Nancy managed to stand still for her makeup. But as soon as Mrs. Marvin finished, Nancy and Bess began twirling around.
Their mermaid costumes were silvery green, long-sleeved leotards and tights and silver ballet shoes. Over the leotards they wore short skirts made of soft green gauze. The fabric looked like sea water. It rippled in the air as the girls twirled.
Nancy caught sight of Alison Wegman. Alison’s mother was helping Alison with her costume. Nancy stared at the shimmering, pale blue dress. It was almost ankle-length. Just above the waist it was tied with a pink satin ribbon.
“Wow!” Nancy murmured. “That’s really beautiful!”
“I think it looks like a silly nightgown.”
Nancy turned and saw Brenda Carlton standing next to her. Then Brenda stormed off, her gauzy mermaid costume fluttering back and forth.
“Attention, everyone!” Darcy called out. “Ten minutes to rehearsal!”
Nancy’s stomach jumped the way it sometimes did in an elevator. I’ll feel better if I get a drink of water, she thought.
Nancy headed toward the door that led to the main hallway. On the way she tried to find George. She peeked behind the pirate ship scenery. She looked inside the big tree that was Peter Pan’s house. She didn’t see George anywhere.
In the hallway Nancy got in line for the drinking fountain. Madame was standing nearby. She was talking to her six-year-old son, Paul.
“It’s time to put away your toys,” Madame said. “I’d like you to sit in the theater during the dress rehearsal.”
Paul went on playing with his toy cars and trucks. He had spread them out all over the floor.
“I know the recital’s been hard for you,” Madame said. “Your baby-sitter quit. I’ve had to bring you here for the last few weeks. It hasn’t been much fun, has it, Paul?”
Madame bent down to hug Paul. He squirmed away. She began putting his toys into the large shoe box that lay on the floor.
“Can I have money for the candy machine?” Paul asked. “I want some Hot Shots cinnamon candy.”
Madame sighed. “All right. But take your toys with you. Then come right to the theater.”
Paul raced down the hall, holding his toy box. Madame opened the backstage door just as Nancy finished getting her drink of water.
“Let’s hurry,” Madame said to Nancy.
Backstage, Darcy Blair stood on a tall stool. She clapped her hands. The noise died down.
“The dress rehearsal is about to begin!” Darcy announced. “We’d like everyone except dancers to leave the theater. Madame Dugrand wants the recital to be a surprise. She thanks all of you for your help with the costumes and makeup.”
Two minutes later only the dancers, Madame, and Darcy remained backstage.
“We’re ready for the opening dance,” Madame called. “Everyone onstage. Pirates first. Then fairies and mermaids.”
The girls filed onstage between panels of the heavy curtains. Nancy, Bess, and George waited with the other mermaids.
“Where did you hide?” Nancy asked George.
George smiled. “Top secret!”
“Mermaids, onstage!” Darcy called out.
As the mermaids began moving toward the stage, Bess glanced down at her tights. She saw a pale line running down one leg.
“What’s that?” she said. She bent over to examine it. “Oh, no! My tights are ripped.” She slipped off her ballet shoe. She found a hole in the toe of her tights.
“Bess! Brenda! What’s taking so long?”
Bess looked up. The other mermaids had gone. Darcy was waiting by the curtain. Brenda was standing near her dance bag. She was putting a barrette in her hair.
“I’m trying to hurry,” Brenda said. “My barrette fell out.” She fastened the clip and dashed past Darcy.
“Come on, Bess,” said Darcy. Then she walked onto the stage.
Bess pulled on her ballet shoe and followed Darcy.
All the dancers were in position. Bess slipped into her place behind Nancy.
Nancy turned and smiled at her friend. Then she looked toward the front of the stage. She saw rows and rows of seats. Her stomach jumped again. The theater looked so big! The stage felt so high! Nancy took a deep breath.
Madame studied the large group of dancers. She shook her head. “Pirates move two steps to the left.” She showed them where to stand.
“Okay, everybody. Arms straight,” Madame called out. “Fairies, keep your toes pointed. Good, I think we’re ready for the music.”
A door slammed. Nancy glanced around the theater. Paul was walking down the center aisle. He had a small box of candy in one hand. Under his other arm he carried the toy box and a comic book. He sat down in the second row. He opened the candy and began reading the comic book.
Madame nodded to Darcy. “The tape is in the sound system backstage,” she said. “On the count of three, begin the music.”
Darcy went backstage. Madame took one last look at the dancers. Then she tapped her foot and counted. “One. Two. Three!”
There was complete silence. Seconds passed. No one moved.
Madame frowned and tapped her foot again. “One. Two. Three!”
Suddenly Darcy ran out onto the stage. She looked pale.
“Madame!” she cried. “The tape is gone!”
3
Friends Stick Together
What?” Madame asked. “That’s impossible! I put the tape into the sound system myself just a half hour ago!”
Darcy shook her head. “It’s not there. I looked all around the sound system. The tape is gone.”
No one spoke for a moment. Then Brenda Carlton said, “I bet I know who took the tape.” Everyone turned to look at her. “Bess Marvin!” she said loudly.
Bess gasped.
Madame turned to Brenda. “How can you say such a thing?”
Brenda put her hands on her hips. “Bess was the last one backstage,” she said. “I saw her there. Darcy did, too. And everyone heard what Bess said this afternoon. She said she hated the dance. She said she wanted to throw the tape out the window.”
Bess’s eyes and mouth opened wide. But she didn’t say a word. She kept staring at Brenda.
“Bess didn’t take the tape,” Nancy said. “I know she didn’t.”
“Bess would never do something like that!” George exclaimed.
“I was the last one backstage,” Bess said. “But I didn’t touch the tape.” Her eyes filled with tears. She blinked hard to keep from crying.
Madame looked at Brenda. “The tape has probably just been put in the wrong place. I don’t think anybody took it. I’ll look for it myself.”
Madame hurried backstage. Nancy and George stood close to Bess.
Darcy came over and handed Bess a tissue. “The tape’s bound to turn up,” she said gently.
“I’ll find it,” Nancy whispered to Bess. “I promise! I’ve solved other mysteries.”
Bess looked at Nancy and George and tried to smile. “Friends stick together, right?”
“Right,” said George.
Madame returned, looking very worried. “I can’t find the tape anywhere,” she said. She walked to the front of the stage to face the students. “I put the tape into the sound system myself. So someone must have taken it out. I don’t know who did this. I won’t accuse anyone.”
Nancy glanced around. She saw Alison, Rebecca, and Jessie watching Bess.
Madame went on. “The tape can’t be replaced. So there’s only one thing I can do. I will be in my office tomorrow and Sunday. I would like whoever took the tape to return it to me. No questions will be asked.”
“What about the dress rehearsal?” one of the older dancers asked.
Madame shook her head. “We can’t dance without the music. But I want all of you to be here at three o’clock on Sunday. If the tape has been returned, we’ll rehearse at three. If there’s no tape—” Madame paused and looked at the girls. “Then at three o’clock I will cancel Sunday night’s recit
al.”
Alison looked as though she was about to cry. “What about my solo?” she blurted out. “It’s not fair!”
“It’s not fair for any of us,” said Madame. Then she left the stage to get Paul. Darcy led the girls backstage to the dressing room. Nancy, George, and Bess walked at the end of the line. Nancy noticed other girls whispering and looking at Bess.
“Go ahead without me,” Nancy told her friends. “I want to look around here.”
“I’m sticking with you,” George said.
“Me, too,” Bess said.
The three girls hid behind the big tree that was Peter Pan’s house. They waited until everyone else was gone.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Nancy said, “Look for the tape and anything else that might be a clue. We’ve got to hurry!”
George searched near the curtain and the lights. Bess checked the scenery and props.
Nancy looked at the sound system. “No clues,” she muttered. “Not even half a clue!”
Then she checked around the sound system. There was something lying on the floor. She reached for it.
Nancy felt someone grab her shoulder. She whirled around. It was George.
“We’d better get out of here,” George said.
Nancy nodded and waved for Bess to come over. Then she held out her hand. On her palm lay a small silver object about two and a half inches long. It came to a point at one end.
“An Eiffel Tower charm,” Bess said.
“Madame got a bunch of them in France,” George said. “She told us that they’re just like the real Eiffel Tower in Paris.”
“And she gives them out as prizes for really good work,” Bess added.
“Right,” Nancy said. “And so far she’s given one to Alison and one to Brenda.”
Just then they heard rapid footsteps crossing the backstage. Jerry Cutter came toward them, frowning.
“What are you kids doing near the sound system? I nearly turned off the lights and locked you in.”
“We were looking for the tape,” Nancy said. “We’re going now.”
Nancy, Bess, and George ran back to the dressing room. They went to their corner to change out of their costumes.
“Do you want to practice the mermaid dance tomorrow afternoon?” George asked. She pulled off her ballet shoes. “We could do it at Bess’s house.”
“Sure,” Nancy said. “What do you think, Bess?”
Bess nodded. She was carefully folding her silvery green tights and leotard into her dance bag.
“If we can’t find the tape, no one will get to be a mermaid,” she whispered sadly. “And everyone will think it’s my fault.”
“We will find the tape,” Nancy said.
“But how?” Bess asked. “There are no clues.”
“We do have a clue,” Nancy said. She glanced around the dressing room. The other girls had already left. Nancy showed Bess and George the Eiffel Tower charm again.
“That’s a clue?” George asked. “What does it have to do with the missing tape?”
“This might be a really big clue,” Nancy said in a low voice. “It’s given me an idea. An idea about who could have taken the tape.”
“Who?” Bess asked.
Nancy’s fingers closed tightly around the little Eiffel Tower. She looked at her friends and said, “Brenda Carlton!”
4
Pancakes
and Ice Cream
Brenda!” Bess gasped. “Why would she take the tape?”
“Here’s what I think,” Nancy said. “Brenda was super angry that Madame gave the Wendy solo to Alison. Brenda wanted to get back at Madame. She wanted to keep Alison from being the star, too. So she took the tape. Then she tried to blame Bess.”
“When did she do it?” George asked.
“She was the last one backstage tonight except for Bess and Darcy,” Nancy explained. “Maybe she took the tape and put it in her dance bag when Darcy wasn’t looking.”
“That’s right!” Bess said. “I saw her standing next to her dance bag.”
“If this Eiffel Tower charm is Brenda’s,” Nancy went on, “maybe she lost it when she took the tape.”
George nodded. “Brenda’s such a showoff. She always wears her charm.”
“On a silver chain around her neck,” Bess added.
“Now I need more clues to prove it,” said Nancy. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oops. We’d better get going. My dad will be here any minute to drive us home.”
Nancy put the charm in her jacket pocket. Then the girls picked up their dance bags and hurried out of the dressing room.
That night, after she was tucked in bed, Nancy thought about the missing tape. Words kept running through her mind. Recital. Music. Mermaid dance. Wendy’s solo.
Nancy leaned over and switched on the lamp. She opened the drawer in her bedside table and took out a red pen and a small notebook with a shiny blue cover. It was her detective’s notebook. In it she wrote about each of her cases.
Nancy turned to a clean page. On the top line she wrote: “The Ballet Mystery.” On the next two lines, she wrote two questions:
Who wants to stop the recital?
Who was backstage and had a
chance to take the tape?
Below the questions, Nancy wrote two words: “Brenda Carlton.”
Nancy flipped to the next page. On the top line she wrote: “Clues.” Just below that she drew a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Then she put the notebook and pen on the table. She switched off the light. A minute later she was fast asleep.
The next morning Nancy washed up and put on jeans and a yellow sweater. She grabbed her notebook and pen and ran downstairs to the kitchen.
The sun was shining through the big window over the sink. Her father, Carson Drew, was beating eggs in a bowl.
“It’s Signorina Ballerina!” he said when he saw Nancy. “How many banana pancakes can she eat today? Twenty-two? Thirty-five?”
Nancy laughed. Saturday mornings were special. Hannah Gruen, the family housekeeper, usually went out. She had been living with the Drews since Nancy was three years old. That was when Nancy’s mother had died.
Nancy loved Hannah very much. But she also loved Saturday breakfast with just her father. He made great pancakes. And they had lots of time to talk.
“How about three pancakes?” Nancy asked.
Mr. Drew sighed. He pretended to be disappointed. “If you insist. But three doesn’t seem like much for a ballerina. Especially one who has a mystery to solve.”
Nancy had told her father all about the missing tape the night before.
While Mr. Drew sliced bananas, Nancy finished mixing the batter. Then she set the table while he flipped pancakes in the big frying pan. After they sat down to eat, Nancy showed her father her notebook.
“You’re asking the right questions,” he said. “But let’s go over them again.” Carson Drew was a lawyer. He knew all about mysteries and crimes. “Did anyone besides Brenda want to stop the recital?” he asked. “Did anyone else have a chance to take the tape?”
Nancy put a bite of banana pancake in her mouth. She chewed slowly and thought. She started to take another bite. Her fork stopped in midair.
“Yes!” she said. “There is someone else! Jerry Cutter, the janitor. He wanted to take his girlfriend to a concert on Sunday. He was really angry about having to be at the recital. And he was working backstage last night!”
“Good thinking, Signorina Ballerina!” Carson Drew grinned with pride.
Nancy wiped her fingers on her napkin and picked up the notebook. On the line below Brenda’s name, she wrote: Jerry Cutter.
Nancy and her father washed the breakfast dishes. Then they put a new bell on Nancy’s blue bike. Nancy spent the rest of the morning reading a library book. But she found it hard to pay attention. She kept thinking, I have to find the tape by three o’clock tomorrow!
When Hannah got back, she made Nancy tuna salad for lunch. After lunch Nancy biked over
to Bess’s house. She carried her ballet slippers and notebook in her backpack. When she got to Bess’s house, George’s red bike was already leaning against the front steps.
“You’re finally here,” Bess said as she opened the door. “Wait till you see what I’ve got.” Bess led the way to the living room.
“Look!” she said, pointing to the coffee table.
Nancy saw tubes of lipstick, a blush compact, and some green eye shadow. Bess was holding a large hand mirror.
“My mom gave me the makeup,” Bess explained. “She said we could practice with it. I think good makeup is just as important as good dancing.”
“Give me a break!” someone muttered.
Nancy glanced around the room. She saw George’s dark curls poking over the top of an armchair. The chair had been turned to the wall.
George leaned around the side of the chair. She was holding a comic book. “Watch out,” she said to Nancy. “Or Bess will rub that goop all over your face.”
Nancy laughed. She picked up one of the lipsticks. It would be fun to play with the makeup. But they had to practice the dance.
“I’ve got an idea,” Nancy said to Bess. “Let’s spend ten minutes doing makeup. Then we’ll dance until you learn the steps.”
“Ten minutes!” George groaned. “The longest ten minutes of my life!”
Nancy tried two of the lipsticks. Bess made her cheeks bright red with blush. George kept as far away from the makeup as possible. She moved chairs and small tables to the side of the room. She kept checking her watch.
“Bong!” George yelled. “Time’s up!”
The three girls began practicing the mermaids’ waltz. Nancy did the steps in front of Bess. Bess tried to follow her. George watched Bess and tried to catch mistakes. She also tried to hum the mermaid music.
Bess wrinkled her nose and put her hands over her ears. “That music sounds pretty weird,” she said.
George shrugged. “I guess I’m not a very good singer.”
Nancy giggled. “Maybe you could just clap the time the way Madame does.”