- Junior detectives Andy and Laura take tips from fictional sleuth Farnsdale Fremont of Scotland Yard to track down the mysterious Walnut Grove chicken thief, ruffling a few feathers of their own along the way.
- In School, Mrs Beadle commends Timothy Farrell on his latest essay, before Nellie Oleson points out that Laura Ingalls and Andrew Garvey are not reading the assigned classroom material, but Penny Dreadful detective stories.
At lunch, Laura finds that someone has stolen food from her lunch pail...again!
It soon becomes apparent that there is a thief on the loose in Walnut Grove, though they have just been taking some food and animals. Of course, with the rash of thefts, Oleson's Mercantile has been doing a brisk business in locks.
After school, Laura and Andrew meet with his father Johnathan to discuss the rash of thefts. The two kids have dubbed this figure, "The Creeper."
Meanwhile, Timothy is looking for work after his father's heart attack, but there are no open jobs he can take. On his search, he runs into Doc Baker, who wishes Timothy luck on a college scholarship he is applying for soon.
Back at the Ingalls Farm, the Creeper strikes again when Mrs Ingalls' pie goes missing. Laura and Andrew then inform the Ingalls family that they are forming a detective agency (Ingalls and Garvey) to catch the culprit, and possibly start a business for themselves.
At church on Sunday, Mrs Oleson informs the congregation that food has been stolen from the mercantile, and is offering a reward of five dollars to catch the culprit.
With the reward money in mind, Laura and Andrew ask Nellie and Willie Oleson for help in finding the creeper.
However, their attempts to find fingerprints at the mercantile and also lead the creeper into an ambush just end up irritating Nels and Harriet Oleson, and leads to a stern lecture from Charles Ingalls to Laura, curbing her and Andrew from further investigations at night.
When the creeper strikes the Ingalls again and takes one of their chickens, the two kids figure the creeper may come back for more, and set a trap with dye to hopefully mark the culprit. Unfortunately, Charles ends up setting off the trap, leading to his hair being dyed green, and him declaring that Laura's detective agency is now closed.
After the next church service, Ms Beadle requests Laura to deliver a notice to Timothy that he has won the scholarship he tested for. Andrew goes along with her, but upon arriving at the home, they just find Timothy's father there.
Mr Farrell thanks the two for stopping over, and tells them how his son has put his schooling on hold, and is working for a farmer named Harkey.
Laura and Andrew decide to deliver the notice when Timothy comes home, but are perplexed at what his father has told them (Timothy has still been going to school, and they have never heard of a farmer in the area named Harkey).
Suddenly, they hear sounds from a nearby building, and are surprised to find the Ingalls' missing chicken inside! They deduce that Timothy is the creeper, and has been stealing food to provide for himself and his father as he was unable to find a job to support them temporarily.
Given what this may mean for Timothy's scholarship, Laura is unsure what to do, and goes to her father for help.
Charles swears the two to secrecy, and eventually comes up with a plan. Going to the Farrells along with a number of other men, the group informs both Timothy and his father about the scholarship.
Knowing that the scholarship will take Timothy away from caring for his father, Charles informs Mr Farrell that they'll care for him until Timothy returns from medical school.
The offer is up to Timothy, and Charles and he share a private talk. Charles informs Timothy that he and the men in the group know about the thefts, and they are willing to "forget and forgive," understanding why he did what he did.
Timothy accepts the offer, and the men leave in high spirits.
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