The Great Vandal Scandal (The Great Pet Heist)

The Great Vandal Scandal (The Great Pet Heist)

The Secret Life of Pets meets Spy School as furry friends come out of retirement to do some secret spy work sure to inspire “chuckles aplenty” ( Kirkus Reviews ) in this hilarious companion to The Great Pet Heist and The Great Ghost Hoax . Big plans are afoot! Butterbean is going to become a therapist (unless maybe she means a therapy dog?). The white cat is going to do a commercial for caviar-flavored pet treats. And Wallace is moving into a great new apartment. But these plans don’t include a group of rowdy raccoons taking over the loading dock and throwing the building into turmoil. Now residents from the whole building are coming to the Strathmore Seven for help—from Second Floor Biscuit, a Yorkie with an unfortunate haircut who faces eviction for barking at the intruders, to the loading dock rats, who are feeling intimidated and upset. And even worse, Madison gets blamed for the vandalism! It’s up to Butterbean and the rest of the pets to stop the raccoons and restore their friend’s reputation—before it’s too late. “A series of break-ins gives the Strathmore apartment building’s animal detectives an exciting new mystery to solve. . . The nonstop action and droll exchanges offer chuckles aplenty on the way to a tidy resolution made all the more satisfactory by a hilarious viral video and a well-deserved comedown for nasty nemesis Mrs. Hates Dogs on Six. Mottram’s rich, if rare, spots and vignettes feature creatures as aglow with character as the racially diverse human cast. Another wild caper for this winning animal ensemble.” -- Kirkus Reviews Emily Ecton is the author of The Great Pet Heist series as well as a number of middle grade books published under the names Emily Ecton and Emily Fairlie. She is also a former writer and producer for Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! , the Peabody Award­–winning comedy news quiz on NPR. She lives in Virginia, with Howdy, a dog who dreams of someday going to a supermarket. Visit her at EmilyEcton.com. Dave Mottram is an illustrator living in Ohio who worked as a graphic designer for many years, which led him to pursue his passion for illustration. He paints traditionally and digitally with color and layers and line. He loves tacos, animals, tikis, and nerding out over art supplies. Visit him at DaveMottram.com. Chapter 1 — 1 — BUTTERBEAN LIKED TO THINK THAT nothing could shock her. She’d been part of an International Crime Syndicate, after all. She was an experienced Ghost Investigator. But this? Nothing had prepared her for this. Mrs. Food had been eating tuna fish for the past five minutes and hadn’t offered her a bite once. NOT EVEN ONCE. Butterbean scooted forward until her chin was practically in Mrs. Food’s lap. Maybe Mrs. Food just hadn’t seen her. That was the only logical explanation. “You’re not getting any, Bean,” Mrs. Food said, her mouth full. “Stop begging.” Butterbean fell backward in shock. BEGGING? As if a Ghost Investigator would resort to BEGGING. She was simply making herself available. Staying open to opportunities. And if that opportunity happened to be a mouthful of tuna fish, so be it. Walt stopped licking her paw and looked over at the crumpled pile of what used to be Butterbean. “Do I even want to know?” she asked Oscar. Oscar opened his beak to answer and then reconsidered. He shook his head. “No.” “For the record, I was NOT begging,” Butterbean grumbled, picking herself up and stomping over to the living room. “I was very restrained.” “It’s true!” Polo called from the rat cage. “I saw the whole thing!” “Me too,” Marco said, climbing up onto the water bottle. “Oooh, you know what this calls for? I think this calls for an investigation!” “Yes!” Polo narrowed her eyes. “Why wouldn’t Mrs. Food give Butterbean any of her tuna fish? Very suspicious, if you ask me. Mysterious, even.” “Yeah! Mysterious!” Marco agreed. “We should definitely investigate.” Oscar groaned. There hadn’t been much to investigate since they’d solved the mysterious haunting of Apartment 5B, it was true. But that didn’t mean the rats hadn’t tried. There had been the mysterious case of Madison’s missing hairbrush. (It fell behind the bed.) Mrs. Food’s suspicious behavior involving a series of mysterious and very short phone calls. (Telemarketer.) And the mysterious disappearance of Walt’s favorite seafood treats. (Chad ate them. He was an octopus they knew who lived on the eighth floor. And to be honest, he was usually behind any mysterious food disappearances.) Oscar was beginning to think that the rats didn’t really understand the meaning of the word “mysterious.” “That’s not a mystery,” Oscar said. “We’ve talked about this.” “Are we sure, though?” Polo asked. “Seems kind of mysterious to me.” “Maybe we should investigate why it isn’t mysterious,” Marco said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should investigate why you want to investigate everything,” Walt said, resuming her paw licking. “Begging isn’t allowed. Mystery solved.” “I WAS NOT