Summer and Teddy sneak into Henry's pool to investigate his death, finding a metal ball with sharp points, revealed to be a jack from the gift shop filed down, and a groove in the bottom with a chain. McCracken's daughter, Summer, who dislikes the attention of fans and has a habit of ditching her bodyguards in disguise to experience a normal life. Against his mother's wishes and when the police don't take him seriously, Teddy decides to investigate Henry's enclosure. Teddy secretly watches the autopsy and discovers that Henry died from peritonitis induced by sharp items he swallowed, with Doc concluding it was murder however, Martin forces the vet to keep it under wraps. Doc Deakin, the cranky head veterinarian, decides to perform an autopsy against the wishes of Martin del Gato, the director of operations. Marge's report is then ruined when Buck Grassley, the head of security, reports that Henry Hippo is dead. The book begins when Teddy Fitzroy, the 12-year-old narrator and son of a photographer and a gorilla researcher, is caught making trouble by 'Large' Marge O'Malley, a notorious and unintelligent security guard. The zoo's star attraction is Henry Hippo, the namesake of a beloved character in an animated series used to plug the park, but who in reality was particularly bad-tempered and had an unfortunate habit of projectile-firing feces at visitors. The story is set in FunJungle, the largest zoo in America and the only zoo/theme park, which is built in the middle of the Texas Hill Country and owned by billionaire J.J. Teddy Fitzroy and his friends investigate the suspicious death of a hippopotamus at the USA's newest and largest zoo, FunJungle. Belly Up is a 2010 children's mystery novel by author Stuart Gibbs.

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs