The Ice Cream Scoop

  “This isn’t your fault,” Cathy said to him. “But I bet I know what happened. A high school girl was working for me. I had to fire her after two weeks. She was giving free ice cream to her friends. They gobbled up a lot of money. I bet she called in this phony order to get back at me.”

  Cathy saw Nancy standing near the door. “What are you doing here, honey?” she asked.

  “I just got an idea,” Nancy said. “I want to ask you about it. My friends and I are doing a school report on ice cream. Could you tell us about your new flavors? What goes into them? And what is popular?”

  “I can tell you one thing right away,” Cathy said. “Pineapple-papaya crush is not popular.” Then she smiled at Nancy. “I would be glad to help you with your report. Why don’t all of you stop by tomorrow at four o’clock?”

  Nancy thanked Cathy and started to hurry back to her friends. She ran into George near the rest room.

  “What took so long?” George asked. “You must have the world’s cleanest hands.”

  “I was just poking around,” Nancy said.

  When they got back to the table, Bess said, “There you are! I was saving you a taste of my sundae, Nancy. But it started to melt. So . . .”

  Nancy looked at Bess’s dish and laughed. There wasn’t a drop of ice cream left in it.

  George glanced at the clock on the wall. “Let’s get going,” she said. “We can wait for my mom outside.”

  Bess paid for her sundae, and the girls went outside. While they waited, Nancy took a purple pen and a small notebook with a shiny blue cover out of her backpack.

  “Nancy!” George said. “Do you have a new mystery? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Nancy loved to solve mysteries, and she was good at it. Her father had given her the blue notebook so that she could write down clues and suspects. When Nancy took out her notebook, her best friends knew there might be a case to solve.

  Nancy told the girls about Cathy Perez and the strange ice cream delivery.

  “I’m not sure it’s a mystery,” Nancy said. “But I’d better write everything down. Just in case.”

  On one notebook page Nancy wrote: “10 gallons pineapple-papaya crush. To the Double Dip. Who ordered it?” At the top of the next page, she wrote: “Suspects.” Below that she wrote: “Girl fired by Cathy Perez.”

  Then Nancy said to her friends, “I asked Cathy to help us with our report. She said we can talk to her tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “Sure,” George said. “We should go to the library, too. It’s not open on Sunday.”

  Nancy nodded. “I’ll call Mike Minelli tonight and ask if he can meet us.”

  “Hey, you just saved a telephone call,” Bess said. “Look who’s sitting in that car.”

  A bright red car had pulled up in front of the Double Dip. A boy wearing a baseball cap backward sat in the backseat. When he saw the girls, he grinned. Then he pressed his face against the car window until it looked like a yellowish pink pancake.

  “Oooooooh,” Bess moaned. “What did I tell you? Mike Minelli is gross!”

  The three friends went over to the car. Mike’s seventeen-year-old brother was sitting in the driver’s seat. A girl with spiky black hair sat next to him. When Mike rolled down the car window, Nancy told him about the food report.

  “With the three of you!” Mike yelled. “How did I get on a girls’ team?”

  “Jason Hutchings told Ms. Spencer you’re an ice cream freak,” Bess explained.

  “Gee, thanks a heap, Jason,” Mike muttered.

  “We’re meeting at the public library tomorrow,” Nancy said. “So if you want to work with us—”

  Mike’s brother leaned across the seat. “Donna and I have to go to the library in the morning,” he said to Mike. “We can take you.” Then he nodded to the girls and added, “I’m Carl. This is my girlfriend, Donna Kepler.”

  A few seconds later a green car pulled up behind Carl’s car.

  “There’s my mom,” George said.

  The third graders made plans to meet at the library at ten o’clock. Everyone said goodbye. Mrs. Fayne drove the girls home.

  After dinner that evening Nancy played a five-game domino tournament with her father. Carson Drew was a famous lawyer, but Nancy often beat him at dominoes. While they played, Nancy told him everything that had happened.

  “Strawberry, chocolate, and peanut-butter-cup ice cream today,” said Carson Drew. “New flavors tomorrow. Peach on Sunday. You kids are going to turn into ice cream! What flavor will you be?”

  “Pumpkin!” Nancy answered. Pumpkin was one of Carson Drew’s nicknames for Nancy.

  Mr. Drew laughed and said, “Speaking of pumpkins, you really will turn into one if you don’t get ready for bed!”

  • • •

  The next morning Nancy got up and put on jeans and a new turquoise sweatshirt. After breakfast Hannah Gruen drove her to the library. Hannah was the Drew family’s housekeeper. She usually had Saturday morning off. But that morning Nancy’s father had work to do in the office.

  Hannah had lived with the Drews since Nancy was three years old and her mother had died. Since then Hannah had been like a mother to Nancy.

  Nancy met George and Bess in the lobby of the library. They went to the reference room. The encyclopedias were kept there. Mike Minelli was already sitting at a long wooden table. He was reading a big encyclopedia for kids.

  “This is great stuff!” Mike said when he saw them. “Want to hear about icebergs and ice hockey? Or ice picks and ice axes?”

  “How about ice cream?” George asked. “Remember the report we have to do?”

  “What report?” Mike asked. Then he burst out laughing. “Just kidding,” he said.

  Bess rolled her eyes and groaned.

  A librarian helped them find another encyclopedia and a book about dairies. Then the team began to read and take notes.

  “Most ice cream is made from cream, sugar, and different flavorings,” Mike said.

  “You can add fresh fruit,” George said. “But this book says you have to soak the fruit in sugar and water first. That keeps it from freezing completely.”

  “Look at this,” Bess said. “It’s a picture of a big ice cream maker. It’s the kind dairies and restaurants use.”

  “That’s pretty neat,” Nancy said. “Let’s make a copy of it for our report.”

  Nancy carried the encyclopedia to a copy machine in the copy room. As she put a coin in the slot, someone said, “Hey, aren’t you one of the ice cream kids?”

  Nancy turned around. An older girl with spiky black hair was standing behind her. It was Donna Kepler, Carl Minelli’s girlfriend.

  “How’s the report going?” Donna asked.

  “We found some good information here,” Nancy said. “And this afternoon we’re going to the Double Dip to talk to the owner.”

  “Cathy Perez!” Donna said. “Don’t mention that woman or the Double Dip around me. I used to work there. Cathy fired me. Now I hate the Double Dip. I’d love to see that place close down!”

  4

  Two New Suspects

  Nancy’s blue eyes opened wide. She swallowed hard and tried to think of something to say. But before she did, Donna started to walk away. “See you later,” Donna called over her shoulder.

  Yipes! Nancy thought. Donna Kepler is the girl who was fired! Did she call in the phony order for pineapple–papaya crush ice cream? Is the phony order part of a plan to make Cathy close down the Double Dip?

  Nancy finished copying the picture and rushed back to the reference room. She wanted to tell Bess and George what she’d found out.

  “Uh-oh,” she murmured when she saw her friends. Carl Minelli and Donna Kepler were at their table.

  “We finished taking notes,” Bess said. “I’m going to call my mom to tell her she doesn’t have to pick us up. Carl says he’ll drive us.” Mrs. Marvin had invited Nancy and George for lunch.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Mike said. “It’s not good
for your health to spend too much time in a library on Saturday. I read that in one of these encyclopedias.”

  “Under H for health?” George asked with a grin. “Or S for Saturday?”

  Bess called her mother. Then Carl drove the girls to Bess’s house.

  “See you at four,” Nancy said to Mike.

  Mrs. Marvin made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. The girls set the kitchen table. As soon as they sat down to eat, Nancy told her friends about Donna Kepler.

  “What Donna said was mean!” Bess exclaimed. “Could she really do something to make Cathy close the Double Dip?”

  “It would have to be something bigger than a phony ice cream order,” George said.

  Nancy nodded. “But remember, we don’t have proof yet that Donna did anything.”

  Nancy got her pen and blue notebook out of her backpack. On the page labeled “Suspects” she wrote: “Donna Kepler wants the Double Dip to close.”

  After lunch the girls went up to the attic. Mrs. Marvin kept a big trunk of old clothes there. They were perfect for playing dress-up. Bess and Nancy pretended they were movie stars. George was a TV reporter who asked them questions.

  At a quarter to four the girls put the clothes away and hurried to the Double Dip. A few minutes later Mike met them inside.

  “Yo, team!” Mike said. “I made up a cheer for us. Listen. Two, four, six, eight. Bugs on ice cream sure taste great!”

  “Grosser than gross,” Bess muttered.

  “There’s Cathy,” George said. She pointed to the back of the restaurant.

  Nancy waved. The owner of the Double Dip smiled and motioned them to come over.

  “How about a quick look at the freezers?” Cathy asked. “Then I’ll show you all the flavors in the refrigerator case.”

  The children followed Cathy to the storage room. They gathered around one of the tall stainless-steel freezers. The door opened like a refrigerator door. Inside were rows of large plastic buckets of ice cream.

  “To make things easy to find, I keep the smooth flavors, like plain chocolate, in here,” Cathy said. “And fruit sherbets, too.”

  “All the buckets have the same kind of label,” Nancy said.

  “That’s right,” Cathy said. “I get all my ice cream from the River Heights Dairy.”

  Then she opened the second freezer. “I store the ice creams with nuts, fruit, and candy in here.”

  “Will the dairy make any flavor you want?” Mike asked. “Like pickle chip with ketchup ripples?”

  “Super sicko!” Bess whispered to Nancy.

  Cathy laughed. “No, but the dairy offers quite a variety of flavors.

  “Br-r-r-r.” George shivered. “How cold is it in there?”

  “Zero degrees Fahrenheit,” Cathy said. She shut the freezer door. “This ice cream is too hard to scoop out. It softens when we move it to the refrigerator case. We keep the case at thirty degrees Fahrenheit.”

  “What do you do if the ice cream gets too soft?” Mike asked.

  “You should never let that happen,” Cathy said. “Refrozen ice cream isn’t as smooth. Sometimes it tastes funny, too.”

  Cathy took the children back to the restaurant. A long counter ran along the wall near the refrigerator case. The sundaes and sodas were made there. Cathy also showed them the milk shake blender.

  “Where’s Mike?” George asked.

  Everyone glanced around. Mike was nowhere to be seen. A minute later he walked out of the men’s rest room.

  “Did I miss any free samples?” he asked.

  Cathy smiled and shook her head. “I was about to show you the most popular flavors.”

  Just then a phone rang. Cathy stepped into the little room that was her office. A minute later she leaned out the door.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I have to go over some important business on the phone. Can we finish the tour some other time?”

  The ice cream team said yes. Cathy waved goodbye and went back into her office. Mike and the girls walked outside.

  “See you later, alligators,” Mike said.

  “Don’t forget,” George said. “Ten o’clock tomorrow at Sugar ’n’ Spice.”

  “Too bad they’re making peach ice cream,” Mike said as he walked away. “Instead of something good—like meatball!”

  • • •

  That evening Nancy and her father ate dinner earlier than usual. They wanted to see a seven-thirty movie at the neighborhood theater. A new comedy about a Little League baseball team was playing.

  After they washed the dishes, Nancy changed clothes. She put on a light green corduroy jumper and a white turtleneck shirt.

  Mr. Drew drove to the theater. But by the time they arrived, the parking lot was full. They finally found a place to park across the street from the Double Dip.

  When the show was over, Nancy and her father strolled back to the car. They loved to talk about the movies they saw together. Near the Double Dip, they ran into Mr. and Mrs. Minelli and Mike. They were all eating ice-cream cones.

  “Hello there,” Mr. Drew said. Then he grinned at Mike. “Didn’t you get tired of ice cream today?”

  Mike shook his head. “Learning about it isn’t the same as eating it,” he said. “And I had super luck at the Double Dip tonight. My favorite flavor is on sale for half price.”

  “What flavor?” Nancy asked.

  Mike held up his cone. “Pineapple-papaya crush!”

  5

  Pineapple-Papaya Crush

  Nancy gulped. The one customer who ordered pineapple-papaya crush at the Double Dip was Mike Minelli!

  Her mind began to race. Was this just a coincidence? Or did it mean something?

  Nancy stared at the two fat scoops of ice cream. They were yellowish white with chunks of bright yellow and pinkish orange. Her stomach did a flip-flop. Pineapple-papaya crush looks awful, she thought. It figures that Mike would like it!

  Everyone was saying goodbye. Nancy could only nod. She was quiet during the ride home, too. Carson Drew ruffled her hair and said, “Tired, Pumpkin Ice Cream? We’ll be home in a minute.”

  Nancy usually told her father everything. When she had a mystery to solve, he made good suggestions. But that night she wasn’t ready to talk. She needed some time to figure things out.

  Nancy brushed her teeth as fast as she could. Then she put on her pink-checked pajamas and got into bed. She opened her notebook and read what she had written:

  “10 gallons pineapple-papaya crush. To the Double Dip. Who ordered it?”

  Nancy began to ask herself questions. Does Mike Minelli have something to do with the phony ice cream order? Is he trying to help his brother’s girlfriend get back at Cathy Perez? Did he guess that Cathy would put his favorite ice cream on sale?

  Nancy wrote these questions on the same page. Then she turned out the light. She tried to sleep, but more ice cream worries kept popping into her mind.

  Would other strange things happen at the Double Dip? Would Donna Kepler find a way to close down the shop? Suppose Sugar ’n’ Spice and the Double Dip both went out of business! Two nice people would lose their shops. The neighborhood would have no ice cream place!

  Nancy tossed and turned. Thinking about ice cream was giving her a headache. She was afraid she would never fall asleep. But a few minutes later, she did. The next thing she knew, it was Sunday morning. Sunlight was streaming through her bedroom window.

  Nancy jumped out of bed and washed up. She knew it would be fun to watch Sid Alden make his delicious ice cream. She put on her red, long-sleeved Sandburg Elementary School T-shirt and jeans. She ran downstairs to the kitchen. Hannah was making waffles.

  After breakfast with her father, Nancy had time to read the Sunday comics. Then she rode her bike to Sugar ’n’ Spice. When she got there, Mike Minelli was locking up his bike. Bess and George arrived a minute later.

  The shop didn’t open for customers until noon. Bess knocked on the door. Bobby Alden let them in and took them
to the back room.

  “Here it is,” Sid said, grinning. “The machine that makes the great stuff you eat!”

  He pointed to something that looked like a narrow, stainless-steel washing machine. It had a round door on the front. On the top was a shallow sink and water spigot.

  Sid opened the door. Nancy and the others crowded around. They saw a large cylinder inside. Round steel blades spiraled down the middle of the cylinder.

  “Wow,” Bess said. “It’s so shiny.”

  “You bet,” Sid said. “We sterilize it with a special cleaner before we use it.”

  Sid handed Bobby a big plastic jug. “You start the show,” he said.

  Bobby poured thick white cream from the jug into the top of the machine. “This special cream from the dairy has sugar in it,” he said.

  Sid picked up a large bowl of peeled, sliced peaches. He handed Nancy a scoop. “Into the hopper,” he said. He pointed to a small boxlike opening on the machine’s door.

  Nancy carefully scooped all the peaches into the hopper.

  “Nice job,” Bobby said. “I usually drop a few.” Then he handed Mike a brown glass bottle. “Empty what’s left into the hopper.”

  Mike sniffed the bottle. “Smells like shoe polish, boiled cabbage, and rotten cheese.”

  George sniffed the bottle, too. “It does not! It smells like peaches.”

  “It’s peach extract,” Sid said. “Made from real peaches. It gives the ice cream more flavor. I never use those artificial extracts, even though they’re cheaper.”

  Mike poured the extract into the hopper.

  “Ready for blastoff?” Sid asked. “Press that switch to the right, Bess.”

  Bess pressed a switch on the front of the machine. The motor began to whir.

  “What’s going on in there?” Nancy asked.

  “Well,” Sid said, “the cylinder gets very cold. So a thin layer of cream freezes on it. The blades turn all the time. They scrape off the frozen cream. At the same time they push more liquid cream against the cold cylinder. Pretty soon there’s no more liquid. The cream is all whipped up.”