“I don’t know anything,” Violet said huffily. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get more glitter glue.” She turned and marched over to the art supply closet.
“I guess she’s not talking,” Nancy said to her friends.
“I guess not. But there’s our other suspect, right over there.” George nodded at Antonio, who was working on a collage two tables over.
“Hmm. I’m going to go talk to him,” Nancy said. “You guys stay here in case Violet changes her mind and decides to say something.”
“Okey-dokey,” Bess said.
Nancy went over to Antonio’s table and peered at the collage he was working on. It had lots of photos of slimy-looking reptiles, like crocodiles and lizards and snakes. “That’s um, really cool,” she complimented him.
Antonio’s face lit up. “Yeah? You like reptiles?”
“Um, definitely!” Nancy fibbed. She decided to change the subject, fast. “So. Did you hear about Nadine’s hoodie?”
“You mean that pink thing? What, did it get hit with a real chili bomb?” Antonio cracked up.
Nancy frowned. “No. It’s missing. It might have been stolen. You knew that, right?”
“Stolen? Who would steal that ugly old thing?” Antonio said. He picked up a glue stick and started smearing it across the back of a photo. He got glue all over the table.
“You mean you really didn’t know?” Nancy asked him.
“Huh? Why would I know? And why would I care?” Antonio said.
All of a sudden, Antonio picked up photo he was working on and lunged at Nancy’s face with it. She gave a little gasp and jumped back. She didn’t want to get a photo of an alligator glued to her nose!
“Ha-ha,” Antonio crowed.
Nancy glared at him. Would he ever stop pulling pranks?
At lunch, Nancy filled George and Bess in on her conversation with Antonio.
“He said he didn’t know about the hoodie,” Nancy explained as she took a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich.
“Do you think he was lying?” George asked her.
Nancy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I couldn’t tell. He’s definitely evil, though. Evil enough to steal Nadine’s hoodie.”
“Well, we didn’t get anything else out of Violet, either,” Bess said. She stirred her chocolate milk with a straw. “I think she’s hiding something, though. She was acting kind of weird.”
“Weird? What do you mean, weird?” Nancy asked her.
But before Bess could answer, Nadine came rushing up to their table. “Guess what!” she cried out. She sounded upset.
“What?” Nancy, George, and Bess said in unison.
Nadine waved a folded-up piece of paper in the air. “I just got a ransom note from the hoodie-napper!” she announced.
CHAPTER SIX
Kopy Kats
“A ransom note?” Nancy said, alarmed. That sounded pretty serious. “What does it say?”
“Here.” Nadine quickly unfolded the sheet of paper.
Nancy, George, and Bess bent their heads together to read it. The ransom note was written in pencil on a piece of wide-ruled notebook paper. It said:
* * *
IF YOU WANT YOU’RE HOODY
BACK, YOU’LL HAVE TO PAY!
WAIT FOR MORE INSTRUCSHIONS.
* * *
Nancy read the ransom note again. She noticed the handwriting was kind of messy, with big, loopy letters.
She also noticed that it had some spelling mistakes in it. YOU’RE should have been YOUR. HOODY should have been HOODIE. And INSTRUCSHIONS should have been INSTRUCTIONS.
Nancy glanced up after a moment. “Where did you find this, Nadine?”
“I found it in my cubby, just now,” Nadine replied. She wrung her hands together. “Do you think my hoodie is in danger? Do you think I’ll have to pay the person a lot of money to get it back? Like millions and millions of dollars?”
“It said we’re supposed to wait for instructions,” George pointed out. “I wonder if the hoodie-napper is going to leave another note in your cubby.”
“Maybe we should install secret video cameras on your cubby, to catch the person leaving the next note,” Bess suggested. “Hmm. I guess that might be kind of hard, though.”
“Can we keep this note?” Nancy asked Nadine.
“I have to show it to the Klue Krew with K’s first. They haven’t seen it yet. You can have it back after that,” Nadine promised her.
“No problem,” Nancy agreed.
Nadine folded up the note and walked over to Deirdre’s table, across the aisle. Nancy watched as Deirdre, Madison, and Kendra checked out the note.
Deirdre got a purple notebook out of her backpack and started scribbling furiously in it. It looked just like Nancy’s purple detective notebook. She was even using a purple pencil like Nancy’s.
Talk about a copycat! Nancy thought, amused.
And then she frowned. Is the Klue Krew close to solving the case? she wondered. Or are they as clueless as they say we are?
“I think we should get an extra-extra-large pizza with extra-extra cheese and extra-extra pepperoni,” Bess suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Carson Drew said, closing his menu. “Okay with you girls?”
“Yum!” Nancy said.
“Extra-extra yum!” George agreed.
It was Thursday night. Nancy’s father had taken Nancy, George, and Bess to Pizza Paradise for dinner as a special treat. It was early, and the downtown pizza parlor was just starting to get crowded.
The waitress came by to take their orders. After she left, Mr. Drew said, “So, I guess the Clue Crew has been busy solving another mystery?”
“We haven’t solved it yet, Daddy,” Nancy said. “We found some important clues, though.”
“And we have two suspects!” George piped up.
“And we have competition,” Bess added, making a face. “Deirdre Shannon formed a detective club called the Klue Krew. With K’s. They’re trying to solve the mystery, too.”
“Really? Who’s winning so far? The Clue Crew with C’s or the Klue Krew with K’s?” Mr. Drew asked.
“We don’t know, Daddy,” Nancy replied.
Mr. Drew put his arm around Nancy. “Well, Pumpkin Pie, I’m rooting for the three of you!”
The waitress brought them a pitcher of lemonade and four glasses. While Mr. Drew poured the lemonades, Nancy filled him in on the case. She told him about the silver sequin and the Krunchilicious wrapper. She told him about the Krunchilicious versus Choco-Mania poll. She told him about Violet and Antonio being their top suspects. And she told him about the ransom note with the spelling mistakes.
“We still need to figure out who used locker number twenty-four on Tuesday,” Nancy finished. “Plus we need to figure out who wrote the ransom note. They could be the same person—or not.”
Mr. Drew looked thoughtful. “You said that the hoodie was stolen from the girls’ locker room, right? How could the thief be a boy, then?”
“Maybe Antonio was working with a girl, like Violet or someone else,” George replied. “Or maybe Antonio snuck into the girls’ locker room.”
“Ewwwww!” Bess exclaimed.
At the mention of Antonio’s name, Nancy suddenly remembered something. She remembered that his family owned a restaurant across the street from Pizza Paradise. She craned her head to peer out the window. She saw the sign for Chez Fano. Antonio had told her once that Fano was short for his last name, Elefano.
At that moment, she saw Antonio walking briskly down the sidewalk, heading for Chez Fano. At one point, he tripped on something, and he almost fell. His backpack slipped off his shoulders and fell to the ground. He muttered something to himself, picked up his backpack, and hurried into the restaurant.
Nancy spun around in her seat. Her eyes were sparkling.
“What is it, Pumpkin Pie?” her father asked her.
“I think Antonio wrote the ransom note!” she announced.
CHAPTER SEVEN<
br />
Mystery Solved?
“Why do you think Antonio wrote the ransom note?” George asked Nancy.
“Ew! That means he definitely snuck into the girls’ locker room!” Bess said, wrinkling her nose.
“I don’t know about that,” Nancy said quickly. “But remember? On Tuesday, in the cafeteria, Antonio pretended to trip and spill his chili all over Nadine’s hoodie. His backpack fell on the floor, and his stuff fell out—like his pencils and math homework and spelling test. I saw his spelling test. It had lots and lots of mistakes on it.”
George nodded. “And we know whoever wrote the ransom note was a bad speller!”
“Does his handwriting match the handwriting on the ransom note?” Mr. Drew piped up.
Nancy, George, and Bess stared at each other.
“I’m not sure,” Nancy said after a moment. “That’s a smart question, though, Daddy. We should check out Antonio’s handwriting and see if it matches the handwriting on the note!”
“We should make you an honorary Clue Crew member, Mr. Drew,” George said.
Mr. Drew chuckled. “It sounds like there are already too many detectives on this case!”
After dinner, Nancy, George, Bess, and Mr. Drew went across the street to Chez Fano. Nancy had been watching the front entrance the whole time they were eating their pizzas. As far as she could tell, Antonio was still there.
Chez Fano was one of the fanciest restaurants in River Heights. It was in an elegant-looking brick building with a red door. The windows had pretty lace curtains and window boxes full of orange and yellow chrysanthemums.
Inside, there was a crowded waiting area with plush velvet chairs and potted palm trees. A man in a black tuxedo was standing in the doorway to the dining room. Nancy recognized him from a previous trip to Chez Fano. He was the maitre d’, in charge of seating customers.
“Dinner for four?” he asked Mr. Drew.
“Actually—” Mr. Drew began.
“Actually, we’re here to see Antonio,” Nancy interrupted. “Is he here?”
“Little Tony? I’ll get him,” the maitre d’ offered.
Little Tony? Nancy, George, and Bess looked at each other and giggled.
The maitre d’ disappeared through the doorway. Nancy could hear soft classical music, clinking glasses, conversation, and laughter coming from the dining room. Delicious spicy smells wafted through the air. As they waited, customers left and more customers came in. Chez Fano was a busy place!
After a moment, Antonio appeared. He frowned in confusion when he saw Nancy, George, and Bess.
“Uh, hi,” Antonio said. Nancy could tell that he was trying hard to be polite, since her father was there. “Uh, what do you want? That is…I mean…can I help you with something?”
Nancy reached into her backpack and found a pen and a blank piece of paper. “Can you write down the phone number for your family’s restaurant, Antonio?” she asked in a friendly voice. “It’s George’s mom’s birthday this weekend, and we want to make a reservation for dinner.”
George made a face. “What? My mom’s birthday is—”
“I mean, it’s George’s dad’s birthday,” Nancy cut in. She winked at George to let her know that she was making up a story so she could get a sample of Antonio’s handwriting. “So, Antonio…could you write down the phone number? And the name of the restaurant, too,” she added.
Antonio took the pen and paper from Nancy. He started scribbling.
Nancy leaned over and watched as Antonio wrote the information down. She saw that his handwriting was messy and big and loopy—just like on the ransom note!
“You did write the ransom note!” Nancy burst out. “Okay, Antonio—where’s Nadine’s hoodie?”
Antonio’s head shot up. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
Nancy pulled the ransom note out of her backpack. She placed it next to the piece of paper Antonio had been scribbling on. The handwriting was identical!
“You are so busted,” Bess told Antonio.
Antonio’s face turned red. “Okay. So I wrote the ransom note. Big deal. It was just a joke!” he mumbled. “But I didn’t steal the hoodie. I swear! You can come to my house right now and search through all my stuff if you want!”
Nancy was about to ask him another question. But she was distracted by something. One of the potted palm trees in the waiting area was…moving. Or rather, the palm fronds were moving this way and that, as though there was a breeze. It didn’t make sense, since they were inside.
Nancy walked over to the palm tree and peered behind it. Someone was hiding there.
Actually, it was three someones: Deirdre, Madison, and Kendra—the Klue Krew!
When Deirdre saw Nancy, she stepped out from behind the palm tree. She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled.
“Oh! Hi, Nancy! What are you doing here?” she asked casually.
“What are you doing here?” Nancy asked her curiously.
“We’re, uh…we’re, uh…checking out the menu,” Deirdre said. “But we have to run. Bye!”
“Bye!” Madison and Kendra said in unison.
Then, without another word, the three girls ran out the door. Nancy frowned. What was going on? Had the Klue Krew followed the Clue Crew to Chez Fano and eavesdropped on their conversation with Antonio?
Just then, Nancy noticed a purple object on the floor. It was her purple detective notebook. Had she dropped it? When? Did anyone else see it? She picked it up and flipped through the pages.
Nancy saw right away that it wasn’t her notebook. On one of the pages was a drawing of Nadine’s hoodie. There was another drawing of three girls with a big X through it. Nancy studied the three girls’ faces. They kind of looked like her, George, and Bess!
Then Nancy’s eyes fell on a long, hand-written entry. It said:
Day One. Hoodie disappears! Good timing.
Day Two. Discovered CC in girls’ locker room. Agent B said Agent N found something. We think it was a pair of stinky socks that belonged to the thief. Must find out who wears Sporty Girl brand socks. Later, Agent B IMs that they found “Krun.” What is “Krun”? What does it mean?
Day Three. We now think stinky socks were a red herring. A red herring is a false clue that’s meant to throw us off the scent and confuse us. Who planted the stinky socks, and why? Was it CC? Also, we are adding the gym teacher to the suspect list because Agent 001 says she heard him humming a Lula song under his breath. So the gym teacher is a Lula fan. Sounds pretty guilty!
Nancy closed the notebook. She didn’t want to read any more. It was an invasion of Deirdre’s privacy. In fact, she would have to get the notebook back to Deirdre right away.
Then Nancy smiled. From what little she had read, it seemed that the Klue Krew was pretty klueless! There was no way they were going to win the contest.
Then Nancy’s smile faded. The Clue Crew wasn’t much further along than the Klue Krew. If they didn’t find more clues soon, they wouldn’t win the contest either!
“Did you find my hoodie?” Nadine asked. “Please, please, please tell me you did!”
It was Friday morning, just before school. Nancy, George, Bess, and Nadine were in the hallway, talking. Kids swarmed around them, talking and laughing as they headed for their cubbies.
Nancy shook her head. “No. But we did find who wrote the—”
“We found your hoodie, Nadine!”
The girls turned to see who had spoken. It was Deirdre. Madison and Kendra were standing behind her.
Nancy couldn’t believe it. Had the Klue Krew really solved the mystery before the Clue Crew?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Too Many Hoodies
Deirdre had a smug-looking grin on her face. Nancy noticed that Madison and Kendra didn’t look quite as smug. In fact, they were both staring down at the ground, as though they didn’t want to meet Nadine’s eyes.
What was going on?
Nadine rushed up to Deirdre. “You found my hoodie? Where? How? When? Who
?” she said excitedly.
“The ‘who’ is easy. It was Antonio Elefano!” Deirdre announced. “We figured out last night that Antonio wrote the ransom note. From there, it was easy to figure out that he was the hoodie thief.”
Nancy gasped. Deirdre and her Klue Krew were being copycats again! They had eavesdropped on the Clue Crew last night at Chez Fano. Antonio had confessed to writing the ransom note. From that, the Klue Krew had obviously concluded that Antonio was the thief.
“Do you have any proof against Antonio?” Nancy asked Deirdre.
“We have something better than proof. We have this!” Deirdre said.
She reached into her backpack and pulled out something pink and silver.
It was Nadine’s hoodie!
“Oh my gosh!” Nadine cried out. She grabbed the hoodie from Deirdre and hugged it to her chest. She started jumping up and down. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I never thought I’d see this again. I never thought—Heyyyy!”
“What is it?” George asked Nadine.
Nadine was staring at the label on the back of the hoodie. “This…is not…my hoodie,” she said slowly.
“Of course it’s your hoodie!” Deirdre said quickly. “Now, as for payment. We’re not going to charge you, Nadine, since it’s your first case with us. But I think it’s fair to say that the Klue Krew with K’s beat the Clue Crew with C’s, so we definitely won the contest. You might want to make us some sort of certificate saying so. You know, like ‘I, Nadine Nardo, hereby congratulate the Klue Krew with K’s for defeating the Clue Crew with C’s and becoming the number-one detective club in all of River Heights Elementary School.’”
Nadine glared at Deirdre. “I’m serious! This is not my hoodie! Check out the label. This isn’t my size. And besides, I wrote my initials on the label with a black Magic Marker. This label doesn’t have any initials on it.”
Deirdre studied the label. “Maybe you just thought you wrote your initials,” she said smoothly. “Or maybe the thief—that is, I mean, Antonio—erased the initials with some sort of, you know, special Magic Marker-erasing potion.”
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