Brenda beamed. “I’m glad someone appreciates my brilliant ideas,” she said.
Nancy frowned. “I guess it’s possible,” she said slowly. “But if the thief was just a crazy bike robber, why didn’t he steal my bike and Bess’s bike, too?”
No one had an answer to that.
• • •
“There’s been a rash of bike thefts in River Heights,” Mr. Hamilton said.
It was Wednesday morning. Nancy, Bess, George, and Brenda were at Bike Mania with George’s mother, Mrs. Fayne. Mrs. Fayne had wanted to talk to Mr. Hamilton about George’s missing bike.
“A rash of bike thefts?” Mrs. Fayne repeated. “That’s awful! How many bikes have been stolen that you know of?”
“Three in the last few weeks,” Mr. Hamilton replied. “This is the first case of a child’s bike being stolen, though. But rest assured, Mrs. Fayne. The police are working to find George’s bike and the other bikes, too.”
While Mrs. Fayne and Mr. Hamilton talked, Nancy started wandering around the store. Bess, George, and Brenda followed her.
“What are you looking for, Nancy?” Bess asked her.
“Clues,” Nancy replied. “I still think it’s weird that the bike thief didn’t take my bike and Bess’s bike too.”
“Maybe he was going to take your bike and Bess’s bike, but ran out of time,” George suggested.
Nancy passed the section with all the brand-new kids’ bikes. She ran her hand over their shiny metal handlebars. She wished something would come to her—some idea of how to find George’s missing bike. The race was in only three more days. Time was running out!
As she walked, she came upon a familiar-looking blue door that said PRIVATE. It was open a crack.
That’s the door that leads to the Re-Cycles workshop, Nancy thought. She wondered if Slam and Tia were working on old bikes in there. It might be a good idea to talk to them about George’s bike, she thought. They might have some information. She poked her head through the crack.
“Stop!” someone cried from behind her. “You can’t go in there!”
6
The White Bicycle
You can’t go in there!” the person repeated.
Nancy turned around. Tia was standing there.
Tia was wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans that were streaked with purple paint. She was holding a paintbrush in her right hand. She looked nervous.
“I’m sorry,” Nancy apologized right away. “I wasn’t going to go in there without permission. I just wanted to see if you and Slam were in there.”
“We’re working on some bikes for my dad,” Tia mumbled. “We can’t talk to you right now.”
“I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about George’s missing bike,” Nancy went on. “You must notice a lot of bikes around the neighborhood. George’s was kind of special.”
“A white ABT Road Lizard,” George piped up. “They don’t make that model anymore.”
Tia shook her head so hard that strands of her honey-blond hair tumbled out of her pink scrunchie. “No, uh-uh, I’ve never even heard of that kind of bike,” she said. “I’ve got to go now. Bye!”
Tia quickly slipped past Nancy and her friends. She disappeared through the blue door marked PRIVATE and closed it. Nancy heard the click of a lock.
“Well, she wasn’t very friendly,” Brenda remarked.
“She seemed pretty friendly when we met her the other day,” Bess said. “She must be having a bad day or something.”
Nancy frowned. Why did Tia act like that? Was there something—or someone—behind the blue door that she didn’t want Nancy and the others to see?
• • •
“Pass the guacamole, please, Daddy,” Nancy said.
“No problem, Pudding Pie,” Carson Drew said cheerfully. He handed Nancy a white bowl filled with yummy homemade guacamole.
Mr. Drew had blue eyes that were just like Nancy’s. He was a lawyer, so he was usually dressed in a business suit and tie. That night, however, he was dressed for a casual dinner at home: jeans and a button-down blue shirt.
Hannah was out with a friend. So Nancy and Mr. Drew had decided to have “Do It Yourself Taco Night” at home. There were plates of taco shells, grated cheese, refried beans, spicy and mild salsa, and other taco ingredients on the table.
“So how is your bicycle thief case coming along?” Mr. Drew asked Nancy as he heaped some spicy salsa on his taco.
Nancy told her father about their two suspects, Marianne and Lucas. She told him about the pink barrette that she had found in the muddy groove of George’s bicycle tire. And she told him about the bike thief on the loose in River Heights.
“We have to catch George’s bike thief soon,” Nancy finished. “The bike race and rodeo are in three days!”
Mr. Drew nodded. “That’s not very much time. Maybe George is going to have to borrow a bike for the race. Or maybe her parents are going to have to buy her a new bike.”
“Her parents told her they would,” Nancy said. “But she really, really wants to ride her white bike for the race. She said there’s no way she can get used to a new bike by Saturday.”
“Hmm,” Mr. Drew said. “I guess you need to find her bike, then.” He added, “So what’s your next step?”
“I want to talk to our suspects again tomorrow,” Nancy replied. “Tonight, I want to do some research about bicycle thieves on the Internet.”
“Good idea,” Mr. Drew said, nodding.
After dinner, Nancy helped her father wash the dishes. Then she went to the family computer and signed on to the Internet on her kids’ account. She found a search program and typed in the words: Bicycle thief, River Heights.
A list of newspaper articles came up on the screen. Nancy clicked on the links and read the articles. They were all from the last few weeks.
The first article talked about a bike being stolen outside the Food Farm grocery store. The second one talked about a bike being stolen from somebody’s driveway. The third article talked about a bike being stolen outside the high school.
Nancy noticed that the thief hadn’t been caught yet. One of the articles said that the police had a description of the thief, though. According to the description, the thief was a man around twenty years old.
Nancy frowned. A man around twenty years old? That couldn’t be George’s bike thief, then. George’s bike thief had been wearing a pink barrette!
Nancy continued looking around on the Internet. She read an article about ABT Road Lizards. She read an article about Bike Mania, and one about the Re-Cycles program.
On the Re-Cycles home page was a picture of a poster Nancy had seen at Bike Mania. It had a picture of a blond girl with sunglasses standing next to a red bike and the words SPREAD THE JOY OF CYCLING BY RE-CYCLING!
Nancy stared at the picture. There was something about the picture that seemed important. What is it? she asked herself. But she couldn’t pin it down.
• • •
“Come on, you slowpokes!” Brenda said. “We have detective work to do!”
Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged a glance. It was Thursday morning, and the four girls were on their way to talk to their two main suspects, Marianne and Lucas.
The girls had gotten permission from their parents to walk over to Marianne’s and Lucas’s houses. They were just arriving at Marianne’s house.
“I have a new theory about this mystery,” Brenda said, pausing at the end of Marianne’s driveway. “I think it’s an international bike thief ring. They’re going all over the world and stealing bikes.”
“And they decided to come to River Heights?” George asked her with a frown.
Brenda nodded. “Yes! It’s going to make a great story for my dad’s paper. ‘International Bike Thieves Target Paris, London, Tokyo, and River Heights!’”
“Hmm,” Bess murmured doubtfully.
“Hey, there’s Marianne,” Nancy said, pointing.
Marianne was just pulling out of her driveway. She
turned right and headed away from the four girls. She was riding a white bicycle.
It was George’s bike!
7
Brenda to the Rescue
Marianne pedaled faster and cruised down the street.
“That’s my bike!” George cried out. “Hey!”
Nancy and the three girls started running after Marianne. “Marianne! Stop! Marianne!” they all yelled.
Marianne glanced over her shoulder. When she realized that Nancy and her friends were chasing her, she braked to a stop.
The girls caught up to her. Marianne took off her bike helmet and giggled. “Hey! Why are you guys chasing me all the time? Hi, Brenda,” she said, noticing Brenda for the first time.
“Hey, Marianne. Since our moms are friends, can I have an exclusive interview?” Brenda asked. She whipped out her notebook and pen. “Why did you do it, Marianne? Was it greed? Once you saw George’s bike, you just couldn’t help yourself, right?”
Marianne frowned. “Huh? What are you talking about, Brenda?”
George pointed to the bike. “You stole my bike—again!” she exclaimed. “Give it back, you thief!”
Marianne frowned. “Your bike? It’s my bike,” she said.
George’s hands flew to her hips. “What are you talking about? It’s my bike.”
“This is great stuff for my article,” Brenda said, scribbling like mad. “Keep arguing, guys!”
“I kept begging my parents for an ABT Road Lizard, so they finally bought me one,” Marianne explained to George. “They gave it to me yesterday, as an early birthday present. The thing is, they could only find a pink one. So they had it painted white for me, as a surprise. They know I don’t like pink. And they knew I wanted white.”
“How can anyone not like pink?” Bess said, looking shocked.
Nancy bent down and studied Marianne’s bike. She ran her fingers over the frame.
She picked at the underside of the frame with her fingernail. A tiny sliver of white paint came off. Underneath, she could see a speck of metallic pink.
“Marianne’s telling the truth,” Nancy told George. “This isn’t your bike. It’s a pink bike that was painted white.”
“Oh,” George said sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Marianne. I shouldn’t have called you a thief!”
Marianne giggled again. “That’s okay. I hope you find your bike soon. Then we can ride our white Road Lizards together!”
• • •
“Lucas lives in that house over there,” George said. She pointed to a yellow house across the street and one over from her house.
The four girls looked both ways, then crossed the street. They walked up to the Wylies’ front door and knocked.
“Let me do all the talking,” Nancy whispered to her friends. “That means you, too, Brenda!”
“No problem,” Brenda said cheerfully. “You’re the boss!”
There was the loud sound of barking from inside the house. The door opened, and a tiny white poodle flung itself at the screen, barking and yipping.
Lucas appeared at the door. “Be quiet, Bruno! What do you guys want?” he snapped at Nancy and her friends.
Brenda stepped forward. She whipped out her notebook and pen.
“Lucas Wylie? Brenda Carlton,” Brenda said crisply. “Do you want to make a comment for the newspaper about why you stole George Fayne’s bike?”
“Brenda!” Nancy scolded.
Lucas made a face at Brenda. “Huh? What did you say?”
“I said, why did you steal George Fayne’s bike?” Brenda repeated patiently.
Lucas glanced at George. “Why would I do a dumb thing like that?” he said.
“Because you’ll do anything to win the bike race!” George blurted out.
“Besides, we heard you and your friend talking at the Double Dip,” Brenda added. “Let’s see, what were your exact words? You said, ‘Now I’m definitely going to beat George Fayne!’”
“That means you stole her bike,” Bess piped up. “You probably left the pink barrette there to confuse people and make them think it was a girl thief!”
Nancy frowned. Brenda, Bess, and George had totally taken over. Nancy hadn’t even had a chance to talk.
Lucas was silent for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something. Then he started cracking up.
“You guys are totally nuts!” he said finally. “I was telling my friend Stephan about my awesome new bike tires that I just bought. They have superfast treads, and they’re going to help me win the race. That’s what I was talking about.”
Nancy and her friends stared at each other. “Oh,” Nancy said after a moment.
“Oops! Sorry!” George apologized.
Lucas smiled meanly. “Don’t worry about it, Fayne. Just start preparing yourself for total and absolute defeat on Saturday! And don’t forget about my extra-large hot fudge sundae at the Double Dip.”
Nancy sighed. Another dead end!
• • •
Nancy and her friends sat on the front steps of George’s house. They tried to figure out what to do next.
“So Marianne and Lucas are probably innocent,” Bess said. “Now what?”
“Maybe it’s that professional bike thief, after all,” George said. “You know, the one Mr. Hamilton was telling us about?”
“I don’t know,” Nancy said doubtfully. “I was reading about that thief on the Internet last night. It didn’t sound like our thief.”
“We just have to find whoever stole George’s bike,” Brenda said in a whiny voice. “Otherwise, my article will be totally boring!”
Nancy reached into her backpack and pulled out her blue detective notebook. She turned to the page that said “The Case of George’s Missing Bike.”
She ran her finger down the page. “There’s one thing we should think about some more,” she said. “The pink barrette clue.”
Bess nodded. “Definitely. If we can figure out who owns the pink barrette, we can figure out who the thief is!”
Nancy closed her eyes and concentrated very hard. Where had she seen a pink barrette lately?
And then she remembered. She opened her eyes and smiled excitedly at her friends. “I think I’ve solved the mystery,” she announced. “We have to get to my house right away!”
8
The Finish Line
What is this all about?” Hannah asked as Nancy and her friends burst through the front door.
“We’re about to crack the case of George’s bicycle thief!” Brenda said. “I think. Right, Nancy?”
“Right.” Nancy led Hannah, Brenda, Bess, and George to the family computer.
“My stolen bike is in your house?” George asked, looking confused.
Nancy shook her head. “No, not exactly.”
Nancy sat down at the computer. She turned it on and signed on to the Internet.
“What are you doing, Nancy?” Bess asked her, curious.
“Hang on,” Nancy replied.
Nancy typed in some commands. After a moment, she reached the Re-Cycles Web site.
The picture of the blond girl with sunglasses came up on the screen. Nancy scrunched up close and studied the picture carefully.
“There!” Nancy exclaimed. She jabbed her finger at the screen. “This girl is wearing two pink barrettes!”
“Way to go, Nancy!” George cried out. Then she frowned. “But who is this girl?”
Nancy squinted at the screen. She couldn’t tell who the girl was because she was wearing sunglasses.
“I wish I could make the picture bigger,” Nancy said.
“I know how to do that!” Brenda offered.
“You do?” Bess asked her.
Brenda nodded. “I do it at my dad’s office all the time.”
“My goodness! You kids with your high-tech computer skills,” Hannah said, her eyes wide.
Nancy scooted over on her chair so Brenda could sit down next to her. Brenda started typing in different commands.
Within second
s the picture of the girl had zoomed to five times its size.
“Way to go, Brenda!” Nancy said excitedly.
Brenda grinned. “Thanks!”
Nancy studied the picture again. She pointed at the barrettes in the girl’s hair. “They’re definitely zigzaggy, like the one we found,” she said.
Then Nancy noticed something. She pointed to a necklace that the girl was wearing. It looked like a silver necklace with letters on it.
“Can you make that bigger, Brenda?” Nancy said.
Brenda nodded. “Sure!”
Brenda typed in more commands. The necklace got bigger and bigger. The letters became larger too.
Nancy, George, Bess, Brenda, and Hannah all gasped at the same time.
The letters were TIA.
“Tia’s the thief?” George said, amazed. “But why would she steal my bike? Her dad runs a bike store. She could have any bike she wants!”
“I don’t know,” Nancy said slowly. “That’s still a mystery. We’d better go and talk to her right away.”
• • •
Nancy, Hannah, and the three girls reached Bike Mania twenty minutes later in Hannah’s car. Hannah told them she’d wait for them in the car. When the girls entered the store, Mr. Hamilton was standing behind the counter, talking to a customer.
“Hi, there,” Mr. Hamilton said with a friendly wave. “What can I do for you today? George, have you found your bike yet?”
“Yes!” George said.
“No, not yet!” Nancy said at the same time.
Nancy gave George a warning look. She didn’t want Mr. Hamilton to know that his daughter was a suspect.
“Are Slam and Tia around?” Nancy asked Mr. Hamilton.
“They’re in the Re-Cycles room, working on some bikes,” he replied. “Go on back there. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you.”
Or maybe not, Nancy thought. She thanked Mr. Hamilton and headed toward the back of the store. The three girls followed.
The blue door marked PRIVATE was closed. Nancy put her ear up to the door.
She could hear Tia and Slam’s voices coming from the other side. They seemed to be arguing about something.