Thanksgiving Thief Read online

  Thanksgiving dinner has flown the coop!

  River Heights Elementary School is having a Thanksgiving pageant, and Nancy, Bess, and George want to dress up as Native Americans! But when the town starts preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, the girls end up smelling a mystery instead of turkey. As Thanksgiving food around town starts to disappear, the Clue Crew realizes that someone is trying to destroy the holiday! Can the Crew catch these birdbrained bandits? Or will Thanksgiving dinner be a recipe for disaster?

  TEST YOUR DETECTIVE SKILLS WITH THESE OTHER CLUE CREW CASES!

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  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  A Ready-for-Chapters Book

  Cover designed by Lisa Vega

  Cover illustration copyright © 2008

  by Macky Pamintuan

  Ages 6–9

  kids.simonandschuster.com

  0908

  What happened to Thanksgiving?

  All of a sudden, the girls heard a loud gasp coming from the kitchen.

  “What was that?” Mary asked.

  Nancy looked at Bess and George. “It was Hannah! Let’s go see what’s happening! Come on!”

  Hannah Gruen was the Drews’ housekeeper. She had been with the family ever since Nancy’s mother had died five years before. Nancy was positive that Hannah was the best cook in River Heights. She was also sure that Hannah gave the best hugs.

  When the girls got to the kitchen, Hannah was just getting off the phone.

  “Are you all right?” Nancy asked.

  Hannah turned and looked at them. “I just got off the phone with Mr. Madison,” she said sadly. “It looks like Thanksgiving won’t be the same this year!”

  Join the Clue Crew & solve these other cases!

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  #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

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real

  locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product

  of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,

  living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Text copyright © 2008 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2008 Macky Pamintuan

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  NANCY DREW, NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW, ALADDIN PAPERBACKS, and

  related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Designed by Lisa Vega

  The text of this book was set in ITC Stone Informal.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition September 2008

  Library of Congress Control Number 2007943606

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-6777-4 (eBook)

  ISBN-10: 1-4169-6777-X

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE: COOL COSTUMES

  CHAPTER TWO: PUMPKIN PROBLEMS

  CHAPTER THREE: STOLEN STUFFING

  CHAPTER FOUR: DISASTROUS DECISION

  CHAPTER FIVE: COLD CASE

  CHAPTER SIX: CLUELESS CLUES

  CHAPTER SEVEN: FUNNY FEATHERS

  CHAPTER EIGHT: TURKEY TALK

  CHAPTER NINE: SAD SETTING

  CHAPTER TEN: SMART SOLUTION

  Thanksgiving Thief

  “Those poor turkeys!” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said. She was watching a story on the small television set in her room. “Someone needs to help them.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Bess Marvin.

  Nancy explained that some wild turkeys had been spotted in the parking lot of River Heights Elementary School late yesterday afternoon. When one of the school janitors tried to catch them, though, they ran away. No one was exactly sure where they had come from.

  “I wonder why they were at our school,” George Fayne said.

  “The news showed them trying to drink some of the dirty water coming from a broken pipe,” Nancy said. “I guess they were thirsty.”

  “Oh, poor things,” Mary White Cloud said. “They need clean water to drink.”

  Nancy nodded. “It stinks that that broken pipe flooded some of the school offices, but I’m glad they canceled school today.”

  “Yeah! A three-day weekend!” exclaimed Bess. “We need the time to get ready for the pageant.”

  “Speaking of the pageant,” George said, “we’re all going to be turkeys if we don’t pay more attention to what we’re doing here.”

  Nancy giggled.

  Bess twirled around in front of Nancy’s mirror and looked at the beaded leather dress she was wearing. “I love being a Native American princess,” she said. “This is so cool.”

  Mary White Cloud looked at Bess. “You look great!” she said.

  Mary was a new girl in their class at school. She was Native American. The girls’ teacher, Mrs. Ramirez, had asked Mary to cast three more girls in the class to play Native American princesses in the pageant part of the River Heights Thanksgiving Celebration. Mary had chosen Nancy and Nancy’s two best friends, Bess and George. Most of the time, everyone in River Heights knew the three of them as the Clue Crew. They solved mysteries in town that baffled everyone else. George and Bess were also cousins, although they weren’t at all alike.

  “The three of you are just right for the part. I hope this pageant is the best one ever at our school.”

  “We do too, Mary,” Bess said. “Thanks for choosing us.”

  Nancy was always excited about the River Heights Thanksgiving Celebration. It was held at their school on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It gave the whole town a chance to celebrate the holiday together with a pageant, a feast, and a food fair.

  “Now for the headbands,” said Mary. She opened a box on Nancy’s bed and took out four beaded strips of leather. “These were worn by real Native American princesses in a tribal ceremony in Oklahoma last year,” she told the other girls. “My uncle in Lawton sent them to me.”

  “Cool!” Nancy said. “Maybe they’ll magically turn us into real princesses.”

  The four of them put on the headbands.

  “Mine’s a little tight,” said Bess.

  “That’s because you have a big head,” George joked.

  “No, I don’t,” Bess retorted. “It’s normal.”

  “Mine’s a little loose,” Nancy said. “Let’s switch.”

  Finally everyone had headbands that fit perfectly.

  “Where are the feathers?” asked Nancy. “Don’t we have to have feathers?”

  Mary nodded. “That’s the most important part, but it’s also the most difficult.”

  “What’s so hard about finding feathers?” said George. “My pillow is full of them.”

  “It can’t be that kind of feather,” Mary said. “It has to be a special feather.”

  “What makes a feather special?” asked Nancy.

  “It has to come from a living bird,” Mary explained.

  “You mean we�
�re going to have to pull a feather from a real, live bird?” Bess exclaimed. “How are we going to do that? I don’t think we should go around chasing birds, trying to steal their feathers.”

  “That wouldn’t work, either,” said Mary, “even if you could catch one. No, it has to be one that the bird left behind, just so it can be used in a ceremony.”

  “Birds do that?” Nancy said.

  “That’s what one of our legends says,” Mary told them. “A bird will drop a feather somewhere, making a connection with the earth, and then we’ll pick it up and put it in our headbands and use it when we’re celebrating something important.”

  “Oh, I love that story,” said Nancy.

  “So do we,” Bess and George chimed in.

  “No one else in the pageant will be doing anything like this,” Bess said. “All the Pilgrims are making their hats and bonnets out of black construction paper! How boring!”

  All of a sudden, the girls heard a loud gasp coming from the kitchen.

  “What was that?” Mary asked.

  Nancy looked at Bess and George. “It was Hannah! Let’s go see what’s happening. Come on!”

  Hannah Gruen was the Drews’ housekeeper. She had been with the family ever since Nancy’s mother had died five years before. Nancy was positive that Hannah was the best cook in River Heights. She was also sure that Hannah gave the best hugs.

  When the girls got to the kitchen, Hannah was just getting off the phone.

  “Are you all right?” Nancy asked.

  Hannah turned and looked at them. “I just got off the phone with Mr. Madison,” she said sadly. “It looks like Thanksgiving won’t be the same this year!”

  “Oh no!” Bess cried. “It’s my favorite holiday!”

  “Mine too,” said Nancy. “Hannah cooks a great meal, especially the pumpkin pie.”

  “Forget my pumpkin pie this year,” Hannah said. “There won’t be any.”

  The girls looked at one another.

  “Why not?” Mary asked.

  “Somebody destroyed all of Mr. Madison’s jars of pumpkin puree,” Hannah explained. She shook her head. “Who would do such a horrible thing?”

  Mr. Madison was the father of Katherine Madison, who went to school with the girls. Mr. Madison was also one of the chefs helping to prepare the Thanksgiving feast. It always took place in the school gymnasium, right after the pageant and before the food fair.

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that we won’t have pumpkin pies at the feast, Hannah, but what does that have to do with your pumpkin pie?” Nancy asked. “Won’t there still be cans of pumpkin puree at the market?”

  Hannah stared at her. “Nancy Drew, are you telling me that you believed all these years that I was making my pumpkin pies from canned pumpkin?”

  “Yes,” Nancy replied, blushing.

  “That’s what my mother does,” said George. “I thought everybody did.”

  Hannah shook her head in disbelief. “I only use Mr. Madison’s fresh pumpkin puree. That’s why my pies have won so many awards,” she said. “Mr. Madison uses the puree when he bakes his pies for the feast, and then he sells the remaining jars at the food fair afterward.”

  “Well, this is terrible, then,” Nancy said, “because your pies are the best!”

  “We may not be smelling pumpkin pies this year,” Bess declared, “but I’m smelling a mystery.”

  “That’s for sure,” Nancy said. “Let’s get our bikes and head over to the school so we can talk to Mr. Madison.”

  “Would you like to come with us, Mary?” Bess asked. “The Clue Crew always welcomes other detectives.”

  Mary looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. “I can’t,” she said. “I promised Mom I’d clean up my room.”

  Hannah turned to Nancy. “That’s not a bad idea,” she said.

  “I promise I’ll do it as soon as I’m back, Hannah,” Nancy said hurriedly. “When a mystery calls, the Clue Crew has to drop everything.”

  “Well, I’ll agree with the dropping part,” said Hannah. “It looks like that’s what you did with all your clothes on the way to your closet.”

  “Speaking of clothes, we’d better change first,” George suggested. “People will think the Clue Crew has become the Native American Princess Clue Crew.”

  “That’s for sure,” said Bess.

  Nancy, Bess, and George said good-bye to Mary, then rushed to Nancy’s room to change out of their costumes.

  Within minutes, they were biking down the sidewalk toward River Heights Elementary School. The school was only four blocks from Nancy’s house, so the girls were allowed to travel there alone, as long as they stayed together.

  When they arrived, they left their bikes in the bike rack, locked them up, and headed for the gymnasium. All the doors were open because people were coming and going as they decorated for the upcoming festivities. The large kitchen was off to the left, between the gym and the cafeteria. That was where Nancy knew they’d find Mr. Madison.

  “I see Katherine and her father,” Bess said. “Katherine!” she shouted. “The Clue Crew is here to help!”

  Katherine looked up and waved.

  When the girls got closer, Nancy said, “We’re sorry about what happened. Hannah is really upset too.”

  “She’s not the only one,” said Katherine. “Everyone Dad called felt the same way.”

  Mr. Madison nodded. “I think half the people in River Heights make their pumpkin pies from my puree.”

  “Who would do something like this?” Nancy asked.

  “We think we know,” Katherine said.

  Nancy, Bess, and George looked at one another.

  “You do?” said Nancy.

  “Yes. Peter Patino,” Katherine answered.

  “Oh no!” George said. “He’s one of the nicest boys in our class.”

  “This is terrible,” said Bess.

  “What makes you think Peter is guilty?” Nancy asked.

  “My dad had to fire Peter’s uncle James because he kept missing work at the pumpkin farm,” Katherine said. “Peter was really upset about it,” she added.

  “Still, I just can’t believe Peter would commit such a crime,” Bess said.

  “The Clue Crew doesn’t convict suspects until we have the evidence,” Nancy reminded her. She looked at Mr. Madison. “Do you mind if we look around?” she asked.

  “Be my guest,” Mr. Madison said.

  As Nancy, Bess, and George walked around the kitchen, Nancy said, “We need to make sure we don’t destroy any evidence, so watch where you step.”

  “What are we looking for?” asked George.

  “Footprints in the puree—probably sneakers, if Peter did do it,” Nancy replied.

  For the next several minutes they walked all around the kitchen, searching every inch of the floor in Mr. Madison’s assigned area.

  Finally, Nancy said, “Well, whoever did this must have stepped where he or she wouldn’t leave any prints.”

  “Hey, look at this!” exclaimed Bess. She pointed to several blobs of pumpkin puree on the floor. “It looks like someone tried to make a finger painting. See these strange scratches?”

  “It was probably just some little kid whose mother or father was down here helping to cook or decorate,” Nancy said. “I don’t think it’s a clue.”

  “What do we do now?” George wondered.

  “We go talk to—,” Nancy started to say.

  “I found one!” Bess suddenly shouted.

  Nancy and George stopped. Bess was standing at a side entrance that led to an alley.

  “You found a footprint?” asked Nancy.

  “No, I found a brown-and-gray feather!” Bess exclaimed. “Now I have one for my headband.”

  Nancy and George rolled their eyes at each other.

  “We’re in the middle of an investigation, Bess,” George said. “You need to keep your mind on that.”

  “Come on, let’s go find Peter Patino,” said Nancy. “We have some questions to ask
him.”

  Nancy and the Clue Crew left the school and headed over to Peter Patino’s house, which was a couple of blocks away.

  “That wind’s chilly!” Nancy said. “I knew I should have worn my jacket.”

  George shivered. “It wasn’t this cold when we left your house,” she said. “Let’s bike faster. We’ll get there sooner, and it’ll warm us up.” Everyone knew that George could outrun—or outbike—anybody at River Heights Elementary School.

  “Hey! Wait for me!” shouted Bess. “I’m not the athlete in this group.”

  When they got to Peter’s house, though, Mrs. Patino told the girls he wasn’t there. “Since there was no school today, he said he was going to meet up with Ned Nickerson to talk about forming a bowling league, so he’s probably at the bowling alley.”

  Ned Nickerson was in fourth grade at River Heights Elementary. He and Nancy were good friends.

  “We’ll bike over there, then,” Nancy said.

  “We have something important to ask him,” Bess added.

  “I wish you’d ask him something for me, too,” said Mrs. Patino, smiling.

  “What’s that?” George asked.

  “What time will he be home?” Mrs. Patino asked. “He left after breakfast, and he hasn’t been back since.”

  Nancy looked at Bess and George. “That’s interesting,” she said.

  The girls waved good-bye to Mrs. Patino.

  “If we see Peter, we’ll give him your message,” Bess called to her.

  When the Clue Crew was too far for Mrs. Patino to hear, Nancy said, “Peter is sounding more like a suspect all the time. If he’s been gone since early this morning, he could have destroyed Mr. Madison’s jars of pumpkin puree before he met up with Ned.”

  “We’ll soon find out,” said George.

  When the girls got to the bowling alley, they parked their bikes in a rack, locked them up, and headed inside.

  “There’s Peter,” Bess said, pointing to the last lane.

  “Wow!” Nancy exclaimed. “It looks like half the boys in school are here too.”