Nancy pointed to the feet in the picture. “We found a footprint just like that in back of the school,” she said.
Mrs. Carmichael laughed. “That was mine,” she said “There used to be an old playground in back of the school. One day when they were repaving it I accidentally ran across the wet cement in my costume.”
Nancy's heart beat with excitement. That explained the weird footprint. But she still had another question.
“Did you also write your name in the cement, Mrs. Carmichael?” Nancy asked.
Mrs. Carmichael nodded. “Some Crocodiles dared me and I did it.” She sighed. “Big mistake.”
“Why? Did you get in trouble?” Bess asked with wide eyes.
“Sure did,” Mrs. Carmichael said. “I couldn't be Doogie anymore.”
A man with a mustache stuck his head out of the lunchroom door. “Hey, Enid!” he said. “We're running out of fish sticks!”
Mrs. Carmichael winked at the girls. “Time to get back to my party,” she said.
“Wait, Mrs. Carmichael,” Nancy said. “May I please borrow your yearbook? I'll return it later at lunch,”
“Sure,” Mrs. Carmichael said. She handed Nancy the yearbook. Then she dragged her long tail into the lunchroom.
“Yes!” Nancy cheered. She clutched the yearbook to her chest. “Case closed!”
“Case?” George asked. “Were you working on a case all this time, Nancy?”
“Without us?” Bess asked.
The bell rang and the main door swung open. Nancy saw Jason, David, and Mike running inside with the other kids.
“I'll explain everything in just a minute,” Nancy promised.
George waved her arms in the air. “You keep saying that!” she complained.
Nancy knew that was true. She ran to the boys and held up the yearbook.
“Ta-daaa!” Nancy sang. She pointed to the picture of Doogie. “Check it out.”
The boys eyed the picture.
“A kid in a dinosaur suit,” Jason said. “So what?”
Nancy took a deep breath and explained everything.
“You mean it wasn't a real dinosaur footprint?” David asked.
“It was Mrs. Carmichael?” Mike cried.
The boys were silent for a few seconds. Then Jason heaved a big sigh.
“Okay, so you solved the case,” he said “Big deal”
“It is a big deal,” Nancy said. “Now you can't bug me or my friends again!”
The boys shook their heads.
“That was only if you proved it was a real dinosaur,” Jason sneered.
“And you didn't,” Mike said.
Nancy couldn't believe her ears. “What?” she cried.
“The deal is off,” David said. He grinned and tossed a handful of Squirmy Wormies onto Nancy's head. “O-f-f!”
“Squirmy Wormies! Squirmy Wormies! Squirmy Wormies!” the boys sang as they ran away.
Nancy bit her lip as a green rubber worm slid down her nose. All that hard work for nothing.
But she wasn't very angry.
No one made me work on this case, Nancy thought as she brushed away the worms. It was my own choice.
She walked back to her friends and smiled. “News flash,” she announced “I will never hang out with Jason, David, and Mike again!”
“Cool!” George said.
“Then let's all go to the Double Dip after school,” Bess said excitedly. “Just like best friends again.
The words “best friends” made Nancy's heart fly. “Okay,” she said. “But there's one flavor I do not want to try.”
“Which one?” Bess asked.
“Flaky Fossil Crunch!” Nancy laughed. The three best friends hooked arms and skipped to their classroom together.
Nancy was still smiling as she slid into her seat. She pulled out her detective notebook and opened it across her desk. Then she began to write:
Daddy was right. A good detective should never jump to conclusions, whether it's about a weird footprint or a creepy note.
One more thing I learned on this case. Dinosaurs may be extinct, but good friendships last forever and ever and ever!
Case closed.
Carolyn Keene, Dinosaur Alert!
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