Babysitting Bandit Read online

  “Save some for me!” George said. She was sitting in front of Nancy’s computer, typing. Instead of regular pajamas, she wore a green soccer jersey over gray leggings. “I’m starting a new file with our suspect list and clues.”

  It was Friday night, and the three girls were having a sleepover at Nancy’s house. They’d already had a big do-it-yourself taco dinner with Hannah and Nancy’s dad, Carson Drew. After two big tacos apiece, Nancy was surprised that she, George, and Bess still had room for popcorn, hot apple cider, and Hannah’s homemade brownies. But they did!

  Nancy’s dog, Chocolate Chip, was curled up on the shaggy lavender rug, napping. Every once in a while she opened her eyes and sniffed at the air to see if there might be any popcorn kernels or brownie crumbs that had fallen to the floor.

  Nancy set her mug of apple cider on her nightstand, then got up and stood next to George to see what she was typing. George was typing from some notes about the case that Nancy had written down in a special blue notebook:

  THE CASE OF THE MISSING BABY STUFF

  — WHAT’S MISSING —

  A silver rattle shaped like a moon. It’s one of the twins’ favorite toys. It disappeared on Monday after school.

  A toy mouse named Squeak Squeak. It’s one of the twins’ favorite toys too. It disappeared on Wednesday after school.

  The twins’ favorite CD, called Happy Baby Songs. It probably disappeared sometime between Thursday at 5 p.m. (when Mrs. Gregory and Cal came over) and Friday before 3 p.m. (when we got to the house).

  — SUSPECTS —

  Matt: Margaret’s friend. Matt and their other friend Lacie come over every day after school to work on a science project with Margaret. Matt likes to play practical jokes. He was at the house on Monday when the rattle disappeared. He was also at the house on Wednesday when Squeak Squeak disappeared. Nancy heard him talking about toys right around the time Squeak Squeak disappeared. He was also at the house on Thursday when the CD (probably) disappeared.

  Cal: The neighbor’s little boy. He thinks he’s Super Sonic Man (ha-ha). He took the twins’ rattle on Monday when he and his mom came over to the house. He could have stolen the rattle (again) before he and his mom left. He was there at the house on Thursday when the CD (probably) disappeared. But he wasn’t at the house on Wednesday when Squeak Squeak disappeared.

  Pumpkin Pie: A cat! She likes to take stuff and bury it under rugs.

  Sir Barkalot: A dog! He likes to try to eat stuff like toys and CDs.

  — CLUES —

  We found a green fingerprint near where the rattle disappeared.

  We found a yellow fingerprint near where the CD disappeared.

  Nancy read George’s typed notes two whole times. “This is great,” she said when she was finished. She pointed to the part about Pumpkin Pie. “Bess and I were going to follow her around the house some more today. But Mrs. Jacobs said she was at the Purrfect Pets Salon, getting groomed. We’ll have to wait until Monday.”

  George pointed to the part about Sir Barkalot. “On Monday, we should ask Mrs. Jacobs if he was sick this weekend—or anytime last week. I mean, if he swallowed the CD or the rattle or Squeak Squeak, he’d have a really bad tummy ache, right?”

  “Good point,” Bess agreed, munching on a handful of popcorn.

  Nancy pointed to the part about the clues. “I wish we could figure out what these clues mean. Why did the thief have green fingers on Monday? And then yellow fingers on Thursday or Friday?”

  “Hey!” Bess jumped up from the bed, almost spilling the entire bowl of nacho cheese-flavored popcorn. A few kernels dropped to the floor and were hastily scarfed down by Chocolate Chip. “I just remembered something else Mrs. Jacobs told us on Monday,” Bess went on. “You know, when she was telling us about the twins and stuff?

  She said that the twins liked to finger paint, right?”

  “Yup,” Nancy said.

  “Hmm. Are you saying that the green and yellow fingerprints might be from finger paint?” George asked her cousin.

  Bess’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes! And what if the green and yellow fingerprints are from Anna Lin and Lily Mei? What if they’re the thieves?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Three Down

  “Anna Lin and Lily Mei?” Nancy said, surprised. “You think they’re the thieves?”

  “But why would they steal their own toys and stuff?” George asked Bess.

  Bess shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t steal them. Maybe they just took them when no one was looking and put them somewhere, and they can’t remember where. But they don’t know how to tell their mom because they don’t know a lot of words.”

  Nancy sat down on the bed and thought about this. “There’s only one problem with your theory,” she told Bess after a moment. “The twins are too short!”

  “Huh?” Bess said, puzzled.

  “The rattle was on the bookshelf when it disappeared, right next to the encyclopedias,” Nancy pointed out. “I have to stand on my tippy-toes to reach that shelf, and I’m way taller than the twins. The CD was on top of the CD player when it disappeared. That’s one shelf below, but that’s still pretty high.” She added, “We’re not exactly sure where Squeak Squeak was when he disappeared. Maybe the bookshelf—maybe not.”

  George’s eyes lit up. “That means there’s no way Cal could have reached those shelves either.”

  “Or Pumpkin Pie … or Sir Barkalot,” Bess said. “Unless Pumpkin Pie can jump that high.”

  “I just thought of something else that doesn’t make sense with Pumpkin Pie and Sir Barkalot,” Nancy said suddenly. “They couldn’t have left the green fingerprint or the yellow fingerprint.”

  George and Bess both stared at her. “Oh, yeah. Why didn’t we think of that before?” George exclaimed.

  “This case would be a lot easier to solve if the thief had left green and yellow paw prints instead,” Bess joked.

  George swiveled around in the chair and frowned at the computer screen. “Hey, guys? Guess what. We’ve just crossed out most of the suspects on our suspect list,” she noted.

  “Except for Matt,” Nancy said.

  “He’s definitely got to be our thief,” Bess agreed. “Let’s go arrest him right this second! Well, not arrest him, but you know what I mean.”

  “Let’s wait until Monday after school,” Nancy suggested. “He’ll probably be at their house working on the science project, right? We can ask him some questions.”

  “A lot of questions,” George said, narrowing her eyes. “If he’s our thief, we have to make sure he ’fesses up. Stealing stuff from babies is a really mean thing to do. We can’t let him get away with it!”

  “Hi, girls! Come in!”

  Mrs. Jacobs greeted Nancy, George, and Bess at the door on Monday after school. She was holding Anna Lin in one arm and Lily Mei in the other. The twins started flapping their hands excitedly when they saw Nancy and her friends.

  “Hi, Mrs. Jacobs. Hi, Anna Lin! Hi, Lily Mei!” Nancy said.

  “Go-go!” Anna Lin cried out, reaching for Bess.

  “Don’t worry, I brought Togo. He’s taking a cozy little nap in here,” Bess said, patting her backpack.

  The girls followed Mrs. Jacobs into the living room. Once there, she set the twins down on the floor. They sat down and began digging through a basket of books. George and Bess sat down with them. “How about The Very Funny Bunny?” Bess suggested. “Togo can read it with us!”

  Nancy turned to Mrs. Jacobs. “Are the … three things still missing?” she asked in a low voice. She didn’t want to say the words “rattle,” “Squeak Squeak,” or “Happy Baby Songs” out loud, in case the twins might overhear.

  Mrs. Jacobs nodded, her expression troubled.

  “I’m afraid so. Have you had any luck, you know, with your detective work?”

  “We’ve got some ideas,” Nancy replied. Then she remembered to ask Mrs. Jacobs George’s question about Sir Barkalot. He wasn’t high on their suspect list
anymore, but it was worth asking, anyway. “Mrs. Jacobs? Did Sir Barkalot have a tummy ache this weekend? Or maybe last week?”

  “A tummy ache? N-no,” Mrs. Jacobs replied.

  “That’s good,” Nancy said. “I guess he didn’t eat the CD or other two missing things, then.”

  Mrs. Jacobs laughed. “No, I guess not. But considering what a big eater he is, that’s a very good theory!”

  Nancy heard the sound of a door closing upstairs. “Are Matt and Lacie here?” she asked Mrs. Jacobs.

  “Yes, they are. They’re all working hard on their science project,” Mrs. Jacobs said. “Excuse me, I have to check on my lasagna.” She bent down and kissed the twins on the tops of their heads, then headed toward the kitchen.

  Anna Lin was curled up on George’s lap, and Lily Mei was curled up on Bess’s. Togo was sitting between them, in front of their book. “Can you keep reading to them? I’m going to go talk to Matt,” Nancy said to her friends.

  “And Brother Bunny said to Sister Bunny, ‘Give me back my super-special magic carrot!’” Bess read. She glanced up at Nancy. “Are you sure you’ll be okay all by yourself? What if Matt tries to escape? What if he’s a dangerous criminal? What if—”

  “I’ll be okay,” Nancy cut in, giggling.

  Nancy headed upstairs and proceeded to Margaret’s room. The door was closed, with the same signs as before—“MARGARET’S ROOM” and “DO NOT ENTER!!!!!”—as well as a new one that said, “THAT MEANS YOU, ANNA LIN AND LILY MEI!!!!!”

  Nancy pressed her ear against the door and heard the familiar voices of Margaret, Lacie, and Matt. She smiled to herself. Unlike last Wednesday, there was no music playing from a CD player or radio. She could hear every word they were saying.

  “So things are going really well, right?” Margaret was saying.

  “Oh, yeah! Three down, three to go,” Matt replied.

  Nancy frowned. Three down, three to go?

  By “three down,” was Matt referring to the silver rattle, Squeak Squeak, and the CD?

  By “three to go,” did he mean he planned on stealing three more things from the twins?

  CHAPTER TEN

  Happy Babies

  Nancy’s mind was racing. What was Matt up to? Did he really intend to steal again … and again … and again … from the twins? She knew he loved playing practical jokes. But why couldn’t he leave the poor little babies alone and pick on someone his own age?

  And then another thing occurred to her. He had said “three down, three to go” to Margaret and Lacie. Did that mean they were in on this too? Or was he just bragging to them?

  Nancy realized just then that Margaret, Lacie, and Matt had stopped talking. There was a long silence. She scrunched up more tightly against the door, wondering if they had lowered their voices.

  Just then, the door opened. Nancy practically fell into Margaret’s room.

  “Aha! I knew I heard a noise!” Margaret shouted. “You were spying on us. Why? Did Dylan send you here?”

  Nancy scrambled to her feet and smoothed her hair. She could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks. It wasn’t going to be easy explaining this. “Um, Dylan who?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

  “Dylan Shaw. He’s been trying to find out the results of our top-secret science project,” Lacie spoke up. “Are you and your friends working for him or what?”

  “N-no,” Nancy stammered.

  “Then what were you doing?” Margaret demanded.

  Nancy took a second to collect her thoughts. Standing in the open doorway, she glanced around Margaret’s room, which was blue and white and had posters of horses on the walls. The floor was cluttered with paint-splattered canvases, a hair dryer, an iron and ironing board, and various jars, pots, plates, and brushes. Nancy guessed that this was the equipment for their science project.

  Her gaze settled on Margaret, Lacie, and Matt, who were standing together in the middle of the room. They were waiting for her explanation.

  Nancy gulped. “Your sisters are missing some stuff,” she said, addressing her comments to Margaret. “The silver rattle, Squeak Squeak, and their happy-babies CD. Your mom asked George and Bess and me to try to find them.”

  Margaret’s eyes grew big. “She did?”

  “Yup. I came upstairs because I have some questions for Matt,” Nancy went on.

  Matt looked surprised. “Me? What did I do?”

  Nancy turned to him. “Did you steal the toys and the CD from Anna Lin and Lily Mei?” she demanded.

  Matt cracked up. “Uh, no way. That’s crazy! Why would I do that?”

  “Because you like playing practical jokes,” Nancy said. “Besides, you were here when all three things disappeared. Plus, what did you mean just now when you said, ‘three down, three to go’?”

  “Huh? Oh, that. I was talking about our science project,” Matt replied.

  “Yeah. We’re studying the effect of heat on paint,” Lacie piped up.

  Heat on paint, not pain, Nancy thought.

  “We’re studying how heat affects different colors of house paint,” Matt went on. “You know, like does blue dry faster than orange? Does white crack and peel at the same temperature as red? Each of us is in charge of two different colors.”

  “I’m in charge of red and orange,” Lacie said. “Matt’s in charge of blue and white. Margaret’s in charge of green and yellow. So far, we’ve done green, yellow, and red. That’s three down. We have three colors to go.”

  Nancy took a deep breath. “You’re in charge of the green and yellow paint?” she said to Margaret.

  Margaret folded her arms across her chest. “Yeah. So?”

  Nancy thought about the green fingerprint on the bookshelf and the yellow fingerprint on the CD player. Margaret had been in the house every day last week. Margaret had had the same opportunities to steal the twins’ things as Matt—and more.

  Nancy heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see George and Bess. George was carrying Anna Lin in her arms. Bess was carrying Lily Mei.

  “They were asking for you,” George told Margaret.

  “So we thought we’d come up and visit,” Bess added.

  “Your timing’s perfect,” Nancy said. She turned and regarded Margaret. “You took the twins’ things,” she said slowly. Behind her, she heard both George and Bess gasp.

  Margaret’s jaw dropped. “I did not!” she said angrily.

  “I think you did,” Nancy persisted. “You left evidence. There was a green fingerprint on the bookshelf where the silver rattle was. And there was a yellow fingerprint on the CD player where the Happy Baby Songs CD was.”

  “You’re lying! You’re making it up, and … ” Margaret stopped. She glanced at the twins, then dropped her eyes to the ground. “Um. Okay, well, maybe I did kind of take that stuff,” she whispered.

  “Margaret, that’s so mean!” Lacie scolded her.

  “Yeah, dude, that’s even meaner than something I would do,” Matt added.

  “Well, they deserved it,” Margaret said miserably. “Everything was fine until they came to live with us! Mom and Dad are so stressed lately, taking care of them. And they take my stuff, too! That silver rattle is mine!”

  Anna Lin wriggled out of George’s arms. Lily Mei did the same with Bess. The two babies ran toward Margaret and hugged her. “Mah-git!” Anna Lin exclaimed happily.

  “Mah-git!” Lily Mei joined in. She planted a big, sticky kiss on Margaret’s leg.

  Margaret’s expression softened into a smile. “Oh! Hey! You guys said my name!”

  “Mah-git!” the twins repeated.

  “Margaret, give them back their stuff right now,” Matt ordered her.

  “Yeah, okay.” Margaret took the twins by the hands and led them to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and pulled out the silver rattle, Squeak Squeak, and the CD. “Here you go. Sorry, okay?” she apologized to her sisters. “I guess I’ve gotta say I’m sorry to my parents, too.”

  Anna Lin began jumping up and
down. “Kweek Kweek!”

  Lily Mei grabbed the silver rattle and shook it back and forth. “Wa-ttle!”

  Nancy turned and grinned at George and Bess. “Well, we don’t have to follow Pumpkin Pie around the house anymore,” she joked.

  “And I don’t have to give Sir Barkalot any more tummy massages,” Bess added.

  The three girls laughed.

  That night, before going to sleep Nancy curled up in bed and wrote in her special purple notebook:

  Today, the Clue Crew solved “The Case of the Missing Baby Stuff.” It turned out that Margaret was jealous of her baby sisters. So she took the silver rattle and Squeak Squeak and the happy-babies CD.

  She said “I’m sorry” to them and to her mom, too. Her mom was mad at first. But then she said she should spend more time with Margaret and pay more attention to her.

  When we left their house, Margaret was playing tea party with the twins. It was her idea and everything. Maybe she’ll start being nicer to them from now on?

  I don’t know which is more fun, being a detective or being a babysitter!

  You Can Become a Mother’s Helper Too!

  Nancy, George, and Bess had so much fun helping Mrs. Jacobs take care of Anna Lin and Lily Mei.

  If you’re responsible, creative, patient, and like playing with younger children, maybe you could be a good mother’s helper too! Always be sure to ask your parents’ permission before you start.

  A personalized mother’s helper notebook will help you keep track of your appointments as well as the families you will be helping.

  You Will Need:

  A small spiral-bound or hardcover

  notebook

  Pens and Magic Markers

  Stickers

  With a pen or Magic Marker, write MY MOTHER’S HELPER NOTEBOOK (or any title you choose) on the cover of the notebook.

  Decorate the outside (and inside) of the notebook with cute stickers and drawings.