Nancy’s mind was racing. What was Matt up to? Did he really intend to steal again … and again … and again … from the twins? She knew he loved playing practical jokes. But why couldn’t he leave the poor little babies alone and pick on someone his own age?
And then another thing occurred to her. He had said “three down, three to go” to Margaret and Lacie. Did that mean they were in on this too? Or was he just bragging to them?
Nancy realized just then that Margaret, Lacie, and Matt had stopped talking. There was a long silence. She scrunched up more tightly against the door, wondering if they had lowered their voices.
Just then, the door opened. Nancy practically fell into Margaret’s room.
“Aha! I knew I heard a noise!” Margaret shouted. “You were spying on us. Why? Did Dylan send you here?”
Nancy scrambled to her feet and smoothed her hair. She could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks. It wasn’t going to be easy explaining this. “Um, Dylan who?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“Dylan Shaw. He’s been trying to find out the results of our top-secret science project,” Lacie spoke up. “Are you and your friends working for him or what?”
“N-no,” Nancy stammered.
“Then what were you doing?” Margaret demanded.
Nancy took a second to collect her thoughts. Standing in the open doorway, she glanced around Margaret’s room, which was blue and white and had posters of horses on the walls. The floor was cluttered with paint-splattered canvases, a hair dryer, an iron and ironing board, and various jars, pots, plates, and brushes. Nancy guessed that this was the equipment for their science project.
Her gaze settled on Margaret, Lacie, and Matt, who were standing together in the middle of the room. They were waiting for her explanation.
Nancy gulped. “Your sisters are missing some stuff,” she said, addressing her comments to Margaret. “The silver rattle, Squeak Squeak, and their happy-babies CD. Your mom asked George and Bess and me to try to find them.”
Margaret’s eyes grew big. “She did?”
“Yup. I came upstairs because I have some questions for Matt,” Nancy went on.
Matt looked surprised. “Me? What did I do?”
Nancy turned to him. “Did you steal the toys and the CD from Anna Lin and Lily Mei?” she demanded.
Matt cracked up. “Uh, no way. That’s crazy! Why would I do that?”
“Because you like playing practical jokes,” Nancy said. “Besides, you were here when all three things disappeared. Plus, what did you mean just now when you said, ‘three down, three to go’?”
“Huh? Oh, that. I was talking about our science project,” Matt replied.
“Yeah. We’re studying the effect of heat on paint,” Lacie piped up.
Heat on paint, not pain, Nancy thought.
“We’re studying how heat affects different colors of house paint,” Matt went on. “You know, like does blue dry faster than orange? Does white crack and peel at the same temperature as red? Each of us is in charge of two different colors.”
“I’m in charge of red and orange,” Lacie said. “Matt’s in charge of blue and white. Margaret’s in charge of green and yellow. So far, we’ve done green, yellow, and red. That’s three down. We have three colors to go.”
Nancy took a deep breath. “You’re in charge of the green and yellow paint?” she said to Margaret.
Margaret folded her arms across her chest. “Yeah. So?”
Nancy thought about the green fingerprint on the bookshelf and the yellow fingerprint on the CD player. Margaret had been in the house every day last week. Margaret had had the same opportunities to steal the twins’ things as Matt—and more.
Nancy heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see George and Bess. George was carrying Anna Lin in her arms. Bess was carrying Lily Mei.
“They were asking for you,” George told Margaret.
“So we thought we’d come up and visit,” Bess added.
“Your timing’s perfect,” Nancy said. She turned and regarded Margaret. “You took the twins’ things,” she said slowly. Behind her, she heard both George and Bess gasp.
Margaret’s jaw dropped. “I did not!” she said angrily.
“I think you did,” Nancy persisted. “You left evidence. There was a green fingerprint on the bookshelf where the silver rattle was. And there was a yellow fingerprint on the CD player where the Happy Baby Songs CD was.”
“You’re lying! You’re making it up, and … ” Margaret stopped. She glanced at the twins, then dropped her eyes to the ground. “Um. Okay, well, maybe I did kind of take that stuff,” she whispered.
“Margaret, that’s so mean!” Lacie scolded her.
“Yeah, dude, that’s even meaner than something I would do,” Matt added.
“Well, they deserved it,” Margaret said miserably. “Everything was fine until they came to live with us! Mom and Dad are so stressed lately, taking care of them. And they take my stuff, too! That silver rattle is mine!”
Anna Lin wriggled out of George’s arms. Lily Mei did the same with Bess. The two babies ran toward Margaret and hugged her. “Mah-git!” Anna Lin exclaimed happily.
“Mah-git!” Lily Mei joined in. She planted a big, sticky kiss on Margaret’s leg.
Margaret’s expression softened into a smile. “Oh! Hey! You guys said my name!”
“Mah-git!” the twins repeated.
“Margaret, give them back their stuff right now,” Matt ordered her.
“Yeah, okay.” Margaret took the twins by the hands and led them to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and pulled out the silver rattle, Squeak Squeak, and the CD. “Here you go. Sorry, okay?” she apologized to her sisters. “I guess I’ve gotta say I’m sorry to my parents, too.”
Anna Lin began jumping up and down. “Kweek Kweek!”
Lily Mei grabbed the silver rattle and shook it back and forth. “Wa-ttle!”
Nancy turned and grinned at George and Bess. “Well, we don’t have to follow Pumpkin Pie around the house anymore,” she joked.
“And I don’t have to give Sir Barkalot any more tummy massages,” Bess added.
The three girls laughed.
That night, before going to sleep Nancy curled up in bed and wrote in her special purple notebook:
Today, the Clue Crew solved “The Case of the Missing Baby Stuff.” It turned out that Margaret was jealous of her baby sisters. So she took the silver rattle and Squeak Squeak and the happy-babies CD.
She said “I’m sorry” to them and to her mom, too. Her mom was mad at first. But then she said she should spend more time with Margaret and pay more attention to her.
When we left their house, Margaret was playing tea party with the twins. It was her idea and everything. Maybe she’ll start being nicer to them from now on?
I don’t know which is more fun, being a detective or being a babysitter!