The Tortoise and the Scare Read online

  Nancy kept running through the maze, until eventually she hit a dead end. Just when she thought she’d never find her way out, she saw a flash of green and white sprint by her. She ran after the twins, winding through the hedge until she finally cornered them in another one of the maze’s dead ends. Harry looked around, realizing they were completely trapped.

  “It was all his idea!” he said, pointing at his brother. “I didn’t even want to do it!”

  Within seconds, George and Bess appeared behind Nancy. They must’ve heard Harry yelling and found her.

  “I knew it,” George said, still trying to catch her breath. “Now just tell us where Rainbow is and everything will be okay. Belinda just wants her back.”

  Liam’s scrunched his nose. “Rainbow?” he asked. “You mean the turtle?”

  “The tortoise,” Bess corrected him. “We want her back. Now.”

  Harry started laughing. “We didn’t steal her! We thought you found the mealworms.”

  Once Harry started laughing he couldn’t stop. He was doubled over, and that made Liam start laughing too. It took them a while before they could even speak. “We just . . . ,” Liam tried to say. “We were going to play this really big prank. We got some mealworms from the hedgehog enclosure and we put them in a few of the girls’ backpacks.”

  “I wanted to see the look on Lily’s face when she pulled out a handful of bugs!” Harry laughed.

  “That’s not funny,” George said. “It’s just gross. Are you trying to impress Antonio again? He’s been doing stuff like that for years. That’s definitely not going to impress him.”

  Harry and Liam didn’t seem to like that. They suddenly looked much more serious than before. “But they’re mealworms. . . .” Liam trailed off. “They’re little and weird. It is funny.”

  Nancy didn’t care about the mealworms in her bag, or Liam and Harry’s silly prank. But she did care about when they’d been playing it.

  “When exactly were you wandering around the wildlife center looking for mealworms? You must’ve snuck away from the group. But when?” Nancy asked.

  Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. Pretty much right after we saw the fox.”

  “We came back when Belinda brought that baby sloth out,” Harry added. “That was super cool. Everyone was oohing and ahhhing over all the animals. No one seemed to notice we were gone.”

  Nancy raised her eyebrows at her friends. Candace and Beth had been right, the twins were wandering around the wildlife center at the same exact time Rainbow went missing. Of course they thought they’d had something to do with it.

  But Nancy knew better. They weren’t suspects. . . . Harry and Liam were witnesses.

  A MYSTERIOUS NOTE

  Nancy and her friends followed Harry and Liam through the hedge maze. The boys had already gone through it twice before, so they were a little better at figuring out where the exits were. It wasn’t long before they all made their way back to the playground.

  “Just think,” Bess said. “Did you see anything odd when you were walking around the center? Does anything stand out to you?”

  Harry scratched his head. “I don’t think so. . . .”

  “Yeah.” Liam shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “It might be the smallest detail,” George added.

  “Oh, there was this guy with a duffel bag,” Harry finally said. He sat down on the bottom of the slide, ignoring the toddler at the top waiting for her turn. “Do you remember, Liam?”

  “I don’t think I saw him.” Liam shook his head.

  Nancy pulled out the clue book to write down everything Harry said.

  “I only noticed him because he was going out this side door, like, not the normal exit,” Harry continued. “And I remember the bag because it seemed like it was moving. I couldn’t really say anything because we were trying to sneak back to the group.”

  “A moving bag?” Bess smiled. “That does sound suspicious.”

  Nancy couldn’t help but smile too. This felt like the best lead they’d had so far. It was very possible Rainbow was in that bag, and the guy Harry was describing was their prime suspect.

  “Tell us everything you can remember,” Nancy said.

  “I didn’t see his face, and I don’t really remember what he was wearing,” Harry went on. “His back was facing me. But that bag was definitely moving!”

  “What did the bag look like?” Bess asked. “Do you remember what color it was?”

  “Oh! It had that on it!” Harry pointed somewhere behind them. They turned and saw the logo for the River Heights Wildlife Center right above the back exit. It had a picture of a sloth with a circle around it, then the words RIVER HEIGHTS WILDLIFE CENTER around the outside of the circle.

  “The logo for the center?” George asked.

  “Yeah, it was a green bag and it had that sign on it,” Harry said. “That’s all I really remember.”

  “Thanks for your help, Harry,” Nancy said. “And before the end of the day, you two should really fish those mealworms out of our bags, or I’m going to have to tell Mrs. Pak who was responsible for that.”

  Liam crossed his arms over his chest, like he was not pleased. Nancy couldn’t really worry about him, or Harry, because they had to find the guy with the duffel bag. And she had a pretty good idea where they should start looking. . . .

  • • •

  The gift shop was packed with souvenirs. There was a whole wall of stuffed animals. A row of koala bears hung from a fake tree branch and stuffed wolves were lurking around the small store. Bess picked up a snow globe that had an artic fox inside. She swirled it around to kick up the white flakes.

  “There it is,” George said, pointing to a spinning rack in the corner of the store. Forest-green duffel bags hung off it. They all had the same River Heights Wildlife Center logo.

  “Do you think he’d buy the duffel bag from the store, just to use it to carry Rainbow out?” Nancy asked. It didn’t quite add up to her, but it was a possibility.

  “Maybe he bought it earlier,” Bess said. “Maybe weeks before.”

  Nancy picked up one of the bags and brought it to the register. A woman with a long brown braid was working. Her name tag said LISA. “Hi, Lisa,” Nancy said. “We’re helping Belinda out today and trying to find Rainbow, the missing tortoise.”

  “Oh! Bob was just in here telling me all about it.” Lisa’s green eyes went wide. “He’s really upset.”

  “I know,” Nancy went on. “That’s why we were wondering if you could help us. Do you have a record of all the times the store sold this duffel bag in the last month? We think whoever took Rainbow might’ve used this to carry her out.”

  “That’s terrible,” Lisa said. “But I’m afraid we don’t keep records like that. Not for a whole month. I can tell you no one bought that bag today, because I’ve been working since nine o’clock, when the center opened.”

  “Dead end,” Bess whispered. She leaned on the counter, her chin in her hands.

  “I wish I could help more,” Lisa said. “I don’t remember selling that bag to anyone recently. They’re not really flying off the shelves, but we do give them to all the volunteers when they start.”

  “Does that mean you’re the one who stole Rainbow?” George joked.

  “Don’t look at me!” Lisa laughed, holding both her hands up in the air. “I was here all morning. You can check the store security camera. And I don’t think Bob has it in him either. Ocean has his own tortoise at home, so he’s out too. I really don’t think this was an inside job.”

  Nancy nodded at the phrase “inside job.” She’d heard it before to describe when someone working at a place committed a crime. It seemed like a very adult thing to say.

  “Do you have a list of volunteers we could look at?” Nancy asked. “Maybe we could rule some people out. . . .”

  Lisa leaned under the counter and pulled out a clipboard with some papers on it. She flipped through them and showed Nancy the last page. There were about
thirty volunteers who came to the center throughout each month. It would be impossible to investigate each one by four o’clock.

  As Nancy and Bess read through the list of names, someone ran into the store behind them. Nancy turned to see Bob holding a crumpled piece of paper. Belinda was trailing behind him, a worried look on her face.

  “You’re not going to believe what I found!” he said, waving the paper in the air. “It’s a ransom note!”

  THE SMALLEST DETAILS

  He put it on the counter, smoothing down the edges. Belinda, Lisa, Nancy, and her friends all circled around it, trying to get a better look. As soon as Nancy read it, she realized Bob was exaggerating. It wasn’t a ransom note because it didn’t demand any money or anything in exchange for the tortoise. But it was a note from whoever took Rainbow, which made Nancy think they were on the right track.

  “ ‘Do not worry about Rainbow,’ ” Bess read. “ ‘She will have a good life and I’ll take good care of her.’ ”

  Belinda flipped the note over, making sure it didn’t say anything else. “That’s it?” she said, annoyed. “That’s supposed to make me feel better? Who is this person?”

  Nancy read the note over again, looking for clues. “Well, whoever wrote this obviously cares a lot about her,” she said. That means it wasn’t a stranger, or someone who didn’t understand animals. She was starting to think maybe it was someone from the volunteer list.

  “They also care a lot about what people here think,” Bess added. “They wouldn’t have sent you all a note if they weren’t worried that you were worried. A stranger would’ve just run away and never thought about it again.”

  “And it’s one person,” George added, pointing to the wording. “It’s not two people, or a group working together. They said, ‘I’ll take good care of her.’ ”

  “Does that handwriting seem familiar to you?” Nancy asked Bob and Belinda.

  Belinda just shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t know. . . . But it does kind of look familiar.”

  Nancy thought about Rainbow’s habitat. The fridge in the back had all her food and her medicine. She smiled, an idea forming. . . .

  “Okay, so if the person who took her cares a lot about her,” Nancy said, “they’re not going to leave her medicine behind. We need to go quick—they might be there already!”

  “Wait! Where are you going?” Bob called out as the girls ran out of the store. He seemed worried that they were going to solve the mystery before he did. “Go where quick?”

  Nancy turned and waved to Belinda as they left. “We’re close! Don’t worry, I have a good feeling about this!”

  WAIT AND SEE

  Nancy, Bess, and George raced through the wildlife center, toward Rainbow’s habitat. As they turned the corner, Nancy was half expecting to see someone emerging from the enclosure, but it was still empty. She went right to the back room, circling the small refrigerator, but no one was there.

  Nancy opened the refrigerator. “The medicine is still here.” Everything was exactly as they’d left it. Even the basket of strawberries hadn’t been touched. “If it is who I think it is, they’ll be here any moment.”

  “You have a strong feeling about someone?” Bess asked. “Me too.”

  “I wonder if we’re right,” George said.

  “We should hide. Do a real stakeout,” Nancy said. She loved having stakeouts with Bess and George. It was when you waited for a suspect to return to the scene of a crime, or a particular place. Nancy was sure that whoever came back for Rainbow’s medicine would be the same person who took her.

  Nancy glanced around the room, searching for somewhere to hide. There were mostly storage bins and cabinets for supplies. Nancy opened the biggest cabinet and found bins of gravel and fake branches that were used in the different reptile exhibits. She crouched down on the bottom shelf, leaving one door open a crack so she could still peer out. Bess ducked behind a giant bin of carrot tops and George hid behind the door, so that when it opened she’d be completely hidden. George switched off the lights so it was harder to see them.

  They stayed perfectly still. They waited . . . and waited some more. Nancy was bent over and her back started hurting. She didn’t know how much longer she could stay squished into the bottom of the cabinet.

  She was starting to rethink her hiding spot when the door opened, lighting up the room. A tall figure in a baseball cap and sunglasses tiptoed to the refrigerator and opened it, their face glowing in the light. They were wearing a baggy sweatshirt over their clothes to disguise their identity. They reached down and grabbed the bottle of medicine from the top shelf and tucked it in their pocket. Then they turned to leave.

  George sprang out from behind the door and switched on the light. Bess rose up from her spot behind the storage bin and Nancy opened the cabinet, stepping into the room.

  “Stop right there!” Nancy said in her scariest you-better-listen-to-me voice. “We know you have Rainbow!”

  Clue Crew—and

  YOU!

  Join Nancy, Bess, and George in solving this mystery. Or turn the page to find out whodunit!

  1. Nancy, Bess, and George ruled out Abby and the twins. We know the suspect cares about animals and the people who work at the Wildlife Center. Who else could have taken Rainbow? List your suspects on a piece of paper.

  2. The Clue Crew interviewed a lot of people on this case. They talked to Abby’s mom, the twins, and Lisa. Who else could they have interviewed? Write down your thoughts on a piece of paper.

  3. Nancy, Bess, and George studied Rainbow’s enclosure for clues, and they found a footprint that could lead them to the tortoise taker. They also noticed the medicine hadn’t been taken. What else do you think they could have looked for? Make a list of your ideas on a piece of paper.

  BESTIE FOR BETTE

  Ocean froze with the bottle of medicine in his hand. After he realized he was caught, he pulled off his baseball cap and sunglasses and put them in the front pocket of his hoodie.

  Nancy stared down at his sneakers. He didn’t wear boots like Belinda or Bob, but an old pair of tennis shoes. Nancy glanced sideways at her friends, seeing if they had noticed too. Bess’s eyes were wide. Ocean’s shoes were the type of sneakers that had made the footprint in Rainbow’s habitat. It all lined up.

  “I can explain, I swear,” Ocean said, his cheeks bright pink.

  “You should, then,” George replied. “Everyone was so worried about Rainbow. Belinda thought she’d never see her again.”

  Ocean put his face in his hands. He took a few deep breaths, as if he was trying to calm himself down. If Nancy hadn’t known how much confusion and panic he’d caused, she would’ve felt more sorry for him.

  “I’m not a bad guy, really,” Ocean tried. He sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the wall. “I’ve been volunteering at the wildlife center for three months now. And just two weeks after I started there was that huge rainstorm. Remember the one that knocked down the tree on Main Street?”

  Nancy nodded. It had been a big story in River Heights. There was thunder and lighting and rain that came at you sideways. Their neighbor’s car had to get fixed after a giant branch fell on it.

  “What does a rainstorm have to do with Rainbow?” Nancy asked.

  “Well, that night of the rainstorm, the wildlife center got a leak in the roof, right above Rainbow’s habitat,” Ocean continued. “There was this huge gross puddle right in the middle of her home, and they needed to fix the roof and clean everything up. So Rainbow had nowhere to go. We were going to keep her in the back room, but we knew she’d be miserable there. She’s used to crawling around and having free reign over the place.”

  “But you have a tortoise habitat at home . . . ,” Bess said, putting it together. “For your tortoise, Bette.”

  “Exactly!” Ocean said. He seemed to brighten up at that, as if Bess understood him completely. “So I was trying to be nice, and I said Rainbow could stay with Bette for a few days while the ro
of was getting fixed. And Belinda was so relieved, because she knows how great I am with Bette. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to volunteer at the center—I really love animals.”

  “If you love animals so much, why would take one away from her home?” George asked. She crossed her arms over her chest. Nancy could tell she was still not liking Ocean’s story.

  “Well, that’s just it,” Ocean replied, brushing his long blond hair out of his eyes. “When I took Rainbow back to my house, she loved being with Bette, and Bette loved being with her. I’d never seen either of them so happy. And I know what you’re thinking: How can you tell if a tortoise is happy? Well I can. And that’s when I realized—Rainbow was home. With Bette. With us.”

  “Did you tell Belinda about it?” Nancy asked. “She just wants Rainbow to be happy. She loves her so much, I’m sure she would understand.”

  “That’s the thing,” Ocean said, holding up a finger. “I did tell her. As soon as those three days were up, I brought Rainbow back to the center and I told Belinda everything. How Rainbow was eating more, and how she was more active, and how her and Bette liked to hang out in the same corner of the enclosure. They were so excited just to have a friend. But Belinda didn’t want to hear it. She’s so attached to Rainbow because Rainbow was the first animal she rescued for the center. It’s part of her whole story. I knew there was no way she’d ever let her go.”

  “But did you ask her if Rainbow could come and live with you?” George asked.

  “I did! I said, ‘You know, Rainbow could always come live with Bette if she’d be happier here,’ ” Ocean said. “I really tried. The worst part is, Bette has been depressed ever since. It’s heartbreaking to watch. She just mopes around, and now I can see how sad Rainbow is too. I didn’t think I’d be hurting anyone, not really . . . and I know I didn’t go about it the right way . . . but I just wanted to help. . . .”