, so I stayed with him all day," said Goldie, a smart goose.

"Goldie, are you aware that someone stole our pellets yesterday while we were at our Annual Knitting Contest?" said Ruby.

"No, I wasn't, but Bill brought us some pellets yesterday. Bill is the one who accomplished this awful deed," said Goldie.

Meanwhile, I was also doing heavy detective work, "Where does this equipment go?" I asked as I huffed and puffed.

"Over there. Thanks, Gertrude, I've been trying to move those lawn gnomes for days," said Bill.

"You're welcome, Bill. Were you at the coop yesterday?" I asked.

"Well, as I planned, I took Bernard to the pond yesterday, and we were there all day," said Bill.

"Ruby, what did you find?"

"George actually was sick yesterday, and Bill was the one who decided to steal the pellets," explained Ruby.

"Ruby, both of us know that Bill has been planning that visit to the pond for weeks, and Bernard was with him all day," I said.

"Oh, so you're saying that Goldie is the culprit?" asked Ruby.

"Exactly, and I couldn't have done it without you, Ruby," I answered.