“What do you mean, someone stole Hoppity?” Nancy demanded.

“Just what I said. I left Hoppity in my cubby. And now she’s gone!” Violet’s eyes shimmered with tears.

“Are you sure you didn’t put her somewhere else, and you just forgot?” Bess piped up.

Violet shook her head. “No, I definitely put her in my cubby.”

Nancy thought this over. “When was the last time you saw her?” she said finally.

“Hmm . . . I put her in my cubby right after show-and-tell,” Violet replied. “Then at lunchtime I went to give her a pretend carrot. That was the last time, I think.”

“Lunchtime. That means that someone had, like, three hours to sneak Hoppity out of your cubby,” Nancy said.

Violet nodded in agreement. Then her face lit up. “Hey, I just remembered! You guys are secret agents!”

Nancy grinned. “You mean detectives?”

“Yes, that! So I can hire you to get Hoppity back for me, right? Puh-leeeeease?” Violet begged. “I’ll pay you whatever you want! I have twelve dollars and twenty-eight . . . no, twenty-nine cents in my piggy bank.”

“We don’t charge,” George told her. “And we’ll take your case! If it’s okay with you guys,” she said quickly to Nancy and Bess.

“I’m in,” Nancy said.

“I’m in too,” Bess added.

“Yay! Thank you! So what do we do now?” Violet said eagerly.

“First we should check the scene of the crime for clues,” Nancy said.

“The . . . scene of the what?” Violet asked.

“The scene of the crime. That means your cubby,” Bess explained.

“Oh!” Violet nodded. “Okay. Follow me!”

The four girls walked over to Violet’s cubby. Nancy knew that Hannah was probably waiting outside for her, Bess, and George to take them to Double Dip. So they had to work fast.

Nancy started searching through Violet’s cubby. The hallway was practically empty; almost everyone had left for home by now.

On the walls of Violet’s cubby were magazine clippings of pop star Lula Rappaport, who Nancy knew was Violet’s favorite singer. Hanging on the hook were Violet’s backpack, which had Lula stickers all over it, and Violet’s hot-pink jacket.

Nancy knelt down to search the bottom of the cubby. There were pencils, pens, a couple of notebooks, and a Lula fan magazine. Then she noticed something else, way in the back. She picked it up.

It was a small, doughnut-shaped object. It was clear blue, and it felt soft and squishy. What could it be?

“Is this yours?” Nancy asked Violet.

“Um, no. I don’t even know what it is,” Violet replied.

“It looks like a doll bracelet or something,” Bess remarked.

“I think I’ve seen one of those before,” George said slowly. “Or maybe not. I’m not sure. I’ll try to remember.”

“Thanks, George.” Nancy reached into her backpack, pulled out a plastic bag, and dropped the blue doughnut into it. She kept a bunch of such bags in her backpack, for storing clues. “Our first clue!” she announced.

“Except that our clue is a mystery too, since we don’t know what it is,” Bess joked.

“So let’s talk about motives,” Nancy said as she dug into her Crazilicious Caramel sundae.

Nancy, Bess, George, and Violet were sitting in a booth at Double Dip. Violet had gotten permission from her parents to come along too. Hannah was at a table across from the four girls, talking to an old friend she had run into.

“Motives?” Violet repeated. “What are motives?” She licked chocolate syrup off of her spoon.

“A motive is why someone does something,” Bess explained. She plucked a cherry from the top of her Bananarama sundae. “Like, why would someone want to steal Hoppity?”

“Because she’s the most awesome bunny in the entire world?” Violet said. “Obviously?”

George took a sip of her Very, Very Berry shake. “That’s a good motive. What about suspects?”

“I think Antonio did it. He’s evil!” Bess exclaimed. “His Killer-whatever almost ate Itty Bitty!”

Nancy had been wondering about Antonio too. He was famous for pulling mean pranks on his classmates.

“We should definitely add Antonio to the suspect list,” Nancy agreed. “What about Sonia?”

“Sonia?” Violet shook her head. “No way!”

“But aren’t you two fighting?” George said.

Violet put her spoon down with a clatter. She looked upset. “No! Sonia and I are, like, best friends. She would never steal Hoppity!” She added, “Besides, best friends have fights once in a while. It’s no big deal.”

“But she said you stole her idea about getting a Make-a-Pet bunny and naming her Hoppity,” George persisted.

“Is Sonia right? Did you steal her idea about Hoppity?” Nancy asked Violet gently.

“No!” Violet insisted. But she wouldn’t meet Nancy’s gaze.

Hmm, Nancy thought. Violet’s keeping something from us. What is it?