This is one of Kevin Gramlich's chapter books.
Pep the cat was going trick or treating on Halloween. Pep was dressed up as ghost. Pep had a shiny diamond to make his costume light up. When Pep got home he saw there was no diamond with him and his goody bag had a hole in it.
"Hector!" Pep yelled. "Can you help me find my diamond ring?"
"Sure" Hector said. "Now I'll be on the case."
Pep played with a rubber windup mouse. Pep saw something. The winder actually was the base of the ring. "Someone tried to trick us", thought Pep.
Hector saw some footprints. He followed them. He followed them all over town. Hector followed the footprints until he saw another clue. This one, he didn't know what it was for a second.
Hector looked at the rock. It was a crystal rock. "Wow" Hector thought, "it looks like one of the diamond crystals."
Hector peered inside the window that was open. He saw a man with the diaomond, without the base.
He had tried to trick them so that Hector and Pep wouldn't recognize the diamond, even if they saw it!
Hector just was fuming with anger. He had to think of a plan to get the diamond back. He looked through the open window.
"Wow", he had a plan.
Hector jumped through the open window. He jumped right into the man with the diamond The man lost balance, fell, accidentally throwing the dimond in the air. Hector landed on the man.
The diamond flew out the window and Hector grabbed the phone. He called 9-1-1. The police came and arrested the man for taking the diamond.
Hector told Pep the whole story when he got back.
"Wow," Pep said. "I can't believe you actually got the man to throw the diamond out the window."
"Well, he's in jail now. Right?" asked Pep.
"Sure" Hector said. "Let's go see how he's doing in jail."
"Let me out!" yelled the man. "You tattled on me cat" he yelled again.
Hector thought, "At least 99 years isn't forever" he said.
"Well so long cat" he said "and by the way, take this" he said throwing crystals that had fallen out of the diamond. They went all over Hector.
"Very funny" Hector said. "But do you know what? We have to go home now."
Hector rested in his chair. After such a long mystery, he had finally solved it. And he said "As I said, 99 years is never forever".