Nancy and her friends had a notebook of their own. But instead of a place to compile news tidbits, like Deirdre’s was, theirs was a Clue Book. They used it to write down all the suspects and clues as they solved their way through every mystery. It had never failed them before, and Nancy knew it wouldn’t this time either.
“We have some information gathering to do, girls,” she said to her friends, clicking her pen.
Nancy, Bess, and George glanced over at Katie again. The star dancer, who always seemed so confident and happy on the dance pad, was anything but upbeat now.
“This is really bad,” said Bess. “What if we can’t find her lucky headband before the judge gets here? Michael made it sound like it was super hard to get the Beamish World Records people to come watch an attempt. This could be her one big chance!”
George chewed her lip before saying, “Yeah. We know we’re the best junior detectives in River Heights. But are we the fastest?”
Nancy tucked her notebook under her arm and grabbed both her friends by the hands. “We won’t be if we don’t stop standing around and get to work. C’mon, let’s start by talking to Katie.”
They squeezed through the people surrounding Katie until they were standing next to the teenager. She wore knee-length black leggings underneath a hot-pink ballet tutu, paired with a tank top that read GRRRL POWER. Katie’s hair had a matching streak of hot pink.
Bess sighed happily and whispered to George, “I love when someone owns her style.”
George rolled her eyes and whispered back, “Headband, remember?”
Bess put a hand on her hip. “You don’t have to remind me to think of accessories, George. Half the time I already am!”
Nancy cleared her throat. “Excuse me, Katie?”
Katie turned and looked at the girls. “Yes?” she asked, tucking a tissue underneath her eye and blotting her tears. “Sorry,” she added, motioning to the tears. “I know it’s just a video game, but this record means so much to me. And so does my lucky headband.”
All three girls nodded in sympathy.
“We’re hoping we can help you out. We specialize in solving mysteries like this,” Nancy said, not bothering to hide the pride in her voice.
From behind her she heard, “They aren’t lying. These girls are the best detectives around!”
The voice came from their classmate Quincy Taylor, from River Heights’s Ghost Grabbers Club. The girls had met Quincy when he’d thought the costume Nancy’s dog Chocolate Chip had been wearing in the Howl-a-Ween Pet Parade might have been haunted by a ghost. The Clue Crew had been able to prove Chip’s strange behavior had been caused by something way less creepy . . . and had earned a fan for life.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Quincy,” Bess said.
Katie’s tears were already drying, and while she wasn’t quite smiling, her mouth turned up a little in one corner. “I’d love if you could help me!”
But then it drooped again. “Except I don’t really have much to give you in terms of clues. I was so in the zone during my practice round that I didn’t pay any attention at all to my duffel bag until about five minutes ago, when I went searching for my lucky headband.”
Nancy smiled. “That’s okay. Maybe the bag itself will tell us something. Could you show us where it is?”
“Oh, and also describe the missing headband for us,” added George.
“Yes, spare no detail on the fabulous accessories!” Beth piped in. George poked her in the side, and the next word out of Bess’s mouth was a quiet “Ouch!”
Katie led the girls to a spot just to the left of the Dance-A-Thon game pad, where a pinball machine displaying an OUT OF ORDER sign cast a long shadow on the tile floor. A black duffel with a hot-pink handle poked out from underneath the game. It was open and the contents were jumbled, as if someone had been searching through them and hadn’t bothered to return anything neatly to its place. It might have been Katie, who’d just been looking for the lost headband. Or, Nancy thought, maybe it was whoever had taken it.
“I keep my bag right under this pinball machine, so no one trips on it. It’s my usual spot, and no one has ever bothered it before. I never imagined I had to even think about theft, especially since there’s nothing in here anyone else would find valuable. Just a plain white headband, some fresh socks, and a handful of clean washcloths. I can get pretty hot when I’m dancing really hard, and the headband keeps any sweat from dripping in my eyes while I dance. If I can’t see, I could miss a move, and even one misstep means my perfect score goes . . . bye-bye!” Katie made the fingers on her left hand waggle as she raised them, miming something flying away.
Beth shuddered. “That sounds like a lot of pressure.”
Katie smiled. “It can be. But I love it. And once I’m in the groove, I feel like I could dance forever. It’s getting into that groove that’s the problem now. I need my headband for that!”
“What if we ran to my house and brought you one of my headbands to keep your hair out of your eyes?” Nancy suggested, but Katie shook her head sadly.
“I wish that would solve things, but I need my lucky headband to play. I know it might sound silly, but actually, a lot of athletes are superstitious. Some baseball players refuse to change their socks or shave their beards when they’re on a winning streak.”
George put in, “When I’m playing basketball, I always have to bounce the ball three times before shooting a free shot.”
“Ooh, I read that Bettina Williams, the tennis star, does that. She bounces five times before her first serve, and twice before her second,” Nancy added.
Katie nodded. “I really do believe my headband brings me luck. I can’t imagine trying to break the world record without it. It just wouldn’t work. I know it!”
Nancy touched Katie’s arm. “We’ll do our very best to find it, then. Can you describe it to us, please?”
“Sure. It’s pretty basic, really. Just a loop of plain old white, stretchy fabric. About this thick—” Katie held up her fingers about an inch apart. “Really, it’s nothing special . . . except to me.”
As she talked, Katie tugged the duffel out from under the pinball machine and handed it to George. “Maybe you can find some clues in here, but I can’t begin to imagine who would do something like this to me!”
Just then Katie’s mom called over and motioned for Katie to come speak to Max Bensen, who must have finished his interview with Deirdre. Katie thanked the girls and rushed to Max. He gave her a sympathetic hug and pointed at the clock on the wall. Katie grimaced.
The girls did too. The judge would be there soon.
The Clue Crew didn’t have any time to waste!