George reached for a phone on Buggy’s desk. She punched in the phone number, then switched on the speaker, so Nancy and Bess could hear everything.
“Hello?” George said into the phone. “This is Buggy—I mean, Bobby—Wozniak calling about my ladybug order.”
“Hi, Bobby,” the man on the other end said. “Let me pull up your past orders. . . . Hmmm, I’m looking at your history and you never ordered ladybugs.”
“He didn’t? I mean—I didn’t?” George asked.
“I see orders for stinkbugs, cockroaches, millipedes,” the man said. “Definitely no ladybugs.”
“Did you ever deliver ladybugs to River Heights?” George asked.
“Yes,” the man said. “But I can’t give you that information because it’s private.”
George thanked the man and hung up. “Maybe Buggy ordered the ladybugs from another company,” she said.
“But the label on the jar said Pests R Best,” Nancy said. Suddenly—
“Eeek!!” Bess screamed.
Bess pointed to the floor. Nancy screamed too. Scurrying toward them with long, hairy legs was the tarantula!
“Mona must have dropped it before she ran out of the room!” George said.
Bess screamed again as the spider scampered between her feet.
“What are you doing?” a voice demanded.
Nancy turned to see Buggy and the Bug Club filing into the room. They looked mad.
“There was no Bugzilla out there,” Mona said. She coolly picked up the tarantula and placed it back in the tank.
“What are you doing behind my desk?” Buggy asked George.
“Trying to find out who dumped those ladybugs at the cupcake café yesterday,” George said.
“You thought I did it?” Buggy said.
“You were mad at Gwendolyn and Carolyn,” Nancy said. “You also had a huge backpack—big enough to hold a jar of ladybugs.”
“That wasn’t in my backpack!” Buggy insisted. “I was carrying a birthday present.”
“Birthday present?” Nancy repeated.
“After I left the Lucky Ladybug, I went straight to Michael’s birthday party,” Buggy said.
Michael pointed to a party invitation on Buggy’s bulletin board and said, “Check it out!”
Nancy, Bess, and George inspected the invitation closely.
“The party started at eleven o’clock,” George whispered. “The same time the Lucky Ladybug Café opened.”
“It was a surprise party too,” Nancy pointed out. “That means Buggy had to be there on time.”
“Maybe somebody else in this club dumped the ladybugs,” Bess said loud enough for the others to hear.
“Everybody here came to my party,” Michael insisted. “The theme was bugs.”
“Surprise, surprise,” George sighed.
Nancy was pretty sure Buggy was innocent. He had an alibi—proof he was somewhere else at the time of the crime.
“I guess we’ll go now,” Nancy told the club.
“Not until Bess guesses the bug!” Mona said. She pointed to the tarantula inside the tank. “Go ahead, Bess. What kind of bug is that?”
“The icky kind!” Bess replied. “And I don’t mean quickie or sticky!”
Nancy, Bess, and George couldn’t leave the Bug Club fast enough.
“All that trouble and not one ladybug,” George said as they walked away from the Wozniak house.
“I saw a show about bugs last night,” Nancy said. “Did you know that some bugs are used in gardens to eat pests?”
“We were in a garden yesterday,” Bess said.
“Some bugs don’t like the cold either,” Nancy said. “When it gets too cold they crawl inside.”
“It was really cold yesterday,” George said.
Nancy stopped walking. Garden . . . cold? Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
“Maybe ladybugs eat pests,” Nancy said excitedly. “Maybe Gwendolyn and Carolyn used them in their garden and because it was cold they crawled inside!”
“I never see ladybugs outside in the winter,” Bess said.
“And that guy from Pests R Best said he delivered ladybugs to River Heights,” George said. “Maybe he delivered them to Gwendolyn and Carolyn.”
“We have to question them!” Nancy decided.
“We don’t know where they live,” Bess said.
“We don’t have to,” Nancy said. “Gwendolyn and Carolyn are probably at the Lucky Ladybug Café right now.”
“Doing what?” George asked.
“Cleaning out ladybugs,” Nancy answered. “Their own ladybugs!”
Nancy, Bess, and George walked two blocks to Main Street. A Bug Busters truck was just pulling away from the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café.
“They’re probably exterminators,” George said.
“Poor ladybugs!” Bess sighed.
The Clue Crew quietly walked inside the store. Gwendolyn and Carolyn were inside scrubbing the counter and shelves. So was Trent. Gone were the perky cupcake-shaped baker hats. Instead they wore dreary brown hairnets.
“Sorry, girls,” Carolyn said, still scrubbing. “No cupcakes today.”
“Or ever,” Gwendolyn grumbled as she sprayed the counter with disinfectant.
“We don’t want cupcakes,” Nancy said. “We want to ask you something.”
“What do you want to know?” Gwendolyn asked.
“Did you ever order five hundred live ladybugs?” Nancy said.
“Why would we order live ladybugs?” Gwendolyn scoffed.
“That would be kind of weird,” Carolyn admitted.
Nancy looked around for Trent. Where did he go? Suddenly Nancy spotted him through the back door. He was in the garden on his hands and knees, rummaging through the bushes!
As Nancy watched Trent, she remembered something. Something important!
“Mayor Strong told us that Trent was in the garden while he was sneaking cupcake bites,” Nancy whispered to Bess and George. “Do you think Trent had something to do with the ladybugs?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” George whispered.
Trent’s head was still in the bushes when Nancy, Bess, and George stepped outside.
“Hey, Trent,” George said.
Trent was startled by George’s voice. He pulled his head out of the bushes, but tangled his hair in a branch.
“Ow!” he cried.
“Sorry to sneak up on you,” Nancy said. “But if you were looking for something, I think we already found it.”
Trent yanked his hair free. “I wasn’t looking for the ladybug jar,” he said. “I was just—”
“Aha!” George cut in. “We never said the ladybugs came in a jar.”
“How would you know about the jar, Trent?” Nancy asked. “Unless you were the one who ordered the ladybugs.”
“Did you do it, Trent?” Bess asked.
Trent gulped and his shoulders drooped.
“Yeah, I did it,” he said. “I ordered the ladybugs and dumped them too.”
“You did it?” Gwendolyn asked.
Nancy, Bess, and George turned to see the sisters standing in the garden.
“Why would you want to ruin our store, Trent?” Carolyn asked. “I thought we were a team.”
Trent opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. So Nancy stepped forward and said, “Trent probably ordered the ladybugs for your garden.”
“What for?” Gwendolyn asked, surprised.
“The Creature Teacher says some bugs are great at eating other bugs that eat flowers,” Nancy explained.
“Ladybugs might be good for gardens too,” Bess said.
Carolyn turned to her sister. “We did ask Trent to pick up a pesticide,” she said.
“Something safe and natural,” Gwendolyn agreed. “Because people would be eating cupcakes out here.”
“There’s nothing more natural than ladybugs,” George said.
Trent shook his head as if he didn’t get it.
“But I sprinkled the ladybugs around the bushes,” Trent said. “How did they all end up inside the store?”
“The Creature Teacher says some bugs don’t like the cold,” Nancy said. “They probably crawled inside to get warm.”
“And swarmed when the crowds came in,” George added.
“I did leave the back door open that morning to let in fresh air,” Trent groaned. “Instead I let in ladybugs. Boy, did I goof up!”
Nancy turned to see both sisters smiling.
“It was an honest mistake, Trent,” Gwendolyn said.
“You wanted to help with those ladybugs,” Carolyn said. “It’s just too bad they weren’t the lucky kind.”
“Oh, yes they were!” Nancy said.
“What do you mean?” Gwendolyn asked.
“Mayor Strong really liked your cupcakes,” Nancy explained. “He wants the Lucky Ladybug Cupcake Café to open again!”
“How’s that for lucky?” George asked.
Gwendolyn, Carolyn, and Trent traded happy high fives. They then turned to Nancy, Bess, and George.
“How did you figure all this out?” Carolyn asked.
“We’re detectives,” Bess said.
“All in a day’s work,” George said with a shrug.
“Well, you girls make great detectives!” Gwendolyn said.
“And you make cool cupcakes,” Nancy said with a grin.
Two weeks later spring had finally sprung—and the Lucky Ladybug Café was once again open for business. This time Mayor Strong was there for the grand opening. So were Olivia Chow and her brother, Lester.
“Are your cupcakes really here too, Olivia?” Nancy asked.
Olivia pointed proudly to some cupcakes on the counter. “Gwendolyn and Carolyn tasted my cupcakes,” she said. “They liked them so much they decided to sell a few!”
“Try the grasshopper mint cupcakes,” Lester said. “They rock.”
“Grasshopper?” Bess gulped. “Do the cupcakes have real, live—”
“Bess, get over it,” George cut in. “There are no more bugs here.”
Buggy Wozniak pointed to a nearby wall. “Just one awesome bug poster!” he exclaimed.
Nancy looked at Buggy’s new poster for the Bug Club. Instead of dung beetles and tarantulas it had butterflies and ladybugs.
Buggy was happy again. So was Olivia. But nobody was happier than the Clue Crew.
“Not only did we solve another case,” Bess said as they joined the line for cupcakes. “We got our new cupcake café back.”
“Are we lucky or what?” George said.
“That’s for sure,” Nancy said happily. “Thanks to a few good clues—and lots of lucky ladybugs!”
LADYBUG CUPCAKES
Ladybugs may be lucky, but these ladybug cupcakes are totally yummy. And guess what? With a little help from an adult, they’re super easy to make, too!
Ingredients
1 package chocolate cake or cupcake mix
1 container ready-to-spread white frosting
Red food coloring
Chocolate malt balls
Black jellybeans or chocolate chips
Black or brown shoestring licorice candy
Instructions
1. Have an adult help you bake the chocolate cupcakes.
2. Wait for cupcakes to cool.
3. Using the food coloring, tint white frosting red.
4. Spread and smooth bright red frosting on tops of cupcakes.
5. Stick a malt ball on the edge of the cupcake for the ladybug’s head.
6. Cut a string of licorice to size, then lay it down the middle of the ladybug’s back.
7. Dot jellybeans or chocolate chips on both sides of the licorice string.
8. Stick two small pieces of licorice string behind the malt ball head for the ladybug’s antennae. Done!
Celebrate spring—or any season—with these cute-as-a-bug treats!
Join the CLUE CREW & solve these other cases!
#1 Sleepover Sleuths
#2 Scream for Ice Cream
#3 Pony Problems
#4 The Cinderella Ballet Mystery
#5 Case of the Sneaky Snowman
#6 The Fashion Disaster
#7 The Circus Scare
#8 Lights, Camera . . . Cats!
#9 The Halloween Hoax
#10 Ticket Trouble
#11 Ski School Sneak
#12 Valentine’s Day Secret
#13 Chick-napped!
#14 The Zoo Crew
#15 Mall Madness
#16 Thanksgiving Thief
#17 Wedding Day Disaster
#18 Earth Day Escapade
#19 April Fool’s Day
#20 Treasure Trouble
#21 Double Take
#22 Unicorn Uproar
#23 Babysitting Bandit
#24 Princess Mix-up Mystery
#25 Buggy Breakout
#26 Camp Creepy
#27 Cat Burglar Caper
#28 Time Thief
#29 Designed for Disaster
#30 Dance off
#31 Make-a-Pet Mystery
#32 Cape Mermaid Mystery
#33 The Pumpkin Patch Puzzle
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin paperback edition March 2013
Text copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Macky Pamintuan
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
The text of this book was set in ITC Stone Informal.
Library of Congress Control Number 2012949906
ISBN 978-1-4424-5351-7
ISBN 978-1-4424-5352-4 (eBook)
Carolyn Keene, Cupcake Chaos
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