asked for.”
“Wrong closet, Dad.” Juliet laughed. “These are pajamas. I can’t go outside in pajamas!”
Big Barney pushed his sunglasses onto his forehead and held out the pajamas at arm’s length. “Pajamas?. Okay, no problem,” he said, the gears in his head already clicking full speed. “We just tell people you’re late for a pajama party. Hahaha!” His laugh boomed through the hospital.
“No way,” Juliet said, shaking her head. “If Mom were still alive, she’d punch you for even suggesting that!”
“Okay, no problem,” Big Barney said. He looked Kelly over as she stood by her bed, packing to leave. “How about her? She looks about a hundred and fifteen pounds.”
Kelly was amazed. “One fifteen exactly,” she said. “How did you know?”
“I know how much a chicken weighs from thirty yards,” said Big Barney. “Similar bone structure. I’d say your clothes would fit my Julie.”
“Come on, Dad,” Juliet said, embarrassed. “I can’t do that. Sorry, Kelly. Sometimes he forgets that the whole world doesn’t jump when he pushes an intercom button.”
“Hey, it’s a great idea,” Kelly said. “You’re welcome to borrow some clothes.”
“You’re a lifesaver!” Juliet said gratefully. She closed up the suitcase Big Barney had brought. “Maybe I could borrow some makeup, too? No makeup bag, Dad,” Juliet scolded. She hopped out of bed, gave her father a hug, and said teasingly, “Which one of us lost our memory, I wonder?”
“Here,” Kelly said, carrying her own suitcase over to Juliet’s side of the room. “Take what you want.”
“Thanks,” Juliet said. “I’ll get them back to you.’
“No rush,” said Kelly.
“Hey, you know what?” Juliet said. “Dad’s giving me a welcome-home party in a couple of days. Why don’t you all come? It’ll be a great party and you can pick up your clothes then, Kelly.”
“Sounds great!” Kelly exclaimed.
Jupe also smiled, but he kept it to himself. A party at the Chicken King’s house? A chance to observe Big Barney up close and personal? What could be better?
Jupiter Jones sat on the corner of his bed and pulled on his socks. It was the day of the party at Big Barney Coop’s mansion and Jupe was nervous. This was going to be a tough assignment. Not because of the investigation — he was looking forward to that. But what was he going to say to people, more specifically, to girls at the party?
He stood up and tucked a bright polo shirt into his chinos. He faced his mirror. Not bad for a slightly overweight, medium height guy with unruly black hair. Wait a minute. Did the shirt look better tucked in or left out? It was stretching rather tightly over his stomach.
Then be began to have an imaginary conversation in his head. He was talking to a girl, the girl he’d like to meet at the party. She was petite and dainty, with short, curly hair.
“You probably haven’t noticed me, but I’ve been staring at you uncontrollably for half an hour,” said the imaginary girl with a smile.
“I notice everything,” Jupe answered confidently.
“Want some chicken?” she asked, temptingly holding out a plate of Big Barney’s best.
“No, thanks,” Jupe said, looking into the mirror in his room. “I’m trying to lose a few.”
“Gee, I really admire guys who have will power,” replied the girl in Jupe’s daydream.
She likes me, Jupe thought.
“Are you a friend of Big Barney’s?”
“Actually I’m here to see if he’s poisoning his chickens,” Jupe said bluntly.
The girl’s eyes opened wide. “You mean,” she said excitedly, “you’re a real detective?”
But by the time Jupe had tried on a more flattering T-shirt, his imaginary date was asking him a really tough question. “Why would someone who’s made millions selling fried chicken suddenly decide to poison his own food?” she asked.
“That’s a very astute question,” said Jupe. “And I’m not sure of the answer. Maybe he’s trying to scare ol’ Michael Argenti. Maybe he’s poisoning just a small sample of his own birds, so that when Argenti takes a sample, he’ll find contamination. Or maybe he’s poisoning Argenti’s Roast Roost chickens as a counter attack. There are a lot of possibilities.”
“You’re so smart and logical,” said the girl in the daydream.
“And I know judo, too,” Jupe added.
“You’ve probably already got a girlfriend,” the girl said.
“Well. ” Jupe said.
“Hey, Jupe. Are you ready?” asked a voice from behind.
Jupe snapped out of his daydream and saw Bob standing in the doorway. He was wearing a navy-blue and red striped polo shirt and white casual pants.
“Who were you talking to?” Bob asked as they walked to his car.
“Just going over the facts of the case,” Jupe answered, his face flushing.
When they arrived at Big Barney’s enormous mansion in Bel Air, Pete and Kelly were waiting for them.
“Hope you brought a lot of change,” Pete said. “You need bus fare to get from the front door to the pool.”
The mansion was a stately forty-room, three-story stucco building with ivy growing on the walls. But that’s where any semblance of elegance stopped. Everywhere there were reminders of how the Chicken King had made his millions. Instead of lawn jockeys there were chickens in jockey uniforms. The windsock on top of the flagpole was a rubber chicken. And many of the fat, round shrubs were trimmed into topiary versions of chickens wearing crowns.
The party was being held poolside, behind the mansion. There, two hundred people, young and old, were gathered around a chicken-shaped swimming pool, eating fried chicken, dancing, and having a great time.
“Remember, we’re not here just to have fun,” Jupe said. “Especially you, Kelly. Be sure to ‘forget’ to pick up your clothes from Juliet. That way you’ll have an excuse to see her again.”
“I know, I know,” Kelly said impatiently. “Come on, Pete, let’s go find Juliet. And if I catch you having any fun, I’ll tell Jupe on you.” Kelly laughed as they walked away.
“Why does she take everything I say so seriously?” Jupe asked Bob.
Bob shook his head. “No — why do you take everything she says so seriously? C’mon, let’s look around.”
They squeezed their way through the crowd. It seemed to Jupe that
