The Dashing Dog Mystery (5 page)

It was obvious. Lucas must be the collar thief!

Nancy jumped to her feet. “Come on,” she said to Bess and George.

“What?” George said. “Where are we going?”

“To catch our collar thief,” Nancy said excitedly.

When Nancy, Bess, and George arrived at Mrs. Vanderpool's house, there was a long row of cars parked in the driveway. The stone Yorkie statues along the front path were lit up with sparkly white holiday lights.

“I wonder what's going on?” Nancy said.

When the girls knocked on the door, the maid answered. “I'm afraid Mrs. Vanderpool is entertaining,” she apologized.

Five Yorkies came running up to the door. They jumped up on the maid and made yipping noises. “Stop that! Down!” she ordered them.

“Did Mrs. Vanderpool get a bunch of new ankle biters . . . I mean, Yorkies?” George asked her.

The maid shook her head. “No. The members of her kennel club are here. They all own Yorkies.”

“Myra, who's there?”

Mrs. Vanderpool came to the front door. She was wearing a red-and-green holiday sweater with a Yorkie design on it. “Come in, come in,” she greeted the girls. “Did you change your mind about selling me that lovely Stella Sipowitz collar?” she asked Nancy.

Nancy was surprised. Mrs. Vanderpool must not know that the collar is missing, she thought.

Out loud, she said, “We're here to visit Lucas.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Mrs. Vanderpool exclaimed. “I think he's up in his room.”

Nancy tied Chip's leash to the stair railing and promised to come right back. Then the girls followed the maid and Mrs. Vanderpool into the house.

There were Yorkies running around everywhere, yipping at each other. Nancy could see at least ten people in the living room. They were standing around and drinking coffee. They didn't seem to notice all the noise that the Yorkies were making.

“Third door on the right,” Mrs. Vanderpool said, nodding at the stairs. “I'm sure Lucas will be glad to see you.”

She excused herself and went back to her guests. Nancy and her friends started to go upstairs.

Then Nancy caught sight of Lucas. He was walking down the hallway, away from the living room and all the guests. He kept slipping his hand in and out of his shirt
pocket. He didn't seem to notice Nancy and her friends.

“There he is!” Nancy whispered to Bess and George. “Let's follow him!”

“Where do you think he's going?” Bess whispered back.

“I don't know,” Nancy replied. “But he seems to have something in his pocket.”

“Maybe it's the collar,” George whispered.

“Or the collars,
plural!”
Bess corrected her.

The three girls followed Lucas down the hallway. They tried to walk as quietly as possible. Every few seconds they ducked behind a piece of furniture so Lucas wouldn't spot them.

Lucas soon reached a door at the end of the hallway. He opened it and started down a set of stairs.

“He's going down to the basement,” Nancy whispered.

They followed him down the stairs on tiptoes. The light in the basement was dim.

At the bottom Lucas stopped and reached into his shirt pocket. He began to pull something out. . . .

“Stop! Hand over the stolen loot!” Nancy cried out.

Lucas whirled around. His hands fell to his sides. His eyes flashed with fear.

“I said, hand over the stolen loot!” Nancy repeated.

“S-stolen loot?” Lucas stammered. “W-what stolen loot?”

“The doggie collars,” Bess said. “Chip's collar and Prince Fabian's collar. You stole them!”

Lucas glanced around frantically. “What are you talking about? I didn't steal any collars,” he insisted.

Nancy pointed to his bulging shirt pocket. “What's in there, then?”

Lucas gulped. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something shiny.

Shiny and round.

It was a can!

Nancy peered at it closely. There was a label on it. “Kitty Deelight Gourmet,” she read. “Huh?” She was totally confused.

Just then Nancy heard a tiny meowing sound. A scruffy yellow kitten came bounding out from behind some cardboard boxes. It purred and rubbed up against Lucas's leg.

“Hey, it's a kitty!” George exclaimed.

“Her name is Sunshine,” Lucas said. He bent down to pet her. “I mean, that's what I named her, anyway.”

“Is she yours?” Nancy asked him curiously.

“I found her wandering around in the park yesterday morning,” Lucas explained. “She's a stray. I brought her home so I could clean her up and give her some food.”

“Oh, that is so sweet!” Bess gushed.

“How do you know she's a stray?” George asked him.

“She was really, really dirty when I found her. I don't think anyone's been taking care of her,” Lucas replied.

“Oh,” George said. “Poor thing!”

Nancy had a sudden thought. “Is
that
what you were hiding in your room yesterday?” she asked Lucas. “Is that why the Yorkies were going crazy and sniffing your door?”

Lucas nodded. “I was hiding Sunshine in my room. But the Yorkies were getting way too curious. So I decided to bring her down here. The Yorkies hate the basement.”

“So your grandmother doesn't know about Sunshine?” George said.

Lucas's eyes grew huge. “No way! She'd be so mad! Please don't tell her, okay? I'm going to keep Sunshine down here till next week. Then I'll take her home with me.”

Nancy grinned. “Your secret's safe with us.”

* * *

“Lucas isn't the collar thief,” Nancy announced to Petra.

Nancy, Bess, and George had stopped by Petra's house on their way home. They wanted to tell her the news in person.

“Then who stole Prince Fabian's collar?” Petra whined. “My mom's going to be really mad when she finds out I lost it.”

“Don't worry, we'll find it,” Nancy reassured her. “But for the moment, we're back to square one.”

Nancy pulled her blue notebook out of her pocket. She was about to open it when she heard a scratching noise at the back door. Petra got up to open it.

Prince Fabian ran through the door. His claws clicked against the hardwood floor. He had something in his mouth. Chip was right behind him.

“What is it, boy? What have you got?” Petra asked Prince Fabian.

Prince Fabian dropped something at Nancy's feet. It was his collar!

“Ohmigosh,” Bess said. “Prince Fabian found his collar!”

“Where did you find it, boy?” Petra asked him.

Nancy picked up the collar. It was crusted with dirt.

Then it came to her.

“I know where Chip's collar is!” Nancy announced with a smile.

George stared at her. “Where?”

“The Dashing Dog Pet Salon,” Nancy replied.

“Okay, Prince Fabian, lead the way,” Nancy ordered him.

She, Bess, George, and Petra were at the Dashing Dog. Mrs. Wylie had driven them there. Rex Rumford was there, too. He had just finished grooming a couple of Dobermans.

“What is going on, may I ask?” Rex asked Nancy as he dried his hands on a towel.

“We're about to solve a mystery,” Nancy explained.

She opened the back door of the pet salon. Prince Fabian bounded out, followed by Chip.

“Go ahead, boy! Find the collar!” Nancy called out to Prince Fabian.

“I still don't understand any of this,” Petra complained. “What does
my
dog have to do with
your
dog's missing collar?”

Prince Fabian ran to the big patch of dirt near the covered run. He began digging like mad. He pulled out a red rubber ball, a chew toy, and a rawhide bone. Chip sniffed at each toy that Prince Fabian unearthed.

Then Prince Fabian pulled out a red leather collar. The collar had bone-shaped rhinestones on it.

“Prince Fabian, you found the collar!” Petra gasped.

Nancy took the collar out of Prince Fabian's mouth and rubbed the dirt off with her hands. Soon it was as good as new.

“I don't get it,” George said to Nancy. “How did you know Chip's collar was here?”

“I figured it out when I saw Prince Fabian's collar with dirt all over it,” Nancy explained. “Prince Fabian must have gotten hold of Chip's collar at the party. Then he buried it back here.”

“That is brilliant! Simply brilliant!” Rex cried out. “I must call Stella Sipowitz right away to tell her the good news!”

Nancy put the collar around Chip's neck. The rhinestones glittered brightly against her dark brown fur. “There. You look beautiful,” Nancy told Chip. Chip barked happily.

Two days later Nancy read Alice Cahill's “Pet Corner” column over breakfast:

The latest in the mystery of the missing doggie collar! Nancy Drew busted the case wide open on Sunday afternoon, when she discovered that the culprit was none other than a Jack Russell terrier named Prince Fabian. Way to go, Nancy!

Chip made a whimpering noise. She was sitting under the table. Nancy slipped her a piece of her bagel. Chip wolfed it down and wagged her tail.

The jeweled collar looked really pretty on Chip. Nancy was really glad that she had found it.

Nancy pushed the newspaper aside. Then she opened her blue notebook, picked up her pen, and began to write:

Sometimes it turns out that a crime isn't a crime at all. I thought a thief stole Chip's collar. But it turned out that it wasn't a thief. It was just a dog acting like a dog!

Case closed.