The Bike Race Mystery Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Bike Mania

  Chapter 2: Missing!

  Chapter 3: A Pink Clue

  Chapter 4: In Search of the Thief

  Chapter 5: Detectives in Pajamas

  Chapter 6: The White Bicycle

  Chapter 7: Brenda to the Rescue

  Chapter 8: The Finish Line

  1

  Bike Mania

  Eight-year-old Nancy Drew strapped on her bike helmet. It was light blue with stickers all over it. “I’m ready to go,” she announced.

  Her best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, put on their bike helmets too. So did Hannah Gruen, the Drews’ housekeeper.

  “I hope I still remember how to ride this thing.” Hannah patted the handlebars of her silver ten-speed bike. “I hardly take it out anymore.”

  “I’ve been practicing on my bike every single day,” Bess said.

  “Me, too,” George piped up.

  “Me, three,” Nancy added. “The big bike race is this Saturday.”

  It was spring break. At the end of the break week, Nancy and her friends planned to compete in a bike race and bike rodeo. The bike rodeo was an obstacle course that kids had to go through on their bikes. Both the race and rodeo were being held by a bike shop called Bike Mania.

  The girls and Hannah were all on their way to Bike Mania now. Today was the last day to sign up for the race and rodeo.

  “Wouldn’t it be so cool if one of us won the grand prize?” George said as she straddled her bike.

  “What’s the grand prize? A million dollars?” Bess said eagerly.

  George cracked up. “No, silly. It’s a brand-new mountain bike.”

  “I wonder what color the mountain bike will be?” Nancy said. She hoped it would be blue. Blue was her favorite color.

  “We’ll find out soon. Come on, girls, let’s hit the road!” Hannah said.

  “Come on, Pink Rocket!” Bess exclaimed.

  “Pink Rocket? Who’s Pink Rocket?” Nancy asked her, puzzled.

  “That’s what she named her bike,” George explained.

  Nancy giggled.

  Hannah pedaled down the Drews’ driveway. The three girls got on their bikes and followed close behind.

  It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining brightly, and there were fluffy white clouds in the air. The yards in Nancy’s neighborhood were filled with daffodils, tulips, and other pretty flowers.

  Bike Mania was on a quiet street halfway between Nancy’s house and downtown River Heights. When Hannah and the girls arrived at the shop, they pedaled through the parking lot that was behind the store. They parked their bikes at the bike rack.

  There wasn’t enough space at the rack for George’s bike, though. So George offered to park her bike in the grass. “It’ll be okay here,” she said to the others.

  Inside the store, customers were checking out rows and rows of shiny new bikes. Nancy went right to the kids’ section. She loved her own bike, which she had gotten for her birthday. But Bike Mania had some really high-tech kids’ bikes. They looked supercool.

  “Check out the frame on this one,” George said, pointing to one of the bikes. “And check out the wheels on that one!”

  “I think the color of a bicycle is the most important thing,” Bess said. “I wish I could have a different color bike for every day of the week!”

  Nancy giggled. Bess and George were so different that sometimes Nancy couldn’t believe they were cousins.

  “Can I help you girls?”

  Nancy glanced up. A man was standing behind the counter. He had curly dark-blond hair that came down to his chin and a thin mustache. He was dressed in a tight red bicycle jersey and matching shorts.

  “Welcome to Bike Mania!” the man said. “I’m Jesse Hamilton. Are you girls looking for a new bike?”

  “Yes! I mean, no,” George replied. “I want to win a new bike. In the race, that is.”

  Mr. Hamilton smiled. “You must be here to sign up for the bike race and rodeo. Step right up, ladies.”

  Nancy and her friends walked up to the counter. Mr. Hamilton handed each of them an entry form and a pen.

  “I’ll need your name, age, school, home address, phone number, your mom or dad’s name, and an adult’s signature,” Mr. Hamilton explained. He winked at Hannah. “I guess that would be yours.”

  Hannah laughed. “Yes.”

  “And I’ll need a five-dollar entry fee from each of you girls,” Mr. Hamilton went on. “You’ll be happy to know it’s for a good cause. All the money I collect from this race will go toward the Re-Cycles program.”

  Hannah reached into her purse and pulled out three five-dollar bills. She handed them to Mr. Hamilton. “What exactly is the Re-Cycles program?” she asked him.

  Mr. Hamilton pointed to a poster on the wall. It had a photo of a blond girl standing next to a red bike. She was wearing bike shorts, a matching jersey, and sunglasses. She was carrying a bike helmet in her arms. Under the photo, a caption said: SPREAD THE JOY OF CYCLING BY RE-CYCLING! There was a Web site address under it.

  “Re-Cycles is a program I run out of this shop,” Mr. Hamilton replied. “We fix up used bicycles so they’re as good as new. Then we donate them to kids in River Heights who can’t afford to buy bikes of their own.”

  “What a great idea!” Hannah exclaimed.

  Mr. Hamilton grinned. “Thanks! Since we started the program, we’ve given away almost fifty bikes. You should check out our Web site. It has a lot of information about our program.”

  “Do you fix up the old bikes all by yourself?” Nancy asked him curiously.

  Mr. Hamilton shook his head. “Nope. Come this way. I’ll introduce you to my special helpers.”

  The girls followed him through a blue door. There was a sign on it with big, hand-painted letters that said PRIVATE!

  They found themselves in a huge room filled with bikes. Some of the bikes were rusty and dented. Others had flat tires. Every single bike had something wrong with it, Nancy noted.

  Then she noticed two kids in the back corner of the room. One of them was a skinny boy with big shoulders and sun-bleached blond hair. Nancy guessed he was twelve or thirteen. The other kid was a girl about Nancy’s age. She had honey-blond hair pulled back with a pink scrunchie and barrettes.

  The boy and the girl were working on the old bikes. They were both wearing white T-shirts and jeans covered with black grease. There were tools all around them on the floor.

  “This is my daughter, Tia,” Mr. Hamilton said, pointing to the girl. “And that’s my son, Slam.”

  “Slam?” George murmured. “What a cool name!”

  “He’s really Stephen, but he doesn’t like to be called that anymore,” Mr. Hamilton explained in a low voice.

  Tia gave Nancy and the others a shy smile. Slam barely looked up from the bike he was working on.

  “Tia and Slam help me fix up all the bikes for the Re-Cycles program,” Mr. Hamilton added.

  “That is so awesome!” Nancy said eagerly “I wish I knew how to fix bikes.”

  “I’ll be happy to teach you, anytime,” Mr. Hamilton told her.

  After saying good-bye to Slam and Tia, Nancy and the others returned to the main part of the store. They finished filling out their forms for the race and rodeo.

  “I can’t wait till Saturday,” George said to Nancy and Bess. “I really, really hope I win!”

  “There’s no way you’re going to win, Fayne!”

  Nancy spun around at the sound of the strange voice. A boy with short black hair was standing nearby. He was wearing silver bike shorts and a black sweatshirt. He had a smirk on his face.

  “Oh, it’s you, Lucas,” George mumbled. She didn’t sound very happy.


  “Do you know this boy?” Hannah asked George.

  George sighed. “Everyone, this is Lucas Wylie. His family just moved across the street from us. He goes to the Winslow School for Boys. Lucas, this is Nancy, Bess, and Ms. Gruen.”

  “Hi,” Lucas said. “Like I was saying, Fayne. There’s no way you’re going to win. Because I’m going to win.”

  George put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Oh, yeah?”

  Lucas grinned. “Yeah!”

  “You want to make a bet?” George asked him. “The winner has to buy the loser whatever they want at the Double Dip!” The Double Dip was the yummiest ice cream parlor in River Heights.

  Lucas nodded. “You’re on! You’d better start saving your money right now, Fayne. Because I’m going to order the biggest hot fudge sundae on the menu!”

  Lucas cracked up and walked away. Nancy watched as he strapped on his bike helmet and left the store.

  “What a jerk!” she said to George.

  “What a superjerk!” Bess agreed.

  George shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as I beat him in the race. And I will!”

  “Okay, girls, why don’t we forget about Lucas?” Hannah broke in. “Let’s give the forms to Mr. Hamilton and get going. Your parents are expecting you home.”

  “Okay, Hannah,” the girls chimed together.

  They handed the forms to Mr. Hamilton and said good-bye. Then they headed out of the store, chatting excitedly about the race.

  “I’m going to practice twice as hard for the rest of the week!” Nancy told her friends.

  “Me, too,” George added. “Plus, I’m going to–”

  She stopped suddenly. “Oh, no!”

  “Oh no, what?” Bess demanded.

  “My bike! It’s gone!” George cried.

  2

  Missing!

  Nancy stared at the spot on the grass where George had left her bike. George was right. It was gone!

  Just then, Nancy saw something out of the corner of her eye. Across the parking lot, there was a red-haired girl riding away on a white bike. The bike looked just like George’s!

  George noticed the red-haired girl too. “That’s my bike!” she shouted.

  Nancy started chasing after the girl on the bike. “Hey! You on the white bike! Stop right there!” she yelled.

  The red-haired girl screeched to a halt and turned around. Nancy, Bess, George, and Hannah caught up to her.

  The girl looked at them and blinked. “Hi. What’s the matter?” she said in a high, breathless voice.

  “You stole George’s bike!” Bess accused her.

  George nodded. “Yeah! That’s my bike!”

  The girl blinked again. “Your bike? Oh! I thought it was one of the bikes for sale. I was taking it for a test drive!” she explained.

  Hannah frowned. “Why did you think it was for sale?”

  The girl shrugged. “I don’t know. It wasn’t parked at the bike rack. And it wasn’t locked up or anything.” She giggled nervously.

  “There wasn’t room for my bike on the rack, and anyway, I forgot my bike lock at home,” George said. “We were just going into the store for a minute.”

  “Oh,” the girl said.

  “So I guess I’ll take my bike back now,” George added.

  The girl giggled again. “Sure. Sorry!”

  She swung her leg over the bike and got off. She paused for a moment before handing the bike over to George.

  “Where’d you get it, anyway?” the girl asked George. “This bike, I mean. They don’t make this model anymore.”

  “It used to belong to my cousin,” George explained. “He gave it to me when he got a new bike.”

  “I’ve been begging my mom and dad for this exact same model.” The girl sighed. “I saw it once in a magazine, and I really love it!” She blinked at George. “You wouldn’t consider selling it, would you?”

  George shook her head. “No way! I really love it too. Besides, it’s my good luck bike. I won a race on it last summer. And I’m going to win the Bike Mania race on it this Saturday!”

  The girl hung her head. “Oh, well. If you ever change your mind, my name’s Marianne Blair.”

  With that, Marianne waved good-bye and took off down the street.

  George turned to Nancy. “That was weird.”

  “Yeah,” Nancy agreed. “But at least you got your bike back!”

  • • •

  “This’ll just take a minute, I promise,” George said. “Then we can head over to the Double Dip for ice cream!”

  It was Tuesday morning. George, Bess, and Nancy had gotten permission to ride over to Bike Mania by themselves.

  George couldn’t find her bike lock anywhere at home. She and her parents had searched all over the garage. But the bike lock was nowhere to be found.

  So Mr. and Mrs. Fayne had given George some money to buy a new bike lock. George had asked Nancy and Bess to come with her.

  At Bike Mania, the bike rack was all filled up again. So the three girls parked their bikes in the grass.

  “I’ll stay out here and guard them, just in case someone else tries to ride them,” Bess offered.

  “Good idea,” Nancy agreed.

  Nancy and George took their helmets off and headed into the store. Inside, the room was packed with customers. Slam was behind the counter, leafing through a magazine. He was wearing a red T-shirt that said BE A BIKE MANIAC!

  Slam glanced up. “Hey,” he said in a bored-sounding voice.

  “Is your dad around?” Nancy asked him.

  Slam shook his head. “He’s out doing some stuff. Can I help you?”

  “I need a new bike lock,” George explained. “Can you show me what you have?”

  “Sure,” Slam replied.

  Slam reached into a case and took out a few bike locks. He began explaining the different kinds to George.

  Just then, Nancy felt someone tap her on the shoulder. “Ahem! I’d like to ask you a few questions,” said a familiar-sounding voice.

  Nancy turned around. It was Brenda Carlton.

  Brenda was in Nancy, Bess, and George’s third-grade class at Carl Sandburg Elementary School. Brenda’s father was the publisher of the River Heights newspaper.

  Nancy always tried to be nice and friendly to Brenda. But Brenda was hardly ever nice and friendly back. In fact, she was usually pretty snooty and mean.

  Nancy noticed that Brenda was holding a small notebook and a pen. “Hi to you, too, Brenda,” Nancy said. “What kind of questions do you want to ask me?”

  Brenda tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulders. “I’m working for my father this week,” she replied. “I’m writing a very, very important article about the bike race.”

  “Oh!” Nancy said, surprised.

  “I’m interviewing all the people in the race,” Brenda added. “You and George and Bess are in it, right? Can I interview you guys?”

  George was still checking out bike locks. She glanced over her shoulder at Brenda. “Sure,” she said. “What do you want to ask us?”

  “Fire away!” Nancy said to Brenda.

  Brenda poised her pen over her pad. “So, Nancy. Are you excited about being in the race?” she asked.

  Nancy smiled. “Definitely!”

  Brenda nodded. “Uh-huh. Are you still going to be friends with George if she beats you?”

  Nancy’s smile turned into a big frown. “Of course! What kind of question is that?”

  Brenda pointed her pen at George. “So, George. Your turn. Have you ever cheated in a race?”

  “What?” George gasped.

  “How far would you go to win this race?” Brenda went on. “Would you cheat? Lie? Mess up someone else’s bike?”

  George put her hands on her hips. “Brenda Carlton! What kind of interview is this?”

  “It’s my job to ask the tough questions, people,” Brenda explained. She turned her pad to a clean page. “Okay, now, where’s Bess?”

&nb
sp; “Outside,” Nancy replied. “But if you ask her more questions like these, she’s not going to answer you, either!”

  Brenda smiled slyly. “We’ll see.” She gave the girls a little wave and headed outside.

  Nancy shook her head. “Can’t she be nice, for once?” she asked George.

  “No way. She’s Brenda Carlton!” George replied.

  George turned her attention back to the bike locks lying on the counter. She finally decided on one and paid Slam for it.

  “Thank you!” George said to him.

  “Sure,” Slam mumbled. He barely looked up from the magazine he was reading.

  Nancy and George went outside to where Bess was guarding their bikes.

  Nancy’s bike was lying in the grass. So was Bess’s bike.

  But Bess was nowhere to be seen. And neither was George’s bike!

  3

  A Pink Clue

  Oh, no! Not again!” George cried.

  “Where’s Bess?” Nancy asked, glancing around.

  “She was supposed to be guarding our bikes!” George moaned. “My bike is gone! It’s been stolen—again!”

  “Maybe Bess just took your bike for a ride,” Nancy said hopefully.

  Just then, Nancy spotted Bess coming down the driveway toward the parking lot. She was not riding George’s bike.

  “Hey!” Bess said, waving.

  “Bess, where were you?” George demanded.

  Bess stopped in her tracks. “What’s the matter? I was talking to Brenda out front. She said she had to interview me about the race. All she did was ask me a bunch of dumb questions, though.”

  “Where is George’s bike?” Nancy asked her.

  Bess frowned. “What do you mean? It’s right here—” She gasped. “Oh, no! Where did it go?”

  “I was right!” George said miserably. “Someone stole it!”

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Bess apologized. “Brenda and I just started walking and talking. I didn’t mean to leave the bikes for so long. I’m so sorry, George!” She looked as though she was about to cry.

  Nancy grabbed George’s arm. “Bess, you stay here with the bikes. Don’t move! George, come on. Maybe the thief is still around here somewhere.”