The Carousel Mystery

  “No,” Jo replied. “Dad’s been meaning to put one in, but he hasn’t gotten around to it yet. Can we leave now?” Her voice trembled.

  Nancy kept shining the flashlight around. There was an old cabinet with chipped paint, a couple of broken rocking chairs, and a pile of cardboard boxes. That was all.

  But then Nancy shined the flashlight on the far corner of the floor. She saw a few pairs of muddy footprints.

  Nancy rushed over to the footprints and knelt down. Next to one of the prints were the initials TG, written in mud.

  Jo leaned over Nancy’s shoulder and gasped. “The ghost was here!” she cried out. She looked really scared.

  “Ghosts don’t wear shoes,” George said.

  “This ghost does,” Bess said in a shaky voice.

  Nancy frowned. Someone was definitely trying to make them think there was a ghost. First there was the note in the library. Then there was the spooky music, the footprints, and the muddy initials.

  The sound of something falling startled the girls. “What was that?” Bess demanded.

  The sound had come from outside the secret room. Nancy jumped to her feet and ran out the door.

  Sam Gangi was in the outer room. Near him, there was a cardboard box lying upside down on the floor, next to a pile of other cardboard boxes. He must have knocked it down by accident, Nancy thought.

  “What are you doing here?” Nancy asked.

  Sam stared at Nancy with wide green eyes. “Wh-what? N-nothing. I was looking for my, um, old Turtleman cards.”

  “They’re not down here,” Jo snapped.

  “Mom put them somewhere, and I can’t find them,” Sam insisted.

  “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Jo taunted him.

  Sam glared at his sister.

  “Hey, Sam,” Nancy said in a friendly voice. “Do you have a portable CD player? Were you just playing music down here?”

  “No!” Sam burst out. Then he turned around and ran up the stairs.

  “Why do I have to have the weirdest brother in the whole world?” Jo said with a loud sigh.

  Nancy frowned. Sam is acting like he’s afraid, she thought. Did he have something to do with the music or the muddy footprints or the initials? Did he steal the brass ring?

  “He’s acting kind of strange,” Nancy agreed. “But let’s go! I have an idea!”

  • • •

  Brad opened the front door as soon as Jo rang the doorbell. He frowned at his cousin. Then he turned to frown at Nancy, Bess, and George, who were standing behind Jo.

  “What do you want?” Brad asked impatiently. “I’m right in the middle of a major Video Warriors championship.”

  “We, uh . . .” Jo quickly glanced at Nancy.

  “Jo wanted to know what she and Mia should get your parents for Christmas,” Nancy fibbed.

  Brad looked confused. “Huh?”

  “This’ll only take a minute,” Nancy said. She stomped her snowy boots on the doormat and stepped inside the house. Jo, George, and Bess did the same.

  Nancy was glad she’d thought of the idea to pay Brad a visit. He and his parents lived only a few doors away from the Gangis.

  Brad was still a suspect in their mystery. And Nancy wanted to look through his house for clues—particularly clues having to do with the spooky song and the muddy footprints. Nancy had drawn a rough sketch in her notebook one of the muddy prints.

  Inside the living room, Jo began chattering to Brad about gift ideas for his mother and father. “Mia and I were thinking about a cookbook. What do you think? Let’s see which cookbooks your parents already have.” She grabbed Brad’s arm and yanked him down the hallway.

  “Quick, start looking around. We don’t have much time,” Nancy whispered.

  “What are we looking for, exactly?” Bess whispered back.

  “Muddy shoes. ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ Anything that seems suspicious,” Nancy explained.

  George nodded. “Okey-dokey.”

  The three girls split up. George took the living room and hall closet. Bess took the dining room. Nancy went upstairs to check out the bedrooms. If Brad caught her, she would just tell him that she was looking for the bathroom.

  Nancy tiptoed down the carpeted hallway. She came upon a half-open door. It had a handwritten DO NOT DISTURB sign on it.

  Nancy peeked in. It was someone’s bedroom. There were motorcycle posters on the walls. There were clothes scattered all over the floor. The desk was covered with soda cans, potato chip crumbs, and piles of books and magazines.

  This must be Brad’s room, Nancy thought.

  Nancy noticed a pair of black-and-white sneakers on the floor. She pulled her notebook out of her pocket and turned to the page with the footprint drawing out on it. Then she picked up one of the sneakers and compared it to the drawing.

  Nancy’s raced. The sneaker and the footprint drawing were the same size!

  Just then she heard George in the hallway. “Nancy? Are you in there?” George called out.

  Nancy poked her head outside. “I’m here. What’s up?”

  George was standing there holding something shiny in her hand. It was a CD. “Nancy, we’ve solved the mystery!” she whispered excitedly. “Take a look!”

  George held the CD out to Nancy. The name of the CD was The Best of Christmas.

  The first song on the CD was “The Twelve Days of Christmas”!

  7

  To Catch a Thief

  Nancy glanced at the CD again. Then she showed George the sneaker and the footprint drawing.

  “Brad’s got to be our thief!” George said.

  Nancy nodded. “He looks pretty guilty. Let’s go talk to him.”

  Nancy and George raced downstairs. Bess, Jo, and Brad were all in the dining room.

  “Oh, there you are,” Bess said in a loud, nervous voice. “I was just telling these guys that you were in the bathroom.”

  Nancy handed the CD to Brad. “Does this look familiar?” she asked him.

  Brad stared at the CD. “Uh, no. It’s probably my mom and dad’s. The only CDs I own are Megabreath and Galactica.”

  “We think you stole the brass ring and left that spooky note,” George blurted out. “Today, you tried to scare us by hiding in the secret room and playing this CD. You even left your muddy footprints there!”

  “I did . . . what?” Brad seemed totally confused. “Secret room? Muddy footprints? Have you guys been reading too many mystery comic books or what?”

  “The footprints match your shoe size,” Nancy told him.

  Brad shrugged. “Big deal. There’s probably, like, thousands of people with the same shoe size as mine. Besides, why would I steal that stupid brass ring?”

  “Because you like to play mean pranks,” Joe cried out. “Like how you put spiders in the punch.”

  “That was cool. Stealing some old piece of metal is not cool,” Brad replied.

  Nancy frowned at Brad. Was he lying about the brass ring? Or was he telling the truth? It was impossible to tell.

  • • •

  “So how is your case coming along, Pudding Pie?” Mr. Drew asked Nancy.

  They were baking holiday cookies together. The kitchen was filled with the smells of sugar and cinnamon. Through the window, Nancy could see snow falling softly against the dark blue evening sky.

  Nancy squirted some white icing along the outline of her gingerbread girl. “Okay, Daddy,” she said. “We have a few suspects.”

  “Who?” Mr. Drew asked.

  “Well, our number one suspect is Brad Gangi, who is Jo and Mia and Sam’s cousin,” Nancy replied. She told her father all about the music and muddy footprints in the secret room. “Brad’s shoe size matches the footprints,” she finished. “Plus, we found a CD with that song at his house.”

  “That’s good detective work, Pudding Pie,” Mr. Drew said with a smile. “Still, don’t forget: Lots of people have Christmas CDs.”

  “I know.” Nancy nodded. “And lots of people have th
e same shoe size as Brad’s,” she added. “Brenda’s a suspect too. She might have stolen the brass ring so she could pretend to solve the mystery and look like a hotshot. Sam’s kind of a suspect too.”

  “Little Sam Gangi?” Mr. Drew looked surprised. “He’s only six years old. Why do you think he would steal the brass ring?”

  Nancy picked out a piece of red candy to make the gingerbread girl’s nose. “I’m not sure. He was acting strange at the Gangis’ house today. Maybe he’s jealous because his sisters have been getting lots and lots of attention about the horses.”

  Mr. Drew’s hands were covered with powdered sugar. He wiped them on a dish towel and said, “Here’s another idea: What if someone stole the brass ring because it’s valuable?”

  Nancy nodded slowly. “Hmm. I thought about that too. I think you’re right, Daddy!”

  Mr. Drew’s comment gave Nancy an idea. “May I use your computer to do research on the Internet, Daddy?” she asked her father. “Maybe I can find out more stuff about brass rings.”

  Mr. Drew smiled. “Great idea, Pudding Pie. Let’s go to my study.”

  The two of them washed their hands, then headed down the hall to Mr. Drew’s study. Nancy loved her father’s study. It had a big wooden desk with his computer and other work things on it. Nancy often liked to sit next to her father and draw while he typed on the computer.

  Mr. Drew and Nancy sat down at the desk. He had a special work chair, and she had a smaller one just like it.

  Mr. Drew spent a few minutes booting up his computer and typing in some commands. Then he scooted over so Nancy could surf the Web.

  Nancy found a page called Kidsearch and typed in the word “carousel.” She knew that the Kidsearch program would find a bunch of Web pages that were related to carousels.

  A few minutes later a picture of a carousel flashed up on the screen. The carousel had at least thirty horses.

  “It’s so big!” Nancy said, her blue eyes wide. “I wish I could go for a ride on it.”

  “Sure, Pudding Pie. But let’s hope we’ll have our very own carousel right here in River Heights,” Mr. Drew reminded her.

  Nancy scrolled down the screen. “Here’s some information about brass rings. Oh, and here’s something about Thomas Gangi,” she said excitedly.

  Nancy quickly glanced at the page. “It says here that there are only three of his brass rings in the world,” she told her father. “That means that all three of them must be super-valuable! Oh, and it says that Thomas Gangi sometimes put a secret compartment in his carousel horses.”

  “Really?” Mr. Drew said.

  Nancy continued to surf the Web. She learned that one of Thomas Gangi’s brass rings was in Paris, France. The other one was in South Africa.

  While she was surfing, Nancy thought . . . and thought . . . and thought.

  After a while, something occurred to her—something brilliant!

  “Daddy!” she exclaimed. “I think I know exactly how to catch our brass ring thief!”

  8

  Brass Ring Bust

  Okay, so what’s the big emergency?” Bess asked Nancy. “I had to race through my Strawberry Crunch cereal to get here.”

  “We’re really curious!” George added.

  It was Tuesday morning. Nancy, Bess, and George were sitting at the Drews’ dining room table.

  Last night, Nancy had come up with a plan to catch the thief. She had told her father right away. He had agreed that it was a great idea.

  Now she had to run her plan by her two best friends. After all, she needed their help to pull it off!

  Nancy began talking excitedly. “My dad and I did some research on the Internet last night. We found out that there are only two other Thomas Gangi brass rings in the world. One of them is in a museum in Paris, and the other one is owned by a millionaire in South Africa.”

  “Wow,” Bess said.

  “So here’s the plan,” Nancy went on. “What if I get all our suspects together in one room? I’ll make believe that everything is fine now because my dad found one of the other Thomas Gangi brass rings in an antique store close to here. I’ll tell them that we’re going to use it as a substitute at Wednesday’s ceremony.”

  “I don’t get it,” George said. “You said the other Thomas Gangi brass rings were in Paris and South Africa. How is your dad going to get one of them here by tomorrow?”

  “He’s not,” Nancy explained. “We’re just going to pretend that Dad found the brass ring in an antique store.”

  Bess’s blue eyes lit up. “I get it! You’re hoping that the thief will try to steal the pretend brass ring by tomorrow.”

  Nancy nodded. “Yup! I’ll act like I’m putting it somewhere in the Gangis’ house and I’ll let everyone know where it is. And maybe, just maybe, someone will try to steal it.”

  George gave Nancy a high five. “You’re the smartest detective I know, Nancy!”

  • • •

  It was Tuesday afternoon. Nancy glanced around the Gangis’ living room. Everyone was there: George, Bess, Brenda, Brad, Jo, Mia, and Sam.

  Sunlight slanted through the large bay windows and fell across the room. In the corner, the small white lights on the Christmas tree twinkled and danced. A fire blazed brightly in the fireplace.

  Nancy took a deep breath. She wondered if her plan would work. Would the thief give himself or herself away by trying to steal the pretend brass ring?

  “Okay, Patsy or Annie or Nancy or whatever your name is, why did you make us come over here?” Brad demanded. “I’ve only been here for two minutes, and I’m already bored. Can I go now?”

  “Me too,” Brenda said. She tapped her pen against her notebook. “I am so, so busy working on this case.”

  “That’s it! That’s exactly why I asked you all to come,” Nancy said with a smile. “Tomorrow is supposed to be the grand opening of the carousel in the park. And so far, no one has found the brass ring! “

  “But I am so close,” Brenda said impatiently. “So can I please go now?”

  Nancy ignored Brenda’s question. “I have great news. The pressure’s off!”

  “Huh?” Mia said.

  “I mean, we all still have to keep trying to find the missing brass ring,” Nancy explained. “But we don’t have to find the brass ring by tomorrow. We have another Thomas Gangi brass ring!”

  Mia, Jo, and Brenda all gasped at the same time.

  “What?” Mia cried out. “What are you talking about, Nancy?”

  “Your great-great-great grandfather made three brass rings, including the one that’s missing. My dad managed to find another one at an antique store,” Nancy said. “I have it in my backpack right now. My dad asked me to give it to your dad when he gets home from work. Then your dad’s going to have the brass ring and all the horses moved to the park first thing tomorrow—in time for the opening tomorrow afternoon!”

  “Isn’t that great news?” Bess chirped.

  Everyone started talking all at once. Nancy studied the faces of her three suspects, Brenda and Sam and Brad. Brenda was busy talking and writing in her notebook at the same time. Brad seemed bored. Sam was the only one who looked worried.

  Only Nancy, George, and Bess knew that there was no second brass ring—not in River Heights, anyway. Nancy’s backpack had nothing but books and notebooks in it. Nancy was hoping that the thief, whoever it was, would try to sneak over to the hall closet and look inside her backpack.

  Now that her plan was in place, Nancy and her friends would just have to wait. Who would go for Nancy’s backpack? Would it be Sam . . . or Brad . . . or Brenda?

  Nancy jumped up from the couch. “May I use your phone? I need to call my dad,” she fibbed to Mia and Jo.

  “You can use the one in the kitchen,” Jo replied.

  “I’ll go with you, Nancy. I need to get a glass of water,” George said.

  “Me too,” Bess said.

  The three girls disappeared into the kitchen. Then, quietly, Nancy doubled back to th
e hallway. Bess and George followed her. The three girls stood behind a large antique cabinet. That way, they could see the hall closet without being seen.

  Nancy put her finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”

  “Shhhh,” Bess and George whispered back.

  They waited a minute . . . then two minutes . . . then three minutes. Just then they heard footsteps hurrying down the hall.

  A figure approached the hall closet and opened the door. The person pulled Nancy’s backpack out and began to unzip it.

  Nancy stepped out from behind the cabinet. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

  “Mia?!” Nancy exclaimed. “You’re the thief?”

  Mia screamed and dropped the backpack.

  “No way,” said Bess, shaking her head.

  “But you and your sister are the ones who found the brass ring and the horses to begin with,” George pointed out.

  Mia stared at the floor. “That’s just it,” she said after a minute. “I didn’t want the horses to go to the park. I wanted to keep them here.”

  “Did Jo want to keep them here too?” Nancy asked her.

  Mia rolled her eyes. “No. Jo thought we should share the horses with everybody. So did Mom and Dad. But how unfair is that? I mean, Jo and I found them!”

  “So you decided to steal the brass ring and make everyone think there was a ghost around,” Nancy said slowly. “That way, your mom and dad wouldn’t be able to give the horses to the city.”

  Mia nodded. “But I freaked out when you said you had another Thomas Gangi brass ring, Nancy. That would have ruined everything! So I had to hide that one, too.”

  Sam, Jo, Brad, and Brenda appeared just then. “Who screamed? What’s going on?” Brenda demanded. Her pen was poised over her notebook.

  Nancy filled the four of them in.

  Jo gasped. “Mia! You’re the thief?” she cried out when Nancy had finished.

  Mia’s lip trembled. “I couldn’t say goodbye to our horses. I just couldn’t!” she moaned.

  Jo ran up and hugged her sister. “Oh, poor Mia! Mom and Dad are going to be soooooo mad. But don’t worry, I’ll stand up for you.”