The Stinky Cheese Surprise Page 4

As Hannah drove the girls to Main Street, Nancy frowned. George was right. They solved the mystery. But they didn’t really solve Herbie’s problem.

  But when they walked inside Hamburger Herbie’s, Nancy’s jaw dropped. The place was packed with kids and grown-ups eating burgers. Even Brenda and Bobby were there with their news camera.

  “You heard it here first, folks,” Brenda was saying. “Cyril Larder of Today’s Times has declared in the evening edition that Herbie’s burgers are the best in town!”

  “Wow!” Nancy said. “The food critic did write good things about Herbie’s!”

  Herbie was busily handing out trays filled with burgers and floats. Emily was there too, handing out the real zippy bags—with the red ribbons.

  “Everyone is here! I’m going to pretend this is a real birthday party at last!” Emily called to Nancy.

  Nancy looked around. Everybody was there. Even Jason, David, and Mike!

  “I hope you didn’t bring Skeevy!” Bess said with a shudder.

  “Skeevy wouldn’t fit in my pocket today,” David explained. He laughed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wiggly rubber spider. “But this did!”

  “Ew!” the girls cried.

  As the boys raced each other to a table, Nancy saw Orson Wong. He was sitting at a table and eating a cheeseburger. But this time he wasn’t hiding.

  “What are you doing here, Orson?” Nancy asked. “Won’t you lose your jester job if Queen Patty sees you eating here?”

  Orson’s cap of bells jingled as he tossed it aside. “I already quit,” he said. “I’d rather eat like a king than act like a fool anyway!”

  The girls decided to celebrate with some root beer floats.

  “You did it, Nancy!” Bess said as they all sat down. “You cracked the stinky cheese case!”

  “And you saved Hamburger Herbie’s from becoming history!” George added.

  Nancy shook her head. “Cyril Larder saved Hamburger Herbie’s,” she said. “And if the kids keep coming back, Herbie will be here forever and ever!”

  Herbie walked over. When Nancy told him about the zippy bag mix-up he grinned.

  “You really are a good detective, Nancy Drew!” Herbie said. “Now how about some juicy burgers and frosty floats?”

  “Yes, please!” Nancy said happily.

  Bess and George talked to Emily while they waited for their food. But Nancy still had work to do. She pulled her pencil and notebook from her pink backpack. Then she began to write.

  Daddy was right again! Accidents can happen and so do mix-ups. And I think I learned something else. People are like the ice cream in a root beer float. If they’re good they’ll always float to the top. Just like Herbie!

  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 June 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 2002111918

  ISBN 0-689-85694-6

  ISBN 13: 978-1-4424-8077-3 (ebook)