The Black Velvet Mystery by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

The girls broke their poses.

Brenda whirled around. “George Fayne!” she cried. “What were you doing behind my back?”

George shrugged as she held the black bow in her hand.

“My bow!” Brenda cried. She reached back and touched her ponytail. “You were stealing my black velvet bow!”

5

Snip, Snip—Hooray!

George wasn’t stealing your bow,” Nancy insisted.

“Yes she was!” Brenda said. “And you made her do it!”

“Me?” Nancy asked.

Brenda nodded. “You’re not just a cut-up, Nancy. You’re a thief!”

Nancy grabbed the bow from George’s hand. “If I’m the cut-up, how do you explain this?”

As Nancy waved the bow in front of Brenda, she noticed a piece of paper stapled to the back. It was a price tag from Peppermint Penny’s.

“My mother just bought me that bow,” Brenda said. “I wanted to wear it out of the store. Now, give it back!”

Nancy felt the bow in her fingers. It didn’t feel as thick and soft as the coat.

“Sorry, Brenda,” Nancy said. She held out the bow. “We were just trying to find the real cut-up.”

Brenda snatched the bow. “I know who the real cut-up is. And I’ve only begun to write about her!”

The girls looked at each other.

“In fact,” Brenda said, sticking out her chin. “I’m making the Carlton News a daily paper. So I can write my gossip column every day.”

“Yippee,” George muttered.

Brenda tied the bow around her ponytail. Then she ran to her mother.

“Come on,” Nancy said. “Let’s go into Peppermint Penny’s. Maybe Penny can help us.”

But when the girls went inside the store, Penny would not let them look for clues.

“Just a peek?” George asked Penny.

Penny shook her head. “I’m keeping the stockroom locked from now on.”

“I understand,” Nancy said. But as they walked toward the front of the store, Nancy noticed something on top of the jewelry counter. It was a copy of the Carlton News.

“Oh, no,” Nancy whispered. “Now Penny probably suspects me, too!”

“Thanks to the Carlton News,” George said angrily.

The girls left Peppermint Penny’s. They sat on a bench next to the store. Nancy took out her blue notebook and scratched out Brenda’s name.

“We still have two suspects,” Nancy said. “Mrs. Vanderpool and Orson Wong.”

“Orson lives right near your house, Nancy,” George said. “Why don’t we check him out after lunch?”

“Nancy always walks her dog, Chocolate Chip, after lunch, George,” Bess said. “Right, Nancy?”

Nancy nodded. But then she had an idea.

“Bess, George,” she said. “Lonny and Lenny Wong love dogs, right?” she asked.

“They sure do,” George said.

“Maybe while the twins pet Chip, they’ll tell us everything we need to know about Orson,” Nancy said.

“Good thinking, Nancy!” George said.

• • •

When the three friends got back to Nancy’s house, Bess and George called for permission to stay and eat lunch.

After munching on Hannah’s tuna salad sandwiches, Nancy, Bess, and George walked Chocolate Chip to Orson Wong’s block.

“I hope we don’t have to search Orson’s room,” Bess said.

“You mean because of his pet iguana?” Nancy asked.

“No,” Bess said. She grabbed her nose. “Because of his smelly socks.”

Mrs. Wong was working in her garden when the girls approached the house.

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