The Dollhouse Mystery Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Baby Steps

  Chapter 2: Twin Trouble

  Chapter 3: Blamed and Framed

  Chapter 4: Bow-Wow Bandit

  Chapter 5: Hide and Sneak

  Chapter 6: Chew and Clue

  Chapter 7: In a Jam

  Chapter 8: Ready, Set, Play!

  1

  Baby Steps

  Squirrel alert!” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said.

  Nancy gripped two leashes as a little gray squirrel dashed across the sidewalk. Her puppy, Chocolate Chip, pulled at her leash. So did Baby, the other dog Nancy was walking.

  “Stay, Chip!” Nancy ordered. “Stay, Baby! Stay!”

  “Woof, woof, woof!” Chip barked.

  “Yip, yip, yip!” Baby yapped.

  Nancy grunted as she tugged both leashes. Then she shouted in her loudest voice, “Okay, you guys! Cool your jets!”

  The dogs stopped barking and stared up at Nancy. As the squirrel scurried away Nancy took a deep breath. Walking two dogs wasn’t easy. But she was getting good at it.

  “Hi, Nancy!” a voice called.

  Nancy looked up and smiled. Her best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, were walking toward her.

  Bess and George were cousins and in Nancy’s third grade class.

  Bess was dressed in white overalls and was pushing a red wheelbarrow. George was wearing blue jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and was carrying a clear plastic bag filled with cans over her shoulder.

  Nancy knew why. It was the first day of Community Week—when all the kids at Carl Sandburg Elementary School helped out in the neighborhood.

  “How do you like planting flowers, Bess?” Nancy asked.

  Bess nodded at her wheelbarrow. It was filled with bags of soil, shovels, and packets of seeds. “Business is blooming!” she said with a grin. “That’s a gardening joke.”

  Nancy giggled.

  “And look at all the cans I collected for recycling!” George said. She held up her plastic bag. “I didn’t know so many people liked canned peas.”

  Baby sniffed at a can of dog food through the bag. He belonged to Mrs. Gertrude Rutledge. Nancy’s job during Community Week was to walk Baby.

  The best part was that she could walk Chip along with Baby. The second best part was that Mrs. Rutledge lived in the fanciest house in River Heights!

  “What kind of dog is that, Nancy?” George asked. She nodded at Baby. “He looks like a white mop without a stick.”

  Baby yapped at George.

  “Baby is a Maltese,” Nancy said. She put her finger against her lip. “And don’t let Baby hear you call him a mop!”

  “Are you walking Baby every day?” Bess asked.

  “Just today, Wednesday, and Friday,” Nancy replied. “That’s when Mrs. Rutledge has tea with her granddaughters—they’re twins! Mrs. Rutledge’s housekeeper Olivia is too busy serving tea on those days to walk Baby.”

  Bess’s blue eyes shone as she twirled the end of her blond ponytail.

  “I heard Mrs. Rutledge’s house has a swimming pool shaped like a mermaid!” Bess said. “And fountains with real goldfish!”

  “And gold toilets in the bathrooms!” George added. Her dark eyes flashed. “Did you see any of that, Nancy?”

  Nancy giggled. “No,” she said. “But I did see something even better.”

  George ran her hand through her dark curls and asked, “What’s better than a swimming pool?”

  “The most beautiful old dollhouse in the whole wide world!” Nancy answered.

  “A dollhouse?” Bess gasped. She gave a little jump. “I love dollhouses!”

  “They’re okay,” George said with a shrug. “If you like that sort of stuff.”

  “Are you two sure you’re cousins?” Nancy joked.

  “Tell us more about the dollhouse, Nancy,” Bess said. She clasped her hands together. “Pleeeease?”

  Nancy shrugged her reddish-blond hair over her shoulder. “Well, Mrs. Rutledge used to play with the dollhouse when she was a little girl,” she explained. “It’s light purple with white trim. And the rooms have the tiniest furniture that looks so real!”

  “Does it have a tiny swimming pool, too?” George asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nancy admitted. “I only got a quick look.”

  “Maybe Mrs. Rutledge will let you play with it, Nancy!” Bess said excitedly.

  “That would be nice,” Nancy said. “But I’m there to walk Baby, not to play.”

  The three friends walked down the sidewalk together. Nancy let Chip and Baby stop to bark at a passing fire truck.

  “I wanted to do a good job walking Baby,” Nancy declared, “so I read two books all about dogs!”

  “What did you find out?” George asked.

  “Tons!” Nancy said. “Like the fastest dog is a greyhound. And dogs bury stuff to protect it.”

  Baby began chewing on the hem of George’s jeans.

  “Is there a chapter on ankle-biters?” George asked.

  “Down, Baby!” Nancy scolded. She gave Baby’s leash a gentle tug. “Down, boy!”

  Baby stopped chewing.

  “Wow, Nancy.” Bess gasped. “You’re already a great dog walker!”

  Nancy hoped so. She liked walking dogs—almost as much as solving mysteries!

  “I’d better bring Baby home now,” Nancy decided. “It’s time for his lunch.”

  “And when he’s finished with his dog food,” George said, lifting her plastic bag, “I’ll take the cans!”

  Nancy walked Chip and Baby back to Mrs. Rutledge’s house. Olivia opened the door. She wore a black uniform with a frilly white apron.

  “Would Baby like a little treat?” Olivia cooed. She dug into her apron pocket and pulled out a heart-shaped dog biscuit.

  Baby yapped. He leaped up and snatched the biscuit with his teeth.

  “He really likes that biscuit,” Nancy said.

  “Baby only eats biscuits imported from England,” Olivia explained. She pulled another biscuit from her pocket. “And today Chip can have one too.”

  “Thank you!” Nancy said. She watched Olivia feed Chip the biscuit.

  “Grrr,” Baby growled. “Grrrr!”

  “Oh, dear. Baby isn’t used to sharing.” Olivia sighed. “Why don’t I take the dogs to the kitchen for some water? Baby shouldn’t have a problem with that.”

  The dogs’ paws made clicking noises on the marble floor as Olivia led them to the kitchen. Nancy followed, but as she passed the sitting room she stopped to look inside. The dollhouse was still in the middle of the room.

  “Olivia?” Nancy asked. “May I please look at Mrs. Rutledge’s dollhouse again?”

  “Yes, but don’t touch the tiny furniture,” Olivia said. “I just rubbed it with a special lemon furniture oil. That furniture is very valuable!”

  “It is?” Nancy asked.

  Olivia nodded and said, “Mr. Vincent from the Toys of Time store wanted to buy the dollhouse furniture for lots of money.”

  Nancy knew Toys of Time. The toy store was on Main Street. It sold only very old dolls, games, and toys.

  “Did Mrs. Rutledge want to sell the furniture?” Nancy asked.

  “No, but I’d like to!” Olivia muttered. “Then I could hire my own housekeeper!”

  “Come on, dogs!” Olivia commanded as she led Chip and Baby down the hall.

  Nancy slowly entered the sitting room. Besides the dollhouse there was a table set for tea and a dog bed that looked like a little human bed. It had a brass headboard and a velvet cushion with Baby’s name stitched on it.

  Nancy inched over to the dollhouse. It was even more beautiful up close.

  She gazed inside. Miniature velvet and lace curtains hung on the w
indows. A doll family sat around a tiny dining room table. There was a bedroom with a canopy bed and a dresser. But Nancy’s favorite was a tiny blue and white-striped sofa in the living room. The legs were shaped like animal paws!

  Nancy took a whiff. Everything in the little house had a nice lemony smell!

  All of a sudden Nancy heard a sound.

  “Yelp! Yelp! Yelp!”

  Nancy whirled around. Chip was racing into the sitting room—with something yellow tied around her tail!

  “Chip!” Nancy gasped. “Who did this to you?”

  2

  Twin Trouble

  It’s okay, Chip!” Nancy said softly.

  But it wasn’t really okay. Someone had tied a yellow sock around Chip’s tail!

  Nancy quickly untied the sock. She heard a mean-sounding laugh and looked up.

  A pair of twin girls stood in the room. Both had blond curly hair and wore yellow dresses. One twin looked as neat as a pin. The other one had dirt all over her face and knees—and she was wearing only one sock!

  “Did you do this to my dog?” Nancy asked the grubby twin with one sock.

  “Sure!” she answered with a grin. “I wanted to see if a dog could run in circles. And she did!”

  The other twin smiled sweetly at Nancy. “Hi, I’m Vicky, and this is my sister, Veronica,” she said. “Are you on spring break too?”

  Nancy was about to answer when Mrs. Rutledge marched in. Her silver hair was piled high on her head. Her pearl necklace glistened around her neck.

  “Grandmother!” Vicky said. She pointed to Chip. “Veronica just tied her sock around that poor dog’s tail.”

  Veronica glared at her sister.

  “You have a tail too, Vicky!” she snapped. “A tattle-tail!”

  “Veronica, wasn’t the whoopie cushion on my chair this morning enough?” Mrs. Rutledge scolded. “Why can’t you be nice like your sister Vicky?”

  Vicky tilted her head sweetly and smiled. Veronica rolled her eyes.

  I get it, Nancy thought. Vicky is the nice twin. Veronica is the bad-news twin.

  “Is your dog hurt, Nancy?” Mrs. Rutledge asked.

  “No, Mrs. Rutledge,” Nancy answered. She put her arm around Chip. “Chocolate Chip seems to be okay.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” Mrs. Rutledge said. She nodded toward the tea table. “We were just getting ready to have tea. With scones and marmalade.”

  “Marmalade?” Veronica said. She made a gagging sound. “I hate marmalade! I won’t eat it! I won’t eat it!”

  “I love marmalade!” Vicky cooed. “Thank you, Grandmother.”

  Nancy had no idea what marmalade was. But she kept that to herself.

  “Nancy, you must have been admiring my old dollhouse,” Mrs. Rutledge said. She put her hand over her heart. “It gave me such pleasure when I was a child.”

  “I never saw such a beautiful dollhouse in my life!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Mrs. Rutledge toyed with her string of pearls. “You did such a good job walking Baby today,” she said. “Why don’t you play with the dollhouse next time you come, Nancy?”

  Nancy gasped. “Thank you!” Playing with the dollhouse is a dream come true! she thought.

  “But, Grandmother,” Vicky said in a soft voice. “I thought we were the only ones allowed to play with your dollhouse.”

  “We’re your granddaughters,” Veronica sneered. “Nancy’s just a dog walker!”

  Chip growled at Veronica.

  “Be nice, Veronica!” Mrs. Rutledge commanded. “And if you don’t wash your hands, you won’t be allowed to play with the dollhouse!”

  Veronica scowled. She wiped her dirty hands on her yellow dress.

  “Hopeless!” Mrs. Rutledge sighed. She shook her head and left the room.

  “Are you going to play with the dollhouse now, Nancy?” Vicky asked.

  Nancy looked at her purple plastic watch. “Can’t,” she said. “I have to take Chip back home.”

  “Aw, too bad,” Veronica sneered. But she didn’t sound disappointed.

  “I’ll be back on Wednesday to walk Baby,” Nancy told Vicky. She took one last look at the dollhouse. “And to play with that awesome dollhouse!”

  Nancy smiled all the way home. She couldn’t wait to tell Hannah about her first day on the job.

  Hannah Gruen had been the Drews’ housekeeper since Nancy was three years old. She helped Mr. Drew take care of Nancy.

  “That’s nice of Mrs. Rutledge to let you play with her dollhouse,” Hannah said when Nancy told her the news.

  “She is nice,” Nancy agreed. “So is her housekeeper Olivia. She wears a fancy uniform and serves tea in a silver teapot!”

  Hannah laid a plate of cookies on the kitchen table in front of Nancy.

  “Pretty fancy!” Hannah said. She pretended to show off her dress. “But I wear flowered dresses. And serve chocolate chip cookies on a plastic plate!”

  Nancy leaned over and hugged Hannah around her waist. “That’s even better!” she said with a smile.

  Nancy wanted to ask Hannah what marmalade was. But her mouth was full of cookie crumbs, and then Hannah went to the living room to vacuum.

  I’ll ask Vicky on Wednesday, Nancy decided.

  Wednesday couldn’t come quickly enough for Nancy. On Tuesday morning she helped Bess plant daisies in the Drews’ yard. On Tuesday afternoon she helped George collect cans on Main Street.

  When Wednesday finally came Nancy jumped out of bed. She pulled on her favorite beige cargo pants and white peasant blouse. After drinking her milk and eating eggs-in-a-window, she headed straight for Mrs. Rutledge’s house.

  “First I’m going to walk you and Baby,” Nancy told Chip on the way. “Then while you two eat those fancy dog biscuits, I’m going to play with the dollhouse.”

  But when Nancy reached Mrs. Rutledge’s, no one looked happy to see her. Especially Mrs. Rutledge!

  “What’s wrong?” Nancy asked as she entered the living room. Mrs. Rutledge was pacing back and forth and holding Baby. The twins were sitting side by side on the sofa. Olivia stood in the back near the fireplace.

  “On Monday afternoon when the twins went to play with the dollhouse,” Mrs. Rutledge announced, “they noticed that five pieces of furniture were missing.”

  Missing? Nancy stared at Mrs. Rutledge. “That’s awful!” she gasped.

  Nancy’s mind started to race. Does Mrs. Rutledge know I am a detective? Does she want me to find the missing furniture? Before she could ask, Veronica pointed her finger at Nancy.

  “She did it, Grandma! Nancy stole the dollhouse furniture!”

  Nancy froze.

  Had she just heard what she thought she’d heard?

  3

  Blamed and Framed

  You were playing with the dollhouse on Monday, Nancy,” Veronica sneered. “So you must be the thief!”

  Nancy shook her head hard. “No!” she insisted. “I did not steal the furniture!”

  Chip gave a whine.

  “The tiny sofa is missing,” Mrs. Rutledge said. “So is the little dining-room table, the four-poster bed, the dresser, and the satin-covered chair.”

  Nancy remembered the tiny striped sofa. It was her favorite.

  “All I did was look inside the dollhouse,” Nancy exclaimed. “I didn’t even touch the furniture!”

  Mrs. Rutledge studied Nancy. She shook her head sadly. “That furniture means so much to me and is very expensive,” she said.

  “Very expensive!” Olivia repeated.

  “So I can’t take another chance,” Mrs. Rutledge went on. “I’m sorry, Nancy. You can no longer play with the dollhouse, or walk Baby this week.”

  Nancy’s heart sank. Walking Baby was her Community Week job. What would her teacher, Mrs. Reynolds, say on Monday when she found out Nancy had been fired?

  “Bye, Nancy,” Vicky said sweetly.

  “Bye, Nancy!” Veronica sneered.

  Nancy was too stunned to speak. She gave Chip’s leash
a tug and followed Olivia to the door. Once outside she ran to look for Bess and George in the park.

  Nancy found them—hanging upside down on the monkey bars. They flipped right side up while Nancy told them everything.

  “Now everyone will think I’m a dollhouse robber,” Nancy said with a sigh.

  “But you’re not!” Bess said firmly “You’re the best detective at school!”

  “That’s why you have to find the real dollhouse robber, Nancy!” George said.

  Chip sniffed at the pocket of Nancy’s denim jacket. That’s where she carried her blue detective notebook.

  “See?” Bess laughed. “Even Chip thinks you should crack this case!”

  Nancy wanted to prove that she was innocent. And finding the real dollhouse robber was the best way.

  “I’ll do it!” Nancy declared.

  The three friends sat down on the swings. But this time they didn’t swing.

  Nancy pulled out her notebook and opened it to a clean page. On the top she wrote: “Who is the dollhouse robber?” Underneath she wrote the names of the furniture pieces that were missing: tiny bed, dresser, table, chair, and sofa.

  “The furniture smelled lemony from Olivia’s furniture polish,” Nancy remembered. “And the tiny sofa had legs shaped like animal paws!”

  Nancy wrote those facts in her notebook. She tapped her chin with her pencil as she thought. “The furniture was stolen on Monday,” she said. “That’s when the twins were at Mrs. Rutledge’s house.”

  “Why would they want to rob their own grandma’s dollhouse?” Bess asked.

  “Veronica was mad at me because I got to play with the dollhouse,” Nancy answered. “Maybe she hid the furniture so she could blame it on me.”

  “Aha!” George declared. “Veronica is your number one suspect!”

  Nancy wrote down Veronica’s name. Then she wrote what she knew about her:

  1) She’s kind of a brat.

  2) She hates marmalade.

  “What’s marmalade?” Bess asked.

  “I think it’s some kind of jelly,” George said. “But I’ve never had it with peanut butter.”

  “Who else, Nancy?” Bess asked.

  “Olivia the housekeeper said Mr. Vincent would pay lots of money for the tiny furniture, and if she sold it, then she wouldn’t have to work for Mrs. Rutledge anymore,” Nancy explained. “Mr. Vincent owns the Toys of Time store on Main Street.”