“Excuse me, young lady,” the news reporter cut in. “We were conducting an interview.”
“So am I,” Deirdre snapped. She shoved what looked like a voice recorder under Carolyn’s chin. “Is it true you stored your cupcakes somewhere else last night?”
Before Carolyn could answer, Deirdre pointed her finger at George. “Like at the Fayne house?” she demanded.
“Are you blaming my mom for all these ladybugs?” George said angrily.
“Your mom or you,” Deirdre said. “You always are joking . . . Georgia Fayne.”
Nancy and Bess gulped as George’s face turned tomato red. Nobody used her real name and got away with it!
“Please, everybody leave,” Gwendolyn said. “So we can take care of this problem.”
Kendra and Peter were still in the store too.
“Does that mean we won’t get cupcakes?” Kendra asked.
“We can spit out the ladybugs,” Peter suggested. “No big deal.”
“There will be no cupcakes until we reopen,” Carolyn announced.
“If we reopen,” Gwendolyn muttered.
Deirdre and the news crew refused to leave. So did Nancy. She still had no clue how live ladybugs ended up in the café, but she was determined to find out.
Nancy waved her friends to the side. George was the first to start whispering.
“The news camera was on all that time,” George hissed. “Thanks to Deirdre, everyone will know my real name—and think my house is crawling with bugs!”
“Not if we find the real reason this happened,” Nancy whispered.
“But it’s a mystery,” Bess said.
“Exactly,” Nancy said with a smile. “A mystery means another case for the Clue Crew.”
The girls exchanged a quiet high five. They were about to start looking for clues when Bess pointed to a half-opened door in the back.
“Look!” Bess said. “There’s a pretty garden out there.”
Through the door Nancy could see green bushes and bright yellow daffodils.
“Come on!” Bess said as she darted toward the back.
“What is she doing?” George complained. “We don’t have time to sniff flowers.”
Nancy made sure no one was looking. Then she and George slipped out the back door after Bess.
Once they stepped outside, their jaws dropped. Not only were there daffodils and other flowers, there were outdoor tables and chairs. A white wooden fence surrounded the whole place.
“An outdoor café!” Nancy said with a smile. “For when the weather gets warmer.”
“If it ever gets warmer,” George said. “Let’s go inside before the sisters find us here.”
“Not until we smell the pretty flowers,” Bess said. “Come on, Nancy!”
Nancy followed Bess to a patch of tiny green ones. The marker was still stuck in the ground.
“Those are Eranthis . . . hyemalis,” Nancy said.
Bess pointed to a cluster of white flowers sprouting from a bush. “I think these are called snowdrops,” she said excitedly. “They smell awesome.”
As Nancy sniffed the fragrant blooms she heard George’s voice: “I think I found another bug.”
“A ladybug?” Nancy asked, looking up.
“A litter bug,” George said. She held up an empty glass jar. “Somebody dropped this between some bushes.”
George was about to toss the jar into a trash can when Nancy noticed the label.
“Let me see that, please,” Nancy said.
George handed Nancy the jar. As she read the label, her eyes flew wide open.
“What was in the jar, Nancy?” Bess asked.
“Ladybugs,” Nancy said. “Five hundred live ladybugs!”
“I didn’t know ladybugs came in jars just like peanut butter!” Bess exclaimed.
“Me neither,” Nancy admitted. “But we now know where those ladybugs came from.”
“But the jar wasn’t in the store,” George said. “It was out here in the garden.”
“Whoever dumped the ladybugs must have run out the back door into the garden,” Nancy said. “Then he or she got rid of the jar—”
“Then climbed over the fence and got away!” George cut in.
“Aren’t you glad I wanted to come back here?” Bess asked excitedly. “Well, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Bess,” George groaned.
Nancy slipped the jar into her bag. “This is a very good clue,” she said. “Now all we need are some good suspects.”
Gwendolyn, Carolyn, and Trent were still swatting ladybugs as Nancy, Bess, and George left through the front door. As the girls walked up Main Street, they passed Olivia’s cupcake stand and a long line of kids. Unlike before, business was booming!
“Try my rocky road cupcakes!” Olivia called to the kids. “They rock!”
“At least somebody is happy about those ladybugs,” Bess said quietly.
When the Clue Crew reached the Drew house, they went straight up to Nancy’s room. George immediately sat down at the computer.
“What do we know so far?” George said, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“We know someone dumped real, live ladybugs in the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café,” Nancy said.
Bess sat on Nancy’s bed. She gazed at the empty ladybug jar in her hands. “Wow,” she said. “Think of all the good luck you’d get from five hundred ladybugs.”
“They weren’t lucky for Gwendolyn and Carolyn,” Nancy said.
George pointed to the computer screen. “I found a whole bunch of sites for ordering live bugs,” she said.
Nancy took the jar from Bess and flipped it over. On the bottom was a label with the name of a bug company.
“These ladybugs came from Pests R Best,” Nancy said. “See if they have a website, George.”
George quickly found the site. The Pests R Best home page had images of real bugs crawling across it.
“Totally gross!” Bess cried.
“Totally buggy!” George laughed.
Buggy? Nancy’s eyes lit up at the word.
“Buggy Wozniak!” Nancy exclaimed. “He was mad at the sisters when they wouldn’t let him hang up his poster.”
“The jar could have been inside his backpack,” George said. “Maybe that’s why it was so heavy.”
“I’ll bet Buggy dumped those ladybugs,” Bess declared. “Write that down, George!”
George started the suspect list with Buggy Wozniak. But for the Clue Crew, one suspect was never enough.
“What about Olivia?” Bess asked. “She was afraid everybody would go to the Lucky Ladybug instead of her cupcake stand.”
“Did you see all those kids at Olivia’s cupcake stand?” George asked. “I’d say she had a motive.”
A motive was a reason for committing the crime. But Nancy wasn’t sure about Olivia.
“We saw Olivia at her cupcake stand right before the big opening,” Nancy said. “She told us she’d never go to the Lucky Ladybug. Ever!”
George did another search. This time she pulled up Deirdre Shannon’s blog, Dishing with Deirdre.
“I knew it!” George cried angrily. “Deirdre wrote about the ladybug swarm and about me!”
“What did she write?” Nancy asked.
“She wrote that some of the cupcakes were stored at a caterer’s house,” George said. “A caterer whose daughter has the same name as a state.”
“Don’t worry, George,” Bess said gently. “Not everyone knows that your real name is—”
“Don’t say it!” George snapped.
Nancy pointed to Deirdre’s blog. “She posted a picture of the ladybug swarm too,” she said.
The Clue Crew studied the picture. It showed a mob of frantic kids running toward the door.
“I’ve seen enough,” George muttered. She was about to close the site when—
“Wait!” Nancy said. She pointed to the first kid at the door. A boy with dark hair. “Can you make that kid in the picture bigger, George??
??
“Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy,” George said. With a single click she enlarged the picture.
“Just as I thought,” Nancy said. “It’s Lester Chow.”
“What does that mean, Nancy?” Bess asked.
“It means one of the Chows was inside the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café today,” Nancy said. “But it wasn’t Olivia.”
It was Lester!
“Olivia probably sent Lester to dump the ladybugs,” George said.
“Maybe she made him leave the creepy cupcakes on our doorsteps too,” Bess said.
Nancy stared at the picture. All she could see was Lester’s head above the crowd.
“I can’t see if he’s carrying a backpack or a bag,” Nancy said, “to hold the ladybug jar.”
“He was in the store when the ladybugs broke loose,” George said as she added Lester’s name to the suspect list. “That’s enough for me.”
Nancy asked George to print out the picture. She folded it neatly and slipped it inside her pocket. It was time to start working on the case, but first she had to walk her puppy, Chocolate Chip.
Once outside, the girls headed to the park with Chip. But the little brown puppy had other plans.
“Where is she taking us?” Nancy said as Chip tugged at her leash.
“She’s leading us to Main Street,” George said.
“Why Main Street?” Bess wondered.
When they reached Main Street, Nancy saw why. Chip was tugging in the direction of Olivia Chow’s cupcake stand.
“Listen up!” Olivia called out to the long line of kids. “We’re short on red velvet cupcakes, so only one to a customer!”
Lester was behind the table too, pulling cupcakes out of a big plastic bin.
“How did Chip know to bring us to one of our suspects?” Bess asked.
“Chip sniffed one of Olivia’s cupcakes last night,” Nancy explained. “She must have remembered the scent.”
“Good girl, Chip!” George declared.
“Woof!” Chip barked. She still strained at her leash, but Nancy held it tightly.
“Let’s question Olivia,” Nancy said. “If we can get her away from her cupcakes.”
The kids in line grumbled as Nancy, Bess, and George walked straight to the table with Chip.
“I don’t want dog hairs on my cupcake!” one girl complained.
“And quit jumping the line!” a boy shouted.
“We’re not jumping the line,” George told them. “We just want to talk to the cupcake queen.”
“Who has time to talk?” Olivia said happily. “Thanks to those ladybugs, my cupcake stand is rocking out!”
“Oh, really?” Bess asked.
“Tell us about the ladybugs, Olivia,” George said. “And how Lester dumped a whole jar of them inside the Lucky Ladybug.”
Lester was too busy selling cupcakes to hear. But Olivia’s eyes flew open. She turned to her brother and said, “Hold the fort, I’ll be right back.”
“On it, sis!” Lester said with a little salute.
Olivia and the Clue Crew stepped away from the table and the cupcake-hungry crowd.
“So what do you want to know?” Olivia asked.
Nancy needed two hands to hold Chip’s leash. So George pulled the picture out of Nancy’s pocket.
“We have proof that your brother was at the Lucky Ladybug this morning,” George said.
“So?” Olivia said. “I sent Lester there to pick up some cupcakes.”
“But you bake your own cupcakes,” Bess said.
“Exactly!” Olivia said. “That’s why I wanted to taste the competition.”
“Huh?” George said.
Olivia rolled her eyes as if to say Duh!
“I wanted to see if their cupcakes were better than mine,” she explained. “So I sent Lester there to pick up a few.”
“That’s all?” Nancy asked.
Olivia nodded. “I heard some of them had sprinkles shaped like hearts and daisies,” she said.
“Did Lester sprinkle some ladybugs on the cupcakes while he was there?” George demanded.
“Lester would never do that,” Olivia insisted.
“Why not?” Bess asked.
“He’s totally scared of bugs!” Olivia replied. She began counting on her fingers. “Spiders, ants, beetles—”
“Ladybugs?” Nancy cut in.
“Especially ladybugs,” Olivia said. “Lester says the little black dots look like more bugs.”
Olivia leaned over to whisper, “Just seeing a bug makes him flip. But don’t tell him I told you, okay?”
The Clue Crew stared at Olivia as she walked back to her cupcake stand.
“Do you think Olivia was telling the truth about Lester?” Nancy asked.
“I know how we can find out,” George said. She held out her hand and said, “Give me one of your earrings, Bess.”
“Why?” Bess asked.
“You’ll see!” George said impatiently.
Bess looked worried as she handed one of her ladybug earrings to George.
“Now follow me,” George said.
The girls and Chip walked back to the cupcake stand. This time they stood behind Olivia and Lester as they sold cupcakes.
“We just unpacked double-chocolate-chip cupcakes, people,” Olivia shouted out. “Get ’em while they’re yummy!”
George waited until Lester wasn’t looking. Then she quickly dropped Bess’s earring on the table.
Nancy smiled to herself. So that was George’s plan—to see if Bess’s earring bugged Lester!
“Nice-looking cupcakes you’ve got there, Lester,” George said coolly.
Lester’s eyes were still on the customers as he said, “Thanks.”
“Too bad there’s a big, fat bug right next to them!” George blurted.
Lester dropped the cupcake he was holding. “Bug?” he squeaked. “Did you say ‘bug’?”
In a blink Lester pulled off his sneaker. He began thumping it on the table in the direction of the earring.
“Die!!” Lester screamed. “Die, miserable bug!”
Kids shrieked as cupcakes flew off the table and into the air. Nancy shrieked too. Soon Olivia’s colorful and creamy cupcakes were splattered all over the sidewalk. The only thing left on the table was Bess’s ladybug earring.
“Ahhh!” Lester screamed. He was about to bring his sneaker down on the earring when Bess snatched it just in time.
“Nooooooo!” Bess cried.
Shoppers on Main Street were stopping to stare at the demolished cupcakes on the sidewalk. Olivia’s mouth hung open in shock. Then suddenly—
“Woof!” Chip barked as she lunged toward the splattered cupcakes. Nancy pulled Chip back, but the damage was already done.
“I told you Lester was scared of bugs!” Olivia shouted at the girls. “Now my cupcakes are ruined and it’s your fault!”
Nancy looked sideways at her friends and gulped.
Oops.
“Um . . . it’s just an earring,” Bess told Olivia. “I must have dropped it on the table.”
“We can help you clean up the mess if you’d like,” Nancy said gently.
“Thanks, but you’ve done enough,” Olivia said.
Lester pointed to the earring in Bess’s hand. “That totally looked like a bug to me,” he said. “Sure glad it wasn’t!”
With Chip in tow, Nancy, Bess, and George left the demolished cupcake stand. As they walked up Main Street, Bess said, “I guess Lester really was scared of bugs.”
“You think?” George said.
Nancy stopped walking as she suddenly remembered something. She took out the picture of Lester and the charging crowd.
“This shows Lester leaving by the front door,” Nancy pointed out. “Not the back, where we found the ladybug jar.”
“Another reason Lester is clean,” George said.
“He may be clean,” Bess said. “But my ladybug earring is covered with sticky cupcake cream.”
Nancy and h
er friends walked Chip past the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café. A sign on the door read CLOSED.
“They will open again!” Nancy said, determined. “As soon as we find out the reason for all those ladybugs.”
The girls next headed to the park, as planned. While Chip sniffed an acorn Nancy saw a group of runners. Leading the group was Mayor Strong.
“That must be the mayor’s running group,” Nancy said. “Hannah told me all about it.”
“I wonder if the mayor knows what happened at the Lucky Ladybug,” George said.
The other joggers sprinted by, but Mayor Strong stopped to pet Chip. He was dressed in light gray sweats and white sneakers.
“Hi, girls,” Mayor Strong said. “Still pretty chilly for spring, eh?”
Nancy nodded. “Do you like to run, Mayor Strong?” she asked.
“You bet, Nancy!” Mayor Strong said. “There’s nothing like exercise to keep the mind sharp and body strong.”
Nancy could see Bess staring at the mayor with huge eyes. What was up?
“And now’s your chance to join in, girls!” Mayor Strong boomed.
“Join in?” Bess repeated.
“Your gym teacher Mr. Wilson and I are having a jumping jacks marathon just for kids tomorrow,” Mayor Strong explained. “It’s all part of my Make River Heights Healthy plan!”
“Gym class on a Sunday?” George said.
“Mr. Wilson will lead the jumping jacks on my lawn at one o’clock,” Mayor Strong said. “So what do you say?”
Nancy liked doing jumping jacks—but the girls had to jump on the case they were working on!
“Sounds like fun,” Nancy said. “But the Clue Crew is busy working on a new case.”
“What case?” Mayor Strong said.
“The case of the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café,” George said. “You did hear what happened there today, didn’t you?”
The mayor’s smile turned into a frown. He began blinking quickly. Beads of sweat popped up all over his forehead.
“C-c-cupcakes?” Mayor Strong stammered. “Did you say ‘cupcakes’?”
Nancy nodded slowly. What was wrong with Mayor Strong?
“I know nothing about the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café!” Mayor Strong blurted. “I never eat cupcakes!”
Chip barked as Mayor Strong ran to catch up with his group.