The InBESTigators (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 13 - The Case of the Science Sabotage - full transcript
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
[voice over]
The Case of the Science Sabotage.
Hello and welcome to The Inbestigators.
-My name is--
-[Ezra] Poppy!
-Yes, my name is Poppy.
-[door closes]
And, hey!
You said I could help report the case!
No, I said you could watch me report the
case while I helped you make cookies.
Anyway, how could you report it?
You weren’t even there.
That’s why I was going to say, ‘my name’s
Poppy, I'm here to report the case.
Here’s my brother Ezra’. Which is you.
[sighs] I know it’s me.
-Welcome to the Inbestigators--
-I did that bit.
So, last Saturday afternoon,
Maudie and I were watching videos when...
-[knock on door]
-[dog barks]
Can we help you?
Oh!
There was a girl, a bit older than us,
knocking at the office door.
I’m looking for the Inbestigators?
A random client! This was exciting!
Yes, we’re the Inbestigators.
Maybe too exciting.
Yeah. The girl, whose name was Annie,
had heard of us.
But I heard you were really clever.
-We are. Clumsy but clever.
-[Annie] Good. I need your help.
Someone stole my science fair experiment.
Annie had been at the Woodford City
Science Fair where she had an exhibit and
The judging is tomorrow but...
half of my experiment has disappeared!
And it wasn’t supposed to?
Like, you weren’t testing evaporation?
Science joke. Sorry. Go on.
About a month ago,
my brother Frank and I got in trouble
for not cleaning our bedrooms, so we
started fighting over whose was dirtier,
and he said, ‘I’ll bet you fifty dollars
that my room is cleaner than yours',
and I said,
‘Fine! I can’t wait to prove you wrong.'
Wait, what does her brother’s dirty room
have to do with the science fair?
Because that was her experiment.
My hypothesis is: That my brother’s
bedroom is dirtier than mine.
How is that a science experiment?!
Two weeks ago, I scraped samples
from all the surfaces in our bedrooms
with a swab like this.
I took samples from Frank’s book case,
and my bookcase,
I scraped Frank’s window sill,
and my window sill,
and I took samples from my desk,
and Frank’s desk.
Then I put all the samples
in petri dishes with agar gel...
Oh my goodness, that's so clever!
-Did you understand it?
-Not at all.
Me neither.
What are petri dishes
and what is agar gel?
A petri dish is a little
glass container and
agar gel is a powder you mix with
water which sets like hard jelly,
and is a perfect little
nest for bacteria to spread.
So, I have nine petri dishes
that are growing bacteria.
Wait, how could you have nine,
if you had three dishes from your room
and three from your brother’s room?
That’s only six.
I had three control dishes too.
In every experiment you have
to have a ‘control’, like, a normal one,
to compare to the others. I took
those samples from my Dad's study,
and he cleaned all the surfaces
before I started scraping.
The dishes from my Dad’s study
haven't grown nearly as much
as the dishes from my room or Frank’s
room, so it’s a really good control.
-It was a really good control.
-Was?
That’s what was stolen.
This afternoon my three
control petri dishes disappeared.
Annie was really upset. The samples
from her Dad’s office were gone.
That’s so awful, but why did it matter?
She still had the ones from
Frank’s room and her room.
An experiment has to have a control.
Without those dishes,
Annie would be disqualified.
Can you help me get my dishes back?
I’ll pay you, of course.
We had a mystery to solve at
a science fair and we were getting paid.
This was the best day of my life.
The next morning, my Mum drove me, Maudie,
Ava and Kyle over to the science fair,
which was mind blowing.
There were rockets and bubbling liquids
and homemade electric motors and
waterwheels and fruit batteries.
-What about Annie? Was her’s good?
-It was more than good.
Annie, this is the most amazing,
outstanding, extraordinary thing
I have ever seen in my life. And I
don’t say stuff like that very often.
Actually, Ava says stuff like that every
five minutes, but she was right.
Annie’s exhibit was amazing.
Her experiment was laid
out inside a clear box,
which had a model of Annie’s
bedroom with three petri dishes
where the bacteria from
her room was growing,
and a model of Frank's bedroom
with three petri dishes
where the bacteria
from his room was growing.
and a model of her Dad’s study with three
petri dishes with no bacteria growing.
Which made no sense at all.
I thought the dishes from
your Dad’s office went missing.
They did. These are just
plain agar dishes I put in there.
Isn’t that cheating?
I can’t use them for the judging, but if
they knew my control had gone missing,
I would have been
disqualified straight away.
-Poor Annie.
-I know, so--
-That’s so unfair.
-Yeah.
-So we were--
-She worked so hard.
I’m going to press my cookies now.
So we were deciding where to search
when Annie called out to someone.
Did you find your lunchbox?
-[sighs] Frank! Mum’s going to be so mad!
-[Poppy] Frank?
Do you mean Annie's brother?
Yep, Frank her brother.
He was helping look after Annie’s stall--
Even though her experiment was
about how dirty his room was?
He didn’t care about that.
Because Annie was paying him.
I’m paying him ten dollars
to be my assistant.
He never has any money so he said yes...
did you get another hotdog?!
Yeah.
That’s your third one this morning.
How can you afford three hotdogs
if you don’t have any money?
I didn’t need money.
This girl is making them with her homemade
hot dog cooker and giving them away.
Frank, you were supposed
to be looking for your lunchbox,
not hanging around some hotdog experiment!
Frank felt bad, but not just because
he’d been getting hotdogs.
He was supposed to be looking
after my stall yesterday
when my dishes went missing.
I left him right here
to eat his afternoon snack--
I had to go to the toilet!
So you left the exhibit alone?
I couldn’t wait so
I picked up my lunchbox
and ran to the bathroom.
I don’t mean to be rude,
but isn’t taking your lunchbox
to the bathroom a bit disgusting?
-I didn’t want to lose it.
-But you’ve lost it.
So when I came back,
Frank was gone and so was my experiment.
What time was this?
It must have been between
four forty-five and five o’clock.
Mm. Now that I’ve heard all that,
I have a couple of questions.
Where is that girl with the hotdog cooker
and does she have any hotdogs left?
-[Ava] Kyle!
-I'm hungry!
You can have this one.
I don’t want it
Thanks!
While Kyle ate his hotdog, we got to work.
Ava, you and Kyle look around for clues.
Ezra and I will talk to the people
in the stalls next door
and see if they saw anything.
Good luck with that.
We didn’t know what Annie meant by that,
except that the guy in the stall
next to her did not look happy.
And the girl on the other side
looked even not happier.
They’ve been cross with me ever since
the judges wandered by yesterday.
I can see Dad’s Office
is a lot less dirty,
but I wonder should your brother
be worried about his fifty dollar bet?
[chuckles] Maybe.
I think the other competitors
should be worried
because this is a fantastic
entry in the fair.
They’re both super competitive,
and they got mad when the
judges said mine was good.
[Poppy] That’s so silly,
just because someone’s work
is good doesn’t mean yours isn’t.
I know. But the girl next to Annie, Bella,
hadn’t done nearly as much work,
so hers wasn’t as good.
But that’s not what she thought.
My experiment is just as good as Annie’s.
It’s actually better because it’s
not about dirt, it’s about plants,
which we need to survive.
That’s what I’m going to tell the judges.
-She wasn’t very nice.
-She wasn’t very helpful either.
Did you see anything unusual happen
around four forty-five yesterday?
What do you mean?
Annie wasn’t at her stall then and--
Oh, that’s right,
she wasn’t at her stall, in fact,
no one at her stall,
but my stall was crowded with people.
Bella was acting weird.
Like she wasn’t exactly telling the truth.
So Maudie asked again.
Did you see anything unusual? I mean,
apart from the crowd around your stall?
[gasps] That is so rude!
Bella refused to speak to us any more,
so we went to see to Annie’s
other neighbour, Jayden.
Who refused to stop speaking to us.
I mean this competition is about more than
pretty pictures and cardboard models,
it’s about science.
I’ve designed a water filter, I’m saving
lives not measuring dirt in bedrooms.
Who cares about that?!
Annie’s brother will if
he has to pay fifty dollars.
Boo hoo.
I hope the judges remember
there’s a lot more at stake here
than a kid losing some stupid bet.
So you didn’t see anything
weird going on in Annie’s stall?
When would I have seen... oh, oh,
is this is about me being there?
Jayden had been in Annie’s stall?
It was only to take a phone call.
The reception here is terrible,
and my mother was calling to ask
when I would be home for dinner.
Mum, you’re dropping out!
No, I can't hear you.
What did her brother say I did?
Nothing yet. What time was this?
I don’t know, Bella had already gone,
so...
Four fifty. I’ll tell you one other
thing about my experiment.
[Ava] Maudie, Ezra!
Jayden could have gone on
for hours but luckily, Ava interrupted.
Tell Kyle not to be gross!
Ava won’t let me eat
two perfectly good hotdogs!
-They’re in the bin!
-What’s your point?!
Two hotdogs?
Annie, didn’t you say Frank
had two hotdogs this morning?
Why did he put them in the bin?
Where is he?
He went to go look for his lunchbox.
It was clear we had two suspects
on either side of us. The question was...
Which one of them did it? Bella?
Or Jayden?
We need to go find the girl
with the hotdog cooker.
Yes!
-The girl with the hotdog cooker?!
-I know.
Hotdogs! Get your hotdogs cooked
on my battery powered hotdog grill!
Wow! If she doesn’t win this
competition this whole thing is rigged.
Maudie, I know you’re
hungry but can we focus?
Who stole Annie’s dishes, Jayden or Bella?
Neither of them.
What? You heard what they said.
So did I Maudie,
and they are both so jealous of Annie.
Exactly. Are jealous. Not were jealous.
If they had stolen her experiment, they
would have known she’d be disqualified,
and would have no need to be jealous.
They don’t know her dishes are gone.
Maudie was right.
Bella and Jayden didn’t know that
Annie’s Dad’s dishes were missing.
And also...
Bella wasn’t there when
the dishes were stolen.
Jayden’s Mum rang at four-fifty
and Bella was gone.
I think she gave up and went home
but was too embarrassed to admit it.
-How many hot dogs do you want?
-None.
-You wanted to come here.
-Not for the hot dogs.
For Frank.
Why was Frank next to the chairs?
How did Maudie know he would be there?
Why did he want another hotdog
if he didn’t finish the others?
Are you going to get mad at me
for asking all these questions?
No. I was as confused as you are.
I was just getting another hotdog.
That’s not why you’re here though, is it?
You’re here because this
is where you hid your lunchbox.
His lunchbox?
Why would he hide his brand new lunchbox?
I didn’t mean to take them.
You only meant to swap them.
Take what? Swap what?
Frank had taken Annie’s experiment.
We couldn’t believe it.
Neither could Annie.
Frank! How could you?!
I didn’t mean to wreck your experiment,
I swear.
But Mum said I had to pay you if I lost
and I didn’t have fifty dollars and--
And when the judges came around,
he got worried that he would lose.
I see Dad's study's a lot less dirty,
but I wonder should your brother
be worried about his fifty dollar bet?
[Maudie] But he also got the idea
to swap the dishes.
When you left I pulled out
the ones with less mould and
and I was going to swap them
with the ones from my bedroom--
But then Jayden got his phone
call and came into your stall.
What? I can't hear you.
Mum, you're dropping out.
Mum, you're breaking up.
I panicked and ran and shoved
the lunch box behind a stack of chairs.
Next to the hotdog experiment.
Is that why you kept
coming back with hotdogs?
I wanted to put the dishes
back without anyone seeing me,
but every time I went
over to pull my lunchbox out,
that girl thought I wanted another hotdog.
I’m really sorry.
-Was Annie cross?
-She was at first of course.
Was she disqualified?
No, luckily, she had taken photos
of all the petri dishes every day,
And the judges accepted the data
I’d collected up until yesterday,
which proved my hypothesis:
my brother’s bedroom is dirtier than mine.
Can we get a photo, Annie?
-So Annie wasn’t cross any more?
-No, she was happy. Very happy.
I can’t believe you won third prize!
Congratulations!
Third prize?! Yay!
Please tell me Bella and Jayden
didn’t come first or second.
Bella and Jayden didn’t come anywhere.
But the girl with the hotdog
cooker came first.
Kyle was very happy.
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
[voice over]
The Case of the Wrecked Rehearsal.
-I’m having some relaxing time today.
-How is origami relaxing?
It’s so hard... it’s like wrapping
a present with nothing inside,
which would be a terrible present to get.
If you didn’t want to do origami,
you didn’t have to come over.
I had a shower today, Ezra.
I’m not going to shower and then
not leave my house, what a waste.
Anyway, I need to have some relaxing time,
because last night
was the grade five play.
[Ava] Listen up people!
A word from your co-directors...
-Director, director’s assistant.
-Yes.
Tonight is the most
important night of your lives!
I wouldn’t say that, but it will be fun!
So this tech run needs to go perfectly!
Oh, no it doesn't Ava!
A tech run is so we can sort
out all the problems and hiccups--
Okay, but let’s try and do this with
as few mistakes as possible! Okay?
[clapping]
[over speakers] Ohhh yeah!
I was the tech person
in charge of lights and sound.
So in the tech rehearsal,
basically the star.
Along with Esther,
who was the actual star of the play.
I’ve set the table,
and the chef is cooking the turkey.
But something is still missing
from my fancy dinner party.
[door bell rings]
Oh, of course, the guests!
-[laughing, clapping]
-[Ezra] Esther was really good.
Even though she hasn’t
had any acting experience.
Do you need acting experience
for the grade five play?
According to Miranda, yes.
Darling, have you seen my purse?
I can’t find it anywhere!
Wait... Miranda,
why are you playing Esther’s part?
I just don’t understand why
I’m not playing the lead role,
when I’m a professional actress.
Miranda has been in one
ad for Cuddles detergent,
and she thinks she’s
a world-famous celebrity.
But unless you’re on the cover of
one of those magazines at the dentist
that are always old and grubby,
you’re not a world-famous celebrity.
And Miranda has never been on the
cover of a grubby dentist magazine.
I learned all Esther’s lines in case
you decided I’d be a better fit.
Miranda, you can play the part you
were given, or you can play nothing.
I’ll be in charge
of discipline thanks Ava.
Miranda, you can play...
just... do what Ava said.
Fine!
Okay, can we please do this
tech run with no more mistakes?
No, we couldn’t,
because next it was Kyle’s part.
I can’t find Kyle.
What? Where is he?
I don’t know, but he’s not backstage.
Who’s not backstage?
Kyle! Why aren’t you onstage?
I got a bit tired of acting so I thought
I’d be the audience for a bit instead.
[sighs] Kyle get back onstage with Maudie.
-Where did Maudie go?
-Pass the popcorn.
-I don’t have any.
-Ava do you have popcorn?
Ava got a bit cross and told us...
wait what step are we up to?
-Seven.
-Cool. How many steps all up?
Eighty-four.
Ava told all the actors that...
You have to take this seriously!
Tonight there will be ten thousand
people in this audience!
We have fifty seats.
There will be 50 people in this audience,
and they didn’t buy tickets
to see a big messy play.
They want to see the funniest, most
best-performed grade five play in town.
Is that the one
Stonefield Primary is putting on,
because I’ve seen the posters,
it looks very profess--
-I mean our play!
-Oh, right.
Now let’s please try and get through this
tech run with as few mistakes as possible.
It turns out that as ‘few mistakes
as possible’ is still a lot of mistakes.
[both gasp]
Great, end scene!
And now we're going
to move to outside the mansion.
Let’s change to the outside set please!
[ragtime jazz piano music playing]
Remember this scene is all about...
what, why does that say “to paint”? Pixie!
-Where’s the outside set?!
-I didn’t have time to paint it!
You told me you could paint
all the sets in three weeks!
I’m sorry!
I thought you meant three weeks full time!
I didn’t realise I had to do school
and sleep and write in my journal!
-Are we still best friends forever?
-Yes.
Esther and Diet were playing a married
couple who were meant to love each other.
Disgusting.
Playing a couple means you really
need look really good together.
So gross.
You needed to have chemistry, a spark!
Vomit for the rest of my life.
Unfortunately, Diet and Esther
didn’t have any of that stuff.
And now, we dance!
[ragtime jazz music playing]
-You step back!
-Sorry, I...
-Ow!
-I’m sorry, okay?!
-[Ava] Stop!
-[music stops]s
I am sorry but this is the worst dancing
I have ever seen in my entire life!
And on Saturdays,
I run a tap class for toddlers!
I don't get it! We’ve practised
a million times! It’s not that hard!
-I know! Tell her that!
-Diet! Don’t be so mean!
But Esther he is completely right.
I’m sorry but this is the worst dancing
-I heard you the first time.
-I have ever seen in my...
[sighs] Okay.
[Ezra] I was pretty sure that if
one more thing went wrong,
-Ava would have a complete meltdown.
-Luckily nothing else went wrong.
Oh! You mean yesterday
at the tech rehearsal.
Yeah. Something else went wrong.
Something else has gone wrong.
Is it the programs? The peanut cart?
The print-out tickets?
Why does everything
in the theatre start with a “P”?
I just spoke to Esther’s Dad on the phone,
I thought he’d booked four tickets,
but he’d actually booked 14 for all
Esther’s aunts, uncles and cousins.
-What aunties and uncles and cousins?
-[Miss Tan] From the country.
Was that a surprise?
Oh, no, I mean I know it seems bad
that we don’t have enough seats.
We don’t have enough seats?
As you can imagine,
Ava took this news really well.
[screams]
Did I say really well?
I meant like she just heard
we’d lost the war against the aliens,
and they were taking over Earth.
-[screaming continues]
-Calm down, Ava!
-We'll figure something out.
-[screaming continues]
Yeah, I’m going to go call my Dad
and tell him no one has to come.
Esther, no! This is the most
important night of your life.
[Ava] They have to see this.
What if everyone sits
on each other’s laps?
No!
What if we get them
to build a human pyramid
and they sit like that for the whole show?
No!
What if we go to our classroom
and get ten chairs?
No!
Wait, yes, that’s brilliant! Maudie,
I don’t know how you do it!
Maudie had managed to calm Ava
down with her simple suggestion.
Which was not nearly
as fun as a human pyramid.
So now we had the extra chairs...
and it was kind of working out.
You guys! It’s going to be okay!
[disco music playing]
Ava was happy and the rest of the tech
run went without a single problem.
I've had quite enough
of this fancy dinner.
Now who’s ready for dessert?
[clapping]
[Ava] Yay! Grade fives that was amazing!
I'm so sorry if I got
a little bit stressed before,
but this show is going to be
the best piece of theatre ever!
And even if it’s not the best,
you should all be very proud.
[sighs] Miss Tan, your negative energy
is bringing everyone down.
Ava, that's enough.
Absolutely. Let’s just practice
the bows and then we're done.
[Ezra] It was a miracle.
The play was going to be okay.
The actors went offstage
and I lowered the lights so they
could walk back out for their bows.
-[clapping, cheering]
-[Esther] Ow!
Isn’t it awful when everything is going
terribly, and then it gets good,
and then it becomes even
more terrible than before?
Esther! What happened?
I sprained my ankle!
Archie, go get Esther an ice pack!
Off you go Archie,
and don’t come back without one!
Maudie, toss me a cushion
to put under Esther’s ankle.
-Now Maudie!
-What happened?
-Esther, answer Miss Tan!
-Okay, thank you Ava!
You’re the director’s assistant,
not the teacher’s assistant.
Sorry.
Someone accidentally bumped
into me in the dark and I fell over.
Miranda, Pixie and Diet were
the only ones close enough to Esther,
to have knocked her over.
So Kyle, yours should look like this.
Okay.
What did you do to your origami?
The same thing I did
to all my other origamis.
Origami is really hard.
Okay, one of you needs
to apologise right now.
-I didn’t touch Esther.
-Neither did I.
I’m sorry but me neither.
-Ow!
-Okay.
-No! Just stay on the ground.
-[Kyle muffled] What’s going on?
Everyone had gotten
so distracted by Esther,
that they’d forgotten I was
a really important part of the play.
I was the turkey.
-Sorry Kyle.
-That's alright. What’s happened?
I sprained my ankle really badly.
I don’t think I can do the play.
[Ava gasps]
I’ll do it! I know all her lines!
Suddenly, someone accidentally bumping
into Esther didn’t look so accidental.
Miranda pushed Esther,
so she’d be too hurt to be in the
play and she could play her part!
-Miranda, is this true?
-No.
-Miranda didn’t push Esther.
-But someone did!
[squeaky violin horror sound
blasts from the speakers]
Ezra, that is so inappropriate.
[Ezra] I know I’m a detective,
and I should have been trying
to figure out what happened to Esther,
but yesterday I was also
a tech person trying to set a mood.
Ooh! I know what happened!
Pixie pushed Esther.
-[Pixie] I did not!
-[Ava] She did not!
Yes she did so we would postpone the play,
so she’d have time
to finish painting the set.
Kyle that is so obviously ridiculous,
but also Pixie I am a part
of the Inbestigators and a co-director,
so I do have to ask if you maybe
did push Esther a tiny bit
and now you feel really bad and
it’s the biggest regret of your life?
-Pixie didn’t push Esther.
-Oh thank goodness.
Of course Pixie didn’t do it. It was...
Everyone thought
I was pausing for suspense.
But actually I had a foot cramp
from sitting in the cart.
[Kyle] Ahhhh.
As I was saying, it was Diet.
-As if!
-Yes if!
You didn’t like acting with Esther
because she can’t dance
and you guys don’t look good together.
Diet, you can’t push over every person
that you don’t look good with.
-It wasn’t Diet.
-Thank you.
Of course it wasn’t.
It was all three of them together.
Nope.
-It was the school ghost.
-We don’t have a school ghost.
It was me.
You were in the cart and would you
like me to explain what happened?
But Maudie didn’t explain what happened.
She said first, we needed
to help move Esther off the stage.
So Ava you take her under her left side,
and I’ll take her right.
And make sure you support
her from the back.
And I’ll just let go now.
And then she'll stand on her sprained
foot because it’s not actually sprained.
Esther’s ankle wasn’t actually sprained.
Which I knew the whole
time after Maudie told us.
I don’t want to be in the play!
What do you mean? Is your ankle... what?
You don’t get it. The whole tech
run there’s been so much pressure.
They want to see the funniest, most
best-performed grade five play in town.
And I was too nervous to even dance.
Ow!
Stop!
And now my whole family is coming!
I just spoke to Esther's Dad on the phone,
and I thought he'd booked four tickets,
but he’d actually booked 14 for all of
Esther’s aunts, uncles and cousins.
I can’t do it and I didn’t mean to get
you guys in trouble because of my lying,
-so I’m sorry.
-No I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you.
And I’m sorry I made you think you’re not
perfect for the main role because you are.
And I’m sorry that I got mad
at you during our dance.
You’re really good. I just got nervous.
And I’m sorry I still haven’t
finished painting the set.
And I’m sorry that it’s so hot
in this cart that I took my pants off.
-[all groan]
-Pants on, Kyle!
Miss Tan explained that feeling anxious
is normal but we have to talk about it.
And after that, Esther felt way better
and she wanted to do the show.
And her ankle didn’t even hurt anymore!
-Because she hadn’t really sprained it.
-That’s right.
Kyle and Maudie’s scene went really well.
Dinner is served!
Bon appetit!
[clapping, cheering]
And Esther was amazing.
[clapping, cheering]
[Ezra]
And her 14 family members all loved her.
[clapping and cheering continues]
But my favourite character...
was definitely Kyle.
Wow!
You made me a crab!
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
[voice over]
The Case of the Science Sabotage.
Hello and welcome to The Inbestigators.
-My name is--
-[Ezra] Poppy!
-Yes, my name is Poppy.
-[door closes]
And, hey!
You said I could help report the case!
No, I said you could watch me report the
case while I helped you make cookies.
Anyway, how could you report it?
You weren’t even there.
That’s why I was going to say, ‘my name’s
Poppy, I'm here to report the case.
Here’s my brother Ezra’. Which is you.
[sighs] I know it’s me.
-Welcome to the Inbestigators--
-I did that bit.
So, last Saturday afternoon,
Maudie and I were watching videos when...
-[knock on door]
-[dog barks]
Can we help you?
Oh!
There was a girl, a bit older than us,
knocking at the office door.
I’m looking for the Inbestigators?
A random client! This was exciting!
Yes, we’re the Inbestigators.
Maybe too exciting.
Yeah. The girl, whose name was Annie,
had heard of us.
But I heard you were really clever.
-We are. Clumsy but clever.
-[Annie] Good. I need your help.
Someone stole my science fair experiment.
Annie had been at the Woodford City
Science Fair where she had an exhibit and
The judging is tomorrow but...
half of my experiment has disappeared!
And it wasn’t supposed to?
Like, you weren’t testing evaporation?
Science joke. Sorry. Go on.
About a month ago,
my brother Frank and I got in trouble
for not cleaning our bedrooms, so we
started fighting over whose was dirtier,
and he said, ‘I’ll bet you fifty dollars
that my room is cleaner than yours',
and I said,
‘Fine! I can’t wait to prove you wrong.'
Wait, what does her brother’s dirty room
have to do with the science fair?
Because that was her experiment.
My hypothesis is: That my brother’s
bedroom is dirtier than mine.
How is that a science experiment?!
Two weeks ago, I scraped samples
from all the surfaces in our bedrooms
with a swab like this.
I took samples from Frank’s book case,
and my bookcase,
I scraped Frank’s window sill,
and my window sill,
and I took samples from my desk,
and Frank’s desk.
Then I put all the samples
in petri dishes with agar gel...
Oh my goodness, that's so clever!
-Did you understand it?
-Not at all.
Me neither.
What are petri dishes
and what is agar gel?
A petri dish is a little
glass container and
agar gel is a powder you mix with
water which sets like hard jelly,
and is a perfect little
nest for bacteria to spread.
So, I have nine petri dishes
that are growing bacteria.
Wait, how could you have nine,
if you had three dishes from your room
and three from your brother’s room?
That’s only six.
I had three control dishes too.
In every experiment you have
to have a ‘control’, like, a normal one,
to compare to the others. I took
those samples from my Dad's study,
and he cleaned all the surfaces
before I started scraping.
The dishes from my Dad’s study
haven't grown nearly as much
as the dishes from my room or Frank’s
room, so it’s a really good control.
-It was a really good control.
-Was?
That’s what was stolen.
This afternoon my three
control petri dishes disappeared.
Annie was really upset. The samples
from her Dad’s office were gone.
That’s so awful, but why did it matter?
She still had the ones from
Frank’s room and her room.
An experiment has to have a control.
Without those dishes,
Annie would be disqualified.
Can you help me get my dishes back?
I’ll pay you, of course.
We had a mystery to solve at
a science fair and we were getting paid.
This was the best day of my life.
The next morning, my Mum drove me, Maudie,
Ava and Kyle over to the science fair,
which was mind blowing.
There were rockets and bubbling liquids
and homemade electric motors and
waterwheels and fruit batteries.
-What about Annie? Was her’s good?
-It was more than good.
Annie, this is the most amazing,
outstanding, extraordinary thing
I have ever seen in my life. And I
don’t say stuff like that very often.
Actually, Ava says stuff like that every
five minutes, but she was right.
Annie’s exhibit was amazing.
Her experiment was laid
out inside a clear box,
which had a model of Annie’s
bedroom with three petri dishes
where the bacteria from
her room was growing,
and a model of Frank's bedroom
with three petri dishes
where the bacteria
from his room was growing.
and a model of her Dad’s study with three
petri dishes with no bacteria growing.
Which made no sense at all.
I thought the dishes from
your Dad’s office went missing.
They did. These are just
plain agar dishes I put in there.
Isn’t that cheating?
I can’t use them for the judging, but if
they knew my control had gone missing,
I would have been
disqualified straight away.
-Poor Annie.
-I know, so--
-That’s so unfair.
-Yeah.
-So we were--
-She worked so hard.
I’m going to press my cookies now.
So we were deciding where to search
when Annie called out to someone.
Did you find your lunchbox?
-[sighs] Frank! Mum’s going to be so mad!
-[Poppy] Frank?
Do you mean Annie's brother?
Yep, Frank her brother.
He was helping look after Annie’s stall--
Even though her experiment was
about how dirty his room was?
He didn’t care about that.
Because Annie was paying him.
I’m paying him ten dollars
to be my assistant.
He never has any money so he said yes...
did you get another hotdog?!
Yeah.
That’s your third one this morning.
How can you afford three hotdogs
if you don’t have any money?
I didn’t need money.
This girl is making them with her homemade
hot dog cooker and giving them away.
Frank, you were supposed
to be looking for your lunchbox,
not hanging around some hotdog experiment!
Frank felt bad, but not just because
he’d been getting hotdogs.
He was supposed to be looking
after my stall yesterday
when my dishes went missing.
I left him right here
to eat his afternoon snack--
I had to go to the toilet!
So you left the exhibit alone?
I couldn’t wait so
I picked up my lunchbox
and ran to the bathroom.
I don’t mean to be rude,
but isn’t taking your lunchbox
to the bathroom a bit disgusting?
-I didn’t want to lose it.
-But you’ve lost it.
So when I came back,
Frank was gone and so was my experiment.
What time was this?
It must have been between
four forty-five and five o’clock.
Mm. Now that I’ve heard all that,
I have a couple of questions.
Where is that girl with the hotdog cooker
and does she have any hotdogs left?
-[Ava] Kyle!
-I'm hungry!
You can have this one.
I don’t want it
Thanks!
While Kyle ate his hotdog, we got to work.
Ava, you and Kyle look around for clues.
Ezra and I will talk to the people
in the stalls next door
and see if they saw anything.
Good luck with that.
We didn’t know what Annie meant by that,
except that the guy in the stall
next to her did not look happy.
And the girl on the other side
looked even not happier.
They’ve been cross with me ever since
the judges wandered by yesterday.
I can see Dad’s Office
is a lot less dirty,
but I wonder should your brother
be worried about his fifty dollar bet?
[chuckles] Maybe.
I think the other competitors
should be worried
because this is a fantastic
entry in the fair.
They’re both super competitive,
and they got mad when the
judges said mine was good.
[Poppy] That’s so silly,
just because someone’s work
is good doesn’t mean yours isn’t.
I know. But the girl next to Annie, Bella,
hadn’t done nearly as much work,
so hers wasn’t as good.
But that’s not what she thought.
My experiment is just as good as Annie’s.
It’s actually better because it’s
not about dirt, it’s about plants,
which we need to survive.
That’s what I’m going to tell the judges.
-She wasn’t very nice.
-She wasn’t very helpful either.
Did you see anything unusual happen
around four forty-five yesterday?
What do you mean?
Annie wasn’t at her stall then and--
Oh, that’s right,
she wasn’t at her stall, in fact,
no one at her stall,
but my stall was crowded with people.
Bella was acting weird.
Like she wasn’t exactly telling the truth.
So Maudie asked again.
Did you see anything unusual? I mean,
apart from the crowd around your stall?
[gasps] That is so rude!
Bella refused to speak to us any more,
so we went to see to Annie’s
other neighbour, Jayden.
Who refused to stop speaking to us.
I mean this competition is about more than
pretty pictures and cardboard models,
it’s about science.
I’ve designed a water filter, I’m saving
lives not measuring dirt in bedrooms.
Who cares about that?!
Annie’s brother will if
he has to pay fifty dollars.
Boo hoo.
I hope the judges remember
there’s a lot more at stake here
than a kid losing some stupid bet.
So you didn’t see anything
weird going on in Annie’s stall?
When would I have seen... oh, oh,
is this is about me being there?
Jayden had been in Annie’s stall?
It was only to take a phone call.
The reception here is terrible,
and my mother was calling to ask
when I would be home for dinner.
Mum, you’re dropping out!
No, I can't hear you.
What did her brother say I did?
Nothing yet. What time was this?
I don’t know, Bella had already gone,
so...
Four fifty. I’ll tell you one other
thing about my experiment.
[Ava] Maudie, Ezra!
Jayden could have gone on
for hours but luckily, Ava interrupted.
Tell Kyle not to be gross!
Ava won’t let me eat
two perfectly good hotdogs!
-They’re in the bin!
-What’s your point?!
Two hotdogs?
Annie, didn’t you say Frank
had two hotdogs this morning?
Why did he put them in the bin?
Where is he?
He went to go look for his lunchbox.
It was clear we had two suspects
on either side of us. The question was...
Which one of them did it? Bella?
Or Jayden?
We need to go find the girl
with the hotdog cooker.
Yes!
-The girl with the hotdog cooker?!
-I know.
Hotdogs! Get your hotdogs cooked
on my battery powered hotdog grill!
Wow! If she doesn’t win this
competition this whole thing is rigged.
Maudie, I know you’re
hungry but can we focus?
Who stole Annie’s dishes, Jayden or Bella?
Neither of them.
What? You heard what they said.
So did I Maudie,
and they are both so jealous of Annie.
Exactly. Are jealous. Not were jealous.
If they had stolen her experiment, they
would have known she’d be disqualified,
and would have no need to be jealous.
They don’t know her dishes are gone.
Maudie was right.
Bella and Jayden didn’t know that
Annie’s Dad’s dishes were missing.
And also...
Bella wasn’t there when
the dishes were stolen.
Jayden’s Mum rang at four-fifty
and Bella was gone.
I think she gave up and went home
but was too embarrassed to admit it.
-How many hot dogs do you want?
-None.
-You wanted to come here.
-Not for the hot dogs.
For Frank.
Why was Frank next to the chairs?
How did Maudie know he would be there?
Why did he want another hotdog
if he didn’t finish the others?
Are you going to get mad at me
for asking all these questions?
No. I was as confused as you are.
I was just getting another hotdog.
That’s not why you’re here though, is it?
You’re here because this
is where you hid your lunchbox.
His lunchbox?
Why would he hide his brand new lunchbox?
I didn’t mean to take them.
You only meant to swap them.
Take what? Swap what?
Frank had taken Annie’s experiment.
We couldn’t believe it.
Neither could Annie.
Frank! How could you?!
I didn’t mean to wreck your experiment,
I swear.
But Mum said I had to pay you if I lost
and I didn’t have fifty dollars and--
And when the judges came around,
he got worried that he would lose.
I see Dad's study's a lot less dirty,
but I wonder should your brother
be worried about his fifty dollar bet?
[Maudie] But he also got the idea
to swap the dishes.
When you left I pulled out
the ones with less mould and
and I was going to swap them
with the ones from my bedroom--
But then Jayden got his phone
call and came into your stall.
What? I can't hear you.
Mum, you're dropping out.
Mum, you're breaking up.
I panicked and ran and shoved
the lunch box behind a stack of chairs.
Next to the hotdog experiment.
Is that why you kept
coming back with hotdogs?
I wanted to put the dishes
back without anyone seeing me,
but every time I went
over to pull my lunchbox out,
that girl thought I wanted another hotdog.
I’m really sorry.
-Was Annie cross?
-She was at first of course.
Was she disqualified?
No, luckily, she had taken photos
of all the petri dishes every day,
And the judges accepted the data
I’d collected up until yesterday,
which proved my hypothesis:
my brother’s bedroom is dirtier than mine.
Can we get a photo, Annie?
-So Annie wasn’t cross any more?
-No, she was happy. Very happy.
I can’t believe you won third prize!
Congratulations!
Third prize?! Yay!
Please tell me Bella and Jayden
didn’t come first or second.
Bella and Jayden didn’t come anywhere.
But the girl with the hotdog
cooker came first.
Kyle was very happy.
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
[voice over]
The Case of the Wrecked Rehearsal.
-I’m having some relaxing time today.
-How is origami relaxing?
It’s so hard... it’s like wrapping
a present with nothing inside,
which would be a terrible present to get.
If you didn’t want to do origami,
you didn’t have to come over.
I had a shower today, Ezra.
I’m not going to shower and then
not leave my house, what a waste.
Anyway, I need to have some relaxing time,
because last night
was the grade five play.
[Ava] Listen up people!
A word from your co-directors...
-Director, director’s assistant.
-Yes.
Tonight is the most
important night of your lives!
I wouldn’t say that, but it will be fun!
So this tech run needs to go perfectly!
Oh, no it doesn't Ava!
A tech run is so we can sort
out all the problems and hiccups--
Okay, but let’s try and do this with
as few mistakes as possible! Okay?
[clapping]
[over speakers] Ohhh yeah!
I was the tech person
in charge of lights and sound.
So in the tech rehearsal,
basically the star.
Along with Esther,
who was the actual star of the play.
I’ve set the table,
and the chef is cooking the turkey.
But something is still missing
from my fancy dinner party.
[door bell rings]
Oh, of course, the guests!
-[laughing, clapping]
-[Ezra] Esther was really good.
Even though she hasn’t
had any acting experience.
Do you need acting experience
for the grade five play?
According to Miranda, yes.
Darling, have you seen my purse?
I can’t find it anywhere!
Wait... Miranda,
why are you playing Esther’s part?
I just don’t understand why
I’m not playing the lead role,
when I’m a professional actress.
Miranda has been in one
ad for Cuddles detergent,
and she thinks she’s
a world-famous celebrity.
But unless you’re on the cover of
one of those magazines at the dentist
that are always old and grubby,
you’re not a world-famous celebrity.
And Miranda has never been on the
cover of a grubby dentist magazine.
I learned all Esther’s lines in case
you decided I’d be a better fit.
Miranda, you can play the part you
were given, or you can play nothing.
I’ll be in charge
of discipline thanks Ava.
Miranda, you can play...
just... do what Ava said.
Fine!
Okay, can we please do this
tech run with no more mistakes?
No, we couldn’t,
because next it was Kyle’s part.
I can’t find Kyle.
What? Where is he?
I don’t know, but he’s not backstage.
Who’s not backstage?
Kyle! Why aren’t you onstage?
I got a bit tired of acting so I thought
I’d be the audience for a bit instead.
[sighs] Kyle get back onstage with Maudie.
-Where did Maudie go?
-Pass the popcorn.
-I don’t have any.
-Ava do you have popcorn?
Ava got a bit cross and told us...
wait what step are we up to?
-Seven.
-Cool. How many steps all up?
Eighty-four.
Ava told all the actors that...
You have to take this seriously!
Tonight there will be ten thousand
people in this audience!
We have fifty seats.
There will be 50 people in this audience,
and they didn’t buy tickets
to see a big messy play.
They want to see the funniest, most
best-performed grade five play in town.
Is that the one
Stonefield Primary is putting on,
because I’ve seen the posters,
it looks very profess--
-I mean our play!
-Oh, right.
Now let’s please try and get through this
tech run with as few mistakes as possible.
It turns out that as ‘few mistakes
as possible’ is still a lot of mistakes.
[both gasp]
Great, end scene!
And now we're going
to move to outside the mansion.
Let’s change to the outside set please!
[ragtime jazz piano music playing]
Remember this scene is all about...
what, why does that say “to paint”? Pixie!
-Where’s the outside set?!
-I didn’t have time to paint it!
You told me you could paint
all the sets in three weeks!
I’m sorry!
I thought you meant three weeks full time!
I didn’t realise I had to do school
and sleep and write in my journal!
-Are we still best friends forever?
-Yes.
Esther and Diet were playing a married
couple who were meant to love each other.
Disgusting.
Playing a couple means you really
need look really good together.
So gross.
You needed to have chemistry, a spark!
Vomit for the rest of my life.
Unfortunately, Diet and Esther
didn’t have any of that stuff.
And now, we dance!
[ragtime jazz music playing]
-You step back!
-Sorry, I...
-Ow!
-I’m sorry, okay?!
-[Ava] Stop!
-[music stops]s
I am sorry but this is the worst dancing
I have ever seen in my entire life!
And on Saturdays,
I run a tap class for toddlers!
I don't get it! We’ve practised
a million times! It’s not that hard!
-I know! Tell her that!
-Diet! Don’t be so mean!
But Esther he is completely right.
I’m sorry but this is the worst dancing
-I heard you the first time.
-I have ever seen in my...
[sighs] Okay.
[Ezra] I was pretty sure that if
one more thing went wrong,
-Ava would have a complete meltdown.
-Luckily nothing else went wrong.
Oh! You mean yesterday
at the tech rehearsal.
Yeah. Something else went wrong.
Something else has gone wrong.
Is it the programs? The peanut cart?
The print-out tickets?
Why does everything
in the theatre start with a “P”?
I just spoke to Esther’s Dad on the phone,
I thought he’d booked four tickets,
but he’d actually booked 14 for all
Esther’s aunts, uncles and cousins.
-What aunties and uncles and cousins?
-[Miss Tan] From the country.
Was that a surprise?
Oh, no, I mean I know it seems bad
that we don’t have enough seats.
We don’t have enough seats?
As you can imagine,
Ava took this news really well.
[screams]
Did I say really well?
I meant like she just heard
we’d lost the war against the aliens,
and they were taking over Earth.
-[screaming continues]
-Calm down, Ava!
-We'll figure something out.
-[screaming continues]
Yeah, I’m going to go call my Dad
and tell him no one has to come.
Esther, no! This is the most
important night of your life.
[Ava] They have to see this.
What if everyone sits
on each other’s laps?
No!
What if we get them
to build a human pyramid
and they sit like that for the whole show?
No!
What if we go to our classroom
and get ten chairs?
No!
Wait, yes, that’s brilliant! Maudie,
I don’t know how you do it!
Maudie had managed to calm Ava
down with her simple suggestion.
Which was not nearly
as fun as a human pyramid.
So now we had the extra chairs...
and it was kind of working out.
You guys! It’s going to be okay!
[disco music playing]
Ava was happy and the rest of the tech
run went without a single problem.
I've had quite enough
of this fancy dinner.
Now who’s ready for dessert?
[clapping]
[Ava] Yay! Grade fives that was amazing!
I'm so sorry if I got
a little bit stressed before,
but this show is going to be
the best piece of theatre ever!
And even if it’s not the best,
you should all be very proud.
[sighs] Miss Tan, your negative energy
is bringing everyone down.
Ava, that's enough.
Absolutely. Let’s just practice
the bows and then we're done.
[Ezra] It was a miracle.
The play was going to be okay.
The actors went offstage
and I lowered the lights so they
could walk back out for their bows.
-[clapping, cheering]
-[Esther] Ow!
Isn’t it awful when everything is going
terribly, and then it gets good,
and then it becomes even
more terrible than before?
Esther! What happened?
I sprained my ankle!
Archie, go get Esther an ice pack!
Off you go Archie,
and don’t come back without one!
Maudie, toss me a cushion
to put under Esther’s ankle.
-Now Maudie!
-What happened?
-Esther, answer Miss Tan!
-Okay, thank you Ava!
You’re the director’s assistant,
not the teacher’s assistant.
Sorry.
Someone accidentally bumped
into me in the dark and I fell over.
Miranda, Pixie and Diet were
the only ones close enough to Esther,
to have knocked her over.
So Kyle, yours should look like this.
Okay.
What did you do to your origami?
The same thing I did
to all my other origamis.
Origami is really hard.
Okay, one of you needs
to apologise right now.
-I didn’t touch Esther.
-Neither did I.
I’m sorry but me neither.
-Ow!
-Okay.
-No! Just stay on the ground.
-[Kyle muffled] What’s going on?
Everyone had gotten
so distracted by Esther,
that they’d forgotten I was
a really important part of the play.
I was the turkey.
-Sorry Kyle.
-That's alright. What’s happened?
I sprained my ankle really badly.
I don’t think I can do the play.
[Ava gasps]
I’ll do it! I know all her lines!
Suddenly, someone accidentally bumping
into Esther didn’t look so accidental.
Miranda pushed Esther,
so she’d be too hurt to be in the
play and she could play her part!
-Miranda, is this true?
-No.
-Miranda didn’t push Esther.
-But someone did!
[squeaky violin horror sound
blasts from the speakers]
Ezra, that is so inappropriate.
[Ezra] I know I’m a detective,
and I should have been trying
to figure out what happened to Esther,
but yesterday I was also
a tech person trying to set a mood.
Ooh! I know what happened!
Pixie pushed Esther.
-[Pixie] I did not!
-[Ava] She did not!
Yes she did so we would postpone the play,
so she’d have time
to finish painting the set.
Kyle that is so obviously ridiculous,
but also Pixie I am a part
of the Inbestigators and a co-director,
so I do have to ask if you maybe
did push Esther a tiny bit
and now you feel really bad and
it’s the biggest regret of your life?
-Pixie didn’t push Esther.
-Oh thank goodness.
Of course Pixie didn’t do it. It was...
Everyone thought
I was pausing for suspense.
But actually I had a foot cramp
from sitting in the cart.
[Kyle] Ahhhh.
As I was saying, it was Diet.
-As if!
-Yes if!
You didn’t like acting with Esther
because she can’t dance
and you guys don’t look good together.
Diet, you can’t push over every person
that you don’t look good with.
-It wasn’t Diet.
-Thank you.
Of course it wasn’t.
It was all three of them together.
Nope.
-It was the school ghost.
-We don’t have a school ghost.
It was me.
You were in the cart and would you
like me to explain what happened?
But Maudie didn’t explain what happened.
She said first, we needed
to help move Esther off the stage.
So Ava you take her under her left side,
and I’ll take her right.
And make sure you support
her from the back.
And I’ll just let go now.
And then she'll stand on her sprained
foot because it’s not actually sprained.
Esther’s ankle wasn’t actually sprained.
Which I knew the whole
time after Maudie told us.
I don’t want to be in the play!
What do you mean? Is your ankle... what?
You don’t get it. The whole tech
run there’s been so much pressure.
They want to see the funniest, most
best-performed grade five play in town.
And I was too nervous to even dance.
Ow!
Stop!
And now my whole family is coming!
I just spoke to Esther's Dad on the phone,
and I thought he'd booked four tickets,
but he’d actually booked 14 for all of
Esther’s aunts, uncles and cousins.
I can’t do it and I didn’t mean to get
you guys in trouble because of my lying,
-so I’m sorry.
-No I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you.
And I’m sorry I made you think you’re not
perfect for the main role because you are.
And I’m sorry that I got mad
at you during our dance.
You’re really good. I just got nervous.
And I’m sorry I still haven’t
finished painting the set.
And I’m sorry that it’s so hot
in this cart that I took my pants off.
-[all groan]
-Pants on, Kyle!
Miss Tan explained that feeling anxious
is normal but we have to talk about it.
And after that, Esther felt way better
and she wanted to do the show.
And her ankle didn’t even hurt anymore!
-Because she hadn’t really sprained it.
-That’s right.
Kyle and Maudie’s scene went really well.
Dinner is served!
Bon appetit!
[clapping, cheering]
And Esther was amazing.
[clapping, cheering]
[Ezra]
And her 14 family members all loved her.
[clapping and cheering continues]
But my favourite character...
was definitely Kyle.
Wow!
You made me a crab!
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]