Case of the Sneaky Snowman

by Carolyn Keene

  It looked like a snowman, Nancy thought. But was it a snowman?

  Nancy clicked the remote to surf the channels. She stopped when she saw a news reporter standing in front of the River Heights Museum of Natural History. It was Nancy’s favorite museum. It even had dinosaur bones inside!

  “There have been many sightings of the Yeti,” the reporter said. “Also known as the Abominable Snowman.”

  Nancy sat up straight.

  Did she say “snowman”?

  CHAPTER NINE

  HEADS UP!

  Nancy turned up the sound.

  “A special exhibit on the Abominable Snowman opened at the museum today,” the reporter was saying. “So come in and enjoy rare pictures of the famous walking snowman!”

  “Walking snowman?” Nancy gasped. “Omigosh!”

  Nancy raced to find her father. Mr. Drew was sitting at the kitchen table paying bills.

  “Daddy, Daddy?” Nancy asked. “Did you ever hear of the Abominable Snowman?”

  “Sure have,” Mr. Drew said. “I think he’s also called Bigfoot.”

  “Bigfoot!” Nancy gasped under her breath. She remembered the footprints they saw in the snow. They were big. Very big!

  “Daddy, can I please call George?” Nancy asked. “It’s about our case.”

  “Sure,” Mr. Drew said. “Just don’t stay on too long.”

  Nancy ran back to the den. She picked up the phone and quickly dialed George’s number.

  “Fayne residence and catering service,” George said as she answered. “Who is speaking—”

  “George, call Bess!” Nancy cut in. “We’re going to the Museum of Natural History first thing tomorrow!”

  That night Nancy tossed and turned in bed. She couldn’t stop wondering if the snowman they had seen in the park was the Abominable Snowman. Or Bigfoot!

  Maybe I should have taken a picture too, Nancy said as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

  The next day was Friday. Right after breakfast Hannah drove Nancy, Bess, and George to the museum. While Hannah admired an exhibit on rare gems, the girls checked out the Abominable Snowman exhibit. The director of the museum, Mr. Fauntelroy, pointed out all of the photographs.

  “Are you sure that’s the Abominable Snowman?” Nancy asked. “It looks more like some furry ape!”

  Nancy tilted her head as she studied one of the pictures. It showed a white furry creature lumbering through the woods. His arms hung low and his feet were flat and long.

  “Well, now,” Mr. Fauntelroy said. His mustache wiggled as he spoke. “What did you expect the Abominable Snowman to look like?”

  George shrugged and said, “The snowman we saw in the park had a blue scarf around his neck!”

  “And he was kind of cute,” Bess said. “In a roly-poly way.”

  Mr. Fauntelroy blinked. He cracked a small smile and said, “I don’t think you saw the Abominable Snowman, girls. I think you had a Frosty sighting!”

  Nancy smiled politely as Mr. Fauntelroy laughed at his own joke. She knew they hadn’t seen Frosty the Snowman. And she knew they hadn’t seen Bigfoot either.

  “Thanks for showing us the pictures, Mr. Fauntelroy,” Nancy said. “They were very interesting.”

  “You’re welcome!” Mr. Fauntelroy said. “And don’t forget about our insect exhibit in the spring. We’ll have one of the world’s biggest cockroaches under glass!”

  “Ew,” Bess said as they walked away.

  The girls joined Hannah in the gem room. She was only halfway through the exhibit.

  “Why don’t you girls look for your birthstones?” she said. “There’s supposed to be a giant amethyst around here.”

  “I think we’d rather talk about our case now, Hannah,” Nancy said.

  “Okay, Clue Crew,” Hannah said with a smile. “Meet me outside in fifteen minutes. Stay by the entrance and don’t go anywhere.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George bundled up in their jackets, scarves, and hats. They walked through the revolving door and stood outside on the sidewalk.

  “The snowman we saw in the park wasn’t the Abominable Snowman,” Nancy sighed.

  “I guess it’s back to square one,” George said.

  Bess stared at the River Heights Ice-Skating Rink. It was right next to the museum.

  “The ice show is tomorrow!” Bess said. “I have my costume. I know what I have to do. So why am I so nervous?”

  “It’s okay, Bess,” Nancy said. “I’ll bet even Svetlana and Alexi Dubonov are nervous about the show.”

  Suddenly Bess’s eyes popped wide open. “Omigosh! Omigosh! Omigosh!” she cried.

  “Not that nervous!” George said.

  “No!” Bess cried. Her finger shook as she pointed over Nancy’s and George’s shoulders. “It’s him! It’s him! It’s the snowman!”

  Nancy and George whipped around. The snowman they had seen in the park was running across the street.

  “Cheese and crackers—it is him!” George exclaimed.

  Nancy stared at the snowman as his scarf flapped in the wind. In his hands were some bright pink papers.

  “What are we waiting for?” George said. She started to run. “Let’s go after him!”

  Nancy grabbed the hem of George’s jacket. “We can’t!” she said. “Hannah told us to wait here!”

  The girls shouted after the snowman.

  “Stop!” Nancy yelled.

  “Freeze!” George shouted. “I mean—thaw!”

  The snowman kept dashing down River Street. George bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. “They didn’t make me pitcher on our baseball team for nothing,” she said. “Stand back!”

  George patted the snow into a snowball. She swung back her arm and hurled it across the street. It hit the snowman on the shoulder with a loud thonk!

  “Got him!” George cheered.

  The top part of the snowman toppled off. Nancy watched in horror as it rolled over and over on the icy ground.

  “You did more than that, George!” Nancy cried. “You knocked off his head!”

  CHAPTER TEN

  NICE ON ICE

  The girls stared across the street. In place of the snowman’s head was a human head. A teenage boy’s head!

  “It’s a costume,” George said.

  The boy kneeled down to pick up the pink papers.

  “What goes on here?” a voice with a Russian accent demanded.

  Nancy, Bess, and George turned around. Standing at the stage door of the ice rink were Svetlana and Alexi Dubonov!

  “We heard noise and come out!” Alexi said. He and Svetlana wrapped themselves in their coats as they walked over to the girls.

  “Bess, is everything good?” Svetlana asked.

  “I think so,” Bess said.

  Nancy’s mouth hung wide open. She couldn’t believe they were actually standing next to the famous ice-skaters. Her voice shook as she pointed and said, “Um—we saw that snowman across the street. I mean we saw him before, in the park!”

  Alexi looked across the street and said, “That is Lance. He hands out fliers for the show in front of the rink.”

  “Oh!” Bess said. “Just like those fliers we saw in the garbage can!”

  “Garbage can?” Alexi and Svetlana said together.

  Lance walked across the street with his snowman head under his arm. “Yo,” he said. “Who threw that snowball?”

  “I did,” George admitted.

  Nancy expected Lance to be mad, but instead he smiled.

  “Wicked pitch!” Lance said with a grin. “You go, girl!”

  “Thanks!” George said, grinning back.

  But Alexi and Svetlana were not smiling.

  “What were you doing in the park, Lance?” Alexi asked. “When you should have been giving out fliers here?”

  Lance’s face turned red. It wasn’t from the cold!

  “I didn’t know I’d have to dress up like a snowman when I took the job,” Lance said. “If my buds saw me like this they’d
be on my case for weeks.”

  “But you were a great snowman,” Nancy said. “You really had us fooled!”

  “And there’s nothing wrong with wearing a snowman suit,” Bess said.

  “There is if you’re the star of your high-school ice hockey team,” Lance said. He turned to Svetlana and Alexi. “I’m sorry about the fliers. I’ll work extra late tonight to hand them out.”

  But Svetlana looked deep in thought. “Ice hockey?” she said. “You skate, Lance?”

  “Like a pro!” Lance admitted. “The team calls me Lance the Blade!”

  Svetlana turned to Nancy and George. “Do you skate too?” she asked.

  “We love to skate!” Nancy said.

  “I even did a figure eight once!” George said. “Well . . . it was more like a figure six. But close enough.”

  Svetlana turned to her husband and smiled. “Lance skate. Girls skate,” she said. “Alexi—I have a huge idea!”

  Nancy traded puzzled looks with Bess and George. What could it be?

  “You were awesome in the ice show, Bess,” Nancy said.

  “And I didn’t fall once!” Bess said happily.

  It was Saturday night. Bess had just skated with Svetlana and Alexi in the River Heights Ice Spectacular Show. Thanks to the skating couple, Nancy and George had parts too. They wore colorful snowsuits and skated out on the ice with Lance the Snowman!

  This time Lance didn’t mind wearing a snowman suit. Especially when his hockey team started cheering, “Go Blade! Go Blade! Go Blade!”

  After the show the Drews, Faynes, and Marvins went to Pizza Paradise for pies all around. But Nancy, Bess, and George celebrated more than just the ice show. They celebrated one more mystery solved by the Clue Crew!

  “Large pepperoni pizza with cheese!” the perky waitress with the ponytail said. She placed the pie on the small round table the girls shared. “Enjoy your meal!”

  Nancy waited for the waitress to walk away. Then she closed her eyes and began waving both hands over the pie.

  “Nancy!” George whispered. Her eyes darted around to see if anyone was looking. “What are you doing?”

  “I am Madame Pepperona!” Nancy said with a deep voice. “And I read pepperonis on pizza pies!”

  Bess giggled and said, “So what do you see in our future, Madame Pepperona?”

  Nancy opened her eyes and smiled. “Mysteries!” she said. “Lots and lots of mysteries!”

  Make a Snowflake!

  There’s no business like snow business! But you don’t have to live in a snowy state like Nancy, Bess, and George to have fun with flakes. Just get crafty—and make your own!

  Beaded snowflakes are pretty and fun to make!

  *You will need:

  Gold, white, or silver pipe cleaners (three for each snowflake)

  One sunburst bead for the middle of each snowflake

  Lots of beads—white, clear, crystal, or pastel

  Glue and glitter

  String

  (* You can pick up most snowflake supplies at a local crafts store!)

  Ready, Set, Snow . . .

  Take three pipe cleaners and your sunburst bead. Stick the pipe cleaners through the hole of the sunburst bead so they are the same length on each side of the bead. Spread the pipe cleaners out to make the frame of the snowflake. Add beads to pipe cleaners. When pipe cleaner is filled with beads, fold the end into the last bead. For extra shimmer, dot your snowflake with glue and sprinkle on glitter! No two snowflakes are alike, so go wild with different shapes and designs!

  To hang up your snowflake, tie a thin or see-through string to the top. Or to make a sassy “snow mobile” for your room, hang a bunch of snowflakes on the frame of a coat hanger!

  A Frosty Fact!

  All snowflakes may be different, but they have one thing in common: They all have six sides and six points!