“Who cares? Sonia, just pick a different name.” Deirdre fluffed Squeak Squeak’s dress.
“But it’s my name!” Sonia insisted.
“No, it’s mine!” Violet cried out. She clutched the bunny to her chest.
“I thought of it first!”
“No, I did!”
The two girls continued arguing. Nancy glanced at Sonia and then at Violet, wondering who was telling the truth . . . and who was not.
Monday was show-and-tell day at school. Michael Dorf was standing up front, making his presentation.
“My super-duper bubble machine can make bubbles in all different sizes—and colors, too,” he said. “I can also make bubbles with different fragrances. That means ‘smells.’ So far I’ve made bubbles that smell like peppermint, chocolate, and broccoli. And that concludes my show-and-tell presentation.”
“Broccoli?” George turned around and whispered to Nancy. Nancy shrugged.
Mrs. Ramirez smiled. “Thanks, Michael D. I think that’s one of your most interesting inventions yet. Who wants to go next?”
Luna Valeri raised her hand. “I do! Can I show everyone my new Make-a-Pet ladybug?”
“But what about my amazing new Make-a-Pet camel?” Michael Lawrence piped up. Everyone called him “Michael L.,” to tell him apart from Michael D.
“I think I should go next,” Nadine Nardo said. “My Make-a-Pet poodle can do tricks!”
A dozen other kids raised their hands. Nancy noticed that they all had Make-a-Pets.
Antonio Elefano, who sat across from Nancy, rolled his eyes. “What’s up with these Make-a-Pets? They’re laaaaame.”
Bess, who sat in front of Antonio, whirled around. “You’re just jealous because you don’t have one!” she said in a low, angry voice.
“Yeah? I have something better. I have Killerosaurus!” Antonio pulled a large green plastic dinosaur out of his backpack. “And Killerosaurus is gonna eat your Fake-a-Pet for lunch! Grrrrrr!”
“Oh, no, he isn’t!” Bess hid Itty Bitty in her lap.
“Antonio, please put your dinosaur away,” Mrs. Ramirez told him sternly. “And let’s see . . . Sonia! Why don’t you go next?”
“Uh, okay. I guess,” Sonia said reluctantly. “This is my squirrel.” She stood up and held out a stuffed squirrel. It was wearing a T-shirt that read I’M NUTS FOR NUTS. “His name is Squirrel.” She started to sit back down.
“Hang on, Sonia. Tell us a little something about Squirrel,” Mrs. Ramirez urged. “Where did you get him? Are squirrels your favorite kind of animal?”
“I got him at the mall last night at the Make-a-Pet store. And no, squirrels aren’t my favorite. Bunnies are.” Sonia stared pointedly at Violet.
Violet glared back at Sonia. She hugged Hoppity to her chest.
“Oh! But squirrels are wonderful animals too,” Mrs. Ramirez said, looking confused. “They’re very cute. They have very good vision, and they can grasp things really well with their claws.”
“If you say so.” Sonia tugged at her short blonde hair.
“Okay, well . . . thank you, Sonia. Who wants to go next? Catherine?” Mrs. Ramirez suggested.
Catherine went up to the front of the class with a tiny blue bear that was too small to be a Make-a-Pet. As she began her presentation, Nancy glanced over at Sonia. Sonia had carelessly tossed Squirrel into her backpack and was doodling in her notebook with a glum expression.
Nancy wondered, What is it going to take to make Sonia feel better about not having a Make-a-Pet bunny named Hoppity?
“I’m ready for ice cream!” Bess announced. She waltzed up to Nancy’s cubby.
“Me too!” George said, following behind. The two cousins were wearing their coats, hats, and mittens and carrying their backpacks.
“Me three!” Nancy said, slipping on her parka. The last bell had just rung, and the hallway was jammed with kids. Hannah was meeting Nancy, Bess, and George in a few minutes to take them to Double Dip, their favorite ice-cream parlor.
“That’s dumb. Who wants to eat ice cream in January?” Michael L. called out from his cubby.
Bess giggled. “Any month is good for ice cream!”
“Have you guys started playing Petopia yet?” George asked Nancy and Bess. “It’s so much fun!”
Nancy nodded. “I know! I can’t wait to play again when I get home.”
“I’m going to try to win the contest,” Bess said. “Itty Bitty needs a new backpack to carry all her kitty treats!”
Just then, Violet came rushing up to Nancy and the girls. She looked upset.
“Violet, what’s wrong?” Nancy asked her.
“Everything!” Violet cried out. “Someone stole Hoppity!”
“What do you mean, someone stole Hoppity?” Nancy demanded.
“Just what I said. I left Hoppity in my cubby. And now she’s gone!” Violet’s eyes shimmered with tears.
“Are you sure you didn’t put her somewhere else, and you just forgot?” Bess piped up.
Violet shook her head. “No, I definitely put her in my cubby.”
Nancy thought this over. “When was the last time you saw her?” she said finally.
“Hmm . . . I put her in my cubby right after show-and-tell,” Violet replied. “Then at lunchtime I went to give her a pretend carrot. That was the last time, I think.”
“Lunchtime. That means that someone had, like, three hours to sneak Hoppity out of your cubby,” Nancy said.
Violet nodded in agreement. Then her face lit up. “Hey, I just remembered! You guys are secret agents!”
Nancy grinned. “You mean detectives?”
“Yes, that! So I can hire you to get Hoppity back for me, right? Puh-leeeeease?” Violet begged. “I’ll pay you whatever you want! I have twelve dollars and twenty-eight . . . no, twenty-nine cents in my piggy bank.”
“We don’t charge,” George told her. “And we’ll take your case! If it’s okay with you guys,” she said quickly to Nancy and Bess.
“I’m in,” Nancy said.
“I’m in too,” Bess added.
“Yay! Thank you! So what do we do now?” Violet said eagerly.
“First we should check the scene of the crime for clues,” Nancy said.
“The . . . scene of the what?” Violet asked.
“The scene of the crime. That means your cubby,” Bess explained.
“Oh!” Violet nodded. “Okay. Follow me!”
The four girls walked over to Violet’s cubby. Nancy knew that Hannah was probably waiting outside for her, Bess, and George to take them to Double Dip. So they had to work fast.
Nancy started searching through Violet’s cubby. The hallway was practically empty; almost everyone had left for home by now.
On the walls of Violet’s cubby were magazine clippings of pop star Lula Rappaport, who Nancy knew was Violet’s favorite singer. Hanging on the hook were Violet’s backpack, which had Lula stickers all over it, and Violet’s hot-pink jacket.
Nancy knelt down to search the bottom of the cubby. There were pencils, pens, a couple of notebooks, and a Lula fan magazine. Then she noticed something else, way in the back. She picked it up.
It was a small, doughnut-shaped object. It was clear blue, and it felt soft and squishy. What could it be?
“Is this yours?” Nancy asked Violet.
“Um, no. I don’t even know what it is,” Violet replied.
“It looks like a doll bracelet or something,” Bess remarked.
“I think I’ve seen one of those before,” George said slowly. “Or maybe not. I’m not sure. I’ll try to remember.”
“Thanks, George.” Nancy reached into her backpack, pulled out a plastic bag, and dropped the blue doughnut into it. She kept a bunch of such bags in her backpack, for storing clues. “Our first clue!” she announced.
“Except that our clue is a mystery too, since we don’t know what it is,” Bess joked.
“So let’s talk about motives,” Nancy said as she dug into her Crazilicious Caramel sundae.
br /> Nancy, Bess, George, and Violet were sitting in a booth at Double Dip. Violet had gotten permission from her parents to come along too. Hannah was at a table across from the four girls, talking to an old friend she had run into.
“Motives?” Violet repeated. “What are motives?” She licked chocolate syrup off of her spoon.
“A motive is why someone does something,” Bess explained. She plucked a cherry from the top of her Bananarama sundae. “Like, why would someone want to steal Hoppity?”
“Because she’s the most awesome bunny in the entire world?” Violet said. “Obviously?”
George took a sip of her Very, Very Berry shake. “That’s a good motive. What about suspects?”
“I think Antonio did it. He’s evil!” Bess exclaimed. “His Killer-whatever almost ate Itty Bitty!”
Nancy had been wondering about Antonio too. He was famous for pulling mean pranks on his classmates.
“We should definitely add Antonio to the suspect list,” Nancy agreed. “What about Sonia?”
“Sonia?” Violet shook her head. “No way!”
“But aren’t you two fighting?” George said.
Violet put her spoon down with a clatter. She looked upset. “No! Sonia and I are, like, best friends. She would never steal Hoppity!” She added, “Besides, best friends have fights once in a while. It’s no big deal.”
“But she said you stole her idea about getting a Make-a-Pet bunny and naming her Hoppity,” George persisted.
“Is Sonia right? Did you steal her idea about Hoppity?” Nancy asked Violet gently.
“No!” Violet insisted. But she wouldn’t meet Nancy’s gaze.
Hmm, Nancy thought. Violet’s keeping something from us. What is it?
“There’s Sonia,” Nancy said, pointing to the swings. “Let’s go talk to her!”
It was Tuesday at recess. Even though it was January, the weather was nice, so the students had bundled up and headed outside after lunch. As Nancy, Bess, and George half walked, half ran across the playground, their boots kicked up clouds of fluffy snow. They passed groups of kids playing hopscotch, kickball, and other games.
“So what are we going to say to her?” George asked Nancy.
“Well, we shouldn’t let her know that she’s a suspect,” Nancy replied.
The three girls slowed their steps as they neared the swing set. Sonia was pumping her legs hard to make herself go way up high.
“Hey, Sonia!” Nancy said, waving.
Sonia waved back. “Hey! Do you want a turn?” she called out, dragging her heels along the ground.
“No. We just wanted to talk to you,” Nancy said.
Sonia frowned. “Uh . . . what about?”
Bess put her hands on her hips. “We know you stole Hoppity from Violet’s cubby, Sonia Susi! Where is she? Where are you hiding her? And how could you do that to your best friend?” she demanded.
“Bess!” Nancy whispered.
“What? Hoppity’s missing?” Sonia exclaimed.
“Don’t act surprised! You know perfectly well that—” Bess began.
“Bess!” Nancy poked her friend with her elbow. “Someone stole Hoppity from Violet’s cubby yesterday,” she explained to Sonia. “We thought maybe you might know something. Or maybe you saw something?”
“No,” Sonia replied. “Omigosh, this is awful! Violet must be so upset.”
Nancy pulled the blue doughnut out of her pocket. “Is this yours?” she asked Sonia.
Sonia squinted at the doughnut, then shook her head. “No. What is it? It’s weird-looking.”
“We’re not sure what it is,” George admitted.
“Where were you between lunch and the end of school yesterday, Sonia?” Bess demanded.
“I was in class! With you guys!” Sonia pointed out. “Why are you asking me all these questions? Do you really think I would steal Hoppity?”
“Well, you told everyone at Deirdre’s house that Violet kind of stole Hoppity from you,” Bess said. “Maybe you were getting back at her for that.”
“I would never!” Sonia cried out. She jumped off the swing and started heading toward the door. “I’m not going to talk to you guys anymore. You’re mean!” she complained.
Nancy watched Sonia as she stormed off. Was Sonia telling the truth? Or was she hiding something—just like Violet?
“I think Sonia should be our number one suspect,” Bess declared.
It was after school on Tuesday. She, Nancy, and George were in Nancy’s bedroom going over the case. Hannah had made them a big bowl of buttery popcorn and mugs of hot apple cider. She always gave them extra-yummy snacks when they were hard at work on a new mystery.
“I think so too,” George agreed. She was sitting at Nancy’s desk. Furrrocious was propped up next to the computer, looking ferocious in his karate uniform. “Nancy, what do you think?”
“I think we should start writing down all this stuff,” Nancy replied. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her purple notebook. She used it to keep track of the Clue Crew’s cases. “George, do you want to start a new file, too?”
“I’m on it.” George turned to the keyboard and began typing. She liked to record the Clue Crew’s clues and suspects on the computer. “After we’re done with this, maybe we could play Petopia?” she said hopefully.
“Yes!” Bess said, hugging Itty Bitty to her chest. “I didn’t get to play yesterday because I had other stuff I had to do.”
“Yeah, me too. We need to catch up!” Nancy agreed.
Nancy flipped to a clean page in her notebook. Where should she begin? She glanced around her lavender-and-white room as she thought about what to write. She grinned at Mocha Chip, who was lying in a doll-size bed next to Chocolate Chip, who was lying in a puppy-size bed. It was fun having a Make-a-Pet and a real pet!
Then she picked up her purple pen and wrote:
SUSPECTS
—Sonia Susi. She said that SHE came up with the idea about a Make-a-Pet bunny named Hoppity. She said that Violet stole the idea from her. Maybe she feels that Hoppity really belongs to her?
—Antonio Elefano. He likes practical jokes. Maybe stealing Hoppity was a practical joke?
“Can you think of any other suspects besides Sonia and Antonio?” Nancy asked Bess and George.
Bess shook her head. “Nope. We have a clue, though. The squishy blue thingy!”
“Yes!” Nancy turned to the next page and wrote:
CLUES
—The blue “doughnut.” We found it at the bottom of Violet’s cubby the same day Hoppity disappeared. Maybe Hoppity’s thief dropped it by accident?
“George, you said that maybe you saw it before, somewhere?” Nancy asked her.
“Yup. I still think I did. I just can’t remember for sure,” George replied.
Bess sat up, her blue eyes flashing. “Hey! You know how I said yesterday that it looked like a dolly bracelet? So maybe it’s a bracelet for a Make-a-Pet! When we were at the Make-a-Pet store on Saturday, they had a bunch of jewelry for the pets.”
“Bess, you’re a genius!” Nancy told her.
“I’ll check the Make-a-Pet website and see if they have it at their online store,” George offered.
Just then, Nancy heard a familiar ting! sound on her computer. An instant message window popped up on the screen.
“It’s from Violet,” George announced. She scanned the message quickly. “Uh-oh.”
“What?” Nancy jumped to her feet and began reading the message over George’s shoulder. Bess did the same.
Violet had written:
HELP!!!!!!! Something weird is happening with my Petopia game. My avatar is totally out of control!!!!!!!
“What does Violet mean, her avatar is totally out of control?” Bess said, confused.
“George, can you ask Violet?” Nancy said.
“Sure.” George typed:
Hi. It’s George. Bess and Nancy are with me. What’s going on?
Violet wrote back:
/> Princess Pompom (that’s my avatar’s name) and Hoppity (the computer Hoppity, not the real Hoppity) are doing all kinds of stupid stuff. Like picking fights with friends. And making dumb mistakes on purpose. And not collecting treasure when they’re supposed to. They’re losing points like crazy!!!!!!!
“Maybe Violet’s not very good at the Petopia game,” Bess said, shrugging.
“Maybe,” George said. She typed:
We don’t understand. Are you making Princess Pompom and computer Hoppity do this stuff?
Violet wrote back:
NO!!!!!!! That’s what’s crazy. It’s like someone is lodging in as me and playing the game when I’m not playing and making Princess Pompom and computer Hoppity do this stuff.
Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged glances. “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Nancy said after a moment.
George nodded. “Someone got Violet’s secret password!”
Bess rolled her eyes. “Well, that wouldn’t be hard! She was practically telling everyone what it was, over at Deirdre’s house. Remember? And then she kept talking about it the whole time we were there, even after Gaby told her to stop.”
“Oh yeah.” Nancy recalled Violet asking the other girls which password was better, Fluffy-something or Carrot-something. “George, can you ask Violet if she picked one of those passwords she was talking about at Deirdre’s?”
George nodded and typed the message. A moment later Violet wrote back:
Yes, I picked Carrotcake456. I thought it would be easier to remember than Fluffybunny123 because carrot cake is my favorite dessert! And my birthday is April, which is 4! And 5 and 6 come after 4!
Violet added:
Why—was that dumb? Should I change my password or something?
“Uh, yeah,” Bess said, rolling her eyes again.
Nancy held up her hand. “No! George, tell Violet not to change it.”
“Why not?” George asked Nancy. “If she doesn’t change it, the person is just going to keep lodging—I mean, logging in to Violet’s account and messing up her Petopia game. Right?”
“That’s exactly what we want,” Nancy replied. “Maybe the person will make a mistake and leave a clue. And we might be able to figure out who she is. Or he,” she added quickly, thinking of Antonio. Except, Antonio wasn’t at Deirdre’s house on Sunday. So how would he know Violet’s password?