Buggy Breakout

  When they were a few feet away from the counter, Nancy stopped and put her finger up to her lips, to indicate that they should be silent.

  “So I think there’s something wrong with him,” Michael L. was saying to the man with the glasses.

  “Why?” the man asked.

  “Well, he’s not eating as much as he used to. And he’s kind of cranky.”

  “What do you mean, cranky?”

  Nancy noticed that Michael L. was saying “he.” Princess Bess was a she. Did that mean he was talking about a different bug?

  “Can I help you ladies?”

  Nancy started. The man behind the counter was looking straight at her and her companions.

  Michael L. whirled around. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “We … uh … we’re thinking of getting some new pets,” Nancy fibbed.

  Michael L. narrowed his hazel eyes suspiciously. “Yeah? Like what kind?”

  “I saw a cute little green snake back there!” Bess piped up.

  “Yeah, and I love spiders,” added George. “What about you, Nancy?”

  “Maybe a frog, as long as it gets along with Chocolate Chip,” Nancy improvised. Chocolate Chip was her little Labrador retriever puppy. “So what are you doing here?” she asked Michael L.

  “Yeah! Who’s in there?” Bess stepped forward to take a peek into Michael L.’s cage. “It’s not a bess beetle, is it? Like a certain bess beetle named … Princess Bess?”

  “What are you talking about? This is Dragon Breath. He’s sick!” Michael L. exclaimed. “I brought him here because he came from this store. I thought Mr. Elio could help me.”

  Nancy looked into the cage too. Inside was the same brown insect from the Bug Show-and-Tell presentation earlier that day. Michael L. was telling the truth.

  “Why are you guys so interested in Princess Bess, anyway?” Michael L. said. “So she’s gone. Big deal! Sonia should just get another one.”

  “How can you say that? Princess Bess is her pet! Plus, she’s bigger and better than all the other bess beetles,” Bess pointed out. “Princess Bess rules!”

  “Whatever.” Michael L. rolled his eyes.

  “Do you know what happened to her?” Nancy asked him.

  Michael L. shrugged. “Maybe.”

  George put her hands on her hips. “You’d better tell us!”

  Michael L.’s lips curled up into a nasty smile. “Maybe Dragon Breath ate her. Maybe that’s why he’s feeling sick. Because he got a stomachache!”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Bess retorted. “Not!”

  “What happened to your bess beetle?” Mr. Elio asked Nancy.

  “She’s not mine. She belongs to our friend at school. And she’s missing,” Nancy explained.

  “That’s too bad. Well, if your friend wants a new one, I’ve got some bess beetles coming in next week,” said Mr. Elio.

  “Thanks, I’ll let her know,” Nancy said. She didn’t add that Bess was right. Princess Bess was Sonia’s pet. She probably wouldn’t want to replace her with just any other bess beetle any more than Nancy would want to replace Chocolate Chip with another puppy.

  Ten minutes later, back at I Scream for Ice Cream, Nancy dug into her double scoop of Silly Strawberry and thought about Michael L. She remembered how he had put a fake scorpion down Michael D.’s back yesterday at the Insectarium. Michael L. obviously enjoyed playing pranks. He also liked making people mad, like when he said he wanted to draw Bess for his bug poster, or all the times he called Michael D. “Dorf the Dork.”

  She wondered, could Michael L. have stolen Princess Bess as a prank, or to make Sonia mad? Could he be a new candidate for their suspect list?

  Chapter Seven

  Another Buggy Clue

  On Friday, Nancy was one of the first students to walk into Mrs. Ramirez’s classroom. The only other student there was Michael D., and he was doing something really weird. He was placing a small log on the floor in the corner of the room. Peering around, Nancy saw that there were logs in the other three corners too.

  “What are you doing?” Nancy asked him curiously. She wondered if she should add him to the suspect list along with Carly and Michael L.—just because he was acting so strangely!

  Michael D. glanced up. “Oh! Hi, Nancy! Yes, well, I did some research last night, and I discovered that bess beetles are attracted to old, rotting logs. So I had my parents call Mrs. Ramirez and ask her if it would be okay for me to bring a few logs to class today. As you can see, I have one in each corner of the room. If we’re lucky, one of them will attract Princess Bess.” He added, “That is, if she’s still in this building.”

  “Oh.” Nancy had never heard this fact about bess beetles. She was impressed that Michael D. was going to the trouble of trying to lure Princess Bess.

  I guess I won’t put him on the suspect list just yet, she thought with a smile.

  By lunchtime, Princess Bess hadn’t made an appearance at any of Michael D.’s logs.

  “Poor Princess Bess,” said Bess, digging her fork into her mac and cheese but not taking a bite. “She’s been missing for twenty-four whole hours. She’s probably really, really hungry by now. And cold. And lonely.”

  She, Nancy, and George were sitting at a table at the far end of the cafeteria. Nancy was eating a tuna salad sandwich that Hannah had packed for her. George had peanut butter and jelly.

  “If Princess Bess is hungry, she’ll just eat a desk or something,” George said. “Aren’t our desks made of wood? She likes wood, right?”

  “I think they’re made of metal,” Nancy piped up. “I think she’d like one of Michael D.’s yucky logs better.”

  Carly walked by just then, carrying a tray. She was wearing another “Free the Bugs!” T-shirt, this time in yellow.

  She stopped when she saw Nancy and her friends. “Hey! Are you guys still thinking about joining my club?” she asked in a friendly voice.

  “Oh, yeah. We had some questions to ask you. Do you want to sit with us?” said Nancy. She had been waiting for a chance to talk to Carly some more, because she was one of the Clue Crew’s top suspects.

  “Sure!” Carly sat down in the empty chair across from Nancy. Nancy noticed that her plate was piled high with all sorts of veggies, like carrots and peas and string beans.

  “I’m a vegan,” Carly said, following Nancy’s gaze.

  “Is that like a vegetarian?” asked Bess curiously.

  “Kind of, except that I don’t eat any food that comes from animals. That means I don’t eat milk or butter or cheese or eggs or anything like that,” Carly explained.

  “One of my mom’s best friends is a vegan,” George said. “Whenever she comes over for dinner, my mom makes her this really yummy pasta dish with lots of veggies in it and no cheese.”

  “That’s cool!” Carly smiled. “So … are you guys ready to become part of the Free the Bugs! movement?”

  Nancy, George, and Bess exchanged glances. “We kind of wanted to know about your club first. Like, what do you do exactly?” Nancy asked Carly.

  Carly popped a carrot into her mouth. “I talk to people about bugs and how they shouldn’t live in cages. I pass out fliers. I’m putting a website together. Stuff like that.”

  “Do you … well, do you ever actually free bugs?” said Nancy.

  Carly stared at her. “Uh, no.”

  “Why not? That’s the name of your club, right? Free the Bugs!” George said.

  “Yeah, but I can’t just go around randomly setting bugs free,” said Carly. “That would be just as mean as keeping them in cages. They have to be returned really carefully to their natural habitats. You know, by bug scientists or whatever. Otherwise they’d just get lost or sick or eaten by predators.”

  Nancy watched Carly carefully. She seemed to be telling the truth. On the other hand, she could be a good liar.

  “So you didn’t set Princess Bess free?” Bess said.

  Carly glared at Bess. “Oh, so that’s what this is about
? You guys were just pretending to be interested in my club, weren’t you? You’re really just trying to snoop around about Princess Bess.” She added, “For your information, I didn’t set Princess Bess free. And I didn’t steal her either.” She stood up to go.

  “Wait! We have proof against you!” Bess told her.

  “Proof? What proof?” Carly demanded.

  Nancy pulled the crumpled-up bug sticker out of her bookbag. She had been keeping it in there, in an envelope. “This. We found it next to Princess Bess’s cage, right after she disappeared. It’s from one of your fliers, right?”

  Carly took a close look at the sticker. “Yeah, probably. But lots of people have my fliers, and all my fliers have bug stickers on them. Anyone could have peeled this sticker off one of the fliers. They peel off really easily. See?” She pulled one of her fliers out of her bookbag and started peeling off the bug stickers, one by one.

  Nancy watched Carly. She was right. The stickers did peel off very easily.

  Nancy wondered

  if their suspect list had just grown to everyone in their class, based on the sticker clue.

  At the end of the school day, everyone left Mrs. Ramirez’s classroom and hurried into the hall to their cubbies. Nancy, George, and Bess lingered behind to check on Michael D.’s logs. The girls spread out into separate corners.

  “Do you see Princess Bess?” Nancy called out to George and Bess.

  “Nope, no Princess Bess,” Bess replied. “There’s an ant crawling around inside this one, though.”

  “And there’s a fly on this one,” said George.

  Nancy peered closely at the log in her corner. She didn’t see Princess Bess—or any other insect. She got up and inspected the log at the other end of the wall. She didn’t see any bugs there, either.

  She was about to get up when she saw something green poking out from beneath a nearby bookshelf. Curious, she reached for it.

  It was a pocket folder—the kind used for organizing notes and homework. Someone must have left it there by accident, Nancy thought. She opened it, wondering who it belonged to.

  Inside was a single document, tucked into one of the pockets. The paper read, “The Care and Feeding of Bess Beetles.” It included information about what they ate and what kind of habitat they required.

  Nancy stared closely at the inside of the folder. There were a bunch of bug doodles and what looked like a hastily scribbled name: MICHAEL.

  Chapter Eight

  The Two Michaels

  Nancy’s thoughts raced to the second name on the Clue Crew’s suspect list: Michael L.! The green folder was major proof against him. He must have stolen Princess Bess. And he must be keeping her at his house or elsewhere, using the instructions on the “Care and Feeding of Bess Beetles” sheet.

  Nancy ran up to George and Bess and showed them the new clue.

  “Michael L. is so busted!” Bess said angrily when Nancy was finished. “Let’s go find him!”

  “We’d better hurry. I think he rides the bus home,” said George.

  The three girls raced out of the room. They found Michael L. at his cubby, dumping its contents on the floor and sorting through them carelessly.

  “You stole Princess Bess!” Bess blurted out.

  Michael L. glanced up. “Huh? What are you talking about, Bess Beetle?” he said impatiently.

  “We found this,” Nancy cut in. She held out the green folder for Michael L. to see.

  Michael L. took it from Nancy and leafed through it. “This isn’t mine,” he said after a moment. “Besides, it says ‘Michael,’ not ‘Michael L.’ It probably belongs to Dorf the Dork. Why don’t you ask him about it?”

  Nancy started. It hadn’t occurred to her that the folder might belong to Michael D. After all, he was a huge bug lover. He had even set out the yucky logs to try to lure Princess Bess out of hiding. There was no way he could be the bug-napper.

  Could he?

  Nancy and her friends said a quick good-bye to Michael L. and rushed off to find Michael D. He was outside, shuffling toward the line of school buses along with a bunch of other kids.

  “Michael D.!” Nancy called out.

  Michael D. stopped and turned around. He waved when he saw the girls. “Hi! How is your investigation going?” he said.

  Nancy frowned. How did he know that she, George, and Bess were on a case? The case? On the other hand, Michael D. always seemed to know everything.

  “Is this yours?” Nancy said, showing him the green folder.

  Michael’s eyes lit up. “Yes, it is! Thank you! I thought I’d lost it.”

  “Why do you have that thing in there about the care and feeding of bess beetles?” George asked him pointedly.

  “Is it because you bug-napped Princess Bess? You’re keeping her prisoner in your house, aren’t you?” Bess accused.

  Nancy fixed her eyes on Michael D. “Well?”

  Michael D.’s cheeks turned bright red. “I didn’t bug-nap Princess Bess!” he exclaimed. “I would never do a thing like that. I printed out that sheet about bess beetles from the Internet so I could come up with ideas on how to find Princess Bess. Like the idea about the rotting logs.”

  Nancy frowned. “Really?”

  “Really. I’m already working on some new ideas,” Michael D. went on. “I’m thinking of buying a bess beetle and setting her loose in the school, so the two beetles might communicate with each other.” He added, “Of course, that will only work if Princess Bess is still here.”

  Michael D. seemed to be sincere. And he had been doing a lot to help Sonia find Princess Bess.

  “I have to catch my bus,” Michael D. said, glancing over his shoulder. “I have another idea, though. Why don’t we all pay another visit to the Insectarium tomorrow? Mr. Valeri might have some valuable suggestions on how to find Princess Bess. After all, he is an expert on insects.”

  “Pass the chips, please,” Bess said.

  “Which kind? The nacho cheese, or the salsa blast?” Nancy asked her.

  Bess giggled. “Hmm. How about both?”

  Nancy, Bess, and George were hanging out in Nancy’s room, chowing down on the snacks that Hannah had prepared for them. It was Friday night, and they were having a sleepover at the Drews’ house.

  George was sitting at Nancy’s computer, going through the file on “The Case of the Missing Bess Beetle.” As part of the Clue Crew, it was George’s job to update the file on the computer.

  “So far, we have two clues,” George said as she scrolled down the screen. “The beetle sticker. And the green folder.”

  “Michael D. had a good explanation about the green folder, though,” Nancy pointed out.

  Bess took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Yeah, but I still think he should be on the suspect list. He’s really smart. That means he could be a good liar, too.”

  “Whipped cream mustache!” George pointed to Bess’s face.

  “What? Oh!” Bess wiped her mouth with the back of her pajama sleeve. “So if we include Michael D., how many suspects do we have?”

  “Three. Carly, Michael L., and Michael D.,” George replied.

  “I still wonder why the bug-napper went after Princess Bess and Praying Mantis, but not Edgar and Dragon Breath,” Nancy said thoughtfully. “Did the person want to steal those bugs for some reason, but not the other two? Or did they want to pull a prank on Sonia and Luna, but not the Michaels?”

  “That’s it!” said George suddenly. Her brown eyes were sparkling.

  “What’s it?” Bess asked her curiously.

  “I know who the bug-napper is,” George said excitedly. “Actually, bug-nappers, plural. It’s Michael L. and Michael D.!”

  Chapter Nine

  An Unexpected Twist

  Nancy thought about George’s new theory. Could the Michaels have been in cahoots to steal or free Princess Bess—and Praying Mantis, too?

  “But they don’t even like each other,” Bess pointed out. “Michael L. calls Michael D. ‘Dorf the Dor
k’ all the time. And remember at the Insectarium, when he put that fake scorpion down Michael D.’s shirt?”

  George mulled this over. “Maybe they’re just pretending to hate each other,” she guessed.

  “Why?” said Bess.

  “So they could bug-nap the two bugs and get away with it,” George replied.

  “I know!” Nancy said. “We’re meeting Michael D. at the Insectarium tomorrow, right? We can talk to him some more and see if he says or does anything suspicious.”

  “Good idea,” Bess said.

  Nancy sipped her hot chocolate and gazed thoughtfully out her bedroom window. Maybe tomorrow would be their lucky day. Maybe tomorrow they would solve the mystery of Princess Bess’s disappearance once and for all!

  “Well, this is very disturbing about poor Princess Bess,” Mr. Valeri said.

  It was Saturday morning. A big group was gathered in the mounted display room of the Insectarium. In addition to Mr. Valeri, Nancy, George, Bess, Hannah, Michael D., and Michael D.’s dad were there. Sonia had come along too, with her mom and her little sister, Eden.

  Luna was also there, hovering near her dad. She seemed uncomfortable and out of place, staring down at her shoes a lot. Which was weird, Nancy thought, since her dad was in charge of the Insectarium.

  Nancy had just finished filling Mr. Valeri in about Princess Bess. “Do you think you can help us find her?” she asked him.

  Mr. Valeri nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I hope so. I have some detailed information about bess beetles on my computer. Let me go retrieve that now. I’ll be back in a sec.”

  After he left, Nancy turned to Sonia. “I know you’re worried about Princess Bess,” she said. “I have a good feeling, though. I think we’re really close to finding her!”

  “I hope so,” said Sonia.

  “I have a pet bug too!” Sonia’s sister, Eden, spoke up. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stuffed ladybug toy. “See? She’s weal!”