Thanksgiving Thief (3 page)

“My dad had to fire Peter's uncle James because he kept missing work at the pumpkin farm,” Katherine said. “Peter was really upset about it,” she added.

“Still, I just can't believe Peter would commit such a crime,” Bess said.

“The Clue Crew doesn't convict suspects until we have the evidence,” Nancy reminded her. She looked at Mr. Madison. “Do you mind if we look around?” she asked.

“Be my guest,” Mr. Madison said.

As Nancy, Bess, and George walked around
the kitchen, Nancy said, “We need to make sure we don't destroy any evidence, so watch where you step.”

“What are we looking for?” asked George.

“Footprints in the puree—probably
sneakers
, if Peter did do it,” Nancy replied.

For the next several minutes they walked all around the kitchen, searching every inch of the floor in Mr. Madison's assigned area.

Finally, Nancy said, “Well, whoever did this must have stepped where he or she wouldn't leave any prints.”

“Hey, look at this!” exclaimed Bess. She pointed to several blobs of pumpkin puree on the floor. “It looks like someone tried to make a finger painting. See these strange scratches?”

“It was probably just some little kid whose
mother or father was down here helping to cook or decorate,” Nancy said. “I don't think it's a clue.”

“What do we do now?” George wondered.

“We go talk to—,” Nancy started to say.

“I found one!” Bess suddenly shouted.

Nancy and George stopped. Bess was standing at a side entrance that led to an alley.

“You found a footprint?” asked Nancy.

“No, I found a brown-and-gray
feather
!” Bess exclaimed. “Now I have one for my headband.”

Nancy and George rolled their eyes at each other.

“We're in the middle of an investigation, Bess,” George said. “You need to keep your mind on that.”

“Come on, let's go find Peter Patino,” said Nancy. “We have some questions to ask him.”

Nancy and the Clue Crew left the school and headed over to Peter Patino's house, which was a couple of blocks away.

“That wind's chilly!” Nancy said. “I knew I should have worn my jacket.”

George shivered. “It wasn't this cold when we left your house,” she said. “Let's bike faster. We'll get there sooner, and it'll warm us up.” Everyone knew that George could outrun—or outbike—anybody at River Heights Elementary School.

“Hey! Wait for me!” shouted Bess. “I'm not the athlete in this group.”

When they got to Peter's house, though, Mrs.
Patino told the girls he wasn't there. “Since there was no school today, he said he was going to meet up with Ned Nickerson to talk about forming a bowling league, so he's probably at the bowling alley.”

Ned Nickerson was in fourth grade at River Heights Elementary. He and Nancy were good friends.

“We'll bike over there, then,” Nancy said.

“We have something important to ask him,” Bess added.

“I wish you'd ask him something for me, too,” said Mrs. Patino, smiling.

“What's that?” George asked.

“What time will he be home?” Mrs. Patino asked. “He left after breakfast, and he hasn't been back since.”

Nancy looked at Bess and George. “That's interesting,” she said.

The girls waved good-bye to Mrs. Patino.

“If we see Peter, we'll give him your message,” Bess called to her.

When the Clue Crew was too far for Mrs. Patino to hear, Nancy said, “Peter is sounding more like a suspect all the time. If he's been gone since early this morning, he could have destroyed Mr. Madison's jars of pumpkin puree before he met up with Ned.”

“We'll soon find out,” said George.

When the girls got to the bowling alley, they parked their bikes in a rack, locked them up, and headed inside.

“There's Peter,” Bess said, pointing to the last lane.

“Wow!” Nancy exclaimed. “It looks like half the boys in school are here too.”

Peter looked up and waved when he saw the three of them walking toward him. “If you want to bowl,” he yelled, “you'll have to start your own league.”

When the girls reached him, Bess said, “We don't want to bowl, we want to talk to you about pumpkin puree.”

“About
what
?” Peter asked.

Nancy looked around. “Could we talk in private?” she asked.

Peter wrinkled his brow. “Oh no, is the Clue Crew on a case now?” he said.

“As a matter of fact, we are, Patino,” George told him. “We're investigating the destruction of Mr. Madison's jars of pumpkin puree in the school kitchen.”

Peter blinked, then slowly narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me that you think I did it?” he asked.

“Did you?” asked George.

“Why would I?” Peter said.

“Because Katherine Madison told us that you were upset about your uncle,” George explained.

“Yeah, well, I was upset when Mr. Madison fired Uncle James, because it's hard for my uncle to get a job,” Peter said, “but you know that I'd never destroy anyone else's property.”

“Well, this is a criminal investigation, and that means we have to cover all bases,” Bess said. “It's nothing personal, Peter.”

Peter looked around. “I have to go,” he said. “It's my turn to bowl.”

“Wait, Peter! Can you prove you didn't do it?” Nancy asked. “Do you have an alibi?”

“Yeah, I can, and yes, I do,” Peter replied. He turned and called, “Nickerson!”

Ned quickly hurried over to them. “Hi, Nancy! Hi, Bess, George. What are you guys doing here?”

“We're on a case,” said Bess.

“And I'm a suspect,” Peter said, “but I was just explaining to Nancy that you and I have been busy all day, recruiting guys for the bowling team.”

“You think Peter committed a crime?” Ned said. “Come on, Nancy! Get real!”

“Well, we need Peter's alibi,” Nancy replied.

“Sure thing. We started out really early this morning, looking for guys, and now we have a team that's going to burn the competition,” Ned said.

“Good for you, Ned,” said Nancy. She turned to Bess and George. “I guess we'd better be going.”

“Good luck with the investigation,” Peter called to them as the girls headed out the door.

“Now what?” Bess asked.

Nancy looked at her watch. “Oh no! I forgot to ask Peter what time he'll be home, and I need to get home too,” she said. “It's almost time for dinner, and I promised Hannah I'd clean my room!”

Nancy's father, Carson Drew, was a successful lawyer, so Nancy often discussed some of the
Clue Crew's cases with him. Over dinner, she told Mr. Drew and Hannah about their investigation.

“We thought Peter Patino was a suspect, but it turns out he has an alibi,” Nancy said. She sighed. “We'd go back to the crime scene to look for other clues, but by now it's probably been compromised.”

“What?” said Hannah.

Nancy grinned. “I heard it on television. That means people have probably walked all over the clues and destroyed them.”

“Well, you've been in situations like this before, Nancy. You know that sooner or later evidence will turn up that'll help you solve the crime,” Mr. Drew said. “Just keep on sleuthing!”

“The Clue Crew never gives up, Daddy!” Nancy assured him.

The next afternoon, Saturday, Nancy and the Clue Crew met Mary White Cloud at the gymnasium. Mrs. White Cloud was going to help them with their parts in the pageant when she
finished making her Indian fry bread. While they were waiting, Nancy and the Clue Crew filled Mary in on what they'd found out about Mr. Madison's pumpkin puree.

“We didn't find any clues,” Bess said, “but”—she pulled the feather out from behind her and showed it to Mary—“I did find this. It was left by some bird in the alley outside the school kitchen.”

“That's wonderful! You're the first person to pick up a feather, Bess,” Mary said. “That's special in our culture.”

Bess beamed.

“I'm glad your mother wants to help us with our lines,” said Nancy.

“Well, my mom has been in a lot of Native American pageants all across the country,” Mary told them proudly.
“She knows how we should act.”

Just then, they heard a commotion coming from the kitchen.

Nancy looked at everyone. “Come on!” she shouted. “Let's find out what's going on!”

When they got there, Mrs. White Cloud was talking to Mrs. Stanley, who owned a bakery in town.

“What happened?” asked Nancy.

“I just discovered that somebody got into the storeroom where I had put my special bags of turkey stuffing mix,” Mrs. Stanley said. “They ruined every one of them!”

“Oh no, not again!” Nancy groaned. “Someone really is trying to destroy the River Heights Thanksgiving Celebration!”

“This is awful,” Bess said.

“It most certainly is,” Mrs. White Cloud agreed. “Everyone in River Heights has told me nothing tastes as good as Mrs. Stanley's special turkey stuffing mix, and I was really looking forward to eating it.”