It was an average day here at Secret Investigators Incorporation - people bustling around the room talking about present missions, getting new missions, and lots of non-work related conversations.  I was just sitting at my desk, eating my donut and drinking my coffee that I made here this morning at 7:30 a.m.  Yes, I know what you’re thinking, I don’t have to clock in until 8 o’clock, so why were you there half an hour early? Well, I’m always early and not once in my 5 years at the company have I been late.  Impressive, I know.  But there’s no way I can miss a second of all the exciting things that happen at Investigators Inc.  While I’m filing away papers and documents and going on coffee bar runs, I get to here all the secret information on new missions.  I haven’t gone on a mission yet, but I’m hoping I get to go on one really soon.  I just don’t think my boss trusts me yet, even though I’m almost 26 and have been here for 3 years - which is longer than most people who actually get missions here.   You might say it’s not fair, but I think my boss, Mr. Zenler, is just waiting for the perfect case to give me.  Until that day comes, I just wait in my cubicle doing my job the best I can and proving myself to Zenler.  
My day went by like it normally does, I transferred a few calls to the detectives and Zenler, I filed evidence, and today I even got to sit in a meeting about a big case involving the murder of a Mrs. Jackson that required “all hands on deck” according to Zenler.  As I was getting up to go home for the day, Zenler called me into his office.
“Detective Earl,” he called, “Can I see you in here for a moment?”
I got up from my swivel chair that I spend most of my break spinning on and entered into his office as he shut the door behind me.
“You can sit down next to Detective Jude.”
Zenler normally called me into his office, but he never shut the door, asked me to sit down, and have someone else in the room.  This was starting to get suspicious, I hope I wasn’t in trouble.
“Detective, I brought you in here today because I have come across a case I want to assign you.  Since the whole office is busy working on the Jackson case, no one else is available to take this case,” he stated.
I was so excited I couldn’t hold still and break the huge smile on my face.  I finally had a mission that was mine and I wasn’t gonna drop this one.  But, I had to keep my cool.
“Thank you for the opportunity, sir, I won’t let you down,” I delivered calmly.
“Great,” he said. “Now, here’s the file, and you’ll be needing a partner for this case, so I’ve brought in our new hiree, Detective Jude.” Zenler gestured to the man sitting next to me.  So that’s who that was.
“Don’t worry,” I said to the detective, “missions aren’t that bad once you start on them.  And, I’m perfectly trained so we won’t get ourselves into any danger, Mr. Jewels.”
“Jude. My name is Jude,” he countered.
  “That’s what I said.”
“Well,” Zenler said, “Earl, Jude is perfectly trained and even came from a neighboring company where he was top of his troupe.”
“Well, I’ll make sure he follows the correct procedures here then, sir.”
“Alright then,” Zenler said, “Take a look at this file and then go home and get a good night’s rest before you start tomorrow.  You’ll need it.  I’ll trust you’ll get to the bottom of this case very quickly.”
I left the room with Detective Jude and led him over to my desk to look over the case. 
“Okay, it looks like a Mr. Beverly is putting a watch request on his neighbors, the Donaldsons, as he suspects they are stealing his Christmas decorations,” I read from the paper.  “Well Mr. Beverly, we are going to get to the bottom of this.”
“That’s it?” Jude questioned, “This is our big case? Zenler talking about it sounded like we were dealing with a murder or a robbery not neighbors snooping around each other’s yards.”
“Look,” I said leaning into him, “I know you’re new here and everything but every case is a case that needs to be solved, and if you don’t think it’s good enough, well I’ll just do this on my own. And technically, if you think about it, this is sort of a robbery case.”
I was so frustrated with Jude.  How could he not appreciate this case he was given? Sure it wasn’t as thrilling as the Jackson case, but it’s what I’ve been waiting for. 
“Well Jude, I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow to get into the details if you want to stay.”
I packed up my things and made my way home for the day.  Instead of taking my usual route on the bus, I walked home to think about how I was going to go about this mission.  I started with what I knew, which was the Donaldsons stealing christmas decorations from the Beverlys.  There wasn’t much I could do with this mission, but I know for sure I wasn’t just going to jump into this and accuse the Donaldsons.  After walking 5 miles and finally reaching my building, I had decided that it would be best to interview the Donaldsons first.   
The next morning, I got to work early - earlier than I have ever been.  I wanted to be extra ready for today.
I spotted Jude in the lobby of the building getting coffee at the coffee bar, so I rushed to the elevator and to my desk, organizing my things, so when he came up it would make it seem like I was here before him.  Sneaky, I know.
As Jude walked into the office, I pulled out the sheet of paper where I wrote down my plan and gave it to him.  I watched him as he looked it over, knowing he would think that it’s a great plan.
“It would be more smart,” Jude responded, “if we took a car out and watched the two houses for at least 24 hours before going in and interviewing anyone.  With this, it looks like we are assuming, which will make him mad, even if he’s innocent.”
I glared at him for knocking down my plan, but I knew he was right.  I was more angry at myself because I didn’t think of spying first.
“You know, that does make more sense,” I said to Jude. “Shall we make our way over there then?  After all, this case needs to be solved right away and 24 hours is a long time.”
Jude and I gathered some equipment and exited the building, making our way to the parking structure next door where the squad car was located.  It was a car specifically for our kind of mission: black, tinted windows, and no logos of our company painted on. I got in the passenger seat because Jude thought it would be best if he drove so I could navigate.  He said I was known for being the best navigator. Even though I knew he was only saying that so he could drive, I humored him, took the compliment, and let him take the wheel - this time.  I gave him instructions on where he goes going and we were at the neighborhood within a short, 10 minute drive.
Jude parked the car two houses down from the suspected houses and I set up the camera on the dashboard of the car.  We waited for hours watching the house with all the Christmas decorations and nothing happened.  By the time it was 4 o’clock, the most exciting thing that happened was a bird flew towards our car and landed on the hood, walking around for a minute and then flying away.
“Wait someone is coming,” Jude spoke suddenly, making me sit up from my slouched position.
I looked up to the Beverly’s house and sure enough there was a woman walking out the door, holding something, and heading to the car.  Jude noticed she was walking towards us and slowly cracked open his window, just enough to meet the woman’s eyes. 
“Hello folks! I’m Karen Beverly and I would like to thank ya’ll for all you’re doing for us and our safety, so I baked some cookies!” she exclaimed. The woman outside our window tried to slip the container through the crack but it wouldn’t fit.
“Uhm, yes Ma’am, thank you, but we’re kind of undercover right now and this could make your neighbor suspicious of us,” Jude calmly confronted her.
“Oh of course, I’ll be out of you hair. Good-bye!” she yelled to us while walking to her lawn and waving goodbye, disappearing into the house.
“She totally blew our cover,” Jude said, frowning.
Yeah sure, she could have blown our cover, but after 10 more minutes and nothing happened, I didn’t pose Karen Beverly as a threat.
Three more hours went by and no action was worth mentioning.  As the sun started to fall, Jude called it quits, but I refused to budge.
“As soon as we leave, something is going to happen. I know it,” I explained to him. 
Jude settled into his seat again and began to close his eyes in defeat.  I kept my position, wide awake in my seat.  I watched the yard carefully and had my eye on a blow up Santa when the Beverlys’ door opened again.  I prepared myself for another interaction with Karen, but instead a dog exited the house, unleashed.  I watched him move across the lawn and play in dirt, rolling around in it.  When he was done with his fun, the dog ran over to the fake candy canes lining the yard and grabbed one in his mouth.  He started to walk towards the back of the house with the decoration and I couldn’t see it anymore. That’s strange.  Wait a minute…
“Jude wake up!” I yelled over to him.  “It’s their dog! The Beverlys’ dog is taking the decorations!”
Jude perked up with wide eyes and looked at me.  I grabbed the camera from the dashboard and got out of the car, planning to follow the dog - or in this case the thief.  I ran in the front lawn and followed the path to the backyard.  The backyard was big, but small enough to spot the dog running to the woods.  I got closer to the dog, and there it was behind a bush, the dog’s stash of decorations.  I couldn’t believe that this dog had been stealing the decorations. 
“Well this is unexpected,” Jude said behind me.  Apparently he had followed me out of the car.
I went back into the front yard and met Mr. Beverly telling him not to worry about the Donaldsons, as their own dog was the criminal in this case.  I showed them the pictures of the dog and they were shocked, yet relieved.  They thanked Jude and I for our help, and Karen even gave us a cookie. 
“Well that was definitely the most surprising case I’ve solved,” Jude said exhaustingly.
“Woah, woah, hold up.  I solved this case and you know it. You were sleeping half the time,” I exclaimed defensively,
“You’re right,” Jude said, “let’s just head to office and submit a completion form to Zenler.”
We got into the squad car again and Jude started to drive away with me in the passenger seat completing the mission completion form.  I was too excited to wait until we got back to the office to fill it in.  Also, it was 9 o’clock at night and this had been a really long day.  Jude parked the car by the side of the building and unlocked the doors, looking at me to get out.
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked, opening my door.
“Nah, this is your case, you solved it, you get the credit,” he said to me.
“Well thank you, Detective.  I’ll put in a good word,” I told him.
I got out of the car and made my way into the building.  I rode the elevator up to the office floor and walked straight into Zenler’s office.  I spotted him sitting at his desk, so I put the file down in front of him.  He examined the information for a moment and then looked up at me.
“This is a surprise. Well done, Earl, I knew you could do it,” he exclaimed. “Next time, a bigger one - one that takes more than 12 hours.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I walked out of the room and began to pack up my things I had left at my desk during the mission. As I walked toward the elevator, I looked back at the office, getting excited for what’s to come.  I finally had my place here at Secret Investigators Inc. and it was the best feeling.