On Monday morning when Gooney stands up to tell her story, the class is enthralled with her sparkly diamond earrings, and even Malcolm has a question for Gooney about whether her ears are pierced. After everyone gets out their ideas and comments about earrings and piercings, Gooney Bird tells her story, “The Prince, the Palace, and the Diamond Earrings” (37). It begins before she came to Watertower, on a day when she was playing Monopoly by herself and one of her characters was stuck in jail. Her next-door neighbor, “the prince,” came to her suddenly and announced that their black poodle, Napoleon, was missing. Hearing this plot point inspires the class to discuss their own pets, but Mrs. Pidgeon quickly quiets them. Gooney Bird grabbed her bag of change, which she took with her everywhere, and went in search of clues for where Napoleon may have gone. She found evidence of digging and dog hair that looked like poodle fur, and then found Napoleon eating leftovers inside a garbage can. The neighbor invited Gooney to “the palace” to reward her efforts.

Classmates interrupt to ask Gooney what outfit she was wearing, so she describes it but ends up boring the class.