The Secret of the Scarecrow (3 page)

“They're apple-cinnamon,” Mr. Drew said, flipping one in the pan. “My latest fall recipe.”

“Make sure it doesn't
fall
on the floor, Daddy!” Nancy giggled. Her dad was a great dad, a great lawyer, and a great cook—although a messy one!

Nancy was about to sit down when the phone on the kitchen counter rang. The caller ID flashed Bess's name.

“Hi, Bess,” Nancy said as she answered the phone. “How's Autumn?”

“I don't know!” Bess cried.

“What do you mean, you don't know?” Nancy asked.

“All I know is that something happened to our scarecrow!” Bess said. “Something horrible!”

“What do you mean, something horrible?” Nancy asked worriedly. “Did someone steal her?”

“I don't know!” Bess cried. “I'll explain everything when you and George come over—right away!”

Nancy heard a click. Bess was so frantic, she had hung up without saying good-bye.

“Bad news?” Mr. Drew asked.

“I think so, Daddy,” Nancy said. “Bess wants me to go to her house right away.”

She was about to run for her jacket when she saw the yummy-looking stack of pancakes on the counter.

“Right away after pancakes!” Nancy added.

“Okay, so where's Autumn?” George demanded.

“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!”

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.