The Dashing Dog Mystery (3 page)

Nancy thought for a moment. Could someone have stolen her collar? If so, who?

“I plan to get on the case,” Nancy told Alice in a determined voice. “If there's a thief on the loose, I'm going to figure out who it is!”

“Nancy's a detective, Ms. Cahill,” George piped up.

“Yeah, she's the best detective at Carl Sandburg Elementary School,” Bess added. “She's solved lots and lots of mysteries.”

Chip barked excitedly.

“Wonderful!” Alice said, scribbling like mad. “This is going to make a fabulous column!”

Nancy was happy that she was going to be in Ms. Cahill's “Pet Corner” column. But she would be a lot happier if she got her collar back—safe and sound!

That night at dinner Nancy told her father what had happened at the Dashing Dog Pet Salon. She had already filled Hannah in during the car ride home.

“You mean someone
stole
Chip's new collar?” Carson Drew said when Nancy had finished. “That's terrible!”

Nancy took a bite of her grilled fish. “I'm not
sure
if someone stole Chip's collar,” Nancy murmured. “But it looks like it. And I'm going to find out who!”

“Do you have any suspects?” Hannah asked her.

Nancy mulled this over. “Hmm. Well, there's Petra Wylie. She goes to my school. She really, really wanted to win the collar for her dog, Prince Fabian. She kind of threw a fit when I won instead.”

Carson broke off a piece of bread. “Sounds promising. Any other suspects?”

“There's also Mrs. Vanderpool,” Nancy said after a minute. “She really wanted the collar, too — for one of her Yorkies. She has two of them, and their names are Muffy or Puffy or Buffy or something like that. Anyway, she actually offered to buy Chip's collar from me.”

“Sounds like a prime suspect to me,” Hannah remarked.

“I know you'll figure this out,” Carson said. “You're the best detective I know, Pudding Pie.” “Pudding Pie” was Carson's nickname for Nancy.

“Thanks, Daddy.” Nancy grinned.

Later that night Nancy got out her special blue notebook. Her father had given it to her when she was trying to solve her
first mystery. It helped her to keep track of suspects and clues.

She snuggled under the covers, picked up her pen, and began to write:

The Case of the Missing Doggie Collar

Suspects:

Petra Wylie, because she wanted the collar for her dog, Prince Fabian. Mrs. Vanderpool, because she wanted the collar for one of her Yorkies. Clues: ?????

Nancy reread what she had written. It gave her an idea. Tomorrow she would see if Bess and George could go with her to question the two suspects—in person.

Petra lived a few streets from Nancy. On Saturday morning Nancy got permission to walk over to her house. Bess and George got permission from their parents, too.

Outside, the air was brisk and cold. It felt as though it might start snowing any minute. As they walked, Nancy pulled her wool hat over her ears and rubbed her mittened
hands together. Chip ran alongside her, keeping her nose low to the ground and sniffing every pebble and tree.

“I think Petra's totally guilty,” George said.

“She was acting like a major spoiled brat yesterday,” Bess agreed.

“I'm not sure. We'll have to find more clues before we can accuse Petra,” Nancy said.

They soon got to Petra's house. It was big and pink, with green shutters and a huge wraparound porch. White holiday lights sparkled in all the windows, and a green wreath was hanging on the front door.

Nancy rang the bell. After a minute Mrs. Wylie answered. “Hi, girls, what can I do for you?” she asked pleasantly.

“Is Petra home?” Nancy said.

Mrs. Wylie smiled. “She's out back, playing with the dog. The easiest thing would be to go around the side and through the gate.”

“Thank you,” Nancy said.

Nancy headed for the backyard. George
and Bess followed her. Nancy's boots made squishing noises as she walked. The ground was muddy from when it had snowed and then thawed recently.

When they got to the backyard, Nancy glanced around. She didn't see Petra anywhere. But she did see Prince Fabian. He was running around and around with a chew toy in his mouth.

Chip ran over to join him. The two dogs chased each other, barking happily.

“I wonder where Petra is —” Nancy began. And then she stopped.

Then Nancy noticed that Prince Fabian was wearing a collar. A
jeweled
collar.

Prince Fabian was wearing Chip's missing collar!

Nancy couldn't believe her eyes. Prince Fabian was wearing the stolen collar!

“What are you doing here?”

Nancy turned around. Petra was walking out of the garage, carrying a big rubber ball.

Petra threw the rubber ball down on the ground. Both Prince Fabian and Chip dived after it.

Then Petra turned to Nancy with an angry expression. “I said, what are you doing here?” she repeated.

“I think the real question is, what is your dog doing with my dog's collar?” Nancy shot back.

“What?” Bess gasped. She glanced at Prince Fabian. “Nancy, you're right! Petra,
you're
the collar thief!” she said accusingly.

Petra looked surprised. “What? What are you two talking about? What collar thief?”

George put her hands on her hips. “You stole Chip's collar yesterday at the Dashing Dog!”

Petra's jaw dropped. “I did no such thing!”

Just then Prince Fabian came running in the girls' direction. “Come here, boy,” Petra ordered. “That's right, over here. Heel!”

Prince Fabian skidded to a halt in front of Petra and wagged his tail expectantly. Petra pointed to the terrier's collar. “See? That is not Chip's collar,” she said triumphantly. “It's
another
Stella Sipowitz collar. It's a lot prettier, if you ask me!”

Nancy bent down and took a closer look. Petra was right. Prince Fabian was not wearing Chip's collar.

Prince Fabian's collar was made out of stretchy red fabric, not leather. And the rhinestones were shaped like hearts, not bones.

“Um . . . I'm sorry I accused you,” Nancy apologized. She explained to Petra that someone had taken Chip's collar the day before at the Dashing Dog.

When she had finished, she added, “Where did you get this collar, anyway?”

“At the Dashing Dog,” Petra replied. “When my mom picked me up, I told her about not winning the raffle. So she came into the salon and bought me this collar instead.”

Nancy apologized to Petra again. Then she, Bess, and George turned to leave.

Nancy had a hard time getting Chip to come with them. She was having such a good time playing with Prince Fabian. Nancy finally got her to part with her new friend after bribing her with a doggie biscuit.

“Now what?” Bess asked Nancy once they were out on the sidewalk.

“Now we go to my house to have lunch,”
Nancy said. “Then, afterward, we check out Suspect Number Two.”

After a yummy lunch of grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, courtesy of Hannah, Nancy and her friends got permission to pay Mrs. Vanderpool a visit. Mrs. Vanderpool lived near the park where the girls liked to play.

This time Nancy left Chip with Hannah. It was Chip's nap time, anyway.

Mrs. Vanderpool's house was an enormous white mansion with big, tall columns. The girls walked down a path lined with low bushes and stone statues of Yorkshire terriers.

“Oh, brother,” George said, rolling her eyes at the statues.

In a shady spot near the garage, Nancy thought she saw the melting remains of a snow statue. It looked suspiciously like a cat. She wondered if Lucas had made it.

Nancy knocked on the door. After a minute it was answered by a woman dressed in a maid's uniform.

“Yes, may I help you?” the woman said.

“We'd like to see Mrs. Vanderpool,” Bess piped up.

“She's not home right now,” the maid replied.

“How about Lucas?” Nancy said quickly.

The maid smiled and opened the door wider. “He's upstairs in his room. Why don't you go on up? It's the third door on the right.”

Nancy grinned. “Thanks!”

Nancy, Bess, and George went through the doorway and up the marble staircase.

Mrs. Vanderpool's house was as fancy on the inside as it was on the outside. It was furnished with antique furniture and red velvet curtains. The walls were covered with gold-and-red wallpaper. There were several portraits of Yorkies in the front hallway.

“Why do you want to see Lucas?” Bess whispered to Nancy as they went up the stairs.

“If his grandmother took the collar, he might know something,” Nancy whispered
back. “Plus, this gives us an excuse to look for those Yorkies. Maybe one of them is wearing Chip's collar.”

George gave Nancy a thumbs-up sign. “Good idea!”

When they got to the upstairs landing, Nancy turned and proceeded down the hall. She spotted the two Yorkies. They were crouched in front of a closed door and sniffing like mad.

“That's the third doorway on the right — Lucas's bedroom,” Nancy whispered. “I wonder what's so interesting to those dogs?”

“Maybe Lucas is hiding a secret stash of doggie biscuits in his room,” Bess suggested.

Nancy went up to the Yorkies. She saw that neither one of them was wearing Chip's collar. They were both wearing simple blue collars with dog tags on them.

“Oh, well,” Nancy said with a sigh.

The Yorkies ignored her and continued sniffing. Nancy was surprised that they weren't yipping at her and her friends. The
Yorkies seemed a lot more interested in whatever was behind the closed door.

Nancy was about to knock on the door to see if Lucas was inside. Just then she heard footsteps behind her.

She turned around. Lucas was standing there. “You can't go in there!” he cried out.

Lucas ran past Nancy and flattened his body against his bedroom door. “If you go in there, you'll be in big trouble!” he warned.

Nancy frowned. Lucas seemed to be in a panic about something. What was going on?

Nancy pointed to the door. “That's your room, right?” she asked Lucas.

Lucas hesitated. “R-right. So?”

“So we were just looking for you,” Nancy explained. “We wanted to ask you some questions and stuff.”

Lucas glanced around nervously. “Questions . . . about what?”

“About your grandmother,” George piped up.

“M-my grandmother?” Lucas repeated.

The Yorkies were still sniffing like mad at the closed door. One of them began yipping and scratching the wood on either side of Lucas. The other one joined in.

“By the way, what's in your room?” Bess asked Lucas. “More dogs? Or doggie biscuits? Or what?”

Lucas turned white as a ghost. “You all have to go!” he burst out. “Right now! I'm really, really super-busy, and besides, Grandma's going to be home any minute. Maybe we could do this question thing another time, okay?”