Felicity dried her hands with an enormous wad of paper towels. She left the water running as she went out of the bathroom with Marcy. Nancy ran to the sink to shut it off.
“Did you see that?” Nancy cried.
“I saw it, but I don’t believe it,” said George. “First Felicity wastes water, then paper—then more water!”
“But Felicity and her family are supposed to be so green,” Bess said. “That’s what she wrote in her essay.”
“Unless,” Nancy mused, “her essay was more fiction than fact.”
“You mean she might have lied?” George asked.
“How can we find out for sure?” said Bess.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Nancy said, lowering her voice. “We have to go to Felicity’s house after school. That way we’ll see if they really are green.”
The rest of the day went by quickly. After school the girls called their parents to ask for permission to take a walk. That walk allowed Nancy, Bess, and George to secretly follow Felicity home. They hid behind a tree trunk and watched Felicity skip into her house.
“Let’s wait a few seconds before we ring her bell,” Nancy whispered. “Or she’ll know we followed her.”
Just then Nancy saw Quincy. He and his little brother, Emmett, were walking into the house next door.
“I didn’t know Felicity was Quincy’s next-door neighbor,” said Nancy.
“There’s a lot we don’t know about Felicity,” George said. She stepped out from behind the tree. “Our few seconds are up. Let’s do it.”
Nancy, Bess, and George didn’t want the Faulkners to know they were checking them out. So when Mrs. Faulkner opened the door, they pretended to be collecting recycled cans.
“Oh, we haven’t recycled in ages,” Mrs. Faulkner told them with a chuckle. “We just throw our cans and bottles in the regular trash.”
Nancy looked sideways at her friends. The Faulkners didn’t even recycle!
“Felicity is taking a shower now,” Mrs. Faulkner said. “But you can wait for her in the family room.”
Mrs. Faulkner pointed down the hall. As the girls walked toward the door at the end she called, “Turn on the TV or the CD player if you want. Or both!”
“Both?” Bess whispered when Mrs. Faulkner went back into the kitchen. “That’s wasting tons of electricity!”
“So are all these lights that are on!” George observed, pointing around the room. “And it’s still daytime.”
“Felicity wrote in her essay that they use those curly fluorescent bulbs,” Nancy said. “C …”
“CFL,” George said. “Same initials as my aunt—Carol Felicia Landers!”
Nancy wanted to see if the bulb in one of the lamps was the CFL kind. She kicked off her shoes and stood on a chair underneath a lamp.
“Looks like the regular kind,” she reported.
“What are you doing?” Felicity’s voice asked.
Startled, Nancy fell off the chair. Luckily, the carpet was soft!
“Um … hi, Felicity,” Nancy said, standing up. “We just wanted to see—”
“If we’re really green?” Felicity cut in. Her hair was dripping wet from her shower.
“We saw you waste a lot of water and paper in school,” Nancy admitted. “And with all these lights on, you’re wasting tons of energy.”
The Queen of Green turned bright red!
“Um—I just got soap in my eyes!” Felicity blurted. She began to blink. “So—I need a lot of light to see!”
“What about recycling your bottles and cans?” Bess asked. “Your mother said you never do it.”
“Um, we never eat at home!” Felicity blurted again. “We always eat out. Pizza … with organic toppings!”
The girls each raised an eyebrow. Finally Felicity’s shoulders drooped.
“Okay, I made up a few things in my essay,” she confessed. “But I had to win that contest!”
“Why?” asked Bess.
“Because I’m the new kid,” Felicity said. “Being Queen of Green would make everybody like me.”
“Not if they found out you lied,” Nancy pointed out. “You are going to tell Mrs. Ramirez, aren’t you?”
“Are you crackers?” Felicity exclaimed. “If I did that, she’d make somebody else queen!”
Nancy couldn’t believe her ears. Lying on her essay was bad enough. But now Felicity wouldn’t even correct her mistake!
“You guys aren’t going to tell Mrs. Ramirez, are you?” asked Felicity.
“No,” Nancy said. “That’s your job.”
Felicity heaved a big sigh.
“Oh, don’t waste your time on me,” she said. “Just find the person who ruined our float, once and for all!”
The next afternoon was a busy day. It was the day before the Earth Week parade, and everyone was busy practicing in the schoolyard. The fourth graders were blowing up blue and green balloons that looked like Planet Earth. The other third-grade class was practicing cartwheels for their Salute to Earth dance. But Mrs. Ramirez’s class was busy putting the finishing touches on their Happy Earth Day to You! float.
“Good job, kids!” Mrs. Ramirez said as she stepped back to look at the float. “Everything seems to be in place!”
“Except my compost bin,” Quincy said with a sigh.
Nancy, Bess, and George were filling empty bottles with pebbles to make instruments for the recycled band. From the corner of her eye, Nancy could see Felicity sitting on her throne.
“Do you think she’ll confess?” Bess whispered.
Nancy watched Felicity smile and practice her royal wave. “I’ll take a wild guess and say no,” she whispered back.
“At least we know why somebody wrote that note to Felicity,” said George. “But we still don’t know who it was.”
Nancy secretly pulled the mysterious note out of her pocket. As she unfolded it, she said, “Someone besides us knows that Felicity lied in her essay.”
“Don’t forget,” Bess whispered, “we still have one more suspect. Mrs. McGillicuddy and the lunch ladies.”
“Why would they write the note?” George asked.
“I don’t know,” said Nancy. “But the throne was covered with icky food stuff. And Mrs. McGillicuddy works in the lunchroom, so—”
“So maybe it was the same food that was served in the lunchroom that day!” George cut in.
“I remember we had veggie burgers and sweet potato fries,” Bess said. “But I can’t remember the food that was dumped on the throne.”
“I know someone who will!” said George. “Scotty Patak!”
Nancy’s eyes lit up. Scotty had the most awesome memory. He remembered everybody’s birthday in the class. And the names of their pets!
The three girls walked over to Scotty, who was the conductor of the recycled-items band.
“Here are some more pebble-bottles,” said George. The girls plunked the bottles on the float next to Scotty.
“Cool!” Scotty said. “How’s your dog Chocolate Chip, Nancy?”
“Fine, thanks,” Nancy said.
“Yo, Scotty!” called Peter. He was holding a drum made out of an old rubber tire. “How many times do I bang this?”
“It’s bang the tire three times, shake the pebbles, toot the empty bottles five times, then the big finish!” Scotty called back.
Nancy was impressed. No wonder Scotty was picked to be the conductor!
“Scotty, remember the yucky stuff that was dumped on Felicity’s throne?” Nancy asked.
“How could I forget?” Scotty said, wrinkling his nose.
“Do you remember what kind of food it was?” George asked.
“Let me think.” Scotty squeezed his eyes shut. After a second he said, “Shredded lettuce, apple and pear cores, baked beans, carrot sticks, potato salad, and lots of peanut butter sandwich crusts!”
“Wow!” Nancy said. “Thanks, Scotty!”
“No problem.” Scotty turned back to the band. “And a one—and a two—and
—”
Nancy jumped as Peter pounded the rubber tire. Then she and her friends walked away from the recycled band.
“There was lots of peanut butter on the throne,” Nancy whispered. “So let’s find out if the lunchroom served peanut butter sandwiches that day.”
Mrs. Ramirez gave the girls permission to go to the lunchroom. Bess said they needed more cans, which was true.
Nancy, Bess, and George ran through the back entrance. Running in the halls was not allowed, so they walked quickly toward the lunchroom.
Once there the girls huddled against the wall and peeked inside. Nancy saw piles of cardboard boxes. “What are those for?” she whispered.
“Who knows?” George said, rubbing her nose. “All I know is that Mrs. McGillicuddy is serving fish sticks today. And fish sticks make me sneeze!”
The lunch ladies seemed to be in the back of the kitchen. Quietly Nancy waved her friends into the lunchroom. On the wall near the door was the weekly menu, tacked to a bulletin board. The girls studied it carefully.
“Hmm,” Nancy said. “No peanut butter sandwiches the whole week.”
“Or potato salad,” George said.
“Or pears,” added Bess.
Nancy heard Mrs. McGillicuddy’s voice. She and her friends ducked behind the cardboard boxes and slowly peeked out. The lunch ladies were filing out of the kitchen.
Mrs. McGillicuddy was rubbing her hands together as she said, “Good work, girls. Our top secret plan worked like a charm.”
Nancy gave a little gasp. “Top secret plan?” she whispered.
Was Mrs. McGillicuddy talking about trashing Felicity’s throne?
“Why else would it be top secret?” George whispered. “Unless they did something … something … something …”
Nancy turned to stare at George. Her head was thrown all the way back. Her mouth was wide open as she said, “Ah, ah, ah—”
“Oh, no!” Bess whispered. “She’s going to—”
“Ahh-chooooo!” George sneezed.
“Who’s there?” called Mrs. McGillicuddy.
“Sorry,” George sniffed.
The girls rose slowly from behind the boxes. Mrs. McGillicuddy folded her arms and said, “If you’re looking for cookies, they’re locked up in the kitchen.”
“We’re not looking for cookies!” Bess told her as they stepped out. “We’re looking for peanut butter!”
Nancy and George stared at Bess. Was she about to tell Mrs. McGillicuddy they were looking for clues?
“Peanut butter makes a fabu-mazing organic glue!” Bess said with a smile. “And what’s better for Earth Week than organic glue?”
But Mrs. McGillicuddy wasn’t smiling. She was staring at the girls with wide eyes.
“There is no peanut butter on my watch!” she exclaimed. She walked over to the bulletin board and jabbed her finger on a memo. “Read that.”
Nancy stood on her tiptoes and read the memo out loud: “Because of peanut allergies, peanut butter will no longer be served in the lunchroom.”
Nancy checked the date on the memo. It had been written by the principal a whole year ago.
“Come to think of it,” Bess murmured, “we haven’t had peanut butter sandwiches for a long, long time.”
“No peanuts on our yogurt parfaits, either,” George added.
“You girls had better go back to your teacher,” the pink-netted lunch lady said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do in here.”
The girls turned to leave. But as they reached the door, George said, “One more thing, please.”
“I told you—the cookies are locked up,” Mrs. McGillicuddy grumbled.
“We don’t want cookies,” said George. “We just want to know what you meant by a top secret plan.”
The lunch ladies stared at the girls. Then they began to laugh.
“If we told you, it wouldn’t be a secret!” Mrs. McGillicuddy said.
As the lunch ladies kept laughing, Nancy whispered, “Let’s go.”
“I wanted to ask them what was in the boxes,” Bess said once they were in the hall.
“Forget it, Bess!” said George. “Any more questions and we’ll never get dessert again.”
“And I don’t think Mrs. McGillicuddy and the lunch ladies did it,” Nancy concluded. “Whoever dumped trash on the throne had peanut butter. And they don’t.”
The three girls left the school. When they returned to the float, Felicity was waiting for them.
“Well?” she asked. “The parade is tomorrow and you still haven’t found out who ruined my throne.”
“We’re working on it,” Nancy told her.
“Besides,” George added, “you have a brand-new throne now. We worked hard on that, too.”
“But what if it happens again before the parade?” Felicity wailed. “What kind of detectives are you, anyway?”
“The best!” Bess insisted.
“Then prove it!” Felicity hissed.
The girls watched the Queen of Green huff away.
“How can we prove it without suspects?” asked George.
“We can work on our clues,” Nancy said. “Maybe we can recognize the handwriting on the mysterious note.”
The girls studied the note. It was written in red ink. The penmanship was pretty neat.
“We can compare this to our essays hanging in the classroom,” Bess suggested.
Nancy shook her head. “Half of them were written on computers,” she said.
“Then we’re out of luck.” George sighed.
“That’s what you think!” Bess said, her blue eyes flashing. “I’ll be right back!”
Bess ran to the arts and crafts box. She came back with a big piece of orange construction paper in her hand.
“What’s that for?” asked Nancy.
“We can’t celebrate Earth’s birthday without a birthday card,” Bess explained.
“And birthday cards are signed!” George said. She nodded and smiled. “I get it, Bess.”
“Hey, everybody!” Nancy shouted to her classmates. “Grab a pen and sign the birthday card!”
Nancy smiled as the kids in her class signed the giant birthday card one by one. Soon they would have everyone’s signatures!
“Do you think one of the signatures will match the handwriting on the note?” George whispered.
“We’ll find out soon,” Nancy whispered back.
Kayla Bruce was the last to sign the card.
“Thanks, guys!” said Nancy, picking up the card. “We’re going to decorate it now.”
But they were really going to investigate it.
“Good thinking, Bess,” Nancy told her friend.
“Thank you!” said Bess with a smile. But then her smile turned into a frown, and she began to point. “L-look!”
Nancy turned to see where Bess was pointing. The same mysterious stalks and leaves were bobbing over some bushes.
“Omigosh!” Bess shrieked. “It’s those walking veggies! And they’re still alive!”
Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm and made her drop the card on the ground. The stalks and leaves ducked out of sight. So did the card, as a strong wind blew it away!
“Get it!” shouted George.
Nancy, Bess, and George ran after the card as the wind swept it away. They chased the runaway card around the school into the school yard. When the wind died down, the card fluttered to a stop. But just as the girls were about to run to it—
“Hup … hup … hup!”
Nancy turned and gasped. It was the kindergartners. They were practicing their march—right in the direction of the card.
“Stop!” Nancy yelled.
The little kids kept marching. They were looking straight ahead.
“Hup … hup … hup!”
“Nooo!” Nancy cried as the kids marched over the card, ripping it to shreds. “Not the caaaaaarrrrrrd!!”
The kindergartners marched away. Nancy, Bess, and George ran to pick up the pieces of the shredded card.
br /> “It was my fault!” Nancy groaned. “I shouldn’t have been such a klutz!”
“No, it was my fault,” said Bess. “I shouldn’t have grabbed your arm!”
“It was the wind’s fault, okay?” George snapped. “Let’s save all these pieces before they blow away too.”
The girls scooped up the torn pieces of construction paper and stashed them in their backpacks when they got back to their classroom.
After school the girls went straight to their detective headquarters. They sat cross-legged on the floor, putting the pieces of the ripped birthday card together.
“It’s like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again,” Bess said with a sigh.
The girls had managed to save all the pieces except one. But they had enough to study most of the signatures. Nancy compared them to the note one by one.
“Kendra Jackson … Kevin Garcia … Shelby Metcalf,” George read the names. “Marcy Rubin …”
“Phooey,” Nancy said, checking each one. “No match!”
“I bet the matching handwriting was on the missing piece,” said Bess.
Nancy leaned back on her bed. “Now what do we do?” she asked.
“Check it out!” George exclaimed. She leaned over and peeled some paper from the bottom of Nancy’s sneaker. It was orange. Written on it in red ink was Quincy’s signature.
“The missing piece!” Bess said happily. “It was on the bottom of your sneaker the whole time, Nancy.”
They compared Quincy’s name to the handwriting on the note. Nancy gave a big thumbs-up and said, “It’s a match!”
“Why would Quincy write that note to Felicity?” George asked. “How could he know that she lied?”
“Easy,” Nancy said. “Quincy is Felicity’s next-door neighbor. If anyone would know about her family, he would.”
“But even if he wrote the note,” said Bess, twirling a lock of her blond hair as she thought, “where would he get all that gross stuff he dumped on her throne?”
The girls thought for a moment. Then at the same time they all said, “His compost pile!”
Nancy, Bess, and George walked the few blocks to Quincy’s house. They found Quincy sitting on his doorstep, playing an electronic Game Buddy.