ShortGarden Detectives · Case 6
The Pet Bed Puzzle
Short E · Level 3
Cumulative Short E patterns and evidence-based prediction
Before reading
Open the case file
Hear the focus words
Read and investigate
The Pet Bed Puzzle
Natural read-along narration · AmeliaPress Read with Amelia, or choose a sentence to begin.
Every morning, the pet bed had moved from the shed to the garden step. Meg set it back, but the next day it moved again. The bed had no wet paw prints and no torn edge. Sam checked the path and found a bent stem.
Meg found a fresh scent near the step. The scent came from a bed of mint plants. At dusk, the team hid behind the shed and kept still. A small hedgehog crept from under the fence.
It pushed the soft pet bed across the path. The hedgehog set the bed beside the mint and curled up. It liked the fresh scent and the warm spot by the step. Meg did not send it away.
She made a second bed from felt and set it by the mint. The next morning, the pet bed was still in the shed. The felt bed held one content guest. The team marked the case solved.
Check the evidence
Can you solve the case?
Choose the answer that is supported by the story.
What really happened?
A hedgehog moved the bed to sleep near the warm, fresh-smelling mint. Meg made it a separate bed.
For adults
Use evidence, not guesses
Ask the learner to point to the sentence that proves each answer. If decoding is effortful, reread one paragraph at a time. A fluent second reading is more valuable than rushing to the next story.