Double Take Read online

  Catch that thief!

  “Some evil thief stole my hoodie. I have an idea. I’ll hire the three of you to find my hoodie!” Nadine said suddenly. “How long do you think it will take?”

  Nancy glanced at George and Bess, who both nodded yes. “We’ll accept your case,” she said.

  “If you want to find your hoodie fast, Nadine, then you need to hire real detectives,” someone said.

  Nancy, George, Bess, and Nadine all looked around to see who had spoken. Deirdre was standing behind them on the sidewalk, along with Madison and Kendra.

  “Real detectives? What are you talking about?” Nadine asked Deirdre curiously.

  “I’m taking about me, Madison, and Kendra. We’re the Klue Krew, and you should hire us instead of these inexperienced amateurs,” Deirdre said, pointing to Nancy, George, and Bess.

  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

  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

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Text copyright © 2009 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2009 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 related logos are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1–866-248–3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2008932982

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-9581-4

  ISBN-10: 1-4169-9581-1

  Visit us on the Web:

  http://www.SimonandSchuster.com

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE: FASHION SHOW AND TELL

  CHAPTER TWO: MISSING!

  CHAPTER THREE: TOO MANY DETECTIVES

  CHAPTER FOUR: BREAKING NEWS

  CHAPTER FIVE: A RANDOM NOTE

  CHAPTER SIX: KOPY KATS

  CHAPTER SEVEN: MYSTERY SOLVED?

  CHAPTER EIGHT: TOO MANY HOODIES

  CHAPTER NINE: TWO MORE LOCKERS

  CHAPTER TEN: AND THE WINNER IS…

  Double Take

  CHAPTER ONE

  Fashion Show and Tell

  “Check out my new jeans,” Deidre Shannon said. She stood up and twirled around like a fashion model.

  Nancy Drew glanced at Deirdre’s jeans. The paint flecks were a mixture of white and pale pink and baby blue.

  “Did you spill paint on them in art class?” Bess Marvin asked Deirdre curiously.

  Deirdre rolled her eyes. “Uh, no. They came this way. And they’re way more expensive than jeans that aren’t splattered with paint.” She pointed to the ones Nancy was wearing. “You know—like those?”

  Nancy tried to hide her smile. Typical Deirdre! She always liked to brag that she had the best or the fanciest stuff.

  Nancy and Bess were eating lunch in the school cafeteria with George Fayne. Deirdre was at the next table, along with Madison Foley and Kendra Jackson. The air was filled with the yummy smells of today’s specials: chili, chicken nuggets, and Tater Tots.

  “I guess I could just spill some paint on my jeans,” George piped up as she nibbled on a chicken nugget. “Then everyone would think I had super-cool jeans like yours, Deirdre.”

  “Ha ha, Georgia,” Deirdre said, using George’s full name. George made a face at Deirdre. She didn’t like being called Georgia.

  Nancy, George, and Bess were best friends. George and Bess were also cousins, although it wasn’t always easy for people to tell. George had brown hair and brown eyes, while Bess had blond hair and blue eyes. George was into sports, while Bess loved fashion.

  “Well, you’re not the only one with new clothes, Deirdre,” Bess said. She leaned back in her chair and kicked up her feet. “Check out my new boots!”

  “Cool red boots,” Madison remarked as she popped a Tater Tot into her mouth. Deirdre glared at Madison. “I mean…they’re okay…I guess,” Madison revised quickly.

  “Actually, they’re magenta,” Bess corrected Madison. “Magenta is like red mixed with purple.”

  “And speaking of purple…check out my new headband,” Nancy said, touching her hair. “I got it at the mall last weekend.”

  “Headbands are so last week,” Deirdre said. “Right, Kendra?”

  “Huh?” Kendra said, looking startled. “Uh, right, Deirdre. Whatever you say.”

  Just then, Nadine Nardo walked up to the girls, carrying a tray. “Are you guys talking about clothes?” she said excitedly. “Because guess what? You’ll never believe it!”

  “What is it, Nadine?” Deirdre said. She faked a yawn.

  Nadine set her tray down on Nancy’s table. “I took it off before lunch period because I didn’t want to spill anything on it,” she explained. She pulled something out of her backpack and slipped it on. “Ta-da!” she cried out. She threw her arms out wide and blew air kisses, like a celebrity.

  Nadine was wearing a brand-new pink hoodie. But it wasn’t just a regular hoodie. There was a special heart design on the back of it, made of silver sequins. In the center of the heart were some words, also in silver. It looked like someone’s autograph.

  Nancy squinted. The name was Lila…or Lola…

  Bess gasped. “Oh my gosh! Is that the new Lula Rappaport hoodie, Nadine?”

  Nadine beamed proudly. “Isn’t it awesome?”

  “You mean Lula Rappaport, the actress?” Madison gushed. “I read an article in Teen Style magazine that she just started designing clothes. I can’t believe you have one of her hoodies, Nadine.”

  Deirdre glared at Madison again. Madison turned bright red.

  “Where did you even buy that, Nadine?” Kendra asked her. “Aren’t those hoodies really hard to get?”

  “My aunt Chloe got it for me for my birthday,” Nadine replied. “Aunt Chloe is a friend of a friend of a friend of Lula Rappaport’s publicist.”

  “Publi-what?” George said.

  “Publicist,” Deirdre said. “Publicists work for the stars. They make sure they get their names in magazines and stuff.” She flipped her dark hair over her shoulders. “I know because my dad deals with stars all the time, for his job. He’s way more important than your aunt Whoever, Nadine.”

  Deirdre’s father was the publisher of the local newspaper, the River Heights Bugle. Nancy wasn’t sure if Deirdre was exaggera
ting about him dealing with stars “all the time.” Probably, knowing Deirdre.

  “In fact, Daddy is getting me the exact same Lula Rappaport hoodie right this second,” Deirdre went on, studying her nails. “He’s also getting me some other stuff from Lula’s new fashion line. Like her new pink velvet boots. They’re way cooler than your majento boots, Bess.”

  Bess frowned. “They’re magent-a!”

  Nadine was about to say something. But a voice interrupted her.

  “Hey, Nadine. New outfit?”

  All the girls turned in the direction of the voice. Antonio Elefano was walking toward them, carrying a tray. Nancy could see steam rising from a bowl of flaming-red chili and about twenty little packages of crackers.

  Antonio was a boy in Nancy’s third-grade class. He was famous for pulling pranks and causing trouble. He was also famous for taking stuff that didn’t belong to him—like extra packages of crackers, when the cafeteria lady wasn’t looking.

  Nadine smiled uncertainly at Antonio. “Um…yeah. It’s my new Lula Rappaport hoodie.”

  “It’s pretty awesome,” Antonio said with a mischievous grin. “Can I try it on? Just kidding. Oops!”

  Antonio tripped, losing his balance right in front of Nadine. His backpack slipped off his shoulders. His tray began tipping.

  Nancy and the other girls gasped in horror. In about two seconds, Antonio’s bowl of flaming-red chili would spill all over Nadine’s brand-new hoodie!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Missing!

  Nadine screamed. Her new pink hoodie was about to get sprayed with Antonio’s chili!

  But at the very last second, Antonio miraculously regained his balance and stood up straight. He saw the look of fear on Nadine’s face and started cracking up.

  “I fooled you, didn’t I?” he said, setting his tray down on Nancy’s table with a loud thunk.

  Nadine gasped. “You mean you were just pretending to trip?”

  “Ha-ha,” Antonio crowed.

  “That is so mean,” Bess scolded him. “You’re going to get into big trouble, Antonio!”

  Antonio smirked. “For what? For not spilling chili all over Nadine’s new pink thing? I don’t think so.”

  Nancy glanced down at the floor. During Antonio’s pretend-tripping incident, his backpack had slipped off his shoulders. His stuff was all over the floor, including his pencils, pens, notebooks, and comic books. There was some math homework with lots of red marks on it, too—and a spelling test, also with red marks.

  Nancy bent down to pick up the spelling test, which was right next to her feet. But Antonio swooped down and grabbed it before she could.

  “That’s mine,” he said huffily. He stuffed the spelling test and the rest of his belongings into his backpack. Then he picked up his tray. “Later, losers,” he called over his shoulder.

  “He is so evil,” George said after Antonio had gone.

  “Super evil,” Bess echoed.

  “Super-super evil,” Nadine agreed. She took off her hoodie hastily and put it back inside her backpack. “I’m keeping it in there for the rest of the day, away from Antonio and his flying bowls of chili. That was way too close.”

  “Last one dressed is a rotten egg!” someone shouted. A wave of girls ran into the girls’ locker room, screaming and laughing.

  “No running!” the gym teacher, Mr. Wilson, called out. “Everyone, please walk!”

  Nancy, Bess, George, and all the other girls slowed down as they squeezed through the doorway. Gym class was over, and it was the end of the day. They had had fun playing dodgeball outside in the warm sun. Now it was time to get changed and go home.

  Inside the locker room, all the girls rushed to their lockers. Things were kind of a mess, though. There were clothes strewn all over the floor from before class, when everyone had been in a huge hurry to get changed for gym.

  Nancy stepped over a pile of skirts, jeans, and T-shirts and walked over to locker #9. She remembered that she was using locker #9 today because the number 9 was the same as the month of September. She opened her locker; her jeans and purple top were hanging neatly on hooks, and her backpack and shoes were lined up at the bottom. She was glad her things weren’t all over the floor, like some of the other girls’.

  Nancy started to change, then noticed that Nadine was changing a couple of lockers over. Nancy gave her a small wave. “Are you still mad at Antonio for what he did at lunch?” she called out.

  Nadine nodded, her eyes blazing. “He almost ruined my Lula Rappaport hoodie! I’ll never, ever forgive him!” she said dramatically. Nadine wanted to be an actress when she grew up, so she was always saying things in a theatrical way.

  As if on cue, a girl with long, curly red hair walked up to Nadine and tapped her on the shoulder. Nancy recognized her. It was Violet Keeler, a new girl in their class.

  “Hey, Nadine? I heard through the grapevine that you have the new Lula Rappaport hoodie,” Violet said eagerly. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the world’s biggest Lula fan. In fact, check out this T-shirt. I made it myself.”

  Violet unzipped her sweatshirt to reveal a white T-shirt. The words LULA ROCKS had been stenciled across the front of it, in pink.

  “That’s a cool T-shirt,” Nancy said.

  “Definitely,” Nadine agreed. She sat down on a bench and pulled on a pair of yellow polka-dot socks.

  Violet tapped Nadine on the shoulder again. “Hey, Nadine? I was wondering. Could I buy your Lula hoodie from you? I’ve looked for it everywhere, but I can’t find it. I’ll give you my life’s savings for it. I have twenty-one dollars and fifty-eight cents. No, twenty-one fifty-nine. Plus I have a twenty-five-dollar savings bond that my grandparents gave me. You can cash it in for twenty-five dollars in like five years.”

  Nadine shrugged apologetically. “Thanks, but I can’t sell my hoodie. It was a present from my aunt Chloe, and it’s, like, my favorite piece of clothing that I own.”

  Violet looked disappointed. She thought for a moment. “Then could I just kind of borrow it? For my birthday party, which is going to have a really, really awesome Lula theme? It’s in three weeks, and if you let me borrow it, I would totally invite you and make you the guest of honor and everything.”

  Nadine shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” She added, “But I check out clothes websites a lot. I’ll let you know if I see the Lula hoodie somewhere.”

  Violet frowned. “Oh…okay. I guess,” she mumbled. She sounded disappointed.

  Nancy watched as Violet took off. She hadn’t known that Violet was such a big Lula Rappaport fan!

  “Let’s go to my house,” Nancy suggested.

  “No, let’s go to my house,” Bess said. “My mom baked toffee brownies yesterday. Yum!”

  “No, let’s go to my house,” George said. “I want to show you guys this cool new computer game I got. It’s called Revenge of the Beastly Bunnies!”

  The three of them were standing in front of the school, trying to decide whose house to go to. The air was crisp, and the leaves were just starting to turn gold and red. Nearby, some kids were getting on the bus. Some kids were being picked up by their parents or their sitters. And some kids, like them, were getting ready to walk home by themselves. Nancy was allowed to walk to and from school without grown-ups, since it was less than five blocks from her house.

  “Maybe we should flip a coin,” Bess suggested. “Except we would need a three-sided coin to decide between our three houses!” She giggled.

  Just then, Nadine came rushing up to them. Her face was flushed, and she looked upset.

  “Nadine, what’s the matter?” Nancy asked her.

  “I have the most awful, horrible news in the world!” Nadine burst out. “My Lula Rappaport hoodie is missing!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Too Many Detectives

  “What? Are you sure?” George asked Nadine.

  “Yes, I’m sure! Some evil thief stole my hoodie. He’s probably selling it on the Internet
right this minute!” Nadine cried out. “Or maybe it’s a she. Or maybe it’s a he and a she,” she added.

  Nancy thought for a moment. “When was the last time you saw your hoodie, Nadine?”

  Nadine considered this. “I saw it in my backpack right before gym class. I remember, because I had to dump everything out to find my gym shorts.”

  “And when did you notice it was missing?” Nancy asked.

  “About five minutes ago. I was at my cubby getting ready to go home. I wanted to wear my hoodie, so I looked for it in my backpack…and it wasn’t there!” Nadine’s eyes shimmered with tears.

  “Are you totally and absolutely positive that you didn’t take it out of your backpack or something?” Bess asked her.

  “Totally, absolutely, one-hundred-percent positive,” Nadine replied. “That means the thief must have stolen it during gym class!”

  A bunch of kids raced past them to make the bus. Nancy wondered if any of them—if any of her classmates—could have taken Nadine’s hoodie. Taking other people’s stuff was wrong and mean. On the other hand, maybe Nadine had simply left her hoodie somewhere, and she had forgotten?

  “I have an idea. I’ll hire the three of you to find my hoodie!” Nadine said suddenly. “How long do you think it will take? Do you charge a lot of money?”

  Nancy, George, and Bess were members of a detective club called the Clue Crew. They had solved lots of mysteries—everything from finding a missing snowman to catching a chick-napper. They were really good at searching for clues and interviewing suspects.

  Nancy glanced at George and Bess, who both nodded yes. Nancy turned to Nadine. “We’ll accept your case. And we don’t charge any money,” she said. “I’m not sure how long it will take, though. It depends on how complicated the case is.”