Nancy said goodbye to her friends. Then slowly and sadly she walked home.
“How was your ice cream?” Hannah asked when Nancy slumped through the back door.
“Not so great,” Nancy said. “I think I’ll just do homework until dinnertime, Hannah.”
Nancy tried her best to do her homework until her father arrived home from his law offices. But she found herself daydreaming more than she was working. When Mr. Drew walked through the door, Nancy had barely looked at the spelling list she was supposed to memorize.
“Hi, Pumpkin, how was your day?” Mr. Drew called from the front hall.
Ever since Nancy was small, her father had called her Pumpkin. That is, when he didn’t call her Pudding Pie. Nancy loved both her nicknames.
“Oh, Daddy,” she called. “You’ll never guess what’s happened.” She grabbed her clue notebook and ran to give her father a hug. Then she opened her notebook to the missing recipe page. Underneath the clue about Stevie Sikes and Mrs. Reynolds, Nancy had written, “More suspects: Andrew Leoni and Cathy Perez.”
“I’ve got too many suspects to handle on my new mystery, Daddy,” Nancy said.
“Let’s talk about it over dinner,” Mr. Drew said as he slipped his briefcase into the hall closet. “Mmm, I smell Hannah’s famous roast chicken!”
They sat down at the kitchen table and dug into plates of chicken and green beans. Then Nancy told her father everything that had happened that day. “At first I thought Josie had the recipe,” Nancy said. She took a quick sip of milk. “Then I realized Josie was just trying to help Mr. Zuckerman.
“Next, it looked as if Stevie and Mrs. Reynolds were cooking up Mr. Zuckerman’s candy recipe,” she continued. “And now Cathy Perez is serving homemade candy, too. Everywhere I go, there’s candy, candy, candy. But I don’t know who has that recipe!”
“Maybe nobody has it, Pudding Pie,” Mr. Drew said. He cut up his chicken and thought a moment. Then he said, “You know the best way to find out the truth, Pumpkin?”
“How?” Nancy asked.
Her father gave her a wink and smiled kindly. “Just ask!” he said.
6
I Scream for More Clues
The next day Nancy put on a pale purple sweater and her favorite pair of jeans. She put her blue notebook in her back pocket. As she was brushing her reddish blond hair, she gazed into the mirror and said, “Daddy’s right. All I have to do is ask. And today that’s just what I’ll do.”
“Nancy,” Hannah called from the kitchen. “Come eat these scrambled eggs, or you’ll be late for school.”
“Coming, Hannah!” Nancy yelled. Then she raced downstairs for breakfast.
Hannah had made such a big breakfast that Nancy was almost late for school. She bounded into her classroom just as the bell rang. She didn’t have time to talk to Mrs. Reynolds or Stevie all morning.
At lunchtime Nancy sat with George and Bess. She opened her thermos of vegetable soup and said, “As soon as I get a chance, I’m just going to ask Mrs. Reynolds about Mr. Zuckerman’s recipe.”
“Well, your chance is walking out the door,” George told her. She pointed to the cafeteria entrance. Mrs. Reynolds was leaving, and Stevie Sikes was right behind her.
“Oh, no!” Nancy cried. She jumped up and hurried to the hall monitor. “May I have a pass to Mrs. Reynolds’s room, please?” she asked.
When the hall monitor gave her the pass, Nancy raced down the hallway. Then she peeked into her classroom.
Mrs. Reynolds and Stevie were standing over a hot plate. They were both wearing safety goggles. In a beaker, Mrs. Reynolds was heating some of the pink liquid that Stevie had been working on the day before. Nancy could see that crystals had formed in it.
Nancy was just opening her mouth to ask Mrs. Reynolds what they were doing when her teacher spoke. “Great job, Stevie,” she said. “This sugary insect food is sure to lure those beetles away from your mother’s rose garden. And then you can tell all your classmates what you’ve been working on.”
Nancy’s mouth clamped shut. She quietly shut the classroom door.
Stevie and Mrs. Reynolds really were working on a science project, she said to herself. I just knew my teacher wouldn’t ever do anything wrong.
Nancy began to skip back down the hallway to the cafeteria. I can’t wait to tell Bess and George, she thought. Then she skidded to a halt.
“Wait a minute,” Nancy whispered to herself. “If Stevie and Mrs. Reynolds don’t have Mr. Zuckerman’s recipe, that must mean that Andrew and Cathy Perez do.”
Nancy’s happiness drained away. But then she remembered what her father had said at dinner the night before: “Maybe nobody has it.”
Daddy’s right, Nancy thought. If I’m going to find out what Andrew and Cathy are up to, I’ll have to ask them, too. I’ll start with Cathy at the Double Dip this afternoon.
Instead of heading back to the cafeteria, Nancy hurried to the school entryway. She dug some coins out of her jeans pocket and called Hannah on the school pay phone.
“Hi, Hannah,” she said. “Can I please go back to the Double Dip after school? It’s really important.”
“You’re right,” Hannah said, chuckling. “Ice-cream cones are important! Don’t eat too much and spoil your appetite, though. Mrs. Marvin has invited you and George over for dinner.”
“Perfect!” Nancy said. “We’ll go home with Bess after the Double Dip. Thanks, Hannah.”
Nancy ran back to the cafeteria and sat down with Bess and George.
“Your soup’s cold,” Bess announced.
“That doesn’t matter,” Nancy said excitedly. “What does matter is that Mrs. Reynolds and Stevie don’t have Mr. Zuckerman’s recipe.”
She explained to her friends what she’d seen in their classroom’s science station.
“Bug food for his mother’s rose garden!” George gasped. “Boy, were we wrong.”
“Shhh,” Nancy said. “We don’t want David Berger and those other boys to hear what Stevie’s science project is. We should protect his secret.”
“Especially since Stevie didn’t do anything bad,” Bess agreed.
Nancy took her blue notebook out of her pocket and crossed out Mrs. Reynolds’s and Stevie’s names.
“I just knew Mrs. Reynolds wouldn’t do anything mean to Mr. Zuckerman,” George said happily.
“But this means we have to go back to the Double Dip after school today and ask Cathy Perez about her new candy,” Nancy said.
“Good,” Bess said. She looked at Nancy and added, “Then I’ll finally get my ice-cream cone!”
• • •
After school the girls returned to the Double Dip. When they walked into the store, they were surprised to see Andrew Leoni at the counter again. This time he was buying a bag of chocolate-covered jelly bears.
Nancy, George, and Bess fell into line behind Andrew.
“Yum! Thanks, Cathy,” Andrew said. He popped one of the chewy candies into his mouth.
“You’re welcome,” Cathy said. She hit some keys on the store computer. “Okay, Andrew, after yesterday’s triple dip and today’s jelly bears, you have five dollars left on your gift certificate. That amounts to several more treats. That was a nice birthday gift your uncle gave you.”
Nancy couldn’t believe her ears. “Gift certificate!” she cried.
“So, you had nothing to do with the new candy, Andrew?” Bess blurted, pointing at the glass case of sweets.
“What do you mean?” Andrew asked. His mouth was full of chocolatey jelly candy.
“Yes, how could Andrew have anything to do with our new candy?” Cathy said. “After all, he doesn’t work at the dairy.”
Nancy stepped up to the counter. “This candy came from the dairy?” she asked Cathy.
“Yes,” Cathy said. “You see, the River Heights Dairy usually makes just enough candy to mix into our fun ice-cream flavors.”
“Don’t I know it,” Bess said. She eyed the buckets of ice cream in t
he freezer case. “I can never decide which flavor is my favorite—Jelly Blast or Chocolate Pretzel Crunch.”
“You’re right, Bess,” Cathy said. “Our candy ice creams are extra popular. So when the dairy told me they’d made too much candy this month, I told them I’d try to sell it here. It’s been a big success.”
“That’s great,” Nancy said.
“Yes,” Cathy replied happily. “But I don’t understand, Nancy. Why did you think Andrew had something to do with the Double Dip’s new candy?”
“Well, to tell you the truth,” Nancy said, swallowing hard, “you and Andrew were suspects in my latest mystery.”
“What!” Andrew and Cathy said together. Andrew stopped chewing on his jelly bears he was so surprised.
“You see, Mr. Zuckerman lost his brand-new secret candy recipe,” Nancy began.
“Mr. Zuckerman over at Zuckerman’s Zonked?” Cathy asked, looking troubled. “That’s too bad. Mr. Zuckerman is a friend of mine.”
“I like him, too,” Nancy said. “That’s why I wanted to find out what happened to the recipe really bad. So when I saw yesterday that you were serving candy, and that you gave Andrew a big ice-cream cone for free . . .”
“You thought I took Mr. Zuckerman’s recipe and gave it to Cathy?” Andrew demanded. “I wouldn’t do that. Not even for a million scoops of free ice cream!”
“Well, that’s what I was coming over here to ask you,” Nancy said. “My dad told me the best way to find out the truth is just to ask.”
Cathy smiled at the young detective. “You did the right thing, Nancy,” she said. “It’s always best to ask people directly if they’ve done something wrong. You were brave to come here today. And I’m happy to say that Andrew and I are innocent.”
“I’m happy about that, too,” Nancy said, feeling relieved.
“In fact, I think you girls deserve some candy,” Cathy added. She opened the glass candy case. “How about it? Would you like some chocolate-covered potato chips? Or some jelly strawberries?”
“No, thank you, Cathy,” Nancy said. She walked to the Double Dip’s door. “I think we’re all candied out.”
As soon as the girls had left the ice-cream parlor, George added, “And we’re all out of suspects!”
7
A Close Call for Bess
After they left the Double Dip, the girls headed to Bess’s house.
“I really hate to disappoint Mr. Zuckerman,” Nancy said as they trudged down the sidewalk.
“I know what you mean,” Bess agreed. “But I guess your dad’s right. Maybe nobody took the secret candy recipe. It’s as if it just vanished into thin air.”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Nancy said. “Things just don’t disappear. Especially when you pay close attention to them, the way Mr. Zuckerman did.”
“Yeah, remember how he was so careful to put the piece of paper back in his coat pocket?” George said.
“Exactly,” Nancy said as the girls turned into Bess’s driveway. “It just doesn’t add up.”
“I guess,” Bess said. “But I can’t help—Hey, what’s that delicious smell?”
Bess opened the front door and bounded into the kitchen with Nancy and George at her heels.
“Hi, Mom,” Bess said. “What are you making?”
“Hello, girls!” Mrs. Marvin said. She was just pulling a cookie sheet out of the oven. It was covered with little brown squares. They looked delicious. And they smelled even better.
“I made a surprise for you and your friends, Bess,” Mrs. Marvin announced. “Let the candies cool a little bit and then you can try one.”
“More candy?” Bess shouted. “Yay!”
“Wow, Aunt Anna,” George said as she hung her backpack on a kitchen chair. “Those smell great.”
“Mm-hmmm,” Nancy said. She closed her eyes and took a deep whiff. “They smell just like . . .”
Suddenly Nancy’s blue eyes snapped open. She stared at Bess and said in a trembling voice, “They smell just like maple syrup.”
“You’re right,” George said. She turned to glare at her cousin. “Just like in Mr. Zuckerman’s recipe!”
“You don’t think I took the recipe, do you?” Bess asked. She looked as if she might cry. “I would never steal anything, no matter how scrumptious that recipe sounded.”
“Steal something?” Mrs. Marvin said. “Wherever did you get that idea, Nancy? My good friend in Canada just sent me a can of pure maple syrup. So I decided to whip up a new recipe. I’m calling it Chewy Maple Scotcheroos. Here, try one.”
“Oh, th-thank you, Mrs. Marvin,” Nancy stuttered.
Nancy took a candy from Bess’s mother. She nibbled at the sweet, but she was too upset to taste it. She put her candy on the kitchen counter and grabbed Bess’s hand.
“I’m sorry Bess,” Nancy said. “I know you would never steal something. I just want to help Mr. Zuckerman so badly.”
“I understand,” Bess said, although she still looked a little hurt. “It’s frustrating when a mystery is so tough to solve.”
“I’m sorry, too, Bess,” George said. She chewed on her Maple Scotcheroo thoughtfully. Then she said, “So what’s the next step on the candy hunt, Nancy?”
“Well, maybe it’s time to face the truth,” Nancy said. “Maybe nobody has that recipe. Like you said, Bess, it must have just disappeared. And that’s what I’ll have to tell Mr. Zuckerman—I couldn’t solve the mystery.”
“Wow,” Bess said. “When are you going to tell him, Nancy?”
“I guess I could call him now,” Nancy said. She picked up the kitchen phone. Then she hung it up without dialing. She frowned.
“This is hard,” Nancy said. “I hate having to tell Mr. Zuckerman that I didn’t find his recipe.”
“Maybe you’d feel better if you told him in person,” George said. “We could go with you to the factory.”
“Good idea,” Nancy said. She turned to Bess’s mother, who was washing the cookie sheet in the sink.
“Mrs. Marvin, could you please drive us to the candy factory?” Nancy asked.
“I think we can do that,” Mrs. Marvin said. “We have just enough time before dinner.”
• • •
On the drive to the factory the girls spoke little. Only Bess said, “I hope Mr. Zuckerman isn’t too disappointed in us.”
In me, Nancy thought to herself. I’m the one who was so sure I could solve this mystery.
Mrs. Marvin interrupted her thoughts with an exclamation. “Oh, what a marvelous building, girls!” she said. “It looks just like a stack of—”
“Jelly beans!” George and Bess yelled together.
Nancy couldn’t help but giggle at her best friends.
“Glad we could cheer you up a bit,” George said with a grin. “Come on, let’s go talk to Mr. Zuckerman.”
Nancy took a deep breath and walked to the mouth-shaped front door with her friends and Mrs. Marvin.
They went inside and walked to a desk near the door. A secretary was sitting there, typing on a computer.
“May we see Mr. Zuckerman, please?” Nancy asked.
“I’ll take you to his office,” the secretary said. She led them to a chocolate-colored door. Mr. Zuckerman was writing something at his desk when Nancy stepped into the office. George, Bess, and Mrs. Marvin followed her.
“Ah, it’s Nancy Drew, girl detective,” Mr. Zuckerman said. He jumped out of his chair and came over to the girls. When he stuck out his arm to shake Mrs. Marvin’s hand, Nancy saw a green lollipop dangling from his wrist. Bess saw it, too. She couldn’t help plucking it off and chuckling.
“Oh, dear, there’s another thing sticking to me!” Mr. Zuckerman exclaimed. “You’ll have to forgive me, children. I still haven’t rid myself of all that purple goo. Our slogan is ’The Stickiest Goo on Earth!’ And that has proven to be quite true.”
Nancy was gazing at the lollipop in Bess’s hand. She frowned in thought. She barely heard Mr. Zuckerman as he went on.
> “You know, this whole goo incident has given me an idea,” he said. “Tell me what you think, girls—a de-gooer you can eat. I think it could be a big hit with clumsy children and babies.”
Suddenly Nancy gasped. Then she said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, Mr. Zuckerman, but can you take us to the library?”
8
A Sweet Solution
Mr. Zuckerman looked at Nancy. He semed confused.
“You want to go to the library?” he said. “I don’t see why not. You must have some important research to do.”
“It is important!” Nancy exclaimed. “Let’s hurry!”
With Mr. Zuckerman leading the way, the group raced across the factory floor. Then they hurried through the twisty, turny hallway until they came to the library’s big, wooden door. Finally they burst into the book-filled room.
Somehow, between the office and the library, Bess had found a chocolate bar. She was munching it as she said, “What’s so important in the library, Nancy?”
Nancy didn’t answer. Instead, she stood still for a moment. She gazed at all the bookshelves. Then she bounded over to one of the shelves. She took a familiar-looking recipe book down and examined its front cover. She turned it over and looked at the back cover. Then she flipped through all the pages.
“Hmm,” Nancy said. She replaced the book on the shelf. She thought hard and scanned the other bookshelves.
“What is Nancy looking for?” Mr. Zuckerman asked George.
“Search me,” George said with a shrug.
Just then Nancy spotted a familiar-looking set of books on a high shelf. They were the chocolate encyclopedias.
“Ah-ha!” she said. She climbed up on a chair and pulled down several of the pretty brown books. Quickly Nancy flipped through the first book. She frowned and moved it aside. Then she reached for another volume. She began to turn it over.
“My dear,” Mr. Zuckerman offered. “If you want to do some chocolate research, I can help you.”
Nancy looked at the back of the book in her hands. Then she grinned.