The Dollhouse Mystery Read online

  The dusty blanket fell off as Nancy straightened up. She felt woozy as she climbed out.

  “All that for a bunch of dog biscuits,” Nancy groaned.

  “And we didn’t even get to drink that lemonade.” Bess sighed.

  The girls found the pile of gardening tools Bess had left behind a tree. They reloaded the wheelbarrow.

  “What should we do next?” Bess asked.

  “Let’s head to the Double Dip,” Nancy said. Her head was still spinning from the bumpy ride. “I need an ice-cream break!”

  The girls walked to their favorite ice cream parlor on Main Street. On the way they saw lots of kids from school working on their Community Week projects.

  “How do you like our masterpiece?” Kyle Leddington called. He and Peter DeSands were painting benches dark green.

  Mari Cheng was delivering groceries on her bike. Even Jason Hutchings, David Berger, and Mike Minelli had a job. They were scraping gum off the sidewalk.

  “It’s a yucky job!” Jason bragged. He pretended to flex his arm muscle. “But somebody’s got to do it!”

  “Yeah!” George called. “Especially since most of the gum was yours!”

  Nancy giggled. The boys were the biggest troublemakers in her class.

  Then Nancy saw their friend Katie Zaleski walking toward them. She had a strawberry ice-cream cone in one hand, and her pet parrot Lester was sitting on her shoulder.

  “Hi, guys!” Katie called. She didn’t notice Lester pecking at her ice cream.

  “Hi, Katie!” Nancy said. “What kind of Community Week job do you have?”

  “I just started walking this dog named Baby,” Katie said.

  “That used to be my job,” Nancy said.

  “I wish it still was,” Katie groaned. “I’ve been walking Baby since Wednesday and I hate it!”

  “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “Baby yaps all the time,” Katie replied. “And Mrs. Rutledge’s granddaughter Veronica taught Lester a bad word.”

  “Doodlehead! Doodlehead! Arrrk!” Lester squawked.

  “See?” Katie asked. “And Baby chews on furniture, too.”

  “He does?” Nancy asked. She couldn’t remember seeing Baby chew on Mrs. Rutledge’s furniture.

  “I’ll show you,” Katie said. “I have the sofa in my pocket.”

  “How can you have a sofa in your pocket?” Bess laughed.

  Katie dug into her jacket pocket and said, “Because it’s a teeny-tiny sofa!”

  Nancy stared at Katie.

  “Did you say ‘teeny-tiny sofa’?”

  7

  In a Jam

  Check it out,” Katie said. She pulled a tiny striped sofa from her pocket and held it up. “I saw Baby chewing on it when I walked him on Wednesday. It looks like it’s from some kind of dollhouse.”

  Nancy stared at the sofa. It had the same blue and white stripes as the missing sofa. And legs shaped like animal paws!

  “It’s the missing sofa,” Nancy exclaimed. “I know it is!”

  Katie looked confused. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?” she asked.

  Nancy told Katie everything. She told her about the missing furniture and about how Veronica accused Nancy of stealing it.

  “I wonder if the tiny sofa smells lemony,” Bess said.

  “It probably smells like dog breath!” Katie groaned. “I didn’t want Baby to swallow it so I put it in my pocket. But I forgot to give it back to Mrs. Rutledge.”

  Nancy held out her hand. “Can you lend me the sofa for a day, Katie? I need it as evidence,” she said.

  “Sure.” Katie handed Nancy the tiny sofa. “But take real good care of it. Or else I’ll lose my job too!”

  “You already lost your ice cream!” Bess giggled. She pointed to Katie’s half-eaten ice-cream cone.

  “What?” Katie cried. She looked at her ice-cream cone, then at Lester. “Bad parrot! Bad parrot!”

  “Doodlehead!” Lester squawked. “Doodlehead! Arrrk!”

  Katie rolled her eyes. “I’d better have a talk with Lester,” she said. “See you later!”

  After Katie walked away, Nancy jumped up and down. “Yippee!” she cheered. “Baby found one of the missing pieces!”

  “But where was it?” Bess asked.

  Nancy studied the tiny sofa. It didn’t have dirt or grass stains on it.

  “Whoever stole the sofa probably hid it inside the house,” Nancy decided. “So the four other pieces must be there too.”

  “Let’s examine the little sofa real close,” George suggested. “Maybe we can find some more clues.”

  The three girls ran to a nearby bench. They sat down side by side.

  “Okay,” Nancy said. She held up the striped sofa. “What do you see?”

  “A tiny sofa!” Bess said, smiling.

  “No duh!” George groaned.

  Nancy examined the sofa for evidence. But it was too tiny. “I wish I had my magnifying glass,” she said.

  Then Nancy remembered the Detective Danny glasses. They were folded inside her back pocket!

  “I knew these would come in handy one of these days,” Nancy said, pulling out the glasses. She put them on and studied the sofa. It didn’t look so tiny anymore!

  “I see teeth marks,” Nancy said. “Probably from Baby.”

  “Or Veronica!” George joked.

  Nancy looked closer. She saw a stain on the cushion. An orange stain.

  “I wonder where that orange stain came from,” Nancy said.

  She opened her notebook and wrote down all of the orange things they could think of: orange juice, sweet potatoes, carrots, and tangerines.

  “Baby wouldn’t eat any of that stuff,” Nancy pointed out.

  “So whoever took the tiny sofa took it with messy hands,” Bess decided.

  Nancy looked up. The word “messy” made her think of one person—Veronica!

  “Mrs. Rutledge said that Veronica’s hands are always messy,” Nancy said. “I even saw her wipe them on her dress!”

  “That is messy!” Bess cried.

  “Maybe Veronica had orange stuff all over her hands when she took the sofa!” George pointed out.

  Nancy held the sofa carefully. She still wasn’t sure how the stain had gotten there. But she was going to find out!

  “We have to go to Mrs. Rutledge’s house tomorrow to talk to Veronica,” Nancy decided, “face-to-face!”

  Just then Kyle Leddington walked over. He was carrying a cardboard sign under his arm.

  “Hi, Kyle,” Nancy said, smiling. “What’s that?”

  Kyle didn’t smile back. “It’s. . . . a sign,” he said. “I forgot to hang it up.”

  “What does it say?” Bess asked.

  Kyle flipped the sign over. It read WET PAINT!

  “Eeeek!” the girls shrieked. They jumped up and whirled around. Their backs were covered with dark green paint!

  “Yuck!” Nancy cried.

  “S-sorry!” Kyle stammered. Then he turned and ran away.

  “Oh no!” Bess groaned. “My brand-new spring pants are ruined.”

  “Now we found four stains!” George chuckled. “One on the tiny sofa —and three on us!”

  Nancy forced herself to smile.

  “Yeah,” she said. “But at least one of the stains was a clue!”

  • • •

  “What if Veronica won’t talk to you, Nancy?” Bess asked the next day.

  Nancy rang Mrs. Rutledge’s doorbell. Her detective notebook and the tiny sofa were in her pink waistpack. “She will when I show her the tiny sofa,” she said. “And the messy stain!”

  Olivia opened the door. She was rubbing one of her eyes with her fist.

  “What happened, Olivia?” Nancy asked.

  “That Veronica!” Olivia spat. “I was serving tea, and she squirted me in the eye with a lemon!”

  Nancy smiled to herself. At least Veronica was in the house!

  “May we speak to Veronica, please?” Nancy asked. “It’s very
important.”

  Olivia blinked her sore eye. “You aren’t allowed to come back,” she said. “But maybe you can keep Veronica busy and out of trouble for a few minutes!”

  Olivia stepped away from the door. “Come in and wait in the sitting room,” she said. “And I’ll get Miss Veronica.”

  The girls filed into Mrs. Rutledge’s house. Bess and George looked around.

  “Wow!” Bess gasped. “This house is a mansion. Just like in the movies!”

  “I’ll bet it does have gold toilet seats!” George exclaimed.

  Nancy led Bess and George to the sitting room.

  “There’s the dollhouse!” Bess gasped. She ran to it. “It’s beeeeeautiful!”

  Nancy looked at the tea table. There was a plate of yummy-looking scones and a small jar of jam. Nancy read the label on the jar: KINGSLEY’S ORANGE MARMALADE.

  Orange Marmalade?

  So that’s what marmalade was. It was orange jam!

  I wonder if the orange stain came from marmalade, Nancy thought. She pulled the tiny sofa from her waistpack. But before she could match the stain—

  “Hey, Nancy!” George called. “Check it out!”

  Nancy spun around. George was sitting on Baby’s brass dog bed!

  “George, get off,” Nancy scolded. “That’s Baby’s bed!”

  “You mean that little dog has such a fancy bed?” Bess asked.

  George stood up. “Fancy-shmancy!” she said. “That bed is totally lumpy.”

  “Lumpy?” Nancy asked. She handed Bess the tiny sofa. Then she knelt by the bed and ran her hand over the velvety cushion.

  “It does feel lumpy,” Nancy said.

  “That’s weird,” Bess said. “Mrs. Rutledge wouldn’t let her precious Baby sleep on a lumpy bed.”

  Nancy stared at the dog bed. “Unless,” she said slowly, “there’s something underneath that’s making it lumpy!”

  8

  Ready, Set, Play!

  Quickly Nancy lifted the. cushion and gasped. Underneath was a tiny table, bed, dresser, and chair!

  “Ohmigosh!” Nancy cried. “It’s the rest of the missing furniture!”

  “What are you doing?” a voice snapped.

  Nancy jumped up and whirled around. Veronica was standing at the door. Nancy knew it was Veronica because her knees were dirty.

  “You’re not allowed in here!” Veronica sneered. “You’re the dollhouse robber!”

  “Olivia let us in fair and square, Veronica,” Nancy said. She stepped away from the dog bed. “And it’s a good thing she did, because look what we found!”

  Veronica looked at the tiny furniture. Her mouth dropped wide open.

  “How did that get there?” she asked.

  Bess held up the tiny sofa. “Why don’t you tell us, Veronica?” she asked.

  Nancy scooped up all of the furniture. It all had orange stains.

  “I didn’t hide the furniture!” Veronica insisted. “You’re nuts!”

  Then she ran out of the room.

  “Stop her!” George shouted.

  The girls dropped all of the tiny furniture on Baby’s bed. They raced out of the room and chased Veronica down a long hallway.

  Veronica reached the end of the hall and skidded around a corner. Nancy and her friends were about to do the same until Vicky popped out of a doorway—SLAM!

  Nancy bumped right into Vicky. She felt something crunch against her chest.

  Something wet and sticky!

  Nancy looked down. Her shirt had a big orange stain on it. So did Vicky’s.

  “Yuck!” Nancy said.

  “My fault,” Vicky said. She scraped a piece of crushed toast from her shirt. “I shouldn’t eat and walk at the same time.”

  “And I shouldn’t run in the house,” Nancy admitted. She stared at the bright orange stain on Vicky’s shirt. It was the exact same color as the sofa stain!

  “Is that marmalade?” Nancy asked.

  Vicky smiled and nodded. “Veronica doesn’t eat marmalade,” she said. “So I get to eat all of it. Am I lucky or what?”

  Vicky gave a little wave. Then she walked up the hall and turned the corner.

  Nancy turned to Bess and George.

  “The stains on the furniture were orange marmalade!” she said excitedly.

  “So?” George asked.

  “Veronica never eats marmalade,” Nancy said, “but Vicky does!”

  “Nancy!” Bess gasped. “Are you saying the stains came from Vicky’s hands?”

  “Vicky’s so nice,” George said. “Why would she hide the dollhouse furniture?”

  Nancy wasn’t sure. Until she saw a box of dog biscuits next to Baby’s bed.

  “Baby hid his biscuits so Chip couldn’t eat them,” Nancy said. “Maybe Vicky hid the furniture so I couldn’t play with it.”

  Nancy called to Vicky. She came into the sitting room wearing a clean blouse. But when Vicky saw the tiny furniture on Baby’s bed her mouth dropped open.

  “Y-y-you found it!” Vicky stammered. She looked scared.

  “Vicky?” Nancy asked. “All of the missing furniture pieces had orange stains on them. And you love orange marmalade.”

  Vicky stared at Nancy. “I didn’t hide the furniture!” she said. “I didn’t!”

  “There’s Nancy, Grandma!” Veronica’s voice shouted. “The dollhouse robber!”

  Nancy spun around. Veronica was storming into the room with Mrs. Rutledge. Olivia was right behind them.

  “Nancy!” Mrs. Rutledge said with a frosty voice. “You weren’t supposed to come back here.”

  “Maybe she came back to steal more furniture, Grandma!” Veronica sneered. She pointed to Bess and George. “And this time she brought help!”

  Nancy stepped up to Mrs. Rutledge.

  “Bess and George are helping me find the missing furniture, Mrs. Rutledge,” she said. “Not steal it!”

  “Nancy’s a detective,” George declared. “And look what she found!”

  “Ta-daa!” Bess sang. She waved her hand toward Baby’s bed and the furniture.

  “The furniture!” Olivia gasped.

  “Oh, my!” Mrs. Rutledge said. “Where did you find it?”

  “Under Baby’s bed,” George explained. “And it all has marmalade stains on it, too!”

  “Marmalade?” Mrs. Rutledge asked. She seemed to think about it. Then she turned to Vicky. “Don’t tell me you took the missing furniture, Victoria!”

  “Vicky?” Veronica stared at her twin. “Miss Goody-good? How come?”

  Vicky’s eyes darted back and forth from her grandmother to Veronica. Her shoulders dropped and she sighed.

  “I didn’t want Nancy to play with the dollhouse,” Vicky confessed. “So on Monday I hid some furniture under Baby’s bed.

  I was right! Nancy thought.

  “I didn’t want Nancy to be blamed,” Vicky went on. “I just wanted to keep my favorite pieces to myself. Like the bed, the sofa, and the little chair!”

  “Vicky, I’m shocked!” Mrs. Rutledge exclaimed.

  “Because I took the dollhouse furniture?” Vicky asked softly.

  “Yes!” Mrs. Rutledge said. “And because you had marmalade on your hands. You’re usually so neat!”

  “It’s about time!” Veronica cheered. She began jumping up and down. “For once I’m not the sloppy one. And for once I’m not in trouble. Woo-hoo!”

  Nancy smiled. She had solved the case and proved she was innocent, too!

  “Sorry, Nancy,” Vicky said. Then she turned to Mrs. Rutledge. “Sorry, Grandma. You probably don’t like me very much now.”

  “Nonsense!” Mrs. Rutledge said. “I’m just a little disappointed in you, Victoria.”

  Mrs. Rutledge walked over to the dollhouse. She placed her hand on it lovingly.

  “When I was a little girl I shared my doll house with all my friends,” Mrs. Rutledge said. “What good is having something special if you can’t share it?”

  “Wow, Mrs. Rutledge,”
Nancy said. “That’s exactly what my dad said.”

  “Then your dad is a very wise man,” Mrs. Rutledge said with a smile.

  Veronica turned to Nancy. “Are you really a detective?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy said, “but I have lots of help. From Bess and George—”

  “And Detective Danny!” Bess cut in with a smile.

  Vicky smiled too. “I have an idea!” she said. “Let’s all play with the dollhouse. Together!”

  “Goody gumdrops!” Bess said, jumping up and down.

  “I’ll just watch.” George sighed. “I’m not really into dollhouses.”

  Veronica looked at George with surprise. “Me neither!” she said. “Do you want to kick a soccer ball in the yard?”

  “Cool!” George exclaimed. She and Veronica high-fived.

  Nancy smiled as the two ran out of the sitting room. Maybe Veronica wasn’t as bad as she seemed!

  “And how about you, Nancy?” Mrs. Rutledge asked. “Would you like to play with my dollhouse?”

  Just then, the doorbell rang. Olivia opened the door and Katie stepped inside.

  “I’m here to walk Baby,” she said, but she didn’t look very excited about it.

  Nancy had an idea. She gave Mrs. Rutledge her biggest smile. “Maybe I’ll play with the dollhouse later, Mrs. Rutledge. If Katie doesn’t mind, I’d like to walk Baby again!”

  “You would?” Katie asked, a grin spreading across her face, “I mean, sure you can walk him, Nancy—if it’s ok with you, Mrs. Rutledge.”

  “It’s just fine with me, girls,” Mrs. Rutledge said with a smile.

  Baby ran into the room. He jumped into Nancy’s arms and licked her face.

  “It’s the last day of Community Week,” Nancy said, “and I have a job to do.”

  Nancy and Baby stepped outside with Katie.

  “I’m glad we solved the case of the disappearing dollhouse furniture,” Nancy said. “I’m also really happy to have my job back!”

  “I’m happy you got your job back too. . . . nothing personal, Baby!” Katie said with a wave good-bye to Nancy.

  Nancy waved back and then walked Baby up and down the streets of River Heights.

  But that night while Nancy was up in her room she had one more job to do.