The Dollhouse Mystery Read online

  “Hey! If Olivia sold him the furniture,” George said, “it’s probably in Toys of Time right now.”

  Nancy shut her notebook. “Let’s go!” she said excitedly.

  Main Street was two blocks away. But when Nancy, Bess, and George reached Toys of Time, Mr. Vincent blocked the door.

  “Sorry,” Mr. Vincent said, his mustache twitching. “Children are not allowed in this store without an adult.”

  “We just want to look around, Mr. Vincent,” Nancy said. She didn’t tell him what they wanted to look for.

  “This is not like that store Toys 4U, where kids can go wherever they please!” Mr. Vincent scoffed. “These toys are very expensive!”

  “All we want to know is if you have a dollhouse here.” George sighed.

  Mr. Vincent puffed out his chest. “Yes, I do!” he said. “I have an old dollhouse filled with tiny furniture!”

  “Where is it?” Nancy gasped.

  Mr. Vincent stepped aside so the girls could peek in. “It’s right behind Freddy the Giant Teddy,” he said.

  Nancy could see dolls with old-fashioned dresses, armies of tin soldiers, red wagons, and a giant teddy bear.

  “Thanks, Mr. Vincent!” Nancy said. They all started to walk inside. “We’ll just look at the dollhouse—”

  “Stop!” Mr. Vincent interrupted. He stepped in front of the girls. “I said no children allowed.”

  “But—,” Nancy began to protest.

  “Come back with your parents,” Mr. Vincent said firmly. “And tell them to bring their wallets!”

  Mr. Vincent slammed the door shut.

  “Phooey!” Nancy said. “Now we’ll never get to look at that dollhouse!”

  “Out of our way! Out of our way!” a kid’s voice shouted.

  Nancy spun around. Six-year-olds Lonny and Lenny Wong were speeding down the block on their scooters. They were twins too. And major pests!

  The girls backed up against the wall. They watched as the twins whizzed by.

  “Hey!” George told Nancy. “I just thought of a way to get inside!”

  “How?” Nancy asked.

  George cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey, Lonny! Lenny!” she yelled. “Mr. Vincent is giving away free Panda Bars inside his store!”

  Nancy watched the twins screech to a stop. She knew they loved Panda ice-cream bars more than anything!

  “Panda Bars?” Lenny shouted.

  “All right!” Lonny cheered.

  George held the door open as the twins scooted inside. Nancy could see Mr. Vincent chasing them around the store!

  “Inside!” Nancy whispered.

  In a flash the girls sneaked into the store and hid behind the giant teddy bear.

  “There is a dollhouse back here!” Bess whispered. She stared at the old dollhouse set on a pedestal. But the rooms were facing the wall.

  “We have to turn the dollhouse all the way around,” Nancy whispered.

  The girls each grabbed a corner of the dollhouse. They grunted as they turned it around on the pedestal.

  Nancy looked inside the dollhouse. The rooms were filled with old-fashioned tiny furniture.

  “Do you see Mrs. Rutledge’s missing furniture?” George asked softly.

  “I’m not sure,” Nancy whispered. “I have to stand back and get a better look.”

  But as Nancy stepped back, she bumped into the giant teddy bear.

  “HELLO!” a voice cried out. “I’M FREDDY! YOUR VERY OWN TEDDY!”

  Nancy froze. What was that?

  “Nancy!” George hissed. “You flipped a switch that made the bear talk!”

  “HELLO! I’M FREDDY—”

  “Oh no!” Nancy whispered. “Now Mr. Vincent will know we’re back here!”

  The girls searched everywhere for another switch. But it was too late!

  “Aha!” Mr. Vincent shouted as he peeked behind Freddy. “Thought you could sneak past me, hmmm?”

  4

  Bow-Wow Bandit

  We had to check out your dollhouse, Mr. Vincent!” Nancy declared.

  “HELLO, I’M FREDDY—”

  “Put a sock in it!” Mr. Vincent told the teddy bear. He gave the bear’s ear three tugs. It stopped talking!

  “So that’s how it works,” George said, smiling. “Your store is neat. Even if most of the stuff is pretty old.”

  “Now!” Mr. Vincent said. “Why did you have to see the dollhouse?”

  Nancy told Mr. Vincent all about the missing furniture. And about Olivia.

  “I wanted to buy Mrs. Rutledge’s dollhouse furniture for years,” Mr. Vincent admitted. “But she would never sell it to me. And Olivia never tried! You can see for yourself,” Mr. Vincent said. He pointed to the dollhouse. “Do you see any of the missing furniture in there?”

  Nancy stared at the dollhouse. The only missing piece she remembered seeing was the tiny striped sofa. How would she know if the other pieces were there? Unless. . . .

  “Mr. Vincent,” Nancy said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to perform a test.”

  Mr. Vincent’s mustache twitched again. “What kind of test?” he asked.

  “A sniff test!” Nancy replied. “Olivia rubs the tiny furniture with lemon oil. So the missing pieces would smell nice and lemony.”

  Mr. Vincent raised an eyebrow. “What are you?” he asked. “Some kid-detective?”

  “The best!” Bess said with a smile. “She’s Nancy Drew!”

  Nancy stepped closer to the dollhouse. She took one long whiff.

  “Not lemony at all,” Nancy declared. “In fact, it smells more like Flakey Wakey cereal!”

  Mr. Vincent cleared his throat.

  George turned to Mr. Vincent. “Did you get your furniture from a cereal box?”

  Mr. Vincent started to blush. “Do you know how much cereal I had to eat just to fill that dollhouse?” he asked.

  “It’s okay, Mr. Vincent,” Nancy said, smiling. “Your secret is safe with us.”

  Mr. Vincent waved the girls out from behind the teddy bear. Then he disappeared behind a pile of game boxes. He came out a few seconds later wearing a pair of weird-looking glasses!

  “Surprise!” Mr. Vincent announced.

  The girls stared at the glasses. The lenses made Mr.Vincent’s eyes look HUGE!

  “What are those?” George asked.

  “They’re Detective Danny Magnifying Glasses!” Mr. Vincent explained. “And I’ll sell them to you for just a nickel.”

  “A nickel?” Nancy asked. “They’ve got to be more expensive than a nickel!”

  “Okay—a penny!” Mr.Vincent said, smiling. “But that’s my final offer.”

  Nancy smiled. She pulled out a penny and gave it to Mr. Vincent. He then handed her the Detective Danny glasses.

  “Thanks!” Nancy said. She looked through the goofy-looking glasses. Everything around her seemed gigantic!

  “Enjoy the glasses, Detective Drew, and next time come with a grown-up,” Mr. Vincent said as he led Nancy, Bess, and George to the door.

  The girls left the Toys of Time store and stood on Main Street.

  “Olivia is no longer a suspect,” Nancy said. She crossed Olivia out of her notebook. “Now it’s just Veronica!”

  “I’ll bet my soccer jersey that she hid the furniture,” George insisted.

  “But we have no evidence against Veronica yet!” Nancy admitted.

  “How’s this for evidence?” George asked. “She’s a BRAT!”

  “Come on, George,” Bess said. “We need to work on our Community Week jobs.”

  Nancy said good-bye to Bess and George. Nancy wanted to go home to talk to her father about the missing dollhouse furniture.

  Mr. Drew was a lawyer. He helped Nancy with her homework and with most of her detective cases.

  “Hi, Daddy!” Nancy said when she got home. She walked into the den wearing the Detective Danny glasses. “What big ears you’ve got!”

  “Big ears?” Mr. Drew looked up from his newspaper. Then
he laughed. “Hey! I had a pair of Detective Danny glasses when I was a kid. Where did you get those?”

  “At Toys of Time,” Nancy answered. “Mr. Vincent sold them to me for only a penny. Why do you think he did that?”

  “Mr. Vincent knows that old toys are special,” Mr. Drew said, “and that they should be shared.”

  “Just like Mrs. Rutledge shared her dollhouse with me.” Nancy sighed. She told her Dad all about the dollhouse and the missing furniture.

  “Would you like me to talk to Mrs. Rutledge, Pudding Pie?” Mr. Drew asked.

  Nancy knew it would help. But she never started a case she didn’t finish.

  “I’m going to do everything I can to catch the real dollhouse robber!” Nancy said. She put the glasses back on. “Even if I have to wear these goofy things!”

  • • •

  “Let’s question Veronica today!” Bess said the next day. She was pushing her wheelbarrow filled with garden tools. The girls were looking for more people to help for Community Week.

  George lugged her bag filled with cans over her shoulder. “Maybe there’s a Detective Danny lie-detector kit,” she said. “Then we could use it on Veronica!”

  Nancy shook her head. “It’s Thursday,” she replied. “Veronica and Vicky aren’t visiting today.”

  They walked up Crescent Street toward Mrs. Rutledge’s house.

  “I really miss walking Baby.” Nancy sighed. She gazed at the big white house. “I wonder what he’s up to.”

  A tiny dog door on the side of the house sprang open. Baby leaped out. He ran around the house toward the backyard.

  “It’s Baby!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “Look at him go!” Bess said.

  “It looked like he had something in his mouth,” George said. “Where’s he going?”

  Bess parked her wheelbarrow next to a tree. George dropped her bag of cans next to it. Then the three girls raced around the house. They looked over a fence into the backyard.

  “Look,” Bess whispered. “Baby is burying something.”

  Nancy watched Baby dig. There were four other little hills of fresh dirt in the yard.

  “Baby already buried four other things,” Nancy whispered.

  “So?” George asked.

  “So do the math,” Nancy whispered. “There were five pieces of missing furniture!”

  Bess and George stared at the yard. Then they stared at Nancy with wide eyes.

  “Ohmigosh!” Bess squealed. “Could the dollhouse robber be Baby?”

  5

  Hide and Sneak

  Baby is just being a dog,” Nancy said. “Whatever he buried, he buried to protect it. Just like the book said.”

  “But why would Baby want to protect tiny dollhouse furniture?” Bess asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nancy admitted. “But first we have to dig up those hills to see what’s underneath.”

  When Baby finished burying he looked up. He scurried over to Nancy and wagged his tail. “Yap, yap, yap!” he barked.

  “Not so loud, Baby,” Nancy murmured. She petted him through the fence. “I’m not allowed to be with you anymore.”

  Baby looked sad as the girls walked away from the Rutledge house.

  “If you’re not allowed to be here, Nancy,” Bess said, “how are we going to dig in the backyard?”

  “I know! We could climb over the fence and dig really fast,” George said excitedly. “I’m good at climbing!”

  Nancy shook her head. “If Mrs. Rutledge or Olivia catch us sneaking into the backyard, we’ll all be in trouble.”

  “I have a better idea!” Bess told Nancy. “Maybe I can plant flowers in Mrs. Rutledge’s backyard. And you can hide in my wheelbarrow!”

  “Hide in the wheelbarrow?” Nancy repeated slowly.

  Bess nodded. “I can wheel you into the backyard. Then you can jump out and start digging!” she said.

  “But what if Mrs. Rutledge sees me back there?” Nancy asked. “Or Olivia?”

  “I can keep them busy by collecting cans,” George offered.

  Nancy thought about it. Hiding in the wheelbarrow seemed a little weird. But it was the only way to get into the backyard!

  “Let’s do it,” Nancy declared.

  Bess yanked everything out of the wheelbarrow and piled it behind a tree. Then Nancy climbed in and covered herself with a dark green blanket.

  “This blanket is dusty!” Nancy said, coughing. “What do you use it for, Bess?”

  “I kneel on it when I plant flowers,” Bess said. “You don’t expect me to get my new gardening overalls dirty, do you?”

  “Give me a break!” George groaned.

  Nancy held on as the wheelbarrow tipped. She could feel Bess pushing it over the bumpy path to Mrs. Rutledge’s door.

  Just then it jerked to a stop.

  From under the blanket Nancy could hear George ringing the doorbell. After a few rings she heard the door squeak open.

  “Yes?” Olivia’s voice asked.

  “Hello,” George said. “My cousin Bess and I are doing community work for our school. I’d like to collect your cans.”

  “And I’d like to plant flowers in your yard,” Bess added. “Your backyard. In about five places!”

  Nancy groaned to herself. Too much information!

  “Sorry, girls,” Olivia said, “but Mrs. Rutledge has a gardener. And I do the recycling in the house.”

  “Wait!” George called. “You would be helping us with our Community Week jobs.”

  “Why, what a wonderful idea!” another voice piped up.

  It’s Mrs. Rutledge! Nancy thought.

  “I wish my granddaughter Veronica would do Community Week.” Mrs. Rutledge sighed. “It would keep her out of mischief.”

  Then Nancy heard Mrs. Rutledge say, “Olivia, let these girls do their jobs!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Olivia said. She led George into the kitchen to collect cans.

  Nancy felt Bess push the wheelbarrow all the way to the backyard. It was a bumpy ride. When it finally stopped, Bess whispered, “The coast is clear, Nancy. You can hop out now!”

  Nancy was glad to throw off the dusty blanket and climb out of the wheelbarrow.

  “Let’s start digging,” Nancy said.

  “With what?” Bess gasped. “I left my tools behind the tree!”

  “Then we’ll use our hands!” Nancy said. She shaped hers to look like paws. “If they’re good enough for Baby, they’re good enough for us!”

  “Woof, woof!” Bess joked.

  Nancy ran to one hill on the ground. Bess ran to another. Then the two started digging quickly with their hands.

  Nancy dug and dug. Then her hand hit something. Something tiny and hard!

  “Bess!” Nancy hissed. “I think I found something!”

  6

  Chew and Clue

  What is it, Nancy?” Bess asked. “Is it the tiny sofa? Or the little table?”

  Nancy brushed aside the dirt. She looked down at the ground and groaned.

  “It’s a dog biscuit!”

  “A what?” Bess cried.

  Nancy picked up the heart-shaped biscuit. “Baby buried his imported English dog biscuit!” she said.

  Nancy and Bess dug up four more dog biscuits. When they were done they sat on the ground.

  “I wonder why Baby would want to protect his dog biscuits,” Bess said.

  Nancy wondered too. Until she remembered the book she had read about dogs.

  “Baby didn’t like Chip eating his biscuits,” Nancy said, “so he probably buried them to keep them from her.”

  Bess breathed a sigh of relief. “So Baby was just being a dog,” she said. “And not a dollhouse robber.”

  Nancy was about to stand up when she heard a voice from inside.

  “Yoo-hoo!” Mrs. Rutledge called out. “How about some nice cold lemonade, young lady?”

  “Wait, Mrs. Rutledge!” George’s voice was saying. “Don’t go back there. Please. I need more help with the cans!
”

  Nancy stared at Bess. “Mrs. Rutledge is coming!” she hissed.

  “Quick!” Bess whispered back. “Get back in the wheelbarrow!”

  Nancy scooped dirt over the biscuits. Then she climbed inside the wheelbarrow and covered herself with the blanket.

  Nancy held her breath and heard Bess say, “H-h-hello, Mrs. Rutledge!”

  “Hello, dear,” Mrs. Rutledge said. “Here’s Olivia with the lemonade.”

  “I hope you like my lemonade,” Olivia said. “Veronica says it tastes like swamp water.”

  “Oh, that Veronica!” Mrs. Rutledge scoffed. “But Vicky loves lemonade!”

  Nancy felt the wheelbarrow shake just a bit. Then she heard a snuffling noise.

  Uh-oh — it’s Baby! Nancy thought. He knows I’m in here!

  “Grrrph,” Baby snuffled. “Grrph!”

  “Baby seems interested in that wheelbarrow,” Mrs. Rutledge said. “What kind of seeds do you have in there?”

  “Urn,” Bess started to say. “Er—”

  “Dogwood!” George blurted. “What dog doesn’t like dogwood trees?”

  Nancy held her breath. Baby was jumping against the wheelbarrow hard!

  “Something isn’t right,” Mrs. Rutledge said. “Why don’t I look inside the wheelbarrow?”

  Oh, no! Nancy thought. When Mrs. Rutledge finds me in here, I’ll be toast!

  “We have to go now!” George blurted.

  “Right away!” Bess agreed.

  “But what about the flowers you were supposed to plant?” Mrs. Rutledge asked.

  “It looks like you didn’t do anything.”

  “I just found out I’m allergic to flowers!” Bess said quickly. “Ah-chooo!”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Rutledge,” George said. “We’ll take a raincheck on that lemonade!”

  The wheelbarrow jerked. Nancy could feel herself being wheeled away—fast!

  “Wait!” Olivia’s voice called out. “You forgot your cans!”

  Nancy held on until the wheelbarrow stopped bumping. Then she heard Bess say, “We’re on the sidewalk, Nancy. You can come out now!”