The Pen Pal Puzzle

by Carolyn Keene

  On the next line she wrote “Suspects.”

  The first suspect was obvious. Nancy wrote “Phoebe” on the next line. Phoebe was angry at Nancy for spilling the red paint on her poster. And she did run back into the classroom right before the field trip. She could have taken the letters from Nancy’s desk then.

  What about Brenda? Nancy didn’t like Brenda. She went out of her way to be mean to Nancy. It would be just like Brenda to take the letters to cause trouble.

  Nancy wrote “Brenda” on the next line.

  “Nancy!” Hannah called from the kitchen. “Don’t forget to do your homework.”

  How did Hannah know she wasn’t doing her homework? Nancy groaned.

  She put her blue notebook back in her desk drawer. Then she took her math workbook out of her backpack.

  Nancy was good at math. She did the ten multiplication problems quickly. Then she checked her work.

  As she was putting her workbook back in her backpack, she heard something downstairs. It sounded as if it came from near the front door.

  It was too early for her father to be home. Nancy was curious. What caused that sound? She ran downstairs to see.

  When Nancy got to the front hallway, she saw a big envelope on the floor near the mail slot. She heard footsteps outside. Nancy ran to the window and looked out. Someone was just dashing around the corner.

  Someone wearing a black-and-yellow jacket.

  It took Nancy a moment to remember where she had seen that jacket before. Someone in her class had been wearing a jacket just like it on the field trip to the post office.

  Nancy thought and thought. She pictured the jacket in her mind. Then she tried to picture the person’s face.

  Finally it came to her, and she said the name out loud.

  “Mike Minelli!”

  4

  A Monster Clue

  Nancy picked up the envelope. A hand-drawn stamp of a weird monster was on the front. On the back was a return address:

  Vampire Pen Pal

  Big Graveyard

  London, England

  Nancy opened the envelope. Inside was a drawing of a vampire. In a bubble over the vampire’s head were the words “I suck the ink off letters and make them disappear.”

  “Disappear”? Could Mike have made the letters from Pamela disappear? Was Mike playing one of his dumb jokes? He was always playing tricks on Nancy and her friends.

  This was definitely an important clue. Nancy had to write about it in her notebook.

  Nancy ran upstairs to her room and took out her blue notebook again. Under “Suspects” she added a new name, “Mike Minelli.”

  Now she had three suspects: Phoebe, Brenda, and Mike.

  She wrote a new heading: “Clues.”

  Mike was the last one out of the classroom. He could have taken the letters then. And Phoebe ran back inside to get her backpack. She could have taken them, too. Nancy wrote all that down in her notebook.

  Nancy remembered Phoebe and Brenda whispering at the post office. Maybe Phoebe was telling Brenda that she had the letters.

  This case was getting complicated. And Nancy had only two days to solve it.

  “Pudding Pie? I’m home,” Nancy heard her father calling up the stairs. Pudding Pie was one of his favorite nicknames for her. He had called her that ever since she was four years old. That’s when Nancy had tried to eat a huge piece of chocolate pudding pie with her hands. She had gotten chocolate all over her face! It was even in her hair. Her father had taken a picture of her looking like that. It was in one of their photo albums.

  Maybe Dad can help me solve this case, Nancy thought as she ran downstairs.

  Carson Drew was a lawyer. He knew all about mysteries and crimes. He was always solving problems for other people. Nancy hoped he could help her solve this mystery.

  Over dinner she told her father all about the missing letters and her three suspects.

  “It sounds like a tough case,” he said. “But you’re a good detective. And you’ve always been good at finding things.”

  Nancy knew her father was right. She was good at finding things. But she didn’t have any idea where to look this time.

  “Detectives usually interview their suspects. Why don’t you call Mike after dinner and ask him about your letters?” Mr. Drew suggested.

  After dinner, Nancy called Mike Minelli. Mrs. Minelli answered the phone.

  “This is Nancy Drew,” Nancy said politely. “May I please speak with Mike?”

  “Of course, Nancy,” Mrs. Minelli said. Nancy heard Mrs. Minelli yell, “Mike, phone. It’s Nancy Drew.”

  A few seconds later, Mike picked up the phone. “Hello?” Mike said. His voice sounded hoarse.

  “Did you slip a letter through the mail slot at my house this afternoon?” Nancy asked. She was pretty sure it was him because she had recognized his jacket.

  “Maybe,” Mike answered. He sneezed loudly into the phone.

  “Did you take my pen pal letters from my desk today?” Nancy continued.

  “Why would I want your pen pal letters,” Mike said. “I have my own pen pal—a monster pen pal.”

  “But you were the last person to leave the classroom. You could have taken them then,” Nancy persisted.

  “Maybe one of my monsters ate your letters while we were at the post office,” Mike suggested.

  Mike was so weird!

  “If you did take them, will you give them back before Parents’ Night?” Nancy asked.

  “If I did take them, I might.” Mike sneezed again. Nancy heard Mrs. Minelli’s voice in the background. “I have to go,” Mike said.

  “Okay,” Nancy said. “Good-bye.” Nancy hung up the phone and went upstairs to get ready for bed. She changed into her pajamas. Then she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

  When she was in bed, her father came in to read to her. But Nancy couldn’t concentrate on the story. She kept thinking about her missing letters and her poster for Parents’ Night.

  She was pretty sure Mike had left the monster pen pal letter for her. Maybe he had taken Pamela’s letters. Maybe ...

  But Nancy never finished that thought. She was already fast asleep.

  • • •

  The sun woke Nancy the next morning. It was so bright. Nancy felt happy. She washed up and put on her favorite jeans and a blue sweater. Then she took her new sneakers out of their box and slipped them on. They were the same shade of blue as her sweater.

  It wasn’t until she went downstairs for breakfast that she remembered she had to find her missing letters by the next afternoon.

  “Good morning, Nancy,” Hannah said. She placed a stack of pancakes down on the table. The butter and syrup were already there next to a glass of milk and a glass of orange juice.

  “Thanks, Hannah,” Nancy said as she sat down. She sipped her juice. Even though pancakes was one of her favorite breakfasts, she didn’t have much of an appetite. She was worried about her poster.

  “Will you drive me to school today, Hannah?” Nancy asked. “I want to get there early to look for my letters.”

  “Okay, dear. You finish eating, and I’ll go find my car keys.”

  • • •

  Hannah dropped Nancy at school fifteen minutes early. Nancy left her jacket in her cubby and rushed into her classroom. Ms. Spencer was already there.

  “Did you find my letters?” Nancy asked, breathless.

  “No, Nancy. But I have an idea for your poster. You can write a report about what was in Pamela’s letters and describe what the stamps looked like. Then you can put the report on your poster.”

  “But that won’t look as good,” Nancy said. “I need the real stamps or my poster will be ugly.”

  “I’m sorry, Nancy,” Ms. Spencer said. “That was the only idea I came up with.”

  By now several other students had come in.

  Nancy took her poster from the back of the room. Sadly, she started to write her report. But her heart wasn’t in it. She took out h
er blue notebook. She had brought it with her to school so she could keep trying to solve the mystery.

  Nancy felt someone watching her and looked up. George and Bess were standing next to her chair. Nancy hadn’t noticed them come in.

  “Uh-oh,” George said, putting her poster down on the table. George knew that when Nancy took out her special notebook, there was a mystery to solve. “I guess this means Detective Drew is on the case of the missing letters.”

  “So who are your suspects?” Bess asked.

  “I’ll bet Phoebe is a suspect,” George whispered as Phoebe walked into the classroom.

  “Hi, Phoebe,” Nancy said.

  Phoebe ignored Nancy.

  Nancy noticed that Phoebe wasn’t carrying her poster. She must have left it at home.

  “She’s definitely still mad at you,” Bess said. “That’s a clue.”

  “Yes,” Nancy agreed. “She is a suspect. But I have other suspects, too.” She told them about Brenda. She also told them about Mike Minelli’s letter.

  “Mike’s not here today,” Bess said happily. “Maybe we can have at least one day of peace.”

  “I called Mike last night, and he was sneezing. Maybe he has a cold and stayed home,” Nancy said.

  “Or maybe he feels guilty because he took your letters,” George said.

  “Not Mike. Mike never feels guilty about anything,” Bess said.

  After working on their posters for an hour, the class reviewed their math homework.

  Finally it was time for lunch. Nancy, Bess, and George sat together at their usual table.

  Nancy ate her tuna sandwich without tasting it. She was thinking about her missing letters.

  “Why don’t you just make Phoebe give you back your letters?” Bess asked.

  “I don’t have any proof that she took them.” Nancy sighed unhappily.

  “You could ask her,” George suggested.

  “All right, I will.” Nancy got up and walked over to where Phoebe and Brenda were sitting. They were talking and laughing. When they saw her, they stopped and stared at her.

  “What do you want?’ Brenda asked. Nancy wished Brenda weren’t there.

  “Phoebe,” Nancy said, ignoring Brenda, “my pen pal letters are missing.”

  “Are you accusing Phoebe of stealing?” Brenda interrupted in a loud voice. Several students turned to look at them.

  Nancy could feel her face get hot. “I thought you might have seen them.”

  “I didn’t take your letters!” Phoebe shouted. “Now leave us alone!”

  Nancy walked back to her table. She was no closer to finding her letters than before.

  5

  Returned Letters

  After lunch Nancy’s class studied spelling and science. Nancy tried to concentrate on her work, but her mind kept drifting back to her missing letters.

  Nancy glanced over at Phoebe. Phoebe was still Nancy’s main suspect. But Nancy still had no proof. She needed a clue. Nancy decided she’d watch Phoebe extra carefully at school.

  “Ms. Spencer.” Phoebe waved her hand in the air to get the teacher’s attention.

  “Yes, Phoebe?” Ms. Spencer said.

  “May I go to the bathroom?”

  Ms. Spencer nodded, and Phoebe went up to the front of the class to get the bathroom pass.

  “Me, too,” Brenda said, waving her hand in the air. “I have to go, too.”

  “Okay, Brenda,” Ms. Spencer said.

  Nancy watched Brenda and Phoebe rush out the door. They almost collided with Andrew Leoni.

  “Why don’t you watch where you’re going!” Brenda said loudly.

  “Why don’t you?” Andrew said.

  Nancy noticed Andrew was rubbing his arm where Brenda had bumped into him.

  Phoebe must have noticed, too. “Did you hurt your arm?” she asked him

  “Nah.” Andrew shook his head. “I just got a shot at the doctor’s. It’s a little sore.”

  “Phoebe, come on,” Brenda ordered. “We don’t have all day.”

  Nancy wondered why Phoebe was hanging around with Brenda. Brenda was always bossing her around.

  After Brenda and Phoebe returned, Ms. Spencer announced it was time for reading. “I want everyone to pair up and read to each other. You may choose any book you like,” she said.

  Nancy loved reading. She was paired with Bess. George was paired with Emily Reeves.

  “Can we read from your fairy tale book?” Bess asked. “The one you got from the library?”

  “Sure,” Nancy said. “I left it in my cubby on the bottom shelf.”

  Bess asked permission to go to the cubbies. A moment later she was back with the book.

  Nancy liked fairy tales. She and Bess took turns reading to each other. The reading period flew by. When the final bell rang, Nancy and Bess walked out together. They stopped at Nancy’s cubby first. Bess put Nancy’s book back where she found it. Then she went to her own cubby to get her jacket.

  “Want to go with me to the Bell on the way home?” Bess asked. The Bell was short for the School Bell, a small store near the school.

  “Okay. Is George coming with us?” Nancy asked.

  “No. She has to work on her book report,” Bess said.

  Nancy took her jacket off the hook. She noticed something on the top shelf of her cubby: several folded pieces of paper.

  What are these? she wondered. They weren’t here when I got back from lunch.

  She reached for them and gasped.

  Pamela’s letters!

  Bess threw her arms around Nancy and hugged her. “That’s great. You have your letters back. Now your poster will be perfect!”

  Nancy flipped through the letters. All four of them were there. “But the envelopes with the stamps on them are still missing,” Nancy said. She rummaged through her cubby. “I need the stamps for my poster, too.”

  Together, Bess and Nancy removed everything from Nancy’s cubby. They shook out every book and checked the pockets of her jacket. But the envelopes weren’t there.

  Finally they realized they had to leave. They put on their jackets and walked out of the school building. A few minutes later, they were at the Bell.

  “At least now you know for sure someone took them,” Bess said as she picked out a pink Day-Glo marker.

  “Yes, but why would the thief return only the letters?” Nancy wondered out loud.

  “Maybe Phoebe still wants to get even with you for ruining her poster. She knows you need the stamps, so she’s keeping them.”

  “Maybe,” Nancy said. “But that sounds more like something Brenda would do,” She paused to think. “Maybe Phoebe wanted to give everything back,” Nancy said, “but Brenda talked her into keeping the stamps. Maybe that’s why Brenda asked to go to the bathroom when Phoebe did. They could have put the letters back in my cubby then.”

  “Maybe,” Bess agreed. “Maybe they’ll return the envelopes tomorrow.”

  “Maybe,” Nancy said. But she didn’t think so.

  Bess paid for her marker. Nancy flipped through a comic book, but she decided not to buy it.

  • • •

  Hannah was in the kitchen when Nancy got home. Hannah sliced an apple, and Nancy ate it with peanut butter. After her snack, Nancy took out her blue notebook.

  Who could have put the letters back in my cubby? she asked herself. The letters weren’t there when she’d hung up her jacket after lunch. Who had left the classroom that afternoon?

  Phoebe and Brenda were still suspects. They had left the classroom together to go to the bathroom. They could have put the letters back then.

  Mike Minelli was out sick all day, so he couldn’t have put the letters back. That meant he didn’t take them in the first place. Nancy drew a line through Mike’s name. He was no longer a suspect.

  Nancy remembered that Andrew Leoni had come back from his doctor’s appointment just when Phoebe and Brenda were leaving the classroom. She wrote his name under suspects. But why would he have taken he
r letters in the first place?

  Nancy still thought Phoebe was the best suspect.

  “Hannah, may I bike over to Phoebe Archer’s house?” Nancy asked.

  “Okay, but don’t forget to walk your bike when you cross the street,” Hannah instructed. “And don’t stay too long. Your father’s taking you out for pizza tonight.”

  “Yum!” Pizza was one of Nancy’s favorite foods.

  Nancy didn’t tell Hannah the real reason she wanted to go to Phoebe’s house. She was going to look for clues. Maybe Phoebe had left the envelopes out somewhere and Nancy could see them.

  Nancy biked over to the Archers’ house. When she got there, she noticed the lights were on in the kitchen. Being extra quiet, Nancy got off her bike and crept over to the kitchen window. Maybe Phoebe was in there. Maybe she had the envelopes with her. Nancy hoped so.

  Nancy sneaked over to the kitchen window, but it was too high for her to see in. She looked around for something to stand on. There was an old orange crate next to the side of the house by the recycling bin. Nancy moved the crate under the window and climbed up onto it.

  But before Nancy got a good look through the window, there was a loud crack!

  The slats of the crate snapped in two. With a loud clatter, Nancy tumbled to the ground!

  6

  Stamp Collector Suspect

  What was that?” Nancy recognized Phoebe’s voice. A moment later Phoebe leaned out the window. She looked down right at Nancy. “Are you all right?” Phoebe asked.

  Nancy got up quickly and brushed herself off. “I’m fine.” She tried to think of some excuse for why she was peeking into Phoebe’s kitchen window.

  “What happened? Did you trip over that crate?” Phoebe asked.

  Nancy nodded. She was relieved she didn’t have to lie about what she was doing.

  “I’m really glad you’re here,” Phoebe continued. “I was going to call you to tell you about my poster.” Phoebe didn’t sound angry anymore. “Come in, I’ll show you.”

  Nancy walked around to the back door and went inside. Phoebe’s poster was on the kitchen table. Phoebe had painted the entire area inside the blue border a bright pink. Now the pink splotch hardly showed at all.