The Secret of the Scarecrow

  “I don’t know!” Bess wailed. “I left Autumn on the porch to run a quick errand with my mom this morning. When we came back, she was gone!”

  “So you didn’t keep her inside like you promised Mrs. Ramirez?” Nancy asked.

  “I did! I did!” Bess said. “Except for the time she was out on the porch.”

  “Why was she out there?” Nancy asked.

  “I wanted to see what a scarecrow would look like on our porch,” Bess said. “I was going to put Autumn back inside, but then my mom called me from the car!”

  “So you left her on the porch.” George sighed. “And somebody probably stole her.”

  “I know, I goofed,” Bess cried. “And when I go to school without Autumn on Monday, the whole class will know!”

  Nancy watched as Bess’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Ms. Franklin will be mad too,” Bess went on. “I’ll never be able to shop for clothes at Darcy’s again or visit Santa!”

  Nancy wanted to find Autumn in time for school on Monday. But most of all she wanted to help her best friend!

  “It’s not Monday yet, Bess,” Nancy said. “We have all weekend to find Autumn.”

  “Find her?” Bess sniffed.

  “We’re the Clue Crew, aren’t we?” Nancy said with a smile. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s look for clues!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George got to work. They first checked the porch for any hints to where Autumn might be. All Nancy saw was hay.

  “It probably fell off Autumn,” Nancy said, “when someone took her from the porch.”

  “That’s not all that fell off,” Bess said.

  She picked up something from the top porch step. Nancy studied it in Bess’s hand. It was red and round and the size of a small cookie.

  “This wasn’t here before,” Bess said.

  “How do you know?” George asked.

  “Because I swept the porch before putting Autumn on it,” Bess said. “I didn’t want her clothes to get dirty.”

  Nancy took the red, round thing from Bess. It felt smooth and leathery. As Nancy flipped it over she saw two gold letters on the other side: an H and an A.

  “ ‘HA’?” Nancy read out loud.

  “As if someone’s laughing at us,” George said. “I’ll bet someone left it there on purpose.”

  “But who?” Bess cried.

  Nancy had a pretty good idea. “I think the person who took Autumn was Deirdre,” she said.

  “It can’t be Deirdre,” Bess said. “Deirdre has tons of activities Saturday morning that she’s always bragging about. She couldn’t have been here while my mom and I were away.”

  “Oh,” Nancy said.

  They would have to think of more suspects. And the best place to do that was in their detective headquarters.

  The Clue Crew headquarters was up in Nancy’s room. Once they got there, George raced straight to her favorite tool—the computer on Nancy’s desk.

  “Okay,” George said as she opened a case file. “Who do we think stole Autumn?”

  “Besides Deirdre I’m not sure!” Nancy admitted.

  “What about the boys?” Bess said. “They were mad because they couldn’t make a sporty scarecrow.”

  “They also wanted a mascot for the soccer team,” George added.

  “Write that down, George,” Nancy said. “Peter, Kevin, and Quincy are definitely suspects.”

  George entered the boys’ names on their suspect list. “Done,” she said. “Who else?”

  Nancy tapped her chin as she thought and thought. But she couldn’t get Deirdre off her mind.

  “What kind of activities does Deirdre have on Saturday mornings?” Nancy asked.

  Bess furrowed her brow. “I think she has ballet at nine, jewelry making at ten thirty—”

  “Wait,” Nancy interrupted. “About what time were you and your mom away from the house?”

  “We left the house at nine,” Bess said. “I know because my mom called out the car window, ‘Bess—it’s already nine o’clock, let’s go!’ ”

  “Deirdre would have been at ballet then,” George said.

  Suddenly Nancy had a hunch. “Find Deirdre’s ballet school on the computer, George,” she said.

  Nancy and Bess peered over George’s shoulder as she pulled up the River Heights Ballet Academy’s website. On the home page was a note that read: “CHILDREN’S BALLET CLASSES CANCELED FOR SATURDAY MORNING.”

  George read what was written underneath. “It says there are no classes because they’re painting the studio.”

  “That’s it!” Nancy said. “If Deirdre’s ballet class was canceled, she could have gone to Bess’s house after nine!”

  “Do you really think Deirdre did it?” Bess asked.

  “Deirdre was a sore loser when her design wasn’t picked,” Nancy explained. “And an even sorer loser when Autumn didn’t wear Suki’s clothes.”

  “She also said she would never shop at Darcy’s again,” Bess recalled. “Maybe stealing Autumn was a way to get even with the store.”

  “Let’s see if Deirdre put Autumn’s picture on her dumb blog,” George said.

  Nancy watched as George pulled up Dishing with Deirdre. Sure enough, on the home page was the picture of Autumn.

  Nancy stared at Autumn’s picture on the computer. Underneath, Deirdre had written: “Soon this will all be mine!”

  “Does that mean she planned to steal Autumn?” Bess gasped.

  Nancy wasn’t sure of that. But she was pretty sure of one thing. . . .

  “Deirdre knows where we can find Autumn,” Nancy said. “So let’s find Deirdre.”

  It was eleven o’clock, so Deirdre would be at her jewelry-making class at Blings and Things.

  Hannah had to run an errand, so she drove the girls to Main Street. While Hannah went into the supermarket, Nancy, Bess, and George waited outside Blings and Things for Deirdre.

  “Pretty!” Bess said, gazing at the jewelry in the window. “After we nab her—can we go shopping?”

  “Forget shopping,” George said. “I want to grab a slice of pizza.”

  “Pizza this early?” Nancy asked.

  “It’s never too early for pizza,” George said. She nodded at the restaurant across the street. “Pie in the Sky is already open for business.”

  Nancy glanced across the street. Above the pizza place was another store. A sign on the window read: DESIGNS BY SUKI.

  “Suki,” Nancy said slowly. “I wonder if it’s the same Suki that Deirdre invited to school yesterday.”

  A woman suddenly appeared in the window—a woman with bright red hair and glasses!

  “That’s her all right,” George said.

  Suki carefully placed a hat on a stand in front of the window. That’s when Nancy’s eyes popped wide open.

  “OMG, you guys.” Nancy gasped. “That’s Autumn’s hat!”

  Sew Busted!

  Suki stepped away from the window. The girls stood staring up at the hat.

  “It’s got to be the same hat,” Bess said. “The flowers are exactly the same colors—dark red, orange, and gold.”

  “What does this have to do with Deirdre?” George asked.

  “Maybe it wasn’t Deirdre who stole the scarecrow,” Nancy said. “Maybe the real culprit was Suki!”

  “Why would Suki want to steal Autumn?” Bess asked.

  “Maybe Deirdre asked her to,” Nancy said. “And Deirdre always gets what she wants, right?”

  “Right!” Bess and George said together.

  “Let’s go in and see what’s up,” Nancy said.

  The friends carefully crossed the street. They opened the door to Suki’s studio and climbed the stairs. The door was half open, so the girls peeked inside. Suki’s back was to the door as she reached for something on a shelf.

  “I’ll be right there with the pins!” Suki called.

  Then, holding a small box, Suki slipped through a thick red curtain in the back of the room.

  “S
uki has a customer,” Bess whispered. “If she’s pinning up clothes, it should take a while.”

  “Good!” Nancy whispered. “That’ll give us time to look for Autumn.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George quietly entered the studio. They spoke in whispers as they looked around.

  “Wowee!” Bess said. “So this is what a fashion designer’s studio looks like.”

  Nancy had never seen a fashion designer’s studio either. There were two long tables. One had colorful fabric pinned to it. The smaller table had a sewing machine on top.

  On the wall were sketches of clothes, probably designed by Suki. A dressmaker dummy stood on the side with no clothes on it, just a few pins stuck here and there.

  “OMG!” Nancy gasped. She pointed to a pair of yellow boots next to the dummy. “Those are the boots Autumn wore!”

  “There are the leggings!” George nodded at a pair of leggings draped over a chair. “But where’s Autumn?”

  Bess took the flowered hat off the stand. As she checked it out she said, “Something looks different.”

  “What?” Nancy asked.

  “My little sister, Maggie, got a peanut butter stain on the inside of Autumn’s hat,” Bess said sheepishly. “This one has no stain.”

  Nancy was about to look at the hat when they heard Suki’s voice say, “Why don’t you try on the boots and hat?”

  Nancy’s stomach did a double flip. Suki was coming back! There was no time to run for the door—they had to hide.

  “Under there!” George pointed to the sewing table.

  The girls darted beneath the pale blue table skirt. It was long enough to cover them and short enough for them to see Suki’s shoes go by—red-and-white polka-dotted flats.

  “What’s that for?” Bess whispered.

  She pointed to a foot pedal on the floor. It was attached to a wire that ran under the skirt and up to the table.

  “It’s the pedal for the sewing machine,” Nancy whispered. “Hannah has one just like it.”

  Another pair of feet appeared next to Suki’s. They were smaller than Suki’s and wore the yellow boots.

  “I’m so glad my mother let me skip jewelry making for this!” a voice said.

  Nancy, Bess, and George traded wide-eyed looks. The voice belonged to Deirdre. She wasn’t in Blings and Things but in Suki’s studio!

  “Oh, and thanks for helping me, Suki,” Deirdre added.

  “No problem, Deirdre,” Suki was saying. “That picture you took of Autumn really came in handy.”

  Nancy stared openmouthed at Bess and George. Did Deirdre take the picture so Suki would know what to steal?

  “This will show Darcy’s Department Store!” Deirdre said meanly. “This will show them good!”

  Nancy narrowed her eyes. So that was it. Deirdre and Suki were partners in crime!

  “That’s funny,” Suki said. “The hat was just here. Where did it go?”

  Nancy stared at the hat in Bess’s hand. There had been no time for her to put it back!

  Suki’s feet approached the table. Nancy wiggled farther back until—

  WHHHHIIIIIIIRRRRRRR!

  Nancy gave a little shriek as she realized what she had done—she had sat down on the foot pedal that made the sewing machine run!

  “OMG!” Deirdre’s voice cried over the noise. “The sewing machine—it’s being used by a ghost!”

  Soccer Shocker

  “Nancy, get off that thing!” George said as she yanked her off the foot pedal. It sent Nancy tumbling out from underneath the table.

  “Nancy Drew!” Deirdre said. She narrowed her eyes. “And where there’s Nancy—there’s Bess and George!”

  Deirdre lifted the table skirt and said, “Aha!”

  Bess and George crawled out from underneath the table. Nancy knew they were busted, but so was Deirdre. Not only was she wearing Autumn’s yellow boots; she was wearing her red coat, too.

  “There’s the hat I was looking for,” Suki said, pointing to Bess’s hands.

  “What are you doing here?” Deirdre demanded.

  Nancy glanced worriedly at Bess and George. If they said they were looking for Autumn, Deirdre would know the scarecrow was missing.

  “Um, we came here to see Suki!” George blurted.

  “Me?” Suki asked.

  George nodded. “Bess watches Catwalk Champs all the time. She wants your autograph.”

  “I do?” Bess asked. When she got it, she quickly added, “Oh—I do! More than anything!”

  “Thanks,” Suki said, her brow furrowed. “But if you’ll remember, I didn’t win the contest.”

  “Who cares?” Nancy piped up. “Someday you’ll be a famous fashion designer and that’s what counts.”

  Deirdre stared at the girls with disbelief, but Suki’s face was beaming.

  “Well, of course you can have my autograph,” Suki said graciously. “I’ll be back with one for each of you.”

  “Great,” George said.

  Suki slipped away to find some paper. Deirdre glared at the girls and whispered, “If all you wanted was Suki’s autograph, why were you hiding under the table?”

  This time Nancy thought fast. . . .

  “I was just showing Bess and George how a sewing machine works,” Nancy said.

  “Okay . . .” Deirdre said slowly. She pointed to the flowered hat in Bess’s hands. “Then what are you doing with my hat?”

  “You mean Autumn’s,” Bess said. She nodded at the clothes Deidre was wearing. “And her coat—and her boots!”

  “They can’t be from Darcy’s,” Nancy told Deirdre. “You said you’d never shop there again.”

  “And I meant it!” Deirdre said. “So I did something to get back at Darcy’s in a huge way.”

  “What did you do?” Nancy asked slowly.

  The girls waited for Deirdre to say that with the help of Suki she stole Autumn—and her clothes. Instead Deirdre grabbed the hat from Bess, put it on her head, and began to twirl.

  “I asked Suki to make me the exact same outfit as Autumn’s!” Deirdre declared.

  Suki returned with a pen and paper. She had overheard what Deirdre had said and smiled.

  “When fashion designers copy other designer’s clothes, they’re called knockoffs,” Suki said.

  “Knockoffs?” George repeated.

  “That’s why I took a picture of Autumn in her clothes,” Deirdre said. “I wanted Suki to get the outfit just right.”

  “So that’s what you meant on your blog?” Nancy asked. “That soon the clothes would be yours?”

  “Of course the clothes!” Deirdre said, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t think I wanted that silly scarecrow, did you?”

  Nancy didn’t know whether to believe Deirdre or not. While Suki signed her autographs, Nancy whispered to Bess and George, “How do we really know those clothes were made by Suki?”

  “There is a way,” Bess whispered.

  Nancy and George followed Bess over to Deirdre.

  “Hey!” Deirdre complained as Bess tugged at her collar. “What are you doing?”

  Bess flipped over the collar to reveal a label. It read: “Designs by Suki.”

  “Autumn’s clothes had the Darcy’s Department Store label on them,” Bess pointed out.

  “Why do you care?” Deirdre demanded. “Did something happen to Autumn’s clothes? Or . . . did something happen to Autumn?”

  “No!” Nancy, Bess, and George said at the same time.

  Deirdre’s eyes suddenly flashed. “I have an idea. . . . Why don’t I go over to Bess’s house right now?” she said.

  “Why?” Bess asked.

  “So I can take another picture,” Deirdre said. “A picture of me next to Autumn wearing the same clothes.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George stared openmouthed at Deirdre. If Deirdre went to Bess’s house, she’d know there was no Autumn!

  “Um . . . you can’t take a picture,” Nancy said.

  “Why not?” Deirdre demanded.

 
“Autumn is very camera shy!” George blurted.

  “But I already took a picture of her,” Deirdre said. “Yesterday at school, remember?”

  “Yeah, and she hated it,” George said quickly.

  “See you Monday!” Nancy said with a little wave.

  “Wait!” Suki called as the girls charged out the door. “You forgot my autographs!”

  As they raced down the stairs Bess said, “Did you see how Deirdre looked at us? She must know something is up!”

  “We can’t worry about Deirdre Shannon,” Nancy said. “We have to keep looking for Autumn.”

  “Our next suspects are Kevin, Peter, and Quincy,” George said as they walked outside.

  “The boys,” Bess said with a frown. “But where are we going to find them?”

  “I’ll bet their team, the Green Monsters, have a game today,” George said. “Most of the soccer teams play in the park on Saturdays.”

  “Then the park is where we’re going next!” Nancy said with a firm nod.

  They had promised to meet Hannah in front of the supermarket. On the way they passed Darcy’s Department Store. Ms. Franklin stood outside while workers hung colorful leaves in the window. She recognized Nancy, Bess, and George and smiled.

  “We started dressing the window,” Ms. Franklin said excitedly. “All that’s missing is your scarecrow.”

  “Missing?” Bess gasped. “How did you know—”

  George jabbed Bess with her elbow. She then forced a smile and said, “Our scarecrow looks great, Ms. Franklin!”

  “And so does your window so far,” Nancy said.

  Ms. Franklin smiled. “Every store window should be well dressed,” she declared. “Especially in the fall!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George said good-bye to Ms. Franklin before walking on.

  “Good-bye, girls,” Ms. Franklin called after them. “I can’t wait to see your scarecrow on Monday!”

  “Neither can we,” George mumbled.

  Hannah came out of the supermarket carrying bags of groceries. She was glad to drop the girls off at the park next.

  Once there, the girls headed straight to the soccer field. Two other teams were playing but not the Green Monsters. The only boy they recognized was Tommy Maron from their class. Tommy stood alone dribbling a soccer ball.