Stolen Birthday Party!   Invitations to a "Top-Secret" Detective party went out a couple of weeks before the party.  When the 9-year old guests arrived, the house was decorated with posters of "Crooks" (clipart from the internet blown up to poster size) captioned with silly names.  But, the guests were told, the party had been stolen!!    Each child was given a manila envelope, each with a picture of a different crook, a set of fingerprints, and a dossier describing their crook's distinguishing characteristics, likes, dislikes, how he/she liked to travel, etc. The host of the party (me) told the kids that people in the neighborhood may have seen something, so we should go ask. Their goal was to figure out who had taken the party and where it might be!   Earlier, I had given each participating neighbor a few 'observations' about the crook, what they had heard, how the crook had been traveling, what he/she may have looked like, and what direction he/she went next, fragments of fingerprints. Kids had ask questions, gather information, work together to narrow down the possibilities as who 'dunnit,' and then figure out how the clues (random letters left at each of the neighbor's houses) would help them.  It was great to see them all gather on a neighbor's lawn to eliminate possibilities and decide what to do next.    The kids figured out where the party had been taken (a local pizza shop--its name spelled out by the scrambled letters left at each home) and had a guess as to the culprit.  When we arrived at the pizza shop, the birthday cake was the 'solution.' I had the culprit's picture, with the word "CAPTURED" written across, scanned and put onto the cake. As party favors, I gave the kids "Encyclopedia Brown" books.      The set up of this party was fun, and the kids' reaction was more than I could have ever hoped for.  This is without a doubt the best party I have ever thrown!