Nancy tilted her head and said, “Unless you want to return Squeaky yourself and tell Mr. Finney why he wasn’t in his cage.”
Antonio held Squeaky out to the girls. “Take him,” he said. “I didn’t know hamsters could be so messy. Or chew holes in pockets!”
“Thanks,” Nancy said, taking Squeaky.
“And you can keep the veggies you were buying, Antonio,” Bess said with a smile. “They’re good for you!”
Nancy, Bess, and George found Mr. Drew watching a pumpkin carving demonstration. They asked him to drive them to the River Heights Elementary School.
“School?” Mr. Drew asked. “On Saturday?”
“Not for us, Daddy,” Nancy said, holding up the hamster. “For Squeaky!”
Mr. Drew drove the girls from the fairgrounds to the school. They would walk home after they dropped off Squeaky.
Nancy, Bess, and George each had the same rules. They could walk anywhere as long as it was no more than five blocks and as long as they were together. Together was more fun anyway!
“Hi, girls,” Mr. Finney greeted them at the door. “What brings you to school today?”
“We’re bringing Squeaky back to his cage, Mr. Finney,” Nancy said holding out the hamster.
“Back?” Mr. Finney asked. “How . . . ?”
“It’s a long story, Mr. Finney,” George said.
On the way to their classroom Nancy noticed a big banner hanging across the hall. It read, WELCOME HOME, LUCY O’TOOLE!
“I put that banner up this morning,” Mr. Finney explained, “in case Lucy wants to visit her old school.”
“Do you remember Lucy when she went to school here, Mr. Finney?” Nancy asked.
“I’m afraid I do,” Mr. Finney said with a little smile. “Lucy used to get into a lot of trouble when she was here.”
“Trouble?” Nancy asked with surprise.
“What kind of trouble?” Bess asked.
“Now Lucy is famous for her jokes,” Mr. Finney explained. “But back then she was famous for mischievous pranks.”
Nancy, Bess, and George traded stunned looks. Did Mr. Finney just say ‘pranks’?
PRANKS A LOT!
“You mean she played tricks on people, Mr. Finney?” Nancy asked.
Mr. Finney nodded. “Lucy played practical jokes on everyone—even the teachers,” Mr. Finney replied. “She once dropped a goldfish in the principal’s water bottle!”
“No way!” George exclaimed.
“Lucy glued nickels on the floor so nobody could pick them up,” Mr. Finney went on. “She would stick silly signs on kids’ backs without them knowing.”
“Lucy is funny,” Nancy said. “But those tricks don’t sound funny to me.”
“Or to me,” Bess agreed. “Were Lucy’s friends practical jokers too?”
Mr. Finney looked sad as he shook his head. “Lucy didn’t have many friends because of her pranks,” he said. “Nobody wanted to go to her parties, either.”
“I don’t blame them,” George said. “Who would want to find goldfish in the strawberry punch bowl?”
Mr. Finney unlocked the classroom door.
“We’ll take it from here, Mr. Finney,” Nancy said as she, Bess, and George filed inside. “Thanks for your help.”
“And the dish on Lucy!” George added.
The girls went straight to the cage in the back of the classroom. Nancy gently put Squeaky inside. The little hamster seemed thrilled to be home as he scurried into his exercise wheel.
“I’m glad we brought Squeaky back,” Bess said.
“So am I,” Nancy said. “What Mr. Finney just told us is big news!”
George rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “So Lucy O’Toole liked playing tricks,” she said. “I wonder if she played a few tricks in the theater prop room yesterday morning.”
“Lucy told us she wanted to do everything she did as a kid,” Nancy said. “Maybe some of those things are pranks!”
“I can’t believe Lucy would mess up our auditions,” Bess admitted. “She’s famous!”
“Famous for causing trouble,” George said.
Nancy sat down at the nearest desk. She opened her clue book, crossed Antonio’s name off her suspect list, and added Lucy’s.
“We have to find out if Lucy was at Rags ’n’ Gags Friday afternoon,” Nancy said, “and in the prop room early this morning.”
“I found a judge’s badge in the prop room,” Bess said excitedly. “Maybe it was Lucy’s.”
Nancy turned to the hamster cage. “Thanks, Squeaky!” she said with a smile.
“Why are you thanking him?” George asked.
“My dad always says that one clue can lead to another,” Nancy explained. “Squeaky led us to Mr. Finney, who led us to Lucy O’Toole!”
Nancy, Bess, and George walked from their school to Rags ’n’ Gags, just a few blocks away. The store’s window was filled with Halloween masks, costumes, and party supplies.
The girls filed into the store. They were greeted by a teenage boy dressed up like Robin Hood. He was handing out cardboard glasses to everyone who entered.
“What are these?” George asked.
“Complimentary Ghost Goggles,” the boy said, giving a pair to Nancy, Bess, and George. “In case you’re on the lookout for ghosts.”
“Right now we’re on the lookout for the owner of the store,” Nancy said.
“That would be Hank,” the boy said. He pointed to a man wearing a giant fake cheese wedge on his head. The man carried a stack of packaged costumes as he rushed about.
Nancy, Bess, and George pushed through the crowd of Halloween shoppers to Hank.
“Excuse me, Hank?” Nancy called.
“Sorry, girls,” Hank called over his shoulder. “If you want a costume, take a number and wait your turn.”
“We already have our costumes for Halloween,” Bess said with a grin. “We’re going as the three witch sisters.”
“Yeah,” George said, “we just want to know if—”
“You still have to get a ticket with a number on it,” Hank said. He held up a package and called out, “Okay, who wanted the zombie superhero?”
“Not zombie superhero!” a boy said. “Zombie ninja!”
A girl stepped up to Hank. “And I wanted a rubber bat,” she said, holding up a fake critter with a long tail. “This is a rubber rat!”
Hank grumbled, “Okay, okay. Be right back. Number nineteen, you’re on deck!”
Nancy, Bess, and George walked over to the ticket machine on the counter. The number of the next ticket was forty-two!
“We’d have to wait forever to question Hank,” Nancy sighed.
“We don’t have forever,” George complained. “It’s getting late and we have to find out if Lucy was shopping here!”
Suddenly Bess flashed a smile. “Maybe we won’t have to ask Hank if Lucy was here,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.
“See for yourself,” Bess said. She pointed to a picture hanging on the wall behind the counter. The glossy picture was of a familiar person making a funny face.
When Nancy realized who it was, she gasped. “Omigosh, you guys,” she said. “That’s Lucy O’Toole!”
HAUNTED HOUSE CALL
Nancy, Bess, and George slipped behind the counter for a better look.
“Lucy wrote something on her picture,” Nancy pointed out. “It says, ‘To Hank, Thanks for a ton of stuff! Cheers, Lucy!’ ”
“Wow!” George exclaimed. “You know what that means?”
“It means Lucy O’Toole did buy stuff here,” Nancy said. “A ton of stuff!”
“But how do we know she bought rubber spiders, sneezing powder, and Bubble Blast?” Bess asked as they walked out from behind the counter.
Nancy could see Hank, surrounded by kids still yelling out their costume choices.
“We’d better not ask Hank,” Nancy said. “Why don’t we ask Lucy O’Toole instead?”
“Lucy said
she was staying with her mother, but where is their house?” Bess asked.
“On O’Toole Street,” George replied. “Mayor Strong named the street after her about a year ago.”
“Of course! O’Toole Street is on our way home,” Nancy said. “If Lucy did buy a ton of stuff here, maybe she’ll have a ton of answers.”
Nancy, Bess, and George squeezed their way out of the store and walked up Main Street. Along the way they saw a smaller crowd of kids standing in front of an apple cider cart.
Some kids seemed to be whispering excitedly. A few teenagers held their phones high above the crowd to take pictures.
“What’s going on at the cider cart?” George asked.
Nancy was curious too. “Let’s check it out,” she said.
The girls walked to the cart. There was just one kid buying apple cider, and it was Cookie Sugarman!
Cookie was standing with Sherry, the producer of Twinkling Little Stars. But this time the sweetest star in Hollywood didn’t look so sweet. . . .
“Where’s the cinnamon?” Cookie shouted to the man behind the cart. “Apple cider isn’t apple cider without cinnamon!”
Then Cookie began blinking quickly before smiling. “I’ll bet it’s quite yummy without the cinnamon, sir,” she said sweetly. “Thank you, oh so very much!”
Sherry whisked Cookie away. The man behind the apple cider cart looked confused as he shook his head.
“She went from being sour to sweet pretty fast,” George pointed out.
“At least we know the Twinkling Little Stars people are still in River Heights,” Nancy pointed out.
“As long as they are, we can still save the auditions!” Bess said.
Nancy, Bess, and George walked the few blocks to O’Toole Street. They stopped at a blue house at the end of the block.
“Are we sure this is Lucy’s house?” Bess asked.
“Does that answer your question?” George asked. She pointed to the mailbox. Flashing from the top was a bright neon sign that said LUCY’S FAN MAIL.
The girls walked up to the house. Nancy reached out and rang the doorbell. Instead of a bell they heard a deep voice say, “Enter . . . if you dare!”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go inside,” Bess said. “Maybe we can e-mail Lucy. Or call her on the phone—”
“No, Bess,” Nancy said. “Questioning a suspect face-to-face is better than on the phone.”
“The voice told us to enter,” George said, “so let’s enter.”
Slowly George opened the door, first a crack, then wider.
“Lucy?” Nancy called through the door.
“Lucy’s mother?” Bess called.
George stepped inside. Nancy and Bess followed until all three girls stood in a dark, gloomy entrance hall.
“Wow,” Nancy said softly.
All around were black candles dripping wax. Draped across the walls and staircase banister were dusty cobwebs.
“Since when does Lucy live in a haunted house?” Bess whispered. “I told you we shouldn’t have come inside.”
“We’re inside already,” George said. “So let’s look for Lucy.”
George took a few steps forward. Her foot landed on a mat that made a weird squeak, squeak, squeak noise. Then—
“Eeeeee!” Bess shrieked.
Nancy screamed too as a bevy of bats dropped down around them—wings flapping!
“Bat attack!” George shouted. “Cover your heads! Cover your heads!”
LUCY EXCUSE-Y
Nancy, Bess, and George swatted the bats as they ran toward the door. But before they could leave—
“More guests?” a voice said. “Awesome!”
The girls froze, then turned around. Behind them was a woman wearing a jester’s cap of bells. Behind her was a cowboy, a ballerina, a baker, and a human box of crayons!
“I see you met my batty friends,” Lucy said. She pulled at one to make it bounce. “Pretty realistic for rubber, huh?”
“That’s for sure,” George agreed. She waved her arms around the room. “What’s up with all this, Lucy?”
“I was just about to add eyeball ice cubes to the punch,” Lucy said. “And then we’re going to play pin the fang on the vampire!”
Lucy tilted her head to study the girls. “Hey . . . weren’t you those three witches that auditioned today?” she asked.
“That was us,” Nancy said.
“Until our brew blew,” Bess said.
Lucy wiggled her head to make the bells ring. “Then happy early Halloween, witch sisters!” she said. “You came just in time for my party!”
“That’s what this is?” Nancy asked. “A Halloween party?”
“Yes, and it’s about time,” Lucy said. “When I went to River Heights Elementary School I was a bit of a jokester.”
“A bit?” the crayon man scoffed.
“Nobody wanted to come to my parties back then,” Lucy sighed. “So when I came back to River Heights, I decided to invite some old classmates for a do-over.”
“Lucy is totally prank-free now!” the ballerina said with a smile.
“Except on Halloween!” the baker said, giving one bat a playful swat. “But that’s cool.”
“She’s famous now, too,” the cowboy piped in. “Who knew her jokes would make her a celebrity some day?”
“Here’s one!” Lucy chuckled. “I threw a boomerang at a ghost—and it came back to haunt me!”
Lucy’s friends laughed, but the girls traded looks. Was Lucy really prank-free? Or was this a joke too—on them?
“How do we know you don’t pull practical jokes anymore?” Nancy asked. “Like those pranks that were pulled at the auditions this morning?”
Lucy seemed surprised. “You think I ruined the auditions?” she asked.
“It depends,” George said. “Where were you at five o’clock yesterday afternoon?”
The baker raised her hand. “Lucy was with me,” she said. “We went to see Zombie Slime Monsters at the River Plex yesterday. The show started at five o’clock.”
“We got to the theater a bit earlier,” Lucy added, “to buy some snacks.”
“Snacks, huh?” George slowly, “So how did you like the special slime-green popcorn?”
“We didn’t,” Lucy answered. “The popcorn machine was out of order.”
George’s eyes lit up. “Correct!” she told Lucy. “You knew that the popcorn machine was broken, so you had to be at Zombie Slime Monsters on Friday!”
“What are you?” Lucy asked the girls. “Some kind of kid detectives?”
“Correct again!” George said.
“We are detectives, Lucy,” Nancy said, “and we’re glad you weren’t at Rags ’n’ Gags planning all that mean stuff.”
“So I guess instead of being at the scene of the crime,” Lucy joked, “I was at the scene of the slime!”
Everyone laughed. But when Nancy looked at Bess, she seemed puzzled.
“Lucy, if you weren’t in the store,” Bess asked, “why was your signed picture there?”
“I was at Rags ’n’ Gags on Thursday buying neat things for this party,” Lucy explained. “I’ve been in River Heights since Wednesday.”
“And I’m loving every minute,” a voice said.
Nancy, Bess, and George turned to see a kindly gray-haired woman dressed up like Mother Goose. She rubbed her hands together and said, “Okay! Who’s ready to bob for shrunken heads?”
“Thanks, Mom!” Lucy said. She turned to the girls and asked, “You’ll be staying for the party too, right?”
“Thanks, Lucy,” Nancy said with a smile, “but we’d better go home now.”
“But first,” Bess said, pulling out the judge’s badge, “maybe you dropped this in the Heights Theater prop room. You were one of the judges.”
Lucy looked at the badge, then shook her head. “My badge is upstairs on my dresser,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”
As the girls left the house, Bess slipped the badge back into her pocket. �
�This badge must belong to Nathan,” she said.
Nancy crossed Lucy’s name off her suspect list and said, “We can give Nathan his badge on our way home. The Heights Theater is only a few blocks away.”
But George didn’t look very eager. “Why bother?” she sighed. “It’s late Saturday afternoon and we still haven’t found out who ruined the auditions.”
Nancy knew time was running out for finding the theater prankster—but she refused to give up!
“We still have one day before the Twinkling Little Stars people go back to Hollywood,” Nancy said.
“And one whole suspect,” Bess said. “Nora Westcott—the witch of the Heights Theater.”
“Give me a break, Bess,” George groaned.
“I don’t think the piano was played by a ghost, Bess,” Nancy said. “I’m sure there was a reason for it.”
The girls reached the Heights Theater. But when Nancy tried to open the door, it was locked.
“The theater must be closed for the day,” Nancy said. “Let’s give Nathan his badge tomorrow.”
Nancy was just about to turn from the door, when she felt Bess grab her arm.
“What is it, Bess?” Nancy asked.
“There it is again!” Bess said.
“What?” George asked.
“The piano!” Bess hissed. “Listen!”
Nancy and George listened, then looked up.
The music seemed to be coming from an upstairs window. Behind the half-open window was a group of shadowy figures. As the girls looked closer, they noticed more.
“Holy cannoli!” George exclaimed.
Waving their arms and dancing to the music were a mummy, a vampire, a werewolf, and some kind of green creature that looked like a ghost!
“Bess, George,” Nancy whispered, “are those monsters?”
MONSTER BASH
The girls stared up at the window. The monsters and the ghost were still dancing up a storm!
“Should we go inside?” George asked.
Bess shook her head, her eyes wide. “I’m not going in there,” she said. “No way!”
Boo Crew Page 3