The Carousel Mystery, Page 2

  She could feel some books. She could also feel something else—something round.

  She started to unzip the zipper.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a voice demanded.

  3

  Big News

  Nancy’s head shot up at the sound of the voice. Brad was standing in the doorway!

  Sam was right behind him. He was holding a cup of fruit punch. Some of it had spilled down the front of his Turtleman T-shirt.

  “What are you doing with my backpack?” Brad demanded.

  He stormed into the room and grabbed the backpack out of Nancy’s hands. He looked really mad.

  Nancy tried to think up a good excuse. “Um, we were just—,” she began.

  “We were just looking for the brass ring that you stole,” Mia cut in. “Where is it? Give it up, Brad!”

  “Yeah!” Jo said.

  “The . . . the what?” Brad frowned. “You mean that thing that goes with those horses? Why would I steal that?”

  “You said before that you had some plan to make the party ‘way cooler,’” Nancy reminded him. “‘Way cooler’—like stealing the brass ring and making everyone think a ghost took it?”

  Brad laughed. “What? Oh yeah, right. As if I would come up with something that lame.”

  “Then what did you mean?” George asked.

  Brad laughed again. “I put something in the punch.”

  Sam stopped drinking his punch and stared at his cup. “What did you put in it?” he asked Brad in a scared-sounding voice.

  “Don’t worry, Samster the Hamster; it was after you got your punch,” Brad reassured him. “Just minutes ago, I dumped some of my extra-special ice cubes in the silver punch bowl.”

  “What extra-special ice cubes?” Bess asked.

  “Ice cubes with spiders in them,” Brad explained.

  Just then, there was a high-pitched scream from downstairs. Then a voice yelled, “There’s a spider in my punch!”

  • • •

  “Pass the popcorn!” Bess said to Nancy.

  “Pass the cider,” George said to Bess. “We’d better make sure there are no spiders in it first!” she joked.

  “Ha-ha,” Nancy said.

  Nancy sat up in her sleeping bag and passed Bess the popcorn bowl. It was Saturday night, and Bess and George were having a sleepover at Nancy’s house. Nancy loved sleepovers!

  Nancy was wearing her new pajamas that had tiny pink hearts on them. Bess was wearing red pajamas with white lace trim. George was wearing her blue and green plaid pajamas and fuzzy blue slippers. The three girls had spread their sleeping bags across Nancy’s bedroom floor.

  Nancy licked popcorn butter off her fingers. Then she picked up her blue notebook, which was lying on the floor.

  Her father had given her the blue notebook for solving mysteries. For each mystery, Nancy kept track of suspects and clues on a different page in the notebook.

  She turned to a clean white page. She picked up her purple pen and wrote:

  The Mystery of the Missing Brass Ring

  “You should write down all our suspects first!” Bess said eagerly.

  “All our suspects?” Nancy repeated. “I think we only have one, so far.”

  “You mean Brad?” George asked her.

  Nancy nodded. “Yup.”

  Nancy made a column with the heading “Suspects.” Then, underneath, she wrote:

  Brad Gangi: He likes to play pranks. He wouldn’t let us see what was inside his backpack.

  “I really think he’s the thief,” Bess said, munching on a handful of popcorn.

  “We can’t blame Brad without any proof,” Nancy reminded her.

  Nancy made another column with the heading “Clues.” Underneath that, she wrote:

  The thief left a note. It was in red ink. It said, “Leave the horses alone. Or there will be more trouble. TG.”

  George took off one of her fuzzy blue slippers and threw it across the room. It landed in Nancy’s basket of stuffed animals. “Two points!” she hooted. “Anyway, what do you think that means, ‘Leave the horses alone’?” she asked Nancy and Bess.

  “Maybe the ghost doesn’t want the horses to go to the park,” Bess suggested.

  “It’s not a ghost, Bess. It’s someone pretending to be a ghost,” Nancy told her.

  Bess shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Nancy nibbled on the end of her pen. “Maybe the thief just wanted the brass ring because it’s valuable. Maybe the note is just a smoke screen.”

  “A smoke . . . what?” George asked her.

  “A smoke screen. It’s detective language. It means when a criminal leaves a clue that’s supposed to confuse you,” Nancy explained.

  “Well, it worked, because I’m totally confused!” Bess said, frowning. “More popcorn, please!”

  • • •

  The next morning, Nancy woke to the sound of Hannah’s voice coming up the stairs:

  “Rise and shine, girls! Who wants pancakes?”

  Hannah Gruen was the Drews’ housekeeper. But she was more like one of the family. She had been helping take care of Nancy since Nancy’s mother died five years ago.

  Nancy, George, and Bess all jumped out of their sleeping bags and raced downstairs. The yummy smell of pancakes and butter and maple syrup wafted up from the dining room.

  Mr. Drew and Hannah were already at the table. “Good morning, Pudding Pie,” Mr. Drew said to Nancy. “Pudding Pie” was his special nickname for her. “Good morning, George and Bess. Everyone sleep well?”

  “Yes, Mr. Drew!” George and Bess said at the same time.

  “There’s blueberry pancakes and a few strawberry pancakes, too,” Hannah said.

  George and Bess started to eat. Nancy took a sip of her orange juice. She noticed that the Sunday newspaper was spread all over the table. She glanced at it quickly—then she saw something really strange.

  Nancy grabbed the paper. There was a small column on the front page of the B section. It was called “Kids’ Korner.”

  Underneath those words was a black-and-white picture of Brenda Carlton. Next to her picture was the headline:

  BRASS RING STOLEN AT GANGI HOME CITY CAROUSEL DOOMED!

  4

  Nancy Has Competition

  Nancy couldn’t believe it. Brenda had written a big, fat article about the missing brass ring for her father’s newspaper!

  “What are you looking at, Nancy?” Bess asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

  Nancy pointed to the article. “Look! It’s an article by Brenda!”

  Bess and George leaned over Nancy’s shoulder.

  “The beginning is all about how Jo and Mia found the horses and the brass ring,” Nancy explained. “I’ll read the good part.”

  Nancy began to read:

  “Everyone was enjoying the Gangis’ party. There was lots of yummy food, like cookies and cupcakes. But then tragedy struck! There was a scream from the library. Someone had stolen the brass ring and left a spooky note on one of the horses. The note said ‘Leave the horses alone. Or there will be more trouble. TG.’ The brass ring was one of a kind. It had a mistletoe design on it.

  “TG are Thomas Gangi’s initials. Did he come back as a ghost to steal his own brass ring? Is he trying to tell us something about the horses? Are there clues to this mystery behind the old blue door of the secret room? Stay tuned!

  “This article was written by ace reporter and detective Brenda Carlton.”

  “A detective!” Bess burst out. “Brenda is not a detective!”

  “And when did she become a reporter for her dad’s paper?” George added. She speared a piece of pancake with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth.

  Nancy read the article over again. “So that’s what Brenda was doing in the library,” she said finally. “I caught her writing something in her notebook. It must have been this story!”

  Nancy frowned. “I’m confused. Brenda wrote something about an old blue door going to the secret room
. How does she know about that? Mr. Gangi didn’t say anything about it. And how did Brenda know that there was a mistletoe design on the brass ring?”

  George stopped chewing. “You’re right, Nancy!” she exclaimed.

  “We’d better go find Brenda and talk to her,” Nancy said.

  • • •

  Later that morning, Nancy, Bess, and George walked into the Double Dip. The Double Dip was their favorite ice-cream parlor in town.

  But this time, ice cream wasn’t their main mission. They were looking for Brenda. Nancy had called Brenda’s house to talk to her about her article. Brenda’s mother, Mrs. Carlton, had told Nancy that Brenda and her best friend, Alison Wegman, were hanging out at the Double Dip.

  “There she is!” Bess whispered, pointing.

  Nancy and her friends walked over to them. Brenda and Alison were eating ice-cream sundaes.

  “Hey, Brenda. Hey, Alison,” Nancy said.

  Then Nancy did a double take. Alison was eating a pink bubble-gum sundae. Brenda was working on a blue bubble-gum sundae . . . and a hot fudge sundae . . . and a peanut butter crunch sundae . . . and a pineapple partytime sundae . . . and a strawberry surprise sundae . . . and a ragin’ rainbow sundae, too. Six sundaes in all!

  “S-s-six s-s-sundaes?” Bess stammered. Her blue eyes were huge.

  Brenda flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. “Yes, six sundaes! I’m writing a food review for my dad. He wanted me to do an article about the best ice-cream sundae at the Double Dip.”

  “You are so lucky,” Nancy said.

  Brenda smiled smugly. “It’s talent, not luck. My dad knows I’m the best kid reporter in River Heights.”

  “And the best detective,” Alison added helpfully.

  George stepped forward. Her fists were in knots. Nancy could tell she was about to argue with Brenda about her “best detective” comment.

  Nancy quickly stepped in front of George. “You really are an awesome reporter, Brenda!” she said.

  Brenda looked pleased. “Thanks!”

  “We read your article about the brass ring in today’s paper,” Nancy said. “You wrote about stuff no one else knew about. Like the old blue door in the basement. And the mistletoe design on the brass ring. How did you find out about those things?”

  Brenda sat up a little taller. “Well, it wasn’t easy. But a good reporter can find out anything! See, what I did first was talk to—”

  And then Brenda stopped. She glared at Nancy. “Hey, I know what you’re doing,” she said suspiciously. “You’re using me to help you solve this mystery, aren’t you? Well, forget about it, Nancy Drew! I’m going to solve this mystery first. And then I’m going to write all about it for the ‘Kids’ Korner’ column!”

  5

  A Spooky Song

  I have a new suspect for our mystery,” Bess said. “Brenda Carlton!”

  “Yeah! Add her to the suspect list!” George agreed.

  It was after lunch on Sunday. Nancy, Bess, and George were walking to the park with Hannah. Hannah had Nancy’s puppy, Chocolate Chip, on a leash. The little Lab puppy kept stopping and sniffing everything along the way, like trees and bushes and snowmen and snow women.

  Nancy stuffed her hands into the pockets of her parka. “Why do you think Brenda should be a suspect?” she said with a frown. “I mean, she’s trying to solve the case—just like us!”

  “That’s why,” Bess said. “Maybe Brenda stole the brass ring and left the note—”

  “—so she could write a story about it for her dad’s newspaper. And so she could pretend to solve the mystery and look like a big hotshot,” George finished.

  “You girls certainly have a case on your hands.” Hannah sighed. “Chip, where do you think you’re going?” she cried out. The puppy was trying to race after a squirrel.

  Nancy thought about Bess’s and George’s words. At the Double Dip, Brenda had bragged that she would solve the mystery before Nancy did. And Brenda would, if she had stolen the ring!

  On the other hand, stealing was a really bad thing to do. Would Brenda go that far to be the number one kid detective in town?

  The girls, Hannah, and Chip arrived at the park.

  “Let’s check out where the carousel will be!” Nancy suggested.

  The carousel structure was nestled in the trees in the middle of the park. It had see-through glass walls and a peaked roof made of pretty gray stone. There was an old-fashioned sign at the entrance that said WELCOME TO THE RIVER HEIGHTS CAROUSEL. ONE RIDE: 50 CENTS.

  Nancy pressed her nose against the glass and peeked in. There were hammers and nails and cans of paint scattered all over the floor. It looked sad and empty without the carousel horses and brass ring.

  Nancy was determined. She had to find the brass ring in time for the grand opening on Wednesday!

  • • •

  “I think this one’s my favorite,” George said. She pointed at the carousel horse with seven swans on it. “Seven swans a-swimming!”

  “I like this one the best,” Jo said. “Five golden rings!”

  It was Monday afternoon. Hannah had dropped Nancy, Bess, and George off at the Gangis’ house so they could look for more clues. The three girls had searched all over the first and second floors with a fine-tooth comb. So far, they had turned up nothing.

  Now they were in the library, checking out the horses. Nancy realized once again how beautiful they were. Each one was painted a different pretty color with shiny gold trim. Each one had its own design on it from the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” And each one also had a long, bushy tail, just like a real horse.

  Then Nancy got an idea. She lay down on the rug and rolled onto her back. She scooted under the belly of one of the horses.

  “Nancy, what are you doing?” Bess asked.

  “Do you want a flashlight or something?” Mia offered.

  “Yes, please!” Nancy replied.

  Mia disappeared, then came back a moment later with a flashlight. Nancy clicked it on. She swept the beam of light to the right, then to the left.

  Nancy was about to turn the flashlight off when something caught her eye. On the horse’s underside were two red, hand-painted letters: TG.

  “Hmm,” Nancy said out loud.

  “Did you find something, Nancy?” George asked her.

  “Maybe,” Nancy replied.

  While the four girls watched, Nancy scooted under each horse and shined the flashlight around. All the horses had the initials TG on them, just like the first one.

  A few minutes later, Nancy got up and brushed her hands against her jeans. “All these horses have the initials TG on them,” she announced to the others.

  “Those are the initials of our great-great-great-grandpa!” Jo said.

  Nancy nodded. “And the handwriting is the same as it was on the note. Which means that whoever left the note knew what Thomas Gangi’s handwriting looked like.”

  “Or the person who left the note was Thomas Gangi,” Bess said in a nervous voice.

  Nancy shook her head firmly. “No way.”

  “I still think Brad is the thief,” Mia said. “I don’t know why you don’t just have him arrested or whatever.”

  “We don’t have any proof against him yet,” Nancy pointed out.

  The girls took a quick break to have Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. Then Mia excused herself because she had to get ready for her violin lesson. “You guys keep looking around without me,” she said.

  “But we’ve looked all over the house,” Bess said, munching on a cookie. “And we didn’t find anything except for a bunch of initials.”

  “You haven’t looked all over the house,” Mia called out over her shoulder as she left the kitchen.

  “That’s true! We haven’t looked in the basement yet,” Jo pointed out. “Don’t you want to see the secret room where we found the horses and the brass ring?”

  Nancy nodded. “That’s a great idea!”

  “But what if the ghost lives
down there?” Bess said nervously.

  “Bess! There are no ghosts!” Nancy reminded her.

  “I agree with Bess. I think ghosts are totally real,” Jo said.

  “Well, ghost or no ghost, we should still check out the basement,” Nancy declared.

  The girls finished their snacks. Then they headed down to the basement. Nancy took the flashlight with her.

  The basement was dark and musty-smelling. There were cardboard boxes, dusty old furniture, and broken toys everywhere.

  “This way,” Jo said, leading the girls through a narrow doorway.

  They found themselves in a small, dimly lit room. Nancy felt cobwebs brushing against her bare arms. She shivered.

  Jo pointed to a small wooden door on the far wall. The blue paint on it was chipped and faded. “That’s the door Mia and I found last spring,” she said in a low voice. “No one knew it was there because a bunch of cardboard boxes were piled in front of it. It leads to the secret room.”

  The four girls walked carefully to the door. Jo reached out to open it.

  Just then, Nancy heard a noise. “What’s that?” she whispered.

  It sounded like music coming through the door. The music was scratchy and spooky-sounding.

  “It’s . . . it’s a song,” George said nervously.

  Nancy recognized the song. “It’s ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’!” she exclaimed.

  6

  A Musical Clue

  It’s the ghost of Thomas Gangi!” Bess cried out. “He’s playing The Twelve Days of Christmas’ because he wants us to leave his carousel horses alone!”

  “Shhh,” Nancy whispered. She put her finger to her lips. The music stopped.

  Nancy reached out to open the door to the secret room. It wouldn’t budge.

  “Jo, help me!” Nancy said.

  “It gets stuck sometimes,” Jo explained. She jiggled the doorknob. After a minute the door swung open. The hinges creaked.

  Nancy rushed through the door into the secret room. She swung the flashlight around. The room looked empty. “Is there a light in here?” she asked Jo.