It was not so long ago that a letter thief was making trouble

in the forest of animals.

It all started on a warm summer morning. Mr. Owl was sitting

at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper, when the mobile
phone rang.
"Hello? This is Inspector Owl speaking," he answered and
listened to the caller. "What did you say? Unbelievable! Stay
where you are and don't touch anything. I'll be on my way
immediately."

Illustration 1

"Hello, Mr. Aguar," Inspector Owl said to Mr. Aguar.

"Hello, Mr. Owl," said Mr. Aguar.
"Please tell me exactly what happened," said Inspector Owl.
"When I got out of the river today from my morning swim, my J
was gone, just like that. Someone must have stolen it from me
while I was swimming. What am I gonna do now?"
"Please stay calm, Mr. Aguar. Do you have any enemies?"

"Yes, of course. My greatest enemy is man. He hunts me down

to decorate his living room with my fur."
Inspector Owl was brooding. Humans hunted the Aguar, that was
right. But he wouldn't steal a letter from it. Odd.

1
 Illustration 2
No sooner had Inspector Owl said goodbye than he was called to
the next crime scene.
"Hello, Mrs. Onkey," Inspector Owl said to Mrs. Onkey.
"Hello, Mr. Owl," said Mrs. Onkey.
"Please tell me exactly what happened," said Inspector Owl.
"When I returned from singing lessons, my big D had
disappeared. Someone must have stolen it from me while I was
singing. What will I do now?"
"Please stay calm, Mrs. Onkey Do you have enemies?"
"Yes, of course. My greatest enemy is man. He uses me to
carry fat tourists to high mountains.
Inspector Owl was brooding. Man made Onkey work hard, that
was right. But he wouldn't steal a letter from her. That's
odd.

Illustration 3

Inspector Owl did not even get to take his nap because
another theft was reported.
"Hello, Mr. Adger," Inspector Owl said to Mr. Adger.
"Hello, Mr. Owl," said Mr. Adger.
"Please try to remember exactly what happened," said
Inspector Owl.
"I was in the process of building a cellar for my house. When
I returned from lunch to the construction site, my B had
disappeared. Someone must have stolen it from me while I was
eating. What am I gonna do now?"
"Please stay calm, Mr. Adger. Do you have any enemies?"

2
 "Yes, of course. My greatest enemy is man. He makes shaving
brushes out of my hair."
Inspector Owl was brooding. Man did indeed make shaving
brushes out of Adger hair, that was true. But he wouldn't
steal a letter from the Adger. Strange.

Illustration 4

That same evening the inspector was called to the king of the
animals.
"Your Majesty Ion", the inspector said to King Ion and took a
deep bow.
"Hello, Inspector Wl," said the King.
Oh dear! What had happened? Now the inspector himself had
been the victim of the letter thief. But he did not let the
King know of his surprise.
"Please tell me exactly what happened", Inspector Wl said to
King Ion.
"I had eaten a sumptuous meal and was taking a leisurely nap.
When I woke up, my L was gone. Someone must have stolen it
from me while I was asleep. What do I do now?"
"Please stay calm, Your Majesty Ion. Do you have enemies?"
"Yes, of course. My greatest enemy is man. He drives noisy
SUVs through my territory and shoots at me. Fortunately, I've
always been able to escape him.
Inspector Wl wondered. Man actually shot the lion, that was
true. But he wouldn't steal a letter from him. Odd.

3
 Illustration 5

Inspector Wl was very worried. A letter thief who did not

even shy away from stealing an inspector's capital O. He had
never seen that before in his career. He thought hard. It must
have happened while he was doing the daily stretching
exercises for his neck.
In the following days, the letter thief struck again many
times. The inspector Wl was contacted by Mrs. Olar Bear, who
had had the P stolen, Mr. Eaver, who was missing the B, and
Mrs. Quirrel, who had lost the S. Mr. Ink was missing his M,
Mrs. Ebra reported the Z stolen, Mr. Ear reported the B
stolen. Mr. Og was particularly upset: He could not explain
whether his D had been stolen while playing or while snooping,
and Mr. Ama was very worried about his L.
They all reported unanimously that they felt threatened by
man. In the end, was man responsible for the theft of the
letters?

Illustration 6

Inspector Wl was desperate. He was known for his wisdom, but

still he had no idea how to catch the letter thief.
But soon the tide would turn. The letter thief hadn't counted
on the intelligence of Mrs. Quid. Mrs. Quid immediately
noticed that she was missing the S and quickly wrapped her
eight arms around the thief. Then she showed up and called
Inspector Wl. When the inspector reached the beach, he flapped
his wings over his head.
"I should have guessed you were behind all this," he

4
exclaimed. "Thank you, Mrs. Quid. You can let go now."
Mrs. Quid let go of Mr. Fox. He shook his wet fur from his
head to his bushy tail. Meanwhile, the animals of the forest
had gathered on the beach. Everyone was talking excitedly and
confusedly.
"Quiet please, quiet," cried Inspector Wl. "Let the letter
thief explain why he has stolen from us."

Illustration 7

Mr. Fox first turned red, then cleared his throat.

"Many of you know me from the story A Dog Named Chili. And
whoever still has doubts..: The story is true. I was the first
animal Rosa and her dog Chili had saved. In return I promised
them to help them make this world a better place for animals.
But since I don't speak the language of humans, I needed your
letters to make a message for the people."
"And what message is that?" cried Mr. Onkey.
"If you put all the letters together in the order I stole
them, this is what will come out: JEDES LEBEND ZÄHLT (EVERY
LIFE COUNTS)." (Note for illustrator: This story only makes
sense in German, because the first letters in English aren’t
the same. However, I translated this story for you, so you can
imagine what it´s all about)
A murmur went through the row of animals, Mrs. Quid bubbled
in amazement.
"The idea is good," mumbled Majesty Ion. "But how will you
get the message to the people?"

5
 Illustration 8

"At the latest when people realize that they don't have a
dog, but an Og as a pet, their clever scientists will start
researching. It won't be long before they can find all the
missing letters and decipher the message."
The animals nodded contentedly.
"That sounds plausible," said Inspector Wl, "and yet I know
you are lying In your message one letter is missing. The S of
EACH. You have not stolen any S."
"The S," hissed the fox cunningly, "I will contribute it
myself. From now on I am Mr. Fo (Fuchs in German and Fuch
after giving his S)
That was clear to the inspector. The animals admired the Fox
for his courage and generosity. And they were more than
willing to give up a letter. It could really work, and people
would perhaps take the animals' message to heart.

On this day the animals celebrated a happy festival. Mr. Fox

was the hero of the evening. Only Mrs. Ider was a bit glum.
Someone had stolen her S.