Recipe for Trouble Read online

  Jared nodded. “I learned that trick in science class. But I only used a tiny bit of detergent! I didn’t want you to get sick, in case you accidentally tasted the smoothie.”

  “And you stole page two of my grandma’s peanut butter cookie-recipe?” Bess piped up.

  “Yeah. I accidentally got chocolate all over it, though. I was making a chocolate smoothie that day. So I thought I’d put it in Kenny’s backpack and make him look like the guilty one,” Jared said.

  “What about the salt in the butterscotch brownies?” Nancy asked him.

  Jared shrugged. “Easy. I got to class early that day, and I put a bunch of salt in one of the sugar jars. I made sure Midori used the other one.” He added, “I put salt in my brownies on purpose, so Midori’s brownies would be the best.”

  “More shenanigans! Now what is going on?”

  Monsieur Jadot and Annabelle were coming out of the classroom. Monsieur Jadot didn’t look happy to see Nancy, George, Bess, and Jared standing out in the hallway.

  “Jared has something to tell you,” Nancy told Monsieur Jadot.

  “Nancy’s right,” Jared said.

  Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged a glance. The mystery was finally solved!

  • • •

  An hour later, Monsieur Jadot’s kitchen was filled with people. Parents gathered around and sampled the students’ desserts.

  “Blue oatmeal-raisin cookies! I didn’t know they came in that color,” Hannah said to Nancy.

  “They don’t. They just kind of turned out that way,” Nancy said with a smile.

  “They’re very yummy, Pudding Pie,” Mr. Drew praised her.

  Brenda’s father, Mr. Carlton, was there with a photographer from Today’s Times. It was the biggest newspaper in River Heights, and Mr. Carlton was the publisher. The photographer was taking pictures of all the kids in the classroom.

  Nancy noticed that Jared and Midori were talking quietly in the corner. After confessing to Monsieur Jadot, Jared had apologized to everyone in the class about what he had done. Then Monsieur Jadot had announced that Jared would be washing all the dishes and pans today. That was his punishment for messing up everyone’s recipes.

  Nancy spooned some yummy-looking red punch from the punch bowl. It had cherries, orange slices, and real flowers floating in it. “Thanks for letting me take this class, Daddy,” she told her father. “I learned all about making desserts. And I got to solve a mystery, too!”

  “Which do you like better—being a dessert chef or a detective?” Mr. Drew asked her.

  “Both!” Nancy said, giggling.

  Just then Monsieur Jadot clinked a spoon against a glass. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he called out in a loud voice. The room fell silent. “Thank you all for being here today! As you know, this is the last day of our dessert-making class. Your children have been wonderful students as you can tell from tasting their creations.”

  The parents began clapping. Nancy, George, Bess, and the other kids clapped too.

  “And thank you to my daughter, Annabelle, for being such a capable assistant!” Monsieur Jadot said, blowing a kiss to his daughter.

  Annabelle, who was standing in the corner, looked totally surprised. She blushed and smiled. Everyone clapped for her.

  “One final thing!” Monsieur Jadot went on. “I would like to announce the winner of the Top Chef contest. Of course everyone here should win that prize. You all worked very hard. But I have finally made my decision. The winner is . . .”

  Monsieur Jadot paused and waved a hand in Nancy’s direction. “Mademoiselle Nancy Drew!”

  “Yay!” Bess said, jumping up and down. George began jumping up and down too.

  Everyone clapped and cheered. Nancy couldn’t believe it. She had won the contest!

  “See, Nancy! You’re an awesome dessert chef and an awesome detective,” George said, hugging Nancy.

  “Totally!” Bess agreed. She hugged Nancy too.

  Monsieur Jadot handed Nancy a small silver trophy. It read: TOP CHEF.

  “Of course there is an even more excellent prize to come,” Monsieur Jadot told her. “My special strawberry mousse cake! Just let me know when you want it, and I will deliver it personally to your house! One taste, and you will feel like you are in Paris!”

  “Thank you, Monsieur Jadot!” Nancy said happily. She couldn’t wait!

  • • •

  A few days later, Nancy sat down at her desk. She gazed up at her silver trophy, which she had put on top of her bookshelf, next to some of her favorite books. Then she took out her blue notebook and wrote:

  Sometimes you’ll do anything to make your best friend happy. You’ll even do things that might make other people really miserable!

  That’s what Jared did by messing up everyone’s desserts. But in the end he realized that he’d made a big mistake and he apologized.

  Today I invited everyone from my class to come over to eat some of Monsieur Jadot’s special strawberry mousse cake.

  The cake was super-awesome! We ate the whole thing! And Monsieur Jadot was right—the cake made us feel like we were in Paris, France. He’d decorated the top of the cake with a French flag. The flag was made out of strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream—yum!

  I’m glad the mystery of the messed-up recipes has such a sweet ending!

  Case closed.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition April 2003

  Copyright © 2003 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster

  Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  The text of this book was set in Excelsior.

  NANCY DREW, THE NANCY DREW NOTEBOOKS, and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2002112592

  ISBN 978-0-689-85680-8 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-4424-8076-6 (eBook)