The Puppy Problem Read online

  “Well, it wasn’t Nancy’s dog,” Bess said quickly. “Nancy didn’t even have a dog then.”

  “Oh, I know that,” Mrs. Ratazchek said with a laugh.

  Hmmm, Nancy thought. The paw prints might be a clue. She could hardly wait to go home and write it all down in her special detective’s notebook.

  They all said good-bye to Mrs. Ratazchek. Then Nancy said good-bye to George and Bess, because it was time for them to go home.

  Holding the leash tightly, Nancy walked her puppy home.

  Suddenly a large tan dog ran out from behind a tree. The dog was dirty and didn’t have a collar on, and it looked kind of lost. Nancy recognized the dog right away. She had seen him running loose in the neighborhood before.

  Nancy’s puppy pulled on her leash, trying to get closer to the stray. But Nancy wouldn’t let her.

  “No, you don’t. No playing with other dogs,” Nancy said. “Not until you have all of your shots.”

  As Nancy watched the big stray cross the street, she got an idea.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Nancy called.

  The big stray dog ignored her.

  I wonder, Nancy thought. Could that be the dog that left paw prints near Mrs. Ratazchek’s car? Was he the food thief?

  No way, Nancy decided. How could a dog carry away a big bag of groceries?

  Nancy hurried home and put her puppy in the backyard.

  “Stay here,” she told her puppy. “I’ll be right back.”

  Then she raced into the house and went up to her room. She took her special blue notebook from her desk. With a pen in one hand and the notebook in the other, she hurried back downstairs to her puppy.

  But as she pushed through the screen door, Nancy gasped.

  There was Ralph Caruso, standing by the back gate. And he had her puppy in his arms!

  4

  Let Go of My Dog!

  Nancy’s heart started to pound. What was Ralph Caruso doing with her puppy?

  She ran up to the burly older man and grabbed his arm.

  “Let go of my dog!” she cried. “Put her down!”

  “I’m not hurting her,” Ralph Caruso said in his deep, gravelly voice. “I just want to look at her.”

  With his thick, muscular hand, Ralph gently scratched the puppy on her neck. Then he set her down in the grass and let her run free.

  “She’s a cute one,” he said, smiling at Nancy.

  “What are you doing here?” Nancy asked.

  “I’m doing some yard work for your father,” Ralph explained. “Mrs. Gruen went to get me a garden hose from the garage.”

  Nancy carefully watched Ralph’s face. He didn’t look as though he was lying. But she was still suspicious. First Ralph was at Mrs. Ratazchek’s house when her food was stolen. Now he was at Nancy’s house on the same day that the muffins were missing!

  Quickly Nancy glanced down at Ralph’s shoes—and his shoelaces. The laces were brown, not black- and white-striped. They didn’t match the clue she had found in the kitchen door.

  “Sorry if I scared you,” Ralph said.

  “That’s okay,” Nancy said. “I was just surprised.”

  With the puppy at her heels, Nancy walked across the yard and sat down under a tree. She opened her special blue notebook and turned to a clean page.

  At the top, she wrote, “The Case of the Missing Muffins.” Under that, she wrote:

  Suspects:

  Ralph Caruso, Sam McCorry,

  Kenny Bruder.

  Then she wrote:

  Clue #1: Broken black-and-white shoelace.

  Clue #2: Crumbs—eaten by my new puppy!

  Clue #3: Wet dog footprints near

  Mrs. Ratazchek’s car.

  Ralph’s shoelaces—brown.

  Kenny—allergic to chocolate.

  Sam—eats a lot!

  Nancy tried to think about all the suspects and clues. But the puppy wouldn’t let her. She kept climbing on Nancy’s lap and licking Nancy’s ear.

  “Down, puppy,” Nancy said.

  Just then Hannah called from the gate. “What are you going to name her?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Nancy said.

  Nancy tore a sheet of paper from her notebook. She made a list of all the names she had thought of.

  Bess liked the names Princess and Lady.

  George had come up with Scamp and Scout. She had also thought of Fudge, since the puppy was a chocolate Lab.

  Nancy had thought up her own names for a chocolate Lab. Her favorite was Cocoa.

  But none of the names sounded just right.

  “How about Muffin?” Hannah said with a twinkle in her eye.

  Nancy shook her head hard. “She didn’t steal your muffins!” Nancy said.

  “Maybe . . . and maybe not,” Hannah teased. “But if the puppy didn’t eat them, who did?”

  • • •

  I need proof, Nancy thought.

  That was the second thing she thought when she woke up the next morning. The first thing she thought about was her new puppy. Nancy could hardly wait to see her and play with her again.

  Nancy hopped out of bed and ran downstairs. It was Saturday—the puppy’s first full day at home.

  “Good morning, Pudding Pie,” Nancy’s father said as Nancy dashed into the kitchen.

  “Hi, Daddy,” Nancy said.

  She hurried into the small room off the kitchen. Nancy unlatched the door of the crate. The puppy jumped up from the blanket. She wagged her tail and came running out of the crate.

  Nancy gave the puppy a fresh bowl of water and some food. Then she knelt down to play with her on the floor.

  “Have you decided on a name yet?” Carson Drew asked.

  “Not yet,” Nancy said as the puppy tried to bite the belt of her bathrobe.

  “How about Pudding Pie Two? You could name her after yourself,” Carson Drew said.

  “Don’t be silly,” Nancy said. “My name’s not Pudding Pie. That’s just your nickname for me.”

  Just then the puppy pulled hard on Nancy’s bathrobe belt.

  “Look! She wants to go to the park,” Nancy said. “So do I.”

  “You can go to the park after breakfast,” Carson answered. “But the puppy can’t. She has to wait until she has all of her shots before she can play with other dogs.”

  After breakfast Nancy put on a pair of blue jeans and tennis shoes and a red T-shirt. Then she put her puppy in the fenced backyard, so it could run around while she was gone.

  When Nancy reached the park, she skipped through the grass, picking dandelions as she went. Then she ran the rest of the way to the swings.

  She had just started to swing when she saw someone—someone who looked like Sam McCorry.

  He was skating near the picnic tables.

  Nancy hopped off the swing and hurried across the park toward the picnic area.

  As she got closer, Nancy saw that a large family had spread out all their food on two tables. But they weren’t eating yet. They were playing Frisbee.

  Just then Sam skated up to one of the picnic tables. In a flash, he grabbed a cookie from a plate. Nancy’s mouth fell open. It was a chocolate chip cookie.

  Then he skated away as fast as he could!

  5

  Chocolate Chips,

  Gone Again!

  Stop! Come back!” Nancy shouted.

  But Sam kept right on skating.

  Nancy ran after him. Sam glanced over his shoulder at Nancy. She saw a sneaky smile on his face.

  Then he popped the whole chocolate chip cookie in his mouth and zoomed out of the park. In an instant he was completely out of Nancy’s sight.

  “What a creep!” Nancy said out loud.

  Nancy glanced back toward the picnic tables. The family had gone back to playing Frisbee. They didn’t seem to care that one of their cookies had been stolen.

  Nancy decided to go home. As she walked, she heard a scratching sound on the sidewalk. Nancy turned and saw the tan stray dog trotting along
behind her. It seemed to be following her.

  “No, no,” Nancy said. “Go away. You can’t come home with me. I already have a puppy.”

  As soon as she spoke to him, the big stray trotted up to Nancy and sniffed her hand.

  “Stay,” Nancy said firmly. She pointed to the dog and said it again. “Stay.”

  Then she crossed the street. She looked behind her. The stray was still sitting on the opposite sidewalk. He seemed to know what “stay” meant.

  Too bad that dog doesn’t have a home, Nancy thought. He seemed like a nice dog, even if he was scruffy looking.

  All of a sudden, a deep, gravelly voice startled her. “Hi, again,” it said.

  “What?” Nancy said. She looked all around. But she couldn’t see anyone!

  “Down here,” the voice said.

  Nancy looked down and saw Ralph Caruso kneeling in the bushes in a neighbor’s yard. He was wearing thick leather gloves and was digging a hole.

  “Oh, hi,” Nancy said, stepping back. “You scared me. What are you doing—burying something?”

  “No,” Ralph said with a laugh. “I’m trying to dig out these weeds for Dave Tang. He hired me to do some yard work. But the weeds are stubborn. They don’t want to come out.”

  Hmmm, Nancy thought as she walked on. This was a very strange day. First she ran into Sam McCorry. Then the stray dog started following her. And now Ralph Caruso seemed to be there every time she turned around.

  It’s almost as if my suspects are following me, Nancy thought.

  When she reached her driveway, Nancy skipped all the way to the backyard.

  “Hi, puppy,” Nancy called. Instantly, the puppy came running.

  Nancy picked her up and cuddled her in her arms. Then she carried her into the house. As soon as she walked in, Nancy noticed that the kitchen smelled good. Hannah was bending over the oven, pulling out a pan of chocolate chip muffins.

  “Mmmm—muffins!” Nancy said.

  “Yes, and don’t let your dog eat them this time,” Hannah scolded in a friendly voice.

  “She didn’t eat them last time,” Nancy protested.

  “Maybe,” Hannah said. “Maybe not.”

  “No fair,” Nancy said. She rubbed noses with the puppy and kissed it on the head. “Don’t listen to Hannah,” Nancy said. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

  But just to be sure, Nancy carried her puppy back outside, far away from the muffins. She didn’t want to take a chance that the puppy might eat one this time. Then Hannah would never stop teasing her about it. And worse, what if the chocolate made her puppy sick?

  For the rest of the day, Nancy played with the puppy. She brushed her, took her for a walk, and played fetch with her.

  “How’s it going?” Carson Drew called from the back gate as Nancy threw a stick for her puppy to chase.

  “Great!” Nancy said. “She seems to know how to fetch things. I didn’t even have to teach her.”

  Nancy’s dad laughed. “That’s because she’s a Labrador retriever,” he said. “All retrievers will fetch. Retrieve means to go get something and bring it back.”

  “That’s so cool,” Nancy said.

  “I think so, too,” Carson said with a smile.

  After dinner Nancy and her father took the dog for another walk. They walked around two blocks, right past the house where Nancy had seen Ralph Caruso digging weeds.

  “Daddy, do you trust Ralph Caruso?” Nancy asked.

  “Sure,” her father said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because he’s always around when food is stolen,” Nancy said.

  She told her father about the groceries that were stolen from Mrs. Ratazchek’s car. And about how Ralph Caruso had been at the Drews’ house right after the muffins were taken.

  “Oh, that doesn’t mean anything,” her father said.

  “I know, but—” Nancy started to say.

  But just then she heard a noise coming from behind Dave Tang’s house.

  Nancy froze. A chill ran down her back. Then she heard the noise again.

  “What’s that?” Nancy said.

  “I don’t know,” Carson Drew said. “It sounded like a scream!”

  6

  The Burger Burglar

  That scream came from Dave Tang’s backyard,” Carson Drew said. He and Nancy rushed toward the gate in back.

  “Hello, Dave?” Carson called. “Everything okay?”

  Dave Tang looked up and waved with the spatula he had in his hand.

  Then he walked over to the gate to talk to Nancy and her dad.

  “Hi, Carson. Hi, Nancy,” Dave said. “You won’t believe this, but someone just stole four hamburgers—right off my picnic table!”

  “Really?” Nancy said. Her eyes lit up. She couldn’t believe it. More food was missing—and right on her block, too.

  “What happened?” Nancy’s father asked.

  “I was cooking hamburgers on the grill,” Dave said. “I put four of them on a plate and set it on the picnic table. Then I went into the house to get the salad. When I came outside again, they were gone.”

  “Probably some stray dog ate them,” Carson said.

  “No way,” Dave said. He pointed with his spatula. “I’ve got a fence around the whole yard. And the gate was closed. A dog couldn’t get in here.”

  “What about Ralph Caruso?” Nancy said.

  “What about him?” Dave asked.

  “Well, I saw him here earlier today. I thought maybe he stole the food,” Nancy said. But she blushed when she said it. It felt strange to accuse someone of stealing when she didn’t have any proof.

  “I don’t think so,” Dave said, shaking his head. “Ralph’s very trustworthy. Besides, he went home on the bus hours ago.”

  Nancy’s father laughed and shook his head. “Well, it sure is a mystery.” he said. “And you know my daughter—she loves a good mystery. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had it solved by tomorrow.”

  Dave smiled. “That’ll be a little too late,” he said. “We want dinner tonight.”

  All the way home Nancy was quiet. She was thinking hard about the missing burgers.

  “I know!” Nancy said, just as she and her father reached their house.

  “What?” her father asked.

  “The house behind Dave’s,” Nancy said. “That’s where Laura McCorry lives.”

  “So? You think Laura stole the hamburgers?” Carson asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  “No,” Nancy said. “I think her big brother, Sam, did. Let’s go back to see if Sam is home.”

  “Not now,” Carson said. “It’s too late. You’ll have to do your detective work tomorrow.”

  • • •

  Nancy could hardly wait to get out of the house the next morning. She jumped out of bed and ate breakfast quickly. Then she got dressed.

  But before she left the house, she opened her detective’s notebook. She made a list of all the reasons why Sam McCorry was her best suspect.

  Nancy wrote:

  1. He was seen outside Mrs. R’s house the day the groceries were stolen.

  2. He stole a chocolate chip cookie, which proves he likes chocolate chips. (Did he steal chocolate chip muffins, too?)

  3. His house is right behind Dave Tang’s house, where the burgers were stolen.

  4.

  Nancy couldn’t think of anything for number 4, so she left it blank.

  After that, she hurried downstairs and attached the red leash to her puppy’s red collar.

  “Where are you going so early?” Hannah asked as Nancy and the puppy headed toward the kitchen door.

  “To Laura McCorry’s house,” Nancy said. “I’m still trying to solve the case of the missing muffins. Only now it’s three muffins, a bag of groceries, and four hamburgers hot off the grill—and a chocolate chip cookie.”

  “Oh,” Hannah said. “Well, maybe your puppy isn’t the thief after all.”

  “Of course not,” Nancy said. “She couldn’t st
eal all that food.”

  “I know,” Hannah said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have accused her. I guess I was just a little nervous about having a new pet in the house.”

  “That’s okay,” Nancy said. Then she hurried toward the door.

  She led her puppy outside. Outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, the puppy jumped up with excitement. She wagged her tail and licked Nancy’s leg.

  Nancy giggled. It was so much fun having a dog!

  When Nancy got to Laura’s house, she stood on the sidewalk for a moment.

  Then she ducked down low and crept up the driveway to the McCorrys’ backyard.

  I wonder how easy it is to climb over the fence into the Tangs’ backyard, Nancy thought.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” a voice behind Nancy said.

  Nancy jumped. Her dog barked. Laura McCorry was standing behind them on the back patio.

  “Oh, uh, hi,” Nancy said.

  “What are you doing in our backyard?” Laura repeated.

  Nancy’s face turned red. She thought for a minute. Could she come up with a good reason for snooping around?

  Oh, well, Nancy decided. She might as well tell Laura the truth.

  Quickly she explained about the food thief. And about the shoelace. And how she had seen Sam steal a chocolate chip cookie in the park.

  “So I wanted to spy on your brother,” Nancy admitted. “I wanted to see if any of his shoes or skates have black-and-white laces in them.”

  Laura narrowed her eyes. “Really? Is that what you’re doing here?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy said.

  “Great!” Laura said, clapping her hands together. “I’ll help you. It sounds like fun!”

  Nancy giggled.

  “Come on,” Laura said. “Sam’s not home. We can sneak up to his room.”

  “But what about my dog?” Nancy asked.

  “Oh, you can tie her up out here on the back patio,” Laura said.

  Nancy gave her puppy a quick hug. “Be good,” she said.

  Then she quickly tied the leash around the leg of a lounge chair. She and Laura hurried into the house. Quietly they crept up the stairs to the second floor. Sam’s room was at the end of the hall.