Pool Party Puzzler Read online

  “Of course,” Taffy answered. “I needed to make sure the fake snakes were okay with them.”

  Nancy stared at Taffy. Then she examined the Clue Book. She looked at all the clues and suspects. That’s when things began to click!

  Nancy turned to her friends. “I know who did it,” she whispered. “I know who threw the snake into Deirdre’s pool!”

  Clue Crew- and

  YOU!

  Can you solve the Pool Party Puzzler? Write your answers on a sheet of paper. Or just turn the page to find out!

  First, list your suspects:

  1.

  2.

  3.

  Next, write down the name of the fake snake slinger:

  * * *

  What clues helped you to solve this mystery? Write them down below.

  1.

  2.

  3.

  This page may be reproduced by teachers and school librarians solely for use in school classes and libraries.

  MESS UP, FESS UP!

  “It was Deirdre!” Nancy announced.

  “How do you know that?” Bess asked.

  “Because Deirdre knew about Taffy’s snakes,” Nancy explained. “Plus, she had dirt on her hands in that picture we looked at. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t from cartwheels.”

  “It was from picking up a snake in the grass,” Bess said, her blue eyes wide.

  “And Deirdre didn’t even act excited about Queen Marissa,” Nancy added. “She didn’t even write about her in her blog.”

  “And she seemed really mad when I called Marissa a queen,” Bess recalled.

  “Because Deirdre always has to be queen of everything!” George groaned.

  “It all fits together,” Bess said. “But there’s only one way to know for sure. Let’s find Deirdre and ask her!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George made sure to thank Taffy before they left.

  “You’re welcome,” Taffy said. She then pointed to a flock of birds flying into her maze. “I guess birds really like my maze too.”

  “Or caramel popcorn!” Bess giggled.

  The girls left Taffy’s studio and headed straight for Deirdre’s house.

  “No wonder Deirdre didn’t want us to work on the case,” George said on the way. “She was trying to hide the fact that she was the snake slinger!”

  • • •

  When the Clue Crew reached the Shannons’ house they found Deirdre in her backyard. She was busily taking pictures of her birthday presents. Her new electric scooter stood in the middle of them all.

  “Hi, Deirdre,” Nancy said.

  “What are you doing?” George asked.

  “My mom wants me to write thank-you cards,” Deirdre said, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to write one thank-you on my blog instead—with a picture of all my presents!”

  Deirdre held the camera up to take a selfie with her presents in the background. As she flashed a big smile, Nancy asked the big question.

  “Deirdre? Did you throw that fake snake in your pool yesterday?”

  Deirdre’s smile turned into a frown. “Why would I want to ruin my own party?” Deirdre demanded.

  “Maybe because you wanted to make sure there wasn’t another queen at your party,” Nancy said slowly. “So you threw a fake snake in the pool before Marissa could swim.”

  “Marissa told everyone she’d be swimming,” George added. “What better way to scare her away?”

  Deirdre stared openmouthed at the Clue Crew. She then shook her head from side to side.

  “That is totally silly,” Deirdre insisted. “I never threw Taffy’s snake in the pool—”

  “We never said it was Taffy’s snake,” Bess cut in with a smile. “How did you know?”

  Deirdre opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Finally she groaned and said, “Why did I ever invite the Clue Crew to my party?”

  “Does that mean you did it, Deirdre?” Nancy asked.

  “If so, why?” Bess asked.

  “Because I didn’t want another queen at my party,” Deirdre admitted. “I remembered Taffy’s snakes and decided to have some fun.”

  “It wasn’t fun for Marissa,” Nancy said. “You ruined her show and your party.”

  “My party?” Deirdre gasped. “My party wasn’t ruined!”

  “But everyone wanted to see Marissa swim,” Bess said. “Now we’ll never get to.”

  “You also blamed your friends for what you did,” George added. “Not cool.”

  “So my party wasn’t perfect?” Deirdre cried.

  “It could have been,” Nancy said, “if it wasn’t for that icky fake snake.”

  “Phooey,” Deirdre muttered under her breath.

  “And after you write your thank-you note, Deirdre,” Nancy said. “You should write something else in your blog.”

  “Something else?” Deirdre asked, wrinkling her nose. “What?”

  “An apology!” Nancy declared.

  The Clue Crew left Deirdre alone in her yard. They were happy they had solved the case and just as happy that summer vacation had begun.

  “Now that we solved our first case of the summer,” George said, “what should we do next?”

  “I know!” Nancy said excitedly, carefully placing the Clue Book into her bag. “Let’s have our own sweet half-sixteen parties.”

  “And be queens too?” Bess asked.

  “Sure!” Nancy said with a smile. “Queens of mysteries!”

  Test your detective skills with even more Clue Book mysteries:

  Nancy Drew Clue Book #2: Last Lemonade Standing

  “I don’t get it,” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said. “Doesn’t anyone want lemonade?”

  Nancy sat with her two best friends behind their lemonade stand. The table holding a pitcher of lemonade and paper cups was set up in the Drews’ front yard.

  “Maybe it’s too hot,” Bess Marvin suggested.

  “We’re selling ice-cold lemonade, Bess,” George Fayne groaned. “Not hot cocoa!”

  Nancy counted the few quarters and dimes in a glass jar. She then wrote the total on her favorite writing pad with the ladybug design.

  “At the rate we’re going,” Nancy said with a sigh, “we’ll never earn enough money to buy Katy Sloan tickets.”

  Bess and George sighed too. Katy Sloan was their favorite singer. When they had heard that Katy’s next concert would be at the River Heights Amusement Park, they knew they had to go. But Nancy, Bess, and George had already gone to the amusement park twice that summer to ride the rides. Both times their parents had paid for the tickets. So they would have to buy these tickets with their own money.

  That’s when Nancy had the idea for a lemonade stand. They even taped a picture of Katy to the table to make them work harder! Bess had written the date of the concert right on it.

  “We’ve been selling lemonade for two whole days,” Nancy said.

  “And I know our lemonade is good enough,” Bess insisted. “I got the recipe from my Pixie Scout cookbook!”

  “Maybe that’s the problem, Bess,” George said. “Sometimes good enough isn’t enough.”

  Nancy glanced over her shoulder at her house.

  “If only Hannah would give us her top-secret recipe for pink-strawberry lemonade,” Nancy said. “It’s awesome!”

  “Top secret?” Bess said, her blue eyes wide.

  “Even from you?” George asked Nancy. “Hannah has been your housekeeper since you were four years old.”

  “Three years old!” Nancy corrected. “And Hannah is more than a housekeeper—she’s like a mother to me.”

  “Then why won’t she give you her recipe?” Bess asked.

  “I told you, it’s top secret!” Nancy said. She flashed a little smile. “Even from detectives like us!”

  When Nancy, Bess, and George weren’t selling lemonade they were part of a detective club called the Clue Crew. Nancy even had a special Clue Book so she could write down clues and suspects.

  “Speaking of dete
ctive stuff,” George said with a smile. “I joined the Spy Girl Gadget of the Month Club.”

  “You joined a club without us?” Bess gasped. “But Nancy is your best friend—and I’m your best cousin!”

  “Are you sure you two are cousins?” Nancy joked.

  Bess and George were cousins, but totally different.

  Bess had blond hair, blue eyes, and a closet full of fashion-forward clothes. George had dark hair and eyes and liked her nickname better than her real name, Georgia. George’s closet was full too—with electronic gadgets!

  “The Spy Girl Gadget of the Month Club isn’t really a club, Bess,” George explained. “I just get a new spy gadget in the mail once a month.”

  George held up a purple pen and said, “The first gadget came yesterday. It’s called a Presto Pen.”

  “What does it do?” Nancy asked.

  “I don’t know,” George admitted. “I think my little brother, Scott, took the instructions—just like he takes everything else that belongs to me—”

  “You guys, look!” Bess interrupted.

  Nancy turned to see where Bess was pointing. Walking toward their lemonade stand were Andrea Wu, Bobby Wozniak, and Ben Washington from their third-grade class at school.

  “Customers!” Nancy said. She smoothed her reddish-blond hair with her hands and whispered, “Everybody, smile!”

  The kids approached, each wearing a READY, SET, COOK! T-shirt.

  “ ‘Ready, set, cook,’ ” Nancy read out loud. “Isn’t that the kids’ cooking show on TV?”

  “Exactly!” Andrea said proudly. “You’re looking at one of the next teams on the show—Team Lollipop!”

  “Neat!” Bess said. “What are you going to cook?”

  “Our challenge is to put together a picnic basket,” Ben explained. “We’re making chicken salad on rolls, potato salad, crunchy coleslaw, and pecan bars.”

  Nancy was surprised to see Bobby on the team. Bobby’s nickname was Buggy because he loved bugs!

  “You like to cook, Buggy?” Nancy asked.

  “Not really,” Bobby said. “My mom made me join the cooking show so I’d stop thinking about bugs this summer.”

  “How about some lemonade?” Bess asked.

  “I’d rather have bug juice!” Buggy sighed.

  “I’ll have a cup, please,” Ben said with a smile.

  “One cup coming up!” George said. She picked up the pitcher and carefully poured lemonade into a paper cup. Ben drank it in one gulp.

  “Not bad,” Ben said, smacking his lips. “I taste lemons, sugar, water, and a small dash of vanilla extract.”

  “You tasted all that?” Nancy exclaimed.

  “I can taste anything and name each ingredient!” Ben said proudly. “Superheroes have X-ray vision, but I have X-ray taste buds.”

  “Wow!” George said. She offered Andrea a cup, but she shook her head.

  “No, thanks,” Andrea said. “I just had a cup at Lily Ramos’s lemonade stand.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George knew Lily from school. They also knew that Lily’s Aunt Maria owned a chain of famous coffee-and-tea cafés called Beans and Bags.

  “What’s Lily’s lemonade like?” Nancy asked.

  “Pretty sour,” Andrea said, scrunching her nose. “But her lemonade stand rocks!”

  The girls traded surprised looks as Team Lollipop walked away.

  “What could be so special about Lily’s lemonade stand?” Bess wondered.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Nancy said. “Let’s go over to Lily’s house and check it out.”

  Nancy wrote BE RIGHT BACK on her ladybug pad. After putting the lemonade pitcher in the kitchen fridge, the girls made their way to Lily Ramos’s house two blocks away.

  Nancy, Bess, and George each had the same rule: They could walk anywhere as long as it wasn’t more than five blocks away and as long as they were together. They didn’t mind. Being together was more fun anyway!

  “Whoa!” George gasped when they reached the Ramoses’ front yard.

  CAROLYN KEENE is the author of the ever-popular Nancy Drew series of books.

  PETER FRANCIS lives and works in the United Kingdom. When he’s not helping the Clue Crew solve mysteries, he can be found sketching frantically in his studio, investigating hidden landscapes, or growing his own vegetables.

  Don’t miss the next Clue Book mystery:

  Nancy Drew Clue Book #2: Last Lemonade Standing

  ALADDIN

  Simon & Schuster, New York

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  authors.simonandschuster.com/Carolyn-Keene

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Peter-Francis

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

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  This Aladdin hardcover edition July 2015

  Text copyright © 2015 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Peter Francis

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

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

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  Book designed by Karina Granda The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.

  Jacket designed by Karina Granda

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2015 by Peter Francis

  Library of Congress Control Number 2014026573

  ISBN 978-1-4814-3896-4 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-2937-5 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-2938-2 (eBook)