George set the canvas duffel bag on top of the out-of-service pinball machine. The motion made one of the tiny bells inside the game ring. All three girls began to gently pull items from the bag, inspecting each closely.
As Katie had mentioned, the contents of the bag consisted entirely of fluffy white washcloths—only a few of which were still folded—and three pairs of clean white socks. George held one pair up and shook gently, watching as a few pieces of pink glitter clinging to them floated off in the air. She set them down on the glass top of the pinball game.
“Well,” she said, “Katie was right. I don’t think we’re going to get a lot of clues from this bag. It’s exactly what she said: washcloths and socks. Not so interesting to thieves!”
Nancy finished writing the contents in her notebook—just in case—then rubbed her chin. “So, if no one was after the bag for valuable goods, and Katie even admitted the missing headband isn’t anything special, I think we have to consider that this could be a case of sabotage.”
Bess and George nodded. “Someone may have taken the headband just to throw Katie off her game and keep her from winning that record. But who would do that?” Bess asked. “Katie’s so nice!” she added.
“She really is so sweet,” Nancy agreed. She stared at the floor and then cocked her head to the left as she leaned in for a closer look at something she spied there. “Maybe the person didn’t have anything against Katie herself. Maybe they just didn’t want the record broken by anyone.”
She bent down and picked up an arcade token and held it up for the other girls to see.
Bess’s forehead wrinkled. “What does a token have to do with Katie’s headband? Everyone here has those tokens in their pockets. Anyone could have dropped that.”
Nancy turned the token over and said, “Everyone here has tokens from Starcade. But look!”
George peered at the token, then proclaimed, “This is a token for Gamespot!”
The tokens for the rival arcade up the street were silver, unlike Starcade’s, which were a dark bronze color.
Nancy nodded. “Right. And Mr. Finn said Gamespot has been pretty much a ghost town because he doesn’t have the Dance-A-Thon game. If Katie wins the world record here, it would probably be really good for Starcade’s business. And what’s good for Starcade’s business is bad for Gamespot’s business! Plus, we know Mr. Finn was here. What if he took Katie’s headband to keep her from winning?”
Bess took a step back and bumped against the pinball machine, which went ding! in return. “We have to find Mr. Finn!”
All three girls went up on tiptoes to search for the arcade owner in the crowd, but they couldn’t spy him anywhere. They decided he must have returned to his own arcade.
Glancing at her watch, Nancy said, “Field trip time!”
The members of the Clue Crew rushed up the street to Gamespot.
When they arrived, the girls found a quiet arcade. Sure, there were a few people throwing basketballs into a hoop surrounded by netting on three sides, and several others clustered around a row of vintage video games with names like Space Invaders and Ms. Pac-Man, but it was far from the crowded scene at Starcade.
They spotted Mr. Finn easily. He was behind the counter, polishing the glass display that housed all the prizes customers could exchange their tickets for. He was sucking on a lollipop and carefully rubbing a spot on the glass, but he looked up when the girls approached.
“Hello, ladies. Twice in one day. You didn’t want to stick around and watch the record-breaking attempt? Too crowded for you?”
George peered into the case of prizes and said, “It really is crowded there.”
Mr. Finn took the green lollipop from his mouth and smiled. “Well, I’m happy to offer a quiet alternative if you’re looking to play some games. But I have to warn you, if my plans work out, it won’t be empty in here much longer.”
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.
Mr. Finn scratched his head with the hand that wasn’t holding his lollipop. “When I bumped into you at Starcade, I wasn’t that thrilled with all the customers they had, but as I walked back here, I realized something.”
Bess propped an elbow on the counter. “What’s that, Mr. Finn?”
She followed his eyes to her elbow and quickly stepped back. “Sorry!” she said, using her shirt to rub off the smudge mark her elbow had left on the just-cleaned glass.
Mr. Finn just laughed and waved off her sleeve, using his rag instead. “Seeing all those people at Starcade inspired me to make Gamespot even better. Instead of passing by the bank on my way here, I went in and applied for a loan to buy the new Surf City game. It lets players feel like they’re really riding giant waves. I’m going to have a big contest to find someone who can beat its world record, with me as their sponsor. He or she can play as many free games of Surf City as it takes while training to be champion.”
“I’ve always wanted to try surfing!” George declared.
Mr. Finn grinned. “Well, there you go, then. You can be my first champion-in-the-making.” He popped his green lollipop back in his mouth and gestured at the case. “In the meantime, how about a free prize for three of my favorite customers?”
He held out plastic spider rings to each of the girls. They offered smiles and thanks as they accepted the gifts.
Nancy was just about to steer their conversation back to Katie and the missing headband, when George linked arms with the other girls and said, “Thanks again, Mr. Finn. Have a great afternoon!”
“Oh, I intend to. I’m going to plan out how to rearrange the games I have, so I can make room for Surf City!”
“Although—” Nancy began, but George gently tugged her and Bess away from the counter and out the door.