“Oh, yeah?” Layah snapped.
As the two girls argued back and forth, Nancy happened to notice something.
There was a cup of hot chocolate sitting next to Layah’s backpack.
It had bunny-shaped marshmallows in it!
6
The Disappearing Ducks
Nancy looked again, just to make sure. Sure enough, there were four . . . five . . . six bunny-shaped marshmallows floating around in Layah’s hot chocolate.
Nancy leaned over to George and whispered, “Check out Layah’s hot chocolate.”
“Huh?” George whispered back. She craned her neck to look. “Oh!”
“What’s so interesting?” Layah asked Nancy and George curiously. “What are you two whispering about?
“We were just noticing your hot chocolate,” Nancy said with a smile. “It looks really yummy. Where did you get it?”
“That place around the corner,” Layah replied. “It’s called Sun something . . . no, Star something . . . no, Moon! That’s it. Moon’s Deli.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” George said.
“It’s new, I think,” Layah said.
“Do you go there a lot?” Nancy asked her.
Layah shook her head. “Today was the first time. My mom took me there before we came here. She had to pick up some eggs or milk or whatever.”
Nancy tried to figure out if Layah might be lying. What if today wasn’t the first time Layah went to Moon’s Deli? What if she went there on Wednesday, bought some hot chocolate with bunny marshmallows, then brought it back to the park?
And what if that hot chocolate ended up all over the girls’ Swan Lake sketch?
Could Layah be our culprit? Nancy wondered.
• • •
“We have to add Layah to the suspect list,” Bess said. She slipped off her pink bunny slippers and sat down cross-legged on her sleeping bag.
“I agree,” George piped up. She lay her sleeping bag down between Bess’s and Nancy’s.
Nancy, Bess, and George were having a sleepover at Nancy’s house. They had everything they needed: sleeping bags, pillows, games, and toys.
There was also a tray of goodies from Hannah: a big bowl of buttery popcorn, homemade sugar cookies, potato chips, and mugs of hot chocolate. The hot chocolate had regular old marshmallows in them, though, not bunny marshmallows.
Nancy was wearing her favorite pajamas. They had tiny red roses on them. Bess was wearing pink pajamas that matched her bunny slippers. George was wearing blue pajamas with big green polka dots.
Nancy got her special detective notebook from her desk. She opened it to the page about their sculpture.
She uncapped her purple pen. In the Suspects column, under Denise and Joan’s names, she wrote:
Layah
She was drinking hot chocolate with bunny marshmallows in it.
Nancy stopped writing and glanced up. “Why would Layah want to mess up our sculpture, though?”
Bess shrugged. “Maybe she doesn’t want us to win,” she guessed.
“She did say ballet was lame,” George reminded Nancy. “Maybe she didn’t want our ballet sculpture to beat her race-car sculpture.”
Nancy thought about this. “If that’s true, she would have messed up Denise’s sculpture too. Denise is doing a ballet sculpture too,” she pointed out.
“Hmm,” George said slowly. “But maybe Layah doesn’t know about Denise’s sculpture.”
Bess took a fistful of popcorn and munched on it. “I still think it’s Denise,” she said, chewing. “Did you see that mean, nasty smile on her face when Mad Mike told everybody that our sculpture was destroyed?”
Nancy circled Denise’s name on the suspect list. She also circled Joan’s name, just below. “Joan is still a suspect too.”
“Yeah!” George said. “She’s always hanging around. She likes to film all the bad stuff that happens to us.”
“The only clue we have is the bunny marshmallows,” Nancy reminded her friends.
“I know!” George said suddenly. “I just thought of a really cool plan.”
“What?” Nancy asked her curiously.
“I’ll bring my camera to the park tomorrow—the one I got for my birthday,” George explained. “I’ll secretly take some photos of Denise and Joan and Layah. My dad can print them out. Then we can bring the photos to Moon’s Deli and ask the owner if any of them was in Moon’s Deli on Wednesday.”
“That’s a great idea!” Bess said eagerly.
“That’s a really, really great idea,” Nancy agreed.
Nancy liked George’s plan. They had to catch whoever was responsible for everything as soon as possible. The competition was the day after tomorrow. They couldn’t let anything else happen to their sculpture!
• • •
On Saturday morning, Nancy, Bess, and George walked over to the park right after breakfast. The three of them were bundled in their parkas, hats, and mittens. Their boots made crunching sounds in the snow.
On Friday, the girls had completed all six swans and most of Odette. Now, they had to finish making her.
Mr. Drew had made them a big stack of blueberry pancakes before they left the house. “You’ll need lots of energy to finish your sculpture today!” he had said.
Full of blueberry pancakes, Nancy and her friends made their way through the park. Squirrels and birds skittered out of their way. The park was already bustling with activity. Lots of kids were there, including Denise, Tess, and Layah.
Mad Mike was also there, checking out everyone’s sculptures. Joan was trailing behind him with her video camera.
Nancy felt nervous. What if the person who had wrecked their sculpture on Friday had wrecked it again? There would be no time to fix it before the next day’s competition!
The girls soon reached their sculpture. Nancy let out a sigh of relief. The sculpture was standing there, safe and sound.
“Whew!” George said.
“No one touched the swans!” Bess exclaimed. She knelt down in the snow and inspected them. “Not a scratch. And Odette looks perfect too.”
“She just needs arms and a head,” George joked.
“Ha-ha,” Nancy laughed.
Then Bess gasped. “Oh, no!”
“What is it, Bess?” Nancy asked her worriedly.
“Remember the little snow cave I made for the rubber duckies?” Bess cried out.
“Yeah,” George said.
“They’re not in there any more!” Bess exclaimed. “Someone stole the rubber duckies!”
7
The Crowning Touch
Someone stole the rubber duckies?” Nancy repeated.
“Why would anyone do that?” George said, puzzled.
“I don’t know, but they’re not here!” Bess moaned. “Poor duckies!”
“Maybe some boy or girl was walking by here, saw the ducks, and decided to take them,” George pointed out.
Nancy shook her head. “The ducks were all the way inside their snow cave. There’s no way someone could have seen them unless they were really, really looking.”
“That’s true,” George said.
Nancy glanced around. Everyone was busy working on their sculptures. No one seemed to be watching Nancy and her friends, not even Joan. Joan was videotaping some kids nearby who were making a snow sculpture of the Empire State Building.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Nancy said after a while. “Did the same person who spilled hot chocolate on our sketch and messed up the three swans steal the ducks too? And why?”
“You’re right,” Bess agreed. “It doesn’t make sense at all. It’s not like the rubber duckies are valuable or anything. Even though they are super adorable!”
Nancy frowned. “Maybe we should just forget about the rubber ducks for now. We really need to finish our sculpture.”
“Why don’t you two finish up Odette?” George suggested. “While you’re doing that, I can take secret pictures of our suspects with my camera.”
On the way to the park, the three girls had swung by George’s house to pick up her camera.
“Sounds good!” Nancy said, nodding.
“Hey, guys? I have a surprise,” Bess said suddenly.
“A surprise?” Nancy grinned.
Bess pulled something out of her parka pocket. It was a silver crown with rhinestones and white feathers on it.
“I found this in my costume trunk yesterday,” Bess announced. “I thought it would be perfect for Odette.”
“Cool!” George exclaimed.
Nancy smiled. “It’s beautiful.”
Nancy could just imagine Odette with a white feather crown surrounded by six graceful swans. It was going to be really awesome!
George got her camera out of her backpack. Then she waved good-bye. “I’m off to do some detective work!”
“Good luck!” Nancy said, waving back.
After George left, Nancy and Bess started working on Odette. The two girls dragged over a bench so they could have something to stand on.
Nancy took a big handful of snow and started sculpting Odette’s right arm. Bess worked on Odette’s left arm. The fingers were the hardest part. The snow kept breaking up and falling off.
But Nancy was patient. Finally she was done with the right arm. A few minutes later, Bess finished up the left arm.
After the arms were done, Nancy and Bess worked on Odette’s head together.
“Should we make Odette smile?” Bess asked Nancy.
“Maybe a sad smile. She’s sad because she’s under a terrible spell,” Nancy reminded Bess.
“That’s true,” Bess said. “It sure would be really lame if we turned into swans every morning at dawn.”
Nancy nodded. “Really lame!”
The girls finally finished Odette’s head. Odette had two big eyes, a long, slender nose, and a sad-looking smile. Her hair was arranged up on her head, ballerina-style.
Bess stood on her tiptoes on the bench and put the white-feather crown on Odette’s hair.
“She’s so pretty!” Bess sighed.
“She’s totally perfect,” Nancy agreed.
George showed up just then. “Hey, our sculpture looks great!” she said excitedly.
“Did you get the photos?” Nancy asked her.
George nodded. “It wasn’t easy. I got Layah’s picture first. She was so busy working on her sculpture that she didn’t notice me. But Denise almost caught me. So did Joan.”
“Wow,” Bess said. “Good detective work, George!”
“I’ll get my dad to print them out on our computer tonight. Then we can go to Moon’s Deli tomorrow morning and show the photos to the owner,” George said.
“Definitely,” Nancy said. “Thank you, George!”
But inside, Nancy was worried. Would tomorrow morning be too late? Would the culprit try to mess up their sculpture before the competition?
“Hi! Say cheese for the camera!”
Nancy whirled around. Joan was standing nearby, videotaping them.
“So! How do you feel about tomorrow’s competition?” Joan called out. “Talk loudly for the microphone!”
“Uh, fine,” Nancy replied. She hoped Joan hadn’t overheard them discussing the photos.
“Aren’t you worried something else is going to happen to your sculpture? You’ve had a lot of bad luck lately,” Joan went on.
“No, nothing’s going to happen to our sculpture!” Bess burst out.
Joan clicked off her camera and smiled. “If you say so,” she said.
Nancy watched Joan as she walked away. Was George right? Was Joan the guilty one?
• • •
On Sunday morning Nancy, George, Bess, and Hannah went to Moon’s Deli. It was right around the corner from the park. It was a small pink building with a purple door. Next to the words Moon’s Deli was a big painting of a crescent moon.
The four of them went inside.
“You have the photos, right?” Nancy asked George.
George nodded. “They’re right here in my backpack.”
Hannah squeezed Nancy’s hand. “It’s so much fun coming along with you when you’re doing detective work,” she whispered. “I feel like a detective too!”
Nancy squeezed back. “I’m so glad you could come with us, Hannah!”
“Can I help you ladies?”
A man appeared behind the counter. He had silvery-gray hair and a big silvery-gray beard. He was wearing a purple T-shirt with moons and stars on it.
“I’d like to order these girls some sandwiches for lunch,” Hannah told the man with a friendly smile. “Ham and cheese okay?” she asked the girls.
“Yes, please!” the three girls said all together.
“Ham and cheese coming right up,” the man replied.
While the man was making the sandwiches, George slipped her photos out of her backpack. She held them to the man. “Do you recognize any of these girls?” she asked him.
“Have any of them been to your store lately?” Nancy added.
The man chuckled. “What are you girls, detectives?”
Hannah laughed. “Sort of! They’re trying to find somebody.”
“I see,” the man said, nodding.
He began sorting through the photos. “She was here,” he said, pointing to the photo of Layah.
“When?” Bess asked him.
“Friday,” the man replied.
“Any other day?” Nancy asked him eagerly.
The man shook his head. “Friday was the only time I can recall. And I’m here every day.”
Nancy frowned. Maybe Layah had been telling the truth.
The man flipped to the next photo. It was the photo of Joan. “Nope, I’ve never seen her before,” he said.
Nancy sighed. In her mind, Joan had been creeping up to the top of the suspects list.
Then the man got to the photo of Denise. “Oh, yes, she’s been here,” he said slowly. “On Thursday. No, on Wednesday! I remember that because my hot chocolate machine broke that morning. I got it fixed just before this girl came in.”
Nancy and her friends exchanged a glance. “Did this girl order hot chocolate?” Nancy asked the man. He nodded. “Sure thing. Extra-large, with bunny marshmallows.”
“Really?” Nancy said excitedly.
“Really. Now, I’d better get back to those ham and cheese sandwiches,” the man said with a grin.
Nancy turned to George and Bess. “I think we have our culprit!” she whispered.
“Was I right, or what?” Bess exclaimed.
“You were right, Bess! Now, all we have to do is get her to confess,” Nancy said.
As soon as Hannah had paid for the sandwiches, the four of them walked around the corner to the park. Nancy had to force herself not to break into a run. She couldn’t wait to confront Denise.
They had found their culprit just in time. It was five minutes till twelve. The winter festival—and the judging for the snow-sculpture competition—was starting in one hour!
The girls and Hannah crossed the park. There was a huge blue banner that stretched between two maple trees. It said: WELCOME TO THE FIFTH ANNUAL RIVER HEIGHTS WINTER FESTIVAL.
The park was filled with people. Everyone was walking around and admiring the snow sculptures.
“Denise’s sculpture is over there,” Nancy said, pointing.
On the way, she and the girls passed their own Swan Lake sculpture. Nancy was relieved to see that it was still standing. Maybe Denise had been scared of getting caught.
Then Nancy did a double take.
Odette’s head was bare. Bess’s white-feather crown was missing!
8
The Thief Is Found
Odette’s crown is gone!” Nancy exclaimed.
Bess, George, and Hannah stopped in their tracks. Bess rushed up to the sculpture of Odette. “Denise took my crown!” she cried out. “She’s not going to get away with this!”
“Let’s go get the crown back from her,” George agreed.
&
nbsp; Nancy and her friends ran over to Denise’s sculpture, followed by Hannah. Denise was smoothing a feather on one of Von Rothbart’s owl wings. Tess was sitting on the bench, watching her big sister. Her legs were swinging back and forth, kicking at a small mound of snow.
“Hey, Denise!” Nancy called out.
Denise stopped what she was doing and turned around. She frowned when she saw Nancy and the others. “What do you want? I’m busy!” Denise replied.
Bess put her hands on her hips. “Give me back my crown!” she demanded.
“Your . . . what?” Denise said. She looked confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do,” Bess insisted. “You poured hot chocolate all over our sketch. You wrecked three of our swans. You left three rubber duckies in their place, then you stole the rubber duckies back. And finally, you stole my crown!”
Denise’s jaw dropped. “You’re crazy! I didn’t do any of those things!” she protested.
“Yeah, leave my sister alone!” Tess piped up.
Nancy glanced over at Tess.
And then Nancy noticed something.
There was a single white feather poking out of the pocket of Tess’s parka.
“Tess, what’s sticking out of your pocket?” Nancy said slowly. “Did you do all those things?”
Denise, Bess, and George all turned around and stared at Tess. Tess stuffed her hands into her pockets. She looked around, like she wanted to escape.
“Tess?” Denise said finally. “What are they talking about? Is this true?”
Tess’s lips started to quiver. “Y-yes,” she said in a trembling voice. “But please don’t tell Mommy and Dad!”
Denise walked over to her little sister and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “What happened?” she asked her gently.
“I really, really wanted you to win, Didi,” Tess admitted. “I took your hot chocolate when you weren’t looking and spilled it all over their swan picture. I squished their three snow swans and put my bath duckies there. I thought that would trick them! But then I missed my duckies, so I took them back.”