Boo Crew Page 4

  “You wanted to make Nora a suspect, Bess,” Nancy reminded her. “She definitely is one now. So we have to find out more.”

  “I know,” Bess said. “But can we come back when it’s not so dark and creepy?”

  “Let’s come back tomorrow morning,” Nancy agreed. “I’m sure Nathan will be here, so we won’t be alone.”

  “And let’s bring those Ghost Goggles we got at Rags ’n’ Gags!” George said, then quickly added, “Not that I believe in ghosts . . . or monsters.”

  “I’ve never had pumpkin soup, Daddy,” Nancy said as her father stirred the big pot on the kitchen stove. “But I’ll bet it’s yummy!”

  “Hope so,” Mr. Drew said. “I made it with foods I bought at the Fall Fair today.”

  Nancy was helping Hannah Gruen set the kitchen table for two. “Why aren’t you eating dinner with us tonight, Hannah?” she asked.

  Hannah smiled as she folded a napkin. She had been the Drews’ housekeeper ever since Nancy was only three years old. But Hannah took such good care of Nancy that she was almost like a mother to her.

  “We’re ordering in dinner at my book club meeting tonight,” Hannah explained. “But save some soup for me.”

  “Sure, Hannah,” Nancy said, staring down at the table. She tried to remember what side the spoon went on, but her mind was on something else.

  “Daddy? Hannah?” Nancy asked slowly. “Have you guys ever heard of Nora Westcott?”

  Hannah nodded and said, “She was an actress.”

  “Was she also . . . a witch?” Nancy asked.

  “She sure was!” Hannah said with a smile. “A very famous witch, actually.”

  Nancy stared at Hannah. “She was? Really?”

  “I’ll tell you more about Nora tomorrow, Nancy,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to be late for my book club.”

  Hannah waved goodbye and left the kitchen. Nancy wanted to tell her dad what she saw at the theater, but he was too busy.

  “Soup’s ready!” Mr. Drew announced.

  So am I, Nancy thought. Ready to check out the Heights Theater tomorrow—and those monsters!

  “Yes!” George cheered as she opened the door. “The theater is open.”

  It was Sunday morning and the girls had returned to the Heights Theater. They would give Nathan his badge and then investigate the second floor for monsters and ghosts.

  “Let’s not tell Nathan what we saw yesterday,” George told Nancy and Bess. “He’s too sure there are no ghosts or monsters in this theater.”

  But when they reached Nathan’s office, they saw that no one was inside. Bess pointed to Nathan’s jacket hanging from a hook on the door.

  “Nathan’s badge is pinned to his jacket,” Bess said. “If he didn’t lose the one I found—who did?”

  The girls’ thoughts were interrupted by the sound of piano music and stomping feet upstairs.

  “Do you hear that?” Nancy murmured, staring up at the ceiling.

  “It’s them,” Bess whispered. “It’s the monsters and ghosts.”

  “And that creepy piano that plays itself,” George said. “I’m sure of it!”

  “We can’t be sure unless we see for ourselves,” Nancy said. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  “Okay, but not without our Ghost Goggles!” George insisted.

  The Clue Crew slipped on the cardboard goggles. They climbed the stairs and followed the music and stomping to a room. The door was closed.

  Bess began waving her arms in front of her. “These silly goggles,” she complained. “They’re making everything look bigger and greener!”

  Bess’s hands suddenly brushed up against the door. As it swung open, the music stopped. The girls gulped as they stared into the room. Staring back at them were the werewolf, the vampire, the mummy, and a green creature that looked like a ghost!

  “Monsters!” Bess squeaked.

  The fuzzy-faced werewolf with pointy teeth stepped toward the door. “Hi,” he said. “Cool glasses!”

  Nancy stared at the werewolf through her Ghost Goggles. Then she tried looking at him without them. That’s when something came in big and clear—something dangling underneath his fuzzy chin. Looking closer, Nancy knew exactly what it was!

  “You guys,” Nancy said, “I don’t think they’re monsters or ghosts.”

  “Why not?” George asked, taking her own goggles off.

  “The werewolf is wearing a mask,” Nancy said, “with a Rags ’n’ Gags price tag!”

  The werewolf pulled off the mask to reveal a friendly human face. “Did I forget to cut off the tag?” he said. “Silly me!”

  “Don’t get me started on masks,” the green ghost complained. “This thing is hotter than my flat iron on a bad hair day.”

  The ghost pulled off her mask to reveal her face—sweaty but friendly!

  “You’re all human?” Bess asked. She was goggle-free now too.

  “Only until we star in our upcoming show,” the mummy said with a little tap dance. “Guys and Ghouls!”

  “Opening night is in a week,” the werewolf said. “As you can see by our costumes, we’re in dress rehearsals.”

  The actors introduced themselves. The werewolf was Randy, the green ghost was Crystal, the vampire was Ken, and the mummy was Liz.

  “Come in and check out our pianola,” Liz said, waving the girls into the room.

  “A pianola is a self-playing piano,” Randy explained. “It will be in our show too.”

  Liz flicked a switch behind the piano. The keys began moving up and down.

  “We saw it playing the other day!” Bess said.

  “I must have forgotten to turn it off after rehearsal,” Randy the werewolf sighed. “Silly me!”

  Nancy was happy the monsters and ghosts weren’t real. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Nora and what Hannah said. . . .

  “Have any of you heard of Nora Westcott?” Nancy asked. “We were told she was an actress who became a witch.”

  “You heard right,” Ken said. “Nora left the theater to star in a big Hollywood movie, Which Witch Is Which?”

  “Nora played the part of Rolanda,” Liz said, “a very good witch!”

  Nancy smiled at her friends and said, “So that explains it.”

  “Yeah,” George said, smiling too. “Now who’s going to explain it to Quincy Taylor?”

  Crystal reached into her handbag on the piano bench. “Speaking of big stars,” she said, “look who I saw in the prop room early Saturday morning.”

  Nancy stopped smiling to stare at Crystal. Did she just say ‘the prop room early Saturday morning’? As in the time and place of the crime?

  “Who was there, Crystal?” Nancy asked.

  Crystal held up her phone to show a selfie. With her in the picture was a star. The sweetest star in Hollywood!

  “Bess, George,” Nancy gasped. “Do you see who I see?”

  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 Antonio, Lucy, and Nora’s curse. Who else could have been in the prop room at the time of the crime? List your suspects on a piece of paper.

  2. Clues like the judge’s badge are super important. If the badge wasn’t Lucy’s or Nathan’s, whose badge could it be? Write down your thoughts on a piece of paper.

  3. Nancy, Bess, and George like writing clues and suspects in their clue book. What else could they write or draw to help them solve mysteries? Make a list of your ideas on a piece of paper.

  SWEET SURRENDER

  “It’s Cookie Sugarman!” George said.

  “The sweetest star in Hollywood!” Bess added.

  Nancy leaned closer to Crystal’s phone for a better look. The date on the picture was Saturday. The time was eight-thirty a.m.!

  “The cast of Guys and Ghouls uses a different prop room,” Crystal explained. “I went into that room to find thread for a torn costume, and instead I found Cookie.�
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  “Was Cookie there alone?” Nancy asked.

  “She was,” Crystal said. “Cookie looked surprised to see me, but she agreed to take a selfie.”

  “Did you stay with Cookie after the selfie?” Bess asked.

  “No,” Crystal said. “Cookie told me she had work to do, so I left.”

  “Now if you’ll excuse us,” Ken piped up nicely, “we have to rehearse our next number, ‘Too Cool for Ghouls!’ ”

  Nancy, Bess, and George thanked the actors and left. They had much to talk about as they walked down the stairs.

  “Are we lucky or what?” George asked. “Crystal just gave us a great clue.”

  Nancy nodded and said, “Cookie was alone in the prop room on Saturday morning.”

  “Cookie was a judge, too,” Bess pointed out. “So the badge I found in the prop room could have been hers.”

  As the girls reached the bottom of the stairs, Nancy shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe Cookie would ruin our auditions,” she said. “She’s so sweet!”

  “She was pretty sour when we saw her buying apple cider,” George pointed out. “Remember?”

  All of a sudden the girls heard a loud—

  “Ah-chooooo!”

  Then another, and another—and another!

  “It sounds like a kid,” George said.

  “A kid with a bad cold,” Nancy added.

  The girls followed the explosive sneezes to the prop room. Nancy knocked on the closed door lightly and called, “Are you okay?”

  “Do you need a tissue?” Bess called too.

  When no one answered, Nancy slowly opened the door. What they saw inside made their jaws drop. Standing with a spray can in her outstretched hands was Cookie!

  “Don’t take another step!” Cookie warned. “I’ve got a can of sneezing powder and I’m not afraid to use it!”

  “Cookie, put the can down,” Nancy said as she and her friends entered the prop room.

  “What are you doing with sneezing powder, anyway?” George asked.

  Still holding the can of Skeevy’s sneezing powder, Cookie said, “I came to get my Rags ’n’ Gags bag. The can fell out and the lid popped off. I’ve been sneezing my nose off ever since—Ah-choooo!”

  “Why did you have a can of sneezing powder?” Bess asked.

  “Yeah,” George said, raising an eyebrow. “Seems like a weird thing to carry around.”

  Cookie stared wide-eyed at the girls. “Um . . . it’s part of my Halloween costume,” she blurted. “I’m going as . . . Sneezy of the Seven Dwarfs!”

  “Nice try, Cookie,” George said, before throwing her head back and sneezing herself.

  Cookie grumbled under her breath as her hands, and the can of sneezing powder, fell to her sides.

  “Cookie,” Nancy said gently, “did you use stuff from Rags ’n’ Gags to ruin the Twinkling Little Stars auditions?”

  Cookie chewed on her lip, then said, “I guess I did.”

  “Well, that wasn’t very sweet,” Bess said.

  “Sweet! Sweet!” Cookie groaned. “What am I—saltwater taffy?”

  “You weren’t very sweet at the apple cider cart yesterday,” Bess pointed out.

  “Yeah,” George agreed. “That was some meltdown you had, Cookie.”

  “That’s just it!” Cookie said, waving her arms. “Sometimes I’m sweet and sometimes I get a little moody. Just like any normal kid!”

  Cookie gave a sigh and said, “Everyone expects me to be sweet. And I’m sick of it.”

  “Why are you sick of it?” Nancy asked.

  “All I get are sweet parts in movies, like princesses with unicorns,” Cookie explained. “The villains in movies are soooo cool!”

  Nancy shot her friends a sideways glance. So that’s what this was all about. To Cookie, being sweet was not so neat!

  “I’ll never get to play a villain because I’m just too good,” Cookie said.

  “So you ruined our props before the auditions,” George asked, “just to see what it was like to be bad?”

  “Bingo,” Cookie sighed.

  “Did it make you feel good?” Nancy asked.

  “No way,” Cookie admitted. “I felt awful when the auditions were called off and everyone was so sad.”

  Cookie nodded her chin at the Rags ’n’ Gags bag. “That’s why I came back to get my bag,” she said. “I didn’t want anyone to use that stuff ever again!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George smiled at Cookie. They were glad she’d told the truth. And super glad the pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place!

  “Do you think you’ll tell Sherry what you did, Cookie?” George asked.

  “Maybe the Twinkling Little Stars auditions can still go on!” Bess said excitedly.

  Cookie sadly shook her head. “It’s too late,” she sighed. “We’re going back to Hollywood tomorrow night.”

  “You’ll never know unless you try!” Nancy said.

  Cookie seemed to give it a thought as she carefully placed the can of sneezing powder back in the big bag.

  “Okay, but I might need your help . . . ah . . . ah . . . ah-chooo!!” Cookie sniffed, then added, “And a lot of tissues!”

  “You were right, Nancy,” Bess said. “It wasn’t too late to bring back the auditions!”

  Nancy was so thrilled, she could do a hundred cartwheels. Cookie had told Sherry what she did and why. The producer decided they would fly back a day later. The auditions were held on Sunday and an extra day on Monday after school!

  “I think we did a great job as the three witches this time,” Nancy told her friends.

  The girls were dressed head-to-toe in their costumes, waiting to hear who the winner was.

  “Cookie did a great job apologizing, too,” George said. “It was cool of her to let Hank from Rags ’n’ Gags be a judge in her place.”

  “Cookie did a great job helping us with our brew, too!” Bess added with a smile. “Just a teeny drop of Bubble Blast did the trick!”

  A hush fell over the theater as Mayor Strong walked to the microphone. Nancy, Bess, and George joined hands. This was it!

  “You all did a fabulous job,” the mayor announced. “But since only one act can perform on Twinkling Little Stars, the winner is . . . ”

  Nancy, Bess, and George squeezed hands tightly.

  “. . . Those acrobatic arachnids, Cirque du Crawl-ay!”

  Nadine and the other dancers shrieked as they ran onstage. They were going to Hollywood to dance on Twinkling Little Stars!

  “I’m happy for Nadine,” Nancy admitted.

  “Me too,” Bess sighed, “but sad we won’t be going to Hollywood.”

  “What could be better than three awesome witches?” George asked.

  “I know!” Nancy said with a smile. “How about three awesome detectives?”

  The Clue Crew traded a high five as they said together: “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble—we solved this case on the double!”

  Test your detective skills with even more Clue Book mysteries:

  Nancy Drew Clue Book #11:

  The Tortoise and the Scare

  Nancy Drew stood in front of her science class with an index card in her hand. Her best friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin, were sitting in the back row. She stared down at the card, wanting to give everyone a clue that was good, but not too good. She didn’t want them to guess the answer right away.

  “I’m tiny . . . ,” she said. “And I have spines and short legs.”

  “Hmmm . . . ,” Mrs. Pak, their teacher, murmured. She glanced around the classroom. “What could she be? Does anyone have any ideas?”

  Jamal Jones’s hand shot up in the air. He always got straight As and had guessed the last two correct answers. Nancy held her breath, wondering if he’d get it right.

  “Are you a porcupine?” he asked.

  “You’re so close!” Nancy gave another clue, and she was sure he’d get it right this time. “I can roll up into a ball if I’m scared. . . .”
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  “Oh! You’re a hedgehog!” Jamal cried.

  “Very good!” Mrs. Pak said, taking the card from Nancy. It had hedgehog written on it in block letters. “This class is going to be so prepared for our field trip tomorrow. I’m sure all the guides at the River Heights Wildlife Center will be impressed.”

  Nancy took her seat next to her friends. Bess’s long blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail as she leaned over her book. The World’s Most Exotic Animals was open to the page about servals. The spotted cat looked like a cheetah with bunny ears. “Their ears are so cute,” Bess said, pointing to the pictures. “They’re so much bigger than their heads! I hope we get to see one tomorrow.”

  “I want to see a ball python,” George said.

  “Those are terrifying!” Bess whispered.

  “And slimy,” Nancy added.

  George and Bess were cousins, but they couldn’t have been more different. George had short brown hair and brown eyes, was athletic, and was not easily scared. Bess always feared the worst would happen, and Nancy had only ever seen her play sports in gym class. Together the three of them made up the Clue Crew. They worked together solving mysteries around River Heights. They’d even recovered a telescope that had been stolen from a local museum.

  Harry and Liam McCormick went to the front of the class. They were identical twins, with orange hair and freckles, and they liked doing presentations together whenever Mrs. Pak would let them. They’d just moved to River Heights in September, and were obsessed with Antonio Elefano, the biggest prankster in Nancy’s grade. The twins were constantly doing things to try to impress him. Just the week before they’d climbed thirty feet up a tree trying to get his attention.

  “Ummm . . . we’re red,” Liam said, staring at his card. “I mean I’m red.”

  “And we have giant wings!” Harry added.

  Nancy thought they might be parrots . . . maybe sun conures, but that seemed too obvious. They’d been studying so many exotic animals that she sometimes got them mixed up. Was it possible they were scarlet macaws?

  “I don’t think we are red . . . ,” Harry said quietly to his brother. “Aren’t we blue?”