Opening the notebook to a blank page, Nancy wrote down Missing Money Mystery. Under that, she wrote two columns. One said Clues and a second said Suspects.
The girls then rushed over to Rodger.
“We want to help,” said Nancy, holding her notebook firmly in her hand.
Rodger looked at Nancy, Bess, and George with a sad face and downcast eyes. “How could you possibly help me?” he asked. But before Nancy could reply, Rodger saw the notebook in her hand. His eyes perked up, and his frown flipped over into a smile. “Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew!” he exclaimed. “I almost forgot you guys are detectives! Can you help me solve this mystery?”
Roger definitely wasn’t sad anymore. He looked hopeful now. “Did you hear what happened? Did you hear what Mr. Gustavson said about the missing money?”
“Every word,” George said.
“We didn’t mean to listen to a private conversation,” Bess told him.
“Mr. Gustavson was talking really loud,” Nancy put in. “It was hard not to listen.”
Rodger grinned. “Can the Clue Crew really figure out what happened to Mr. Gustavson’s eight dollars?”
“And seventy-five cents,” added Bess.
“We’ll try our best to find the missing money for you,” Nancy told Rodger. “Tell us about—” A beeping sound interrupted her.
It was Bess’s watch. She’d built it herself from a kit George bought for her online. “Oh no!” Bess exclaimed. “It’s time to meet Hannah for ice cream and we never did get over to Schneider’s department store to look at the backpacks. Or actually buy anything on our lists.”
“It’s all right,” said Nancy. “Hannah will understand about the lists. But she won’t understand if we are late to meet her at the food court.” She looked up at Rodger, who was a good foot and a half taller. “We gotta run, Rodger.”
“When are you coming back?” Rodger asked.
“We’ll meet you back here in an hour,” George assured him.
“We will help you solve this missing money mystery,” said Bess as she set her watch to beep in another hour.
“Don’t worry, Rodger.” Nancy reached up and patted Rodger on the shoulder. “The Clue Crew is on the case.”
Chapter Four
Flavor Saver
While the girls ate ice cream, Nancy told Hannah all about Rodger’s missing money mystery.
“Sounds like you girls have some work to do,” Hannah commented.
“Yeah,” Nancy said, wiping her face with her napkin. “Can we head back over to the Pencil Box after we finish our ice cream? We promised Rodger we would.”
Hannah glanced at her watch. “I don’t know . . . it’s getting late. The only thing you girls have bought so far is a pair of shoes for Nancy. I promised Bess and George’s mothers that we’d get their backpacks and school supplies today. Why don’t you girls let the mystery wait until tomorrow morning? We could come back and—”
Nancy gave Hannah a pleading look. “By tomorrow some of our clues might have disappeared.”
“Plus, Mr. Gustavson is going to take the money away from Rodger today,” George added.
“We’ve gotta check things out now,” said Bess. Her voice sounded a little higher than usual. “It’s important.”
“Oh, all right, girls,” Hannah agreed with a small sigh. “I can see that you won’t get anything else done until you’ve gone and investigated. I’ll call Bess and George’s mothers and let them know that we’re going to have to come back again tomorrow to finish—I mean to start—our back-to-school shopping.”
“A perfect plan,” Bess cheered as she stuffed the last bite of her ice cream cone into her mouth and then picked up the gum she’d gotten from the Drop Zone machine. She had taken the chewed-up piece out and put it in an empty water cup while she enjoyed her double ripple fudge cone.
“Eww,” she said as she moved the gum around in her mouth, chomping a few times. “This gum has no flavor!”
“Gross.” George stuck out her tongue and made a face at her cousin. “Nancy and I threw away our gum. It’s disgusting to save ABC gum.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Bess remarked, spitting her gum back into the cup and throwing the cup away. “But now I know better. The Drop Zone gum definitely doesn’t hold its flavor.”
The girls arranged a new meeting time and place with Hannah. When they were done with the mystery, they’d find her by the exit to the mall. Then they hurried back to the Pencil Box.
Rodger was still right where they’d left him: standing at the new cash register, ringing up sales, and looking completely bummed out.
His face perked up a bit when he saw Nancy, Bess, and George entering the store.
“Did you solve the mystery yet?” he asked in a rush.
Nancy replied, “We just got back. We need to look around for clues.”
“Where should we begin?” Bess whispered to George and Nancy, glancing blankly around the crowded store.
Nancy took a minute to survey the scene. The Pencil Box was crowded with shoppers. There were a lot of kids from their school wandering the aisles with their moms or dads, pushing carts filled with stuff from the school supply list.
Nancy and the girls saw Nadine Nardo lugging her basket full of three-hole folders. Shelby Metcalf was checking out a fancy leather binder. Trina Vanderhoof was picking up some glue and colored paper. And Ned Nickerson was still there, chewing gum, looking at colorful book covers. He was holding up one with a skull and crossbones design on it.
“Should we interview Ned?” George asked. “He was here at the same time we were earlier. Maybe he saw something suspicious.”
“Good idea.” Bess patted George on the back. “Let’s go.” The cousins headed off until they realized Nancy wasn’t with them.
Nancy was staring at Rodger and the cash register.
“Earth to Nancy.” Bess waved a hand in front of Nancy’s face.
“Come in, Nancy.” George gave her a little push on the arm.
“Oh,” said Nancy, giving her head a shake and coming back down to earth. “I spaced out for a second.”
Bess laughed. “It’s okay. We’re used to it, since it happens every time we’re on a case. You zone out and get all clumsy.”
“I’m not clums—” Nancy began as she twisted quickly around to look at Bess.
Crash! Her left arm hit a display of masking tape and knocked the whole thing over to the floor. More than a hundred rolls of tape spun out like little wheels, traveling at top speed across the slick white floor.
Nancy looked shocked for a second, then laughed. “Okay, so maybe I am a little clumsy and spacey when I’m thinking.” Dropping to her knees, Nancy began crawling around, collecting rolls of tape.
“Truth is,” Bess said with a wink, “you’re always thinking!”
George bent down and put her arm around Nancy’s neck, saying, “Never change, Nancy Drew. We like you just the way you are.” She smiled. “And we’ll always be here to help clean up your messes.” George pulled back her arm and began picking up rolls of tape too. “That’s what friends are for!”
Robin Miller, the stock girl, saw the mess on the floor and came over to help Nancy and the girls. She set the display case back up and started putting in the rolls of tape that the girls collected. Her long, dangly earrings swung low beneath her spiky blond hair. There was an MP3 player hanging around Robin’s neck, like a necklace, and earbuds in her ears. Robin was wearing a Pencil Box shirt and blowing gum bubbles as she worked.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
For every ten rolls she put into the display, Robin blew a new bubble. Ten bubbles later, everything was put back, the way it was before.
Bess and George thanked Robin for her help, and Nancy promised to be more careful.
Bess pulled Nancy into a big open area away from anything dangerous or breakable. “Now,” she said when they were standing in a safe place, “what were you thinking about before you knocked over the tape di
splay?”
Nancy was silent.
George tried to get her attention again. “Do you want to interview Ned?”
At that, Nancy came back to earth again. “Wait a minute,” she replied, though she still had that spacey look in her eyes. “Oh yeah,” she said after a long minute’s pause. “I remember what I was thinking earlier. Before we do anything else, we have to check out that new cash register. I think it holds the secret to this mystery.”
“In order to take a good look,” said George, “we’re going to have to get permission from Mr. Gustavson.”
“Let’s go see him,” Bess suggested. “Hopefully, he’s not grumpy anymore.”
The girls hurried toward Mr. Gustavson’s office. On the way, they saw that Ned had finished picking out his book covers and was back in line for the Drop Zone.
“More gum?” Nancy asked Ned, before knocking on Mr. Gustavson’s office door.
“Yeah,” Ned replied. He shook his head. “This gum doesn’t hold its flavor.”
Bess sighed and agreed wholeheartedly. “I know,” she told him. “It’s all about the Drop Zone show and not really about the gum.”
Ned smiled. It was his turn in the line. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s a great show. Totally worth a quarter.”
The girls stayed a minute longer to watch Ned’s gumball flip and twist and spin before falling into the bottom cup. Ned grabbed the gum and popped it into his mouth before saying he had to go find his mom. He explained that they’d been at the mall all day.
“I had a ton of quarters this morning,” he bragged. “I bet I bought ten pieces of gum today. Maybe even eleven! Every time my mom was in line at a store to buy something, I’d run over here to get another piece of gum.” He pulled his pockets inside out. “Too bad I used all the quarters I had in the gum machine. I should have saved some for the video arcade.
“Can you believe that my mom says we have to come back to the mall tomorrow?” Ned complained, like returning to the mall was the worst torture he could imagine. “I’m going to need more quarters. Drop Zone gum makes everything better. Even back-to-school shopping.”
Nancy shook her head at him, then knocked on Mr. Gustavson’s door.
“Come in!” he answered right away. The store owner was sitting at his desk, looking at a catalog.
Bess quickly explained that the Clue Crew was on the case of Rodger’s missing money. George told him that they needed to examine the cash register.
“I think the answer to this mystery is inside that cash register,” Nancy said.
“The machine has been totally fixed up,” Mr. Gustavson told the girls. “It’s perfect. There is no way that register made any mistakes.”
“Even so,” Nancy said. “We’d love to take a look.”
Mr. Gustavson thought for a moment, then said, “Hmmm. It’s very busy in the store right now. Today’s really not a good time. Sorry, girls.”
“How about tomorrow? We could come back before the store opens,” Nancy asked quickly. Hannah had already agreed to bring them back to the mall to finish their back-to-school shopping. Surely she wouldn’t mind bringing them early so that they could finish investigating this mystery.
Mr. Gustavson was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Well, I suppose that would be all right. I don’t have to take the eight dollars and seventy-five cents from Rodger’s paycheck today.” He rubbed his plump belly. “It would be great if you girls could figure out where the money disappeared to.”
“So we can come in the morning to investigate?” Bess confirmed.
Mr. Gustavson agreed to meet them at eight thirty. He was planning to come in early anyway to check on supplies. They could look around for a full hour and a half before the store officially opened.
“Great!” George cheered.
On their way out of the Pencil Box, Rodger waved at the girls. “So?” he asked. “Did you find any clues?”
“We haven’t started looking around yet, Rodger,” Nancy told him. “But Mr. Gustavson told us that he won’t take the money from your paycheck today. He’s giving us another day to investigate.”
Nancy pulled out her notebook and looked at the page that said Missing Money Mystery, Clues, and Suspects. So far they had nothing to write down. The page was still blank, except for the headings.
“Tomorrow,” she reassured Rodger. “The Clue Crew will definitely solve this case tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
Clue Number One
“Where is he?” George complained as she paced back and forth in front of the Pencil Box’s locked door.
Bess checked her wristwatch. “It’s eight forty-one. He should be here by now.”
Nancy looked up and down the mall, as far as she could see. Hannah was sitting on a comfy couch in the waiting area by the elevator. She’d brought some knitting to entertain herself while the girls worked on solving the money mystery. But other than the three of them and Hannah, they didn’t see anyone else in the mall. Only a few employees had arrived and the doors had just been opened.
“Mr. Gustavson promised he’d be here to show us the register,” Nancy remarked. “I’m sure he’s just stuck in traffic or overslept or something like that.”
“Maybe we should call his house,” George suggested as she turned around to pace in the other direction for a while.
“I think we—” Bess began, but then stopped as a very out-of-breath Robin Miller came running through the mall, headed their way.
“My bad,” Robin said by way of apology while she bent down to insert a key in a low lock on the shop’s door. “Mr. Gustavson asked me to open the store for you this morning. He said he wasn’t going to be here early like he thought and that I should let you look around. But when I was ready to leave home this morning, I couldn’t find my keys.” She pulled the keys out of the lock and jingled them near Nancy’s nose. “You are not going to believe where they were! Last night, after work, I ran outta here to go meet some friends at the concert in River Heights Park. You know, the free show they have every week before school starts?”
She stuck her keys into her pocket as she continued, “The concert was awesome, but I had skipped dinner and was starving when I got home. I guess that when I made myself a snack, I accidentally left my keys inside the fridge!”
“That’s funny,” Nancy said with a laugh. “We’re just glad you’re here. We’re anxious to take a look at the cash register.”
“You mean the new, amazing, computerized cash register?” Robin pushed open the door to let the girls inside. “Why’d ya want to look at that? It’s empty now. Won’t have money in it till right before opening time when Mr. G arrives.” She stopped, but just long enough to breathe. “Mr. G didn’t explain to me why you’re here. He simply said I needed to let you in.”
“Well,” George began. “We’re the Clue Crew, and we—”
“That’s so cute!” Robin interrupted. “You guys belong to a club! Do you have a club T-shirt or jacket? I like to paint and could make a design for you.” She pointed at her own Pencil Box T-shirt. “I drew the pencil and the box design for our work shirts,” she said proudly. “And I picked the blue shirt material.”
“It would be great to have our own shirts. Maybe we could make matching hats, too!” Bess exclaimed, totally into the idea. She loved fashion. “If you made us T-shirts, what color fabric would you use?”
Before Robin could respond, George gave Bess a little push and said, “We aren’t designing shirts today.”
“Oh yeah.” Bess sounded disappointed, but then she saw the cash register sitting on the nearby counter and perked up.
“So, is this some kind of club project you guys are working on?” asked Robin.
Nancy was surprised that Mr. Gustavson hadn’t told Robin why they were at the store so early. She started to explain. “Actually, we’re here to look for—”
“Are you preparing for Miss Kimler’s big project?” Robin interrupted. “I had her for language arts when I was at R
iver Heights Elementary.”
“School hasn’t even started,” said Bess.
“We aren’t working on a project,” George added, but Robin wasn’t listening. She pulled her MP3 player out of her pocket, hung the strap around her neck, and tucked the earbuds into her ears.
“It’s going to be another busy day at the store,” she said, shifting gears. “Back-to-school shoppers will be arriving soon, and I’d better get the shelves filled up with supplies.” She pointed at the register. “Have yourselves a good look-see. Feel free to push the buttons. I’ll reset the register when the store opens.”
Then, before walking off, Robin gave Nancy a long, hard stare. “Be careful not to break anything.” It was clear that she was thinking about the rolls of spilled tape from the day before. And with that warning, Robin turned up the volume on her MP3 player, started to sing along to the tune, and disappeared down Aisle Twelve.
Bess walked around the counter to get a closer look at the cash register.
“Awesome,” she muttered under her breath, as if she’d never seen anything so wonderful in her whole life. She pressed the on button along the side, and the front of the register began to glow.
“Holey moley,” George nearly shouted when she saw the computer display come to life. She couldn’t scramble around the counter fast enough. She nearly knocked Nancy down.
“And you call me clumsy,” Nancy remarked, steadying herself.
“Sorry,” George apologized. “But this register is way, way cooler than the computer in the window. And it doesn’t even have a half-hose driver!” Under the counter, George found the instruction manual and began to read it.
Nancy stepped back to let the experts do their job. “Tell me if you find any clues,” she told Bess and George. She pulled out her notebook, flipped it open to the clues page, and waited.
While George read the manual, Bess checked out the mechanical side. She was pressing buttons, switching levers, and flipping dials.
“Everything seems to be just fine,” Bess remarked. She was quickly figuring out how the machine worked. After taking some change from her purse, Bess pushed a green button. The register drawer opened, and Bess put the change inside.