It all started Wednesday afternoon at my best friend Penny's coop. We were playing our favorite board game, Confuse the Goose, until Penny got a phone call.

On the other end of the phone was a mysterious voice. It said, "I will clip you, you fat hens. I'll clip you!"

After a quiet moment, I said, "I know! Dr. Fake Feathers!"

"Who is he?" Penny asked.

I told her the story. "A few years ago Dr. Fake Feathers was going to have a show at the circus. He would have made millions by overcharging the audience. But his wife, Fern, found out. So she secretly took all of the money that he stole and gave it to charity. He found out and would have clipped her wing if I didn't call the police on him."

"How did you know that he was going to clip her wing?" she said.

"Fern was Dr. Fake Feathers' main act. She was the trapeze artist - famous for doing her show without a net. She was an excellent flyer and could fly herself safely to the ground if the tricks went wrong. Clipping her wing would have ended her trapeze career and broken her heart," I said.

On our way to the police station, I told her the rest of the story. "A few months after he went to jail, he escaped. The police have been searching for him ever since."

We got to the police and told them all about the phone call. I played the recorded phone call for the police. I asked the police officer "What do you plan to do?"

"No idea," he said.

"I've got a plan," I said. "I'll get Dr. Fake Feathers myself!" Penny and I arranged a trap with the manager of the Fancy Feathers Chicken Salon. We told her that she would be helping the police a lot if she would agree to our plan. She did. That day Penny and I made fliers about "A Sale at Fancy Feathers Salon" the following Saturday. We posted the fliers all over town. We knew Dr. Fake Feathers would come looking for Fern, since she goes to every salon sale. That Saturday Penny and I and the police were ready. Penny was dressed up as Fern. It was part of the plan.

Then Dr. Fake Feathers stormed in. He suddenly grabbed Penny (who he thought was Fern) and he pulled out a pair of razor-sharp scissors, ready to clip her wing. Penny and I let out the signal cluck and the police raced in and saved the day.

That was many years ago. Now Penny and I are private detectives and Fern went on to be a famous trapeze artist with the Funny Feathers Circus.

Dr. Fake Feathers? Well, the cops kept him in jail this time. To all the bad guys out there: Watch out! Because Gertrude McCluck is on your case!