She glanced at the nearby lawns and porches to see if she could spot the dog, but Buster still wasn’t in sight. “What if Mr. Brad took him?”
“Why would he? More likely Buster ran home,” Beverly said, turning her bike. “Which is where we need to be going. Maybe the Happy Hollisters can look for Mr. Brad again tomorrow after school. The ice cream truck usually comes around about then.”
“Maybe.” Maryellen blew out a frustrated breath. Maybe it was time to call the police and report what she had seen. Only what had she seen? Beverly could be right: Buster might have simply run home.
When she got back to her house, Maryellen called Angela and the Karens to let them know Scooter was still missing.
“I’ll help you look tomorrow,” Karen King said when Maryellen phoned her.
“You must be soooo sad,” Angela said when Maryellen told her the news.
And Karen Stohlman insisted that calling the police was the right thing to do.
Mr. Larkin helped Maryellen write down important details to tell the Daytona Beach Police Department. Her stomach did flip-flops as she dialed, but her dad gave her an encouraging smile.
She was put through to an Officer Polansky, who took her information. “Other folks have reported pets missing in the area,” he told her, “so we’ve asked the officers to keep an eye out for strays.”
“Scooter is not a stray,” Maryellen declared. “He has a red collar and a family who loves him.” She described the dachshund in detail so that if a policeman did find him, he would know to call the Larkins right away. She thought a moment before adding, “You might want to check with ice cream truck drivers in the area.” She knew she couldn’t accuse Mr. Brad of anything yet, but she could at least alert the police. “They drive through neighborhoods and may have seen something suspicious.”
When she hung up, her father smiled. “Don’t look so sad, honey. You did a good job, and I bet by tomorrow, Scooter will be waiting at the back door.”
Only he wasn’t.
In the morning, the moment Maryellen’s eyes opened, she hurried to the back stoop to check for Scooter. By now the kibble in his bowl was soggy, so she threw it out and washed the bowl.
When Maryellen arrived at school, her friends met her with serious faces.
“We all agreed that if Scooter wasn’t home today, we would help you look for him after school,” Karen King said.
“I forgot I can’t today because I have a piano lesson,” Angela said, looking especially glum.
“My mom said she’d pick us up after school and take us to your house,” Karen Stohlman said.
Karen King grinned excitedly. “I can’t wait to do some detective work just like Nancy Drew!” Now here was a detective worth imitating, Maryellen thought. She and her friends loved Nancy Drew mysteries.
“If only Nancy Drew was real,” Karen Stohlman said. “She, George, and Bess would solve ‘The Case of the Missing Dachshund’ in nothing flat.”
The bell rang, and all four girls hurried to their classes with the other students. Maryellen usually loved school, but she couldn’t wait for the day to be over so she and her friends could search for Scooter.
That afternoon, the two Karens and Maryellen quickly ate an after-school snack of Wheaties. Maryellen planned on getting her friends to tromp up and down the streets that her family hadn’t searched, and she wanted to check on Mr. Brad again, too. The ice cream man was still the perfect suspect—he was always in the neighborhood, he’d admitted he loved dogs, and she’d seen Buster jump into his truck for a treat. She couldn’t picture Scooter jumping up into the cab—his legs were too short—but maybe Mr. Brad had helped him inside, getting hairs on his uniform. It made sense, because who wouldn’t love a pudgy sweetie pie like Scooter?
“I sure would like to be Nancy Drew,” Karen Stohlman said with a sigh.
“No, Maryellen gets to be Nancy. It’s her dog,” Karen King declared.
“I’ll be George then,” Karen Stohlman said.
“Why do you get to be George? You’re not sporty at all,” the other Karen argued. “You’re more fashionable, like Bess.”
“Both of you are Karen, so both of you can be Nancy or George or whoever you want,” Maryellen said. She wanted them to hurry and change so they could get outside. Mrs. Larkin had taken the younger kids with her to the supermarket, so for once they weren’t hanging around. But there was only an hour and a half before Mrs. Stohlman would be back to pick her friends up.
Karen King put her hands on her hips. “I vote we all be Nancy then.”
“I second the motion,” Karen Stolhman said. “Now we’ll need to look for clues. Do you have a magnifying glass?” she asked Maryellen.
“Somewhere in that old science kit.” Maryellen pointed to a torn box in her closet, and Karen Stohlman started to rummage in it.
“And we need disguises!” Karen King exclaimed.
Maryellen frowned. “Disguises?”
“Of course! If Mr. Brad the ice cream guy sees you snooping around again, don’t you think he’ll get suspicious?”
Maryellen thought a minute. “Not if we’re buying ice cream…. I have twenty cents saved from my allowance.”
But Karen King was already using Carolyn’s lipstick and mascara. “With a little makeup, we’ll look like teenagers, not twerpy fifth-graders.”
“Carolyn’s not going to like you using her stuff,” Maryellen warned. “And I’m not allowed to wear makeup until I’m fifteen.”
“But we’re older than fifteen.” Karen King grinned, the smudge of red around her lips making her smile look as huge as a clown’s. “We’re Nancy Drew, remember?”
“Look! I found a magnifying glass. Now we need a flashlight,” Karen Stohlman said, backing out from the closet.
“It’s daylight out,” Maryellen protested.
“We might get locked in a dark room,” Karen Stohlman said in a spooky voice.
“Then we better have a whistle, too,” Karen King said, “in case we have to call for help. And a pad of paper to write down all our clues.”
“And a camera to take photos of suspicious characters. Hey, I want a disguise, too!” Karen Stohlman said when she saw her friend’s made-up face.
Maryellen rubbed her forehead. She loved the Karens, and they had some good ideas, but if they didn’t hurry, they’d never get any sleuthing done. “Mom keeps a flashlight in the kitchen in case the power goes out. Tom has a toy whistle. I can’t use Dad’s camera—he’s afraid we kids will break it. I have a school notepad that will fit in my pocket and a pencil. Now, let’s hurry before you have to leave.”
It took ten minutes of hunting in the boys’ room before Karen
