The Singing Suspects

by Carolyn Keene

  “Why me?” George asked.

  “Because you’re wearing jeans and a T-shirt,” Bess said. “And I’m wearing a new ruffled miniskirt with white trim!”

  George shook her head and her dark curls bounced. She got down on her knees and scurried under the stage. After a few seconds she crawled out empty-handed.

  “No sunglasses,” George said, standing up. “Just a lot of dirt!”

  Nancy leaned against the stage and shook her head. “I promised Riley I’d take care of Eric’s sunglasses,” she said. “What could have happened to them?”

  “You guys,” Bess said, “maybe somebody stole them while we were singing!”

  “We were too busy singing to see anyone,” George said. “But maybe Miss Butcher did.”

  The girls raced over to Miss Butcher. When they asked her about the missing sunglasses, she shook her head.

  “I was too busy watching you perform to see anything fishy,” Miss Butcher said.

  Nancy, Bess, and George walked back to the stage.

  “Somebody must have stolen them,” Nancy said. “They couldn’t disappear!”

  “If you ask me,” George said, “this smells like a mystery.”

  “A mystery!” Bess said. Her blond ponytail swung back and forth as she jumped up and down. “Are you going to solve it, Nancy?”

  “I have to solve it!” Nancy said. “If I don’t find those sunglasses by Saturday, Riley will never speak to me again.”

  The girls went back to the stage to look for clues. Nancy pointed to the ringlike stain on the wood.

  “The ring looks like it could have been left by the bottom of a wet bottle or glass,” Nancy said. “But it wasn’t there when I put the sunglasses down.”

  “Whoever took the sunglasses could have been drinking water,” George said.

  Nancy nodded. “He or she might have put the bottle on the stage before taking the sunglasses,” she said.

  “Then it’s a good clue!” Bess said, pointing to the stain. “Even if it is an icky one!”

  Nancy grabbed her backpack and pulled out her detective notebook. But when she looked for a pen she couldn’t find one.

  “Use this!” Bess said. She handed Nancy a bright pink pen. “Mrs. Tuttle was giving out Triple T pens, too.”

  “First water bottles and now pens!” George groaned. “What next?”

  Nancy stared at George.

  “The triplets were drinking from water bottles before we practiced,” she said. “Maybe they took the sunglasses!”

  “Why would they?” Bess asked. “We never told them they belonged to Eric.”

  Nancy tapped her chin with the pen as she thought. Then her eyes lit up.

  “We told Mrs. Tuttle that the sunglasses were good luck!” Nancy said. “Maybe she didn’t want Spy Girlz to have any luck and win the contest!”

  “So she took the sunglasses,” George said. “Or made one of the triplets do it!”

  “And that could be the plan Mrs. Tuttle was talking about!” Nancy said.

  “That’s mean,” Bess said with a scowl. “Especially for a mom!”

  Nancy didn’t like that their suspect was a mom either. But Mrs. Tuttle had a motive. And Nancy knew that a motive meant a reason for doing something.

  Nancy opened her notebook. On the top of the page she wrote WHO STOLE ERIC’S SUNGLASSES? On the next line she wrote MRS. TUTTLE. Underneath that Nancy wrote all the reasons she was a suspect: THE PLAN. THE WATER BOTTLES. SHE WANTS TRIPLE T TO WIN MORE THAN ANYTHING!

  “Who else would want the sunglasses?” Bess wondered out loud. “No one knows they belong to Eric Stanley.”

  “Except Mindy Spinoza and her whole fan club!” George scoffed.

  “Mindy!” Nancy exclaimed. “She wouldn’t stop looking at the sunglasses!”

  “And you told Mindy we’d be practicing in the park today!” Bess said.

  “Me and my big mouth!” Nancy said.

  “Write it down, Nancy!” George said, pointing to the notebook.

  Nancy added Mindy’s name to her notebook. Then she wrote SHE WANTS ERIC’S SUNGLASSES MORE THAN ANYTHING!

  “Don’t forget to write Jason, David, and Mike too,” Bess told Nancy.

  “Why would they steal a pair of sunglasses?” Nancy asked.

  “Because they’re Bad Newz!” Bess said with a nod.

  Nancy didn’t think the boys had done it. But she wrote down their names anyway.

  “Now let’s find the thief,” Nancy said, shutting her notebook. “And the missing sunglasses!”

  The girls looked for Mrs. Tuttle and the triplets. But their search turned up empty, so they decided to question Mindy Spinoza instead.

  “Mindy lives on Byrd Street,” Bess said. “I once sold Pixie Scout cookies to her mom.”

  The girls walked a few blocks to Mindy’s house. There was no car in the driveway. No one in the front yard, either.

  “Are you sure Mindy lives here, Bess?” Nancy asked.

  “Does that answer your question?” Bess asked. She pointed to a tree in the yard. Carved into the trunk were three big hearts and the words “Mindy Loves Eric!”

  “The tree house up there must be Mindy’s clubhouse,” George said.

  The clubhouse was only six feet off the ground. It had a ladder leading up to a wide door.

  “Maybe the sunglasses are up there,” Nancy said. “Let’s sneak a peek!”

  Bess climbed up the ladder first. George followed her. Nancy was about to climb up when—

  “Cheese and crackers!” Bess cried. She stood at the top of the ladder, staring into the clubhouse. “Omigosh!”

  Bess backed away from the tree house.

  “Climb back down!” she cried. “Go! Go!”

  The girls scrambled back down the ladder.

  “Give me a break, Bess!” George said. “What did you see in there? A ghost?”

  “A snake?” Nancy asked.

  Bess shook her head. Then she smiled a big smile and said, “I just saw Eric Stanley!”

  4

  Cyber Clue!

  Eric Stanley?” George cried. “Now I know you’re losing it, Bess!”

  “It is Eric!” Bess hissed. “Go up there and see for yourselves. Go ahead!”

  “I’ll do it,” Nancy said.

  I know Mindy has Eric Stanley souvenirs, Nancy thought as she climbed the ladder. But I didn’t know she has Eric Stanley himself!

  Nancy reached the top of the ladder. She looked inside and gasped. Eric Stanley was standing inside. But when Nancy looked more closely, she began to laugh.

  “It’s a cardboard cutout of Eric,” Nancy called back. “Not the real Eric!”

  Bess and George joined Nancy in the tree house. They tapped the cardboard cutout.

  “I think I saw this in the music store,” Nancy said. “That’s probably where Mindy and her fan club got it.”

  “Phooey!” Bess said. “I was hoping it was the real Eric Stanley!”

  “Is that why you almost flew down the ladder?” George teased.

  Nancy, Bess, and George got to work looking for Eric’s sunglasses. They found some fun things—like Eric’s guitar pick. They also saw a few gross things—like a clear box with a tissue Eric had blown his nose in! But they did not uncover Eric Stanley’s black sunglasses.

  “They still could have stolen them,” George said. “Mindy’s sister could be stashing them in her pink backpack.”

  “Just like that dollar bill Eric signed,” Bess said.

  “Maybe,” Nancy said. “But we’d better go now, before Mindy catches us snooping around in her tree house!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George headed for the open door. They looked down and Nancy gulped.

  A big golden retriever was standing at the bottom of the ladder barking up at them!

  “Woof! Woof Woof!”

  “N-n-nice doggie!” Nancy called. “I have a doggie too. A much smaller doggie.”

  Bess started to shake. “What do we do?” she whisp
ered.

  “Are there any Eric Stanley dog biscuits up here?” George whispered back.

  Nancy heard a car motor as a silver minivan pulled into the driveway.

  “Busted!” George said.

  Mrs. Spinoza stepped out of the minivan first. She pulled open the side door and Mindy jumped out. So did Ella and the rest of the fan club.

  “Here, Erica!” Ella called to the dog. “Here, girl. Here, girl!”

  The big dog ran toward Ella. And Mindy ran toward the tree house!

  “Hey, hey!” Mindy shouted. “That clubhouse is for members only!”

  “We don’t want to join the club, Mindy,” Nancy called down. “We just want to find Eric’s missing sunglasses.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George scurried down the ladder.

  “I didn’t know they were missing!” Mindy said. “You don’t think we took them, do you?”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy said. “Where were you all at twelve o’clock today?”

  “We just came back from Cedarville,” a girl with an Eric Stanley stick-on tattoo said. “Eric was signing autographs at the mall there.”

  “The line was so long!” Mindy said. “He left before we saw him.”

  “But you already have Eric’s autograph,” Bess said. “On that dollar bill he signed.”

  All eyes turned to Ella. The little girl’s face turned red.

  “We did have the dollar bill,” Mindy said. “Before Ella spent it somewhere.”

  “I can’t remember where!” Ella said. “It could have been the pizza parlor, the toy store, the ice-cream—”

  “Whatever!” Mindy said. She turned to Nancy, Bess, and George. “You’d better leave now. We have a club meeting.”

  The club members spit on their hands. Then they high-fived.

  “Gross,” George murmured.

  Nancy, Bess, and George left the Spinoza yard and went to Nancy’s house. Nancy’s dad was home early from work so he gave them milk and cookies.

  “I’m not sure Mindy and her friends were telling the truth,” Nancy said as she dunked a cookie in her milk.

  “Yeah,” Bess said, licking off a milk mustache. “How do we know they were in Cedarville? Or if Eric was signing autographs at some mall?”

  “Need any help?” Mr. Drew asked. “I’m pretty good when it comes to mysteries.”

  Nancy smiled at her dad. He was a lawyer and often helped Nancy with her cases.

  “I know how you can help, Mr. Drew!” George piped up. “You can give us permission to use the computer.”

  “Why the computer?” Nancy asked.

  George swallowed a chunk of cookie. Then she smiled and said, “You’ll see!”

  Mr. Drew led the girls to the computer in the den. Nancy and Bess watched the screen as George went online.

  “Just what I’m looking for,” George declared. “Eric Stanley’s official blog.”

  George clicked on the Web site. Soon a picture of Eric filled the screen.

  “Cute!” Bess exclaimed. “Can I kiss the screen?”

  “Don’t make me gag, Bess,” George said. “I want to find Eric’s schedule.”

  After a few more clicks the girls were staring at Eric’s summer schedule.

  “Look. He did go to a mall in Cedarville today,” George said. “He signed autographs from twelve noon until one o’clock.”

  Nancy remembered going to Cedarville with Hannah once.

  “Cedarville is about a half hour away,” Nancy said. “Mrs. Spinoza probably left River Heights at around eleven thirty this morning.”

  “And the sunglasses were stolen from the park at noon,” George added.

  “Which means Mindy was probably telling the truth,” Nancy admitted.

  The phone in the den rang. Nancy picked up the receiver and said, “Hello?”

  “Nancy!” Riley’s voice said. “Are Eric’s sunglasses okay?”

  Nancy gulped. She turned to her friends and mouthed Riley’s name. George slapped her forehead. Bess bit her nails.

  “Your dog didn’t bury them in the yard somewhere?” Riley asked. “Did she?”

  “No!” Nancy said. “Er-I’ve got to go, Riley. We have to work on our song!”

  “But—,” Riley started to say.

  Nancy hung up. Then she turned to Bess and George and said, “We’d better find those sunglasses. And fast!”

  That night Nancy could hardly sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about Eric’s sunglasses. When Nancy finally did drift off, she dreamed about the missing sunglasses!

  “Time is running out, you guys,” Nancy told her friends the next morning. “We have to question Mrs. Tuttle today!”

  The girls were in the park again to practice for the contest. But Nancy had only one thing on her mind—to crack the case before Riley returned.

  “What about the boys?” Bess asked. “Aren’t they suspects too?”

  “I still don’t think the boys did it, Bess,” Nancy said.

  “Yeah,” George agreed. “We can’t blame them just because they’re pests.”

  Bess twirled her ponytail between her fingers. “Even if one of them happens to be wearing black sunglasses?” she asked.

  “What?” Nancy and George asked at the same time.

  Bess pointed to the stage. Jason, David, and Mike were strutting back and forth and singing.

  “We’ve got gum on our shoes!” the boys rapped. “That’s why we’re Bad Newz!”

  They wore baggy pants, loose shirts, and backward caps. But Jason was wearing something else that made Nancy gasp.

  “Jason is wearing black sunglasses!” Nancy said. “And they look just like Eric’s!”

  5

  Sour Power!

  Nancy!” George said. “I think I see something silver on the side!”

  “I told you the boys took the sunglasses!” Bess said. “I told you so!”

  Bad Newz slid across the stage on their knees as they finished their song.

  “Way to go, guys!” Miss Butcher said. “You’re done practicing for the day.”

  “Yo, dudes!” Jason declared. “To the monkey bars!”

  The boys pounded knuckles. Then they raced toward the playground.

  “Follow them!” Nancy said, breaking into a run. But then Miss Butcher called, “Spy Girlz! You’re up next!”

  Nancy skidded to a stop.

  “We can’t—I mean—not now!” Nancy said. “We have to go to the playground!”

  Miss Butcher put her hands on her hips. “The playground?” she asked. “How can you play when you have to practice?”

  “It’s not play,” Nancy said. “It’s work.”

  Miss Butcher looked confused. But then she said, “Okay. But don’t be long.”

  In a flash the girls were at the playground. Jason, David, and Mike were heading toward the monkey bars.

  “Jason Hutchings!” Nancy shouted. “You give me those sunglasses right now!”

  Nancy expected Jason to keep on running. But he stopped, took off the sunglasses, and tossed them to Nancy.

  “Knock yourself out,” Jason said. “There are tons of these around!”

  Nancy caught the sunglasses. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Nancy!” Bess cried. “Look at the playground!”

  Nancy’s mouth dropped open. All of the kids on the swings were wearing black sunglasses! The kids on the seesaws were also wearing black sunglasses! So were the kids on the monkey bars!

  “Everybody in the park is wearing black sunglasses!” Nancy cried.

  “They can’t all be Eric’s!” George said.

  Nancy stared at the sunglasses in her hands. They were black just like the missing pair. But instead of a silver S, they had a silver T!

  “T . . . for Triple T,” Nancy said slowly. “Now I get it!”

  “Get what?” George asked.

  “Mrs. Tuttle’s plan!” Nancy said. “When she saw me wearing sunglasses, she wanted to make another Triple T souvenir!”

 
; “So she made Triple T sunglasses,” Bess said. “And gave them to everyone!”

  “That explains her plan,” George said. “But what about that ring-shaped stain we found on the stage yesterday?”

  “The triplets were drinking from their own water bottles,” Bess reminded her friends.

  A pink Frisbee glided over Nancy’s head. She whirled around. Mrs. Tuttle was pulling Frisbees out of a box and flinging them in the air.

  “Get your Triple T Frisbees here!” Mrs. Tuttle shouted. “They’re all signed by Darly, Marly, and Carly!”

  “Not again!” George groaned.

  “This is our chance to question the Tuttles,” Nancy whispered. “Come on.”

  Darly, Carly, and Marly were signing each Frisbee before their mom tossed it.

  “My hand hurts!” Darly said.

  “And we want to go on the swings!” Carly complained.

  “Faster, girls,” Mrs. Tuttle said with a smile. “It’s good practice for when you’re big stars!”

  “Mrs. Tuttle?” Nancy asked as they walked over. “May we ask you something?”

  “Of course you can have a Triple T Frisbee!” Mrs. Tuttle said, smiling. “And I’ll be handing out Triple T yo-yos later. Would you like some of those, too?”

  “No, thank you,” Nancy said. “We just want to know where you were yesterday—”

  “Spy Girlz!” Miss Butcher’s voice cut in. “Time to practice. Right now, please.”

  Phooey! Nancy thought. I’ll never get to question the Tuttles!

  The girls passed on the Frisbees. But George took a Triple T water bottle from Mrs. Tuttle.

  “George!” Bess complained as they ran to the stage. “Whose side are you on?”

  “I’m thirsty!” George said.

  The girls filed onstage. They practiced their song and dance. When Nancy, George, and Bess were finished Miss Butcher clapped her hands.

  “Good job, Spy Girlz,” Miss Butcher said. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the big contest!”

  Tomorrow? Nancy thought with a gulp. That’s when Riley will be back!

  The girls climbed down from the stage. Nancy noticed that the ring-shaped stain was still there!