“But Gaby already has a Make-a-Pet,” Bess said at lunchtime the next day. “Her chick, Butterball.”
“I think it’s Buttercup,” Nancy corrected her. “But you’re right. So why would she want to steal Hoppity?”
George bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Maybe she doesn’t really want Hoppity,” she said after a moment. “Maybe she’s just trying to cause trouble so she can win the contest.”
“Huh? How can she win the contest by causing trouble?” Bess asked her.
“Because we’d all be too busy looking for missing Make-a-Pets and trying to figure out who’s messing up people’s Petopia games,” George explained. “And while we’re doing that, she’d be scoring major Petopia points.”
“That’s a really good theory,” Nancy said. “I know! Why don’t we talk to some of the other girls and see if they’ve had any problems with their Petopia games? Like if someone’s been logging in to their accounts and making their avatars and pets do weird stuff?”
“Good idea,” George agreed.
Nancy pulled the blue doughnut out of her backpack. “Plus, I want to see if this belongs to anybody.”
“Whatever it is,” Bess said with a shrug.
Nancy glanced around the cafeteria. She remembered that Sonia was out sick today. She spotted Deirdre, Kendra, and Madison sitting across the aisle. They had their Make-a-Pets with them: Deirdre had her mouse, Kendra had her pony, and Madison had her turtle.
Nancy walked up to them, followed by Bess and George. “Hey, guys!” she called out.
“Hey, Clueless Crew!” Deirdre said cheerfully. “We’re kind of busy right now. Kendra and Madison are helping me figure out which backpack to buy for Squeak Squeak when I win the Petopia contest!”
Kendra and Madison exchanged a funny look.
“That’s great, Deirdre. How many points do you have so far?” Nancy asked her.
“Uh, well, a lot,” Deirdre said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulders. “I’m sure it’s way more than you have.”
Bess put her hands on her hips and started to say something to Deirdre. Nancy elbowed her.
“So we were wondering . . . does this belong to any of you guys?” she said, holding out the blue doughnut.
Deirdre made a face. “Uh, no? What is that, anyway?”
“It looks like a dog toy,” Kendra spoke up.
“Or food from outer space,” Madison added. The three girls cracked up.
Okay, so much for that, Nancy thought. “We were wondering about something else too. Have you guys noticed anything funny with your Petopia games?”
“What do you mean, ‘anything funny’?” Kendra said.
“You know, like, your avatar doing stuff you didn’t tell it to do,” George explained.
Deirdre, Kendra, and Madison all shook their heads. “Why, is your avatar doing stuff like that?” Deirdre asked George. “That’s probably because you don’t know how to play the game right!”
“Okay, well, thanks anyway!” Nancy said quickly, dragging George and Bess away. She didn’t want to waste time arguing with Deirdre about who was better at Petopia.
“Why is Deirdre so rude sometimes and so nice sometimes?” Bess whispered as they walked away. “She’s confusing!”
“She’s Deirdre,” George said simply.
Just then, the three girls passed Catherine, who was sitting at table by herself and doodling in a notebook.
Pausing, Nancy saw that she was drawing pictures of bunnies dressed in different colorful outfits: a pink ballet tutu, purple pajamas, and a flowery party dress.
“Your bunnies are supercute,” Nancy said. “Are they Make-a-Pets?”
Catherine’s cheeks flushed red. She slammed her notebook shut. “No!” she said, sounding annoyed. “I’m designing a new line, called . . . uh . . . Create-a-Pets. Yeah, that’s right, Create-a-Pets! They’re going to be way better than Make-a-Pets. Their clothes are going to be way better too.”
“Oh! That sounds cool,” Bess said eagerly. “Can I see your designs? I love fashion, so I could maybe help you with—”
“No thanks,” Catherine said shortly. She turned away and opened her notebook at a weird angle so that her drawings were hidden from the girls’ view.
“Ooookay,” George whispered as they walked away. “What’s up with Catherine today?”
“Or lately,” Bess added. “She’s been supercranky!”
“Hey, guys! Guess how many Petopia points I have so far? Seventy-five!”
Nancy turned around. Gaby was standing there. She was clutching a book against her chest called How to Win at Petopia.
“Hi, Gaby,” Nancy said, waving. Bess and George waved too.
Hi! So I’m totally going to get first place,” Gaby said smugly.
“You’re totally going to get first place because you’re cheating!” Bess blurted out.
“Bess!” Nancy and George said at the same time.
“Cheating? Bess, what are you talking about?” Gaby looked shocked.
“You’re hacking into people’s Petopia accounts,” Bess fumed. “Well, Violet’s, anyway. So far. And you stole Hoppity! Are you going to try to steal Itty Bitty, too? And everyone else’s Make-a-Pets? You have a lot of nerve, Gaby Small!”
“What?” Gaby gasped. “That makes, like, zero sense! I’ve had the most Petopia points of anybody since day one. I don’t need to hack or steal or whatever to win. I’m the best one at computers in our whole class. Maybe in our whole school!”
Nancy looked at Gaby, wondering if she was telling the truth. Or if maybe she was as good at lying as she was at computers.
“Carrotcake456,” Violet said, typing her password into George’s computer. “Isn’t that the best password ever? I didn’t change it, just like you guys said. But if I ever have to, I think I might change it to something totally different. I was thinking maybe Chocolatemilkshake789.”
It was after school, and Nancy, Bess, George, and Violet had all gone over to George’s house to work on the case. Nancy and her friends had updated Violet on the day’s events, including their lunchtime conversations with Deirdre, Kendra, Madison, and Gaby.
“So you think Gaby might be the hacker?” Violet said.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Nancy stared at the screen as the words “Welcome, Princess Pompom and Hoppity!” flashed across a bright green background. “When was the last time you played Petopia?”
“Not since I IM’d with you guys yesterday,” Violet replied.
“Okay. Why don’t you open up your game and start playing? We can see if the hacker’s been back,” Nancy suggested.
“Sure!” Violet typed several commands. After a moment, a gloomy landscape spilled across the screen. Dark storm clouds hung over a churning gray river.
“The hacker’s definitely been back!” Violet said. She pointed to two figures sitting on the riverbank. “Princess Pompom, what have you done? Omigosh, I think she dumped all her treasure into the river. Not that she had a lot to begin with. And Hoppity ate too many carrots, and now she’s too fat to move!” she added.
Nancy leaned forward and studied the screen carefully. Violet was right. Her Petopia game was not going well. Her avatar—a tiny, red-haired princess—was sitting next to an empty treasure chest. And the cyber Hoppity was lying belly-up next to an enormous pile of frilly green carrot tops.
“You didn’t make Princess Pompom and Hoppity do that?” Bess asked Violet.
“No way!” Violet said. “Ugh. Things were bad enough yesterday when I signed on. And now they’re getting worse. . . .”
As Violet talked, Nancy noticed something next to the enormous pile of frilly green carrot tops. She stared at it closely.
It was a squirrel. But Violet’s avatar was still on the screen.