George, Bess, and Nancy were sitting at a table making chick-themed collages. “Why don’t we go around the room and ask everyone if we can borrow a turquoise marker?” George continued. “That way we can see who owns one that smells like bubblegum.”
“You mean an aquamarine marker,” Bess corrected her. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“I agree,” Nancy said. “Why don’t we split up? George, you take the two tables over there.” She pointed. “Bess, you take the two tables over there.” She pointed again. “And I’ll take the rest of the tables.”
“No problem,” George said. Bess gave a thumbs-up sign.
Nancy walked over to her tables. She started with Antonio. “Hi, Antonio. Do you have a blue-green marker I could borrow?” she asked him casually.
“Why, are you drawing blue-green chicks?” Antonio teased. “That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Are they like mutant alien chicks from outer space or what?”
“It’s for the, um, blue-green plants in the background,” Nancy fibbed.
Antonio rooted through his box of markers. “Well, I don’t have a blue-green marker.”
“I have a blue marker and a green marker,” Gaby spoke up. She was sitting next to Antonio. “As you know, it’s a scientific fact that blue and green make blue-green. Maybe you could combine the two colors.”
“That’s okay. Thanks, anyway,” said Nancy.
Nancy asked five more kids if she could borrow a blue-green marker. But no one had a marker that exact color.
A few minutes later, Nancy rejoined George and Bess at their table. “Any luck?” she asked her friends.
George shook her head. “Me, neither,” Bess said. “Tommy and Maya both had aquamarine markers. But their markers didn’t smell like bubblegum.”
George pointed to Bess’s nose and giggled. “I think you accidentally drew on your nose while you were smelling the markers. You have a big turquoise spot!”
“Oh, no!” Bess’s hand flew up to her nose.
Nancy thought and thought. “We’re going to have to figure out another way to find that marker,” she said finally. “Let’s try to come up with a plan by tomorrow.”
But on Friday morning, when Nancy arrived in class, there was more trouble.
Mrs. Ramirez was standing next to the brooding pen. There were already a dozen or so students there, including George and Bess.
Nancy could hear the chicks peeping and chirping like crazy. They sounded upset. “What’s going on?” she asked Mrs. Ramirez worriedly. “Are the chicks okay?”
“The chicks are fine,” Mrs. Ramirez replied. She had a serious expression on her face. “Except for the fact that they’re hungry. Their food is missing!”
Nancy couldn’t believe it. It was bad enough that someone had destroyed Tommy’s poster. How could someone steal food from a bunch of innocent little baby chicks?
The bell rang. The rest of the students poured into the room. “Hey, what’s going on?” Gaby asked as she set down her backpack.
“Yeah, did someone die, or what?” Antonio said.
Mrs. Ramirez didn’t reply. She turned to the entire class, looking mad. “I want to know, and I want to know right now. Who took the bag of chick food?”
No one said a word.
“If it’s a joke, it’s not funny. Please put the bag back right this minute,” Mrs. Ramirez went on.
The class was silent.
Mrs. Ramirez shook her head. “I’m very disappointed,” she said finally. “Listen up, class. I’m stepping out to ask the school secretary to go buy some more chick food. In the meantime, I want everyone to sit down in their seats and write a one-page essay about why practical jokes are a bad idea.”
Tommy raised his hand. “Even me, Mrs. Ramirez?”
“Even you, Tommy,” replied Mrs. Ramirez.
“Well, that’s kind of unfair, since the chicks and I are the real victims here,” Tommy complained.
“I’ll be back in five minutes. Everyone please start writing,” Mrs. Ramirez said, and left the room.
There were moans and groans all around as the students opened their notebooks. Nancy lingered by the brooding pen for a moment before taking her seat. She remembered that Mrs. Ramirez had kept the bag of chick food to the right of the brooding pen. She glanced quickly around the area. Maybe the thief had left a clue or two.
The chicks peeped and chirped noisily at Nancy. “I know you’re hungry,” she whispered to them. “You’ll have your breakfast soon, I promise.”
“This essay is dumb,” Antonio said suddenly, to no one in particular.
“Shhh, we’re all trying to concentrate,” Gaby snapped at him.
“Someone seems to have a grudge against the poor chicks,” Tommy piped up. “They’re not safe here!”
“Shhh!” Gaby said again.
“They’re not going to be here forever, anyway,” Maya said. “I heard Mrs. Ramirez tell another teacher that when they’re bigger they won’t be able to stay here anymore.”
“What? No one told me this! Where are they going to go?” Tommy exclaimed.
“They’ll probably be sold to a restaurant and turned into fried chicken,” Antonio said with a mean smile.
Several kids gasped, including Nancy, Bess, and George. “That’s a terrible thing to say, Antonio!” Bess cried out.
“Well, I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t eat chicken,” Maya said.
“That’s silly. Everyone eats chicken,” said Antonio.
“Not vegetarians,” Maya told him.
While the others continued talking about vegetarianism, Nancy noticed a tiny object on the floor next to the brooding pen. She picked it up.
It was a red button. Bits of red thread clung to it.
This could have fallen off the thief’s clothes, Nancy thought excitedly.
She slipped the button into her pocket. As she returned to her seat, she peered around the room to see if anyone was wearing red.
But no one was—not that she could see, anyway.
“Pass the popcorn,” Bess said to Nancy and George.
“Do you want caramel-flavored popcorn or pizza-flavored popcorn or regular old butter-flavored popcorn?” Nancy asked her.
“All of them, please,” Bess said. The three girls giggled.
It was Friday night. Nancy, George, and Bess were having a sleepover at Nancy’s house. They were sitting on Nancy’s bed and chowing down on popcorn and hot chocolate that Hannah had made for them.
The girls had decided to have a mix-and-match pajama party. Nancy was wearing yellow-and-blue-striped pajama bottoms with Hannah’s red checked pajama top, which was way too big for her. George was wearing purple polka-dot pajama bottoms with a soccer jersey top. Bess was wearing a pajama top with pink hearts all over it, black leggings, and a silky pink ballet skirt.
“Okay, time to get serious,” George said. “The Clue Crew has a mystery to solve.”
“Two mysteries,” Bess corrected her.
“Let’s go over the clues we have so far,” Nancy suggested. “We know that the marker that was used to mess up Tommy’s poster is blue-green, and it smells like bubblegum. And we have the red button I found today.”
“You didn’t notice anyone wearing a red outfit, though, right?” George asked her.
Nancy shook her head. “But maybe the thief stole the chick food yesterday, after school. Do you guys remember if anyone was wearing red yesterday?”
Bess closed her eyes. “Hmmm. Red outfit … red outfit …,” she chanted.
“Bess is a fashion psychic,” George joked to Nancy.
Bess opened her eyes and frowned. “George, you ruined my concentration!”
Nancy took a sip of her hot chocolate. Hannah had put extra whipped cream on it, just the way she liked it. “Do you guys think the same person ruined Tommy’s poster and stole the chick food?” she asked her friends.
“Probably,” said George.
“I think definitely,” Bess added.
; “Do you have any ideas for suspects, Nancy?” George asked.
Nancy thought hard. “Catherine was pretty upset about the chicks’ birthday on Wednesday,” she said finally. “She wasn’t in school today, though. Mrs. Ramirez said she sprained her ankle.”
“She could have stolen the chick food yesterday, like maybe after school,” Bess suggested.
“There’s also Antonio,” George noted. “He’s a big troublemaker!”
Nancy nodded. “He’s a good suspect too.”
“So we have two suspects,” said Bess. She popped a handful of popcorn into her mouth. “What do we do next? Besides eat more snacks and watch more DVDs?” She giggled.
“We should talk to Catherine and Antonio on Monday,” Nancy suggested. “And we should keep searching for more clues.”
But on Monday morning, when Nancy arrived in class, things had gone from bad to worse.
Mrs. Ramirez was there. So were Principal Newman and also the janitor, Mr. Figgs. So were a bunch of students, including George and Bess.
Everyone looked really, really upset.
Nancy rushed up to her two friends. “What’s going on?” she whispered. “Why are Principal Newman and Mr. Figgs here?”
“Oh, Nancy, it’s awful!” Bess said. Her eyes filled with tears. “Someone stole all the baby chicks!”
Nancy was shocked. “Someone stole the chicks?” she repeated. “How? When?”
“Nobody knows,” said Bess, sniffling.
“It’s awful!” George cried.
Mrs. Ramirez, Principal Newman, and Mr. Figgs were deep in discussion. Everyone was listening. Nancy listened too.
“You were supposed to feed the chicks over the weekend,” Mrs. Ramirez was saying to Mr. Figgs.
“I know, I know,” Mr. Figgs said, nodding. “But it’s like I told you. I came by on Friday after school, to check in on the wee little creatures. But they weren’t here. The whole box of them was gone.”
“What time was that?” Nancy spoke up.
Mr. Figgs, Principal Newman, and Mrs. Ramirez all stared at Nancy. Nancy smiled politely. She was used to grown-ups giving her funny looks whenever she was in detective mode.
“Uh, well, miss, that would have been around five o’clock,” Mr. Figgs replied after a moment.
“And what time did you go home, Mrs. Ramirez?” Nancy asked her teacher.
“Around three o’clock,” Mrs. Ramirez answered. “The chicks were safe and sound when I said good-bye to them,” she told Principal Newman.
Principal Newman turned to Mr. Figgs. “Why didn’t you let Mrs. Ramirez or me know when you came by at five o’clock and realized that the chicks were gone?”
Mr. Figgs shrugged. “I figured that maybe Mrs. Ramirez had changed her mind about having me take care of the chicks. That she’d decided to take them home for the weekend or something like that.” He added, “Why, just last month, Mrs. Bailey asked me to feed the class lizard over the weekend, and she ended up taking him home and didn’t tell me or even leave me a note. I figured Mrs. Ramirez did the same thing.”
“Except that I didn’t take the chicks home,” Mrs. Ramirez said unhappily. “I wish I had. Then they wouldn’t be missing!”
“Mr. Figgs, was the door locked when you came by at five o’clock?” Nancy asked him.
Mr. Figgs frowned in concentration. “I think so, yes,” he said finally.
“Well, I definitely locked it when I left at three o’clock,” Mrs. Ramirez declared.
Nancy thought about this. The chicks were in the classroom at three o’clock, when Mrs. Ramirez left for the day. The chicks were not in the classroom at five o’clock, when Mr. Figgs came by to check on them.
This meant that the chick-napper—whoever it was—had taken the chicks sometime between three and five o’clock.
Also, the chick-napper must have gotten into the locked classroom somehow. Did that mean that the person had a key?
Nancy narrowed her eyes. The Clue Crew’s case had gone from one mystery to two mysteries to three mysteries. And the third mystery was the most serious one of all. She, George, and Bess had to find the poor little baby chicks.
But how?
At recess Nancy, George, and Bess were swinging on the swings and talking about the missing chicks.
“Whoever took the chicks is evil,” George said.
“Really, really evil,” agreed Bess.
Nancy pumped her legs harder so the swing would go higher. George and Bess did the same. Nearby, a group of kids was playing tag. They were shrieking and laughing loudly.
“Did the same person mess up Tommy’s poster, steal the chick food, and chick-nap the chicks?” Nancy wondered out loud.
“Maybe,” replied George.
“I think definitely,” Bess added. “Someone is out to get the poor little chicks!”
“Well, we have two suspects for the poster crime and the chick food crime,” Nancy said. “Catherine and Antonio. The problem is, we’re pretty sure the chick-napper took the chicks between three and five o’clock on Friday. And Catherine wasn’t in school on Friday.”
“She’s not here today, either,” Bess remarked.
“Maybe she snuck back to school on Friday just to chick-nap the chicks,” George suggested.
Nancy thought about this. It was possible. But Catherine had a sprained ankle. It would not be easy to commit a chick-napping with a sprained ankle.
“Well, Antonio wasn’t absent on Friday or today,” Bess piped up. She pointed to Antonio, who was playing tag with the other kids. “Why don’t we go talk to him?”
“Good idea, Bess,” said Nancy.
The girls dug their heels into the dirt and stopped swinging. They walked over to Antonio. He was arguing with Gaby.
“But I tagged you, Antonio!” Gaby insisted.
“In your dreams,” replied Antonio. “You’re still it, Science Geek.”
“Whatever,” Gaby grumbled, walking away.
Bess tapped Antonio on the shoulder. “Hi, Antonio. We need to talk to you about something.”
Antonio turned around. He glanced at Bess’s dress. “What do you call that color, ‘Dog Vomit’?” he teased.
Bess turned bright red. She put her hands on her hips. “For your information, it’s mahogany.”
“I like ‘Dog Vomit’ better,” Antonio said.
Nancy put her hand on Bess’s arm. “Just ignore him, he’s a jerk,” she whispered.
But Bess wasn’t listening. She glared at Antonio. “We know you stole the baby chicks, you … you … chick-napper!” she burst out.
Antonio smiled nastily. “Okay, I confess,” he said. “I did it. I stole the chicks. And I fed them to my cat Monster!”
Nancy, George, and Bess stared at Antonio. “You did what?” Nancy demanded.
“Yeah, I fed the baby chicks to Monster,” Antonio went on. “Monster was getting tired of Krunchies cat food.”
“You are the most evil boy ever!” Bess shouted. “We’re going to tell Mrs. Ramirez and Principal Newman, and you’re going to go to jail for the rest of your life, and—”
Nancy watched Antonio as he listened to Bess. His dark brown eyes were gleaming mischievously.
“Bess, he’s kidding,” Nancy said slowly. She glared at Antonio. “That’s not a very funny joke.”
“Really? I thought it was hilarious. And you all fell for it!” Antonio cracked up.
“You are such a jerk,” George scolded Antonio.
“So where are the chicks, Antonio?” demanded Bess.
Antonio shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Did you mess up Tommy’s poster?” Nancy asked him.
“Did you mess up Tommy’s poster?” Antonio repeated, imitating Nancy’s voice. “Sure, I messed up his lame poster. Someone had to do it.”
“Did you steal the chicks’ bag of food?” George questioned him.
“Sure, I stole their food,” Antonio said. “They really needed to go on a diet!” He laughed.
&n
bsp; Nancy sighed. She realized that Antonio was still joking around. It was impossible to try to get a straight answer out of him. They would have to figure out another way.
“Come on,” Nancy said to George and Bess. “We’re wasting our time.”
The three girls walked away from Antonio. “Bye, Dog Vomit,” he called out after Bess.
Bess didn’t take the bait. “He is so, so evil,” she said under her breath.
“He is definitely evil. I think he’s hiding something too,” said George.
“Hey! Clue Commandos! Excuse me!”
Nancy and her friends turned around. Gaby rushed up to them.
“Hey, Clue Commandos. You’re trying to solve the mystery, right?” Gaby asked breathlessly.
“Uh, what mystery?” Nancy said innocently.
“And who are the Clue Commandos?” Bess added.
“I know you’re in some sort of mystery-solving club,” Gaby said to the girls. “And I know you’re trying to solve the mystery of the missing chicks. I, uh, kind of overheard you talking to Antonio. Is he a suspect? What other suspects do you have?”
Nancy, George, and Bess exchanged a glance. “You … overheard us talking to Antonio?” Nancy said after a moment.
Gaby blushed. “Well, okay. I was kind of eavesdropping. But that’s because I love mysteries! I love them, love them, love them! I’ve always wanted to be a detective. In fact, I’ve already started a notebook about this case. See?”
She pulled a small green notebook out of her pocket. It was covered with stickers of farm animals, like cows and horses and roosters and bunnies.
Gaby flipped the notebook open to the first page. “I don’t have any clues yet. But I do have a lot of theories about the case. They’re very scientific. Do you want to hear what they are?”
Before Nancy could reply, Gaby went on. “Theory Number One: Mr. Figgs the janitor stole the chicks. Motive: He really wanted a pet. I know this because I heard him telling Mrs. Ramirez once that he was thinking of getting a parakeet. Theory Number Two: Mrs. Bailey stole the chicks. Motive: She was jealous that Mrs. Ramirez had a better science project for her third-grade class than she did for her own third-grade class. Theory Number Three: The ghost of River Heights Elementary School stole the chicks—”