What’s the Buzz?

“Go away! ” Nancy whispered. She froze as Henrietta began pecking at her sneakers.

“Who’s in there? ” a gruff voice demanded.

“Nobody here but us chickens! ” George called back.

The tent door parted. Lou Fowler marched in. “Aha! ” he declared. “I knew somebody was in here.”

“How did you know? ” Nancy asked.

“A little birdy told me so! ” Lou said, his bowtie bobbing. “Henrietta has an ear for music — and for trouble.”

“We weren’t making trouble, Mr. Fowler, ” Nancy said. “We were just looking for Henrietta’s eggs.”

“Buck! ” Henrietta clucked.

“Her eggs? ” Lou cried. He glared at Nancy. “What are you — some kind of fox? ”

“No! ” Nancy said. She didn’t want to tell Lou everything. Not until she was sure the eggs came from Henrietta.

“We just heard that Henrietta lays such fresh eggs, ” George said.

Lou smiled. He looked proud.

“See for yourself, ” Lou said. He picked up an egg and the frying pan. “How do you like ’em — scrambled or over easy? ”

“Buuuuck! ” Henrietta clucked.

Nancy stepped back. She wanted to investigate the eggs, not eat them.

“No thanks, ” Nancy said. “But please tell us why the eggs are so brown.”

“It’s because Henrietta is a Rhode Island Red chicken, ” Lou said. “They all lay brown eggs. But don’t ask me why.”

Nancy was disappointed. Henrietta’s eggs weren’t the ones they were looking for.

“Thanks, Mr. Fowler, ” Nancy said. “But I do have one more question.”

“What? ” Lou asked.

“How does Henrietta know how to play all those songs? ” Nancy asked.

“How else? ” Lou asked. His eyes twinkled. “She wings it! ”

The girls said goodbye to Henrietta. Then they left her tent.

“If those chickens lay brown eggs, ” Bess said, “why don’t they call them Rhode Island Browns? ”

“Who knows? ” Nancy said. “But I do know one thing. The eggs in the sacks were not Henrietta’s.”

“Then where did those eggs come from? ” George asked. “It’s not like they sell cartons of raw eggs at the carnival.”

“The troublemaker must have brought the eggs to the carnival, ” Nancy decided.

Nancy stopped to write her thoughts inside her notebook.

“Maybe the carnival creep won’t make any more trouble, ” Bess said. “Maybe he or she gave up after the potato sacks.”

“I hope so, ” Nancy said. As she shut her notebook she saw Brenda waving.

“Oh, Detective Drew! ” Brenda called. “Wait until you see what I found! ”

Nancy, Bess, and George followed Brenda to the cutout of Isabelle Santoro.

Nancy’s mouth dropped open. A black mustache was drawn on Isabelle’s cardboard face. Her eyes were marked to look as if they were crossed.

“Who did this? ” Nancy demanded.

“That’s your job, ” Brenda said with a grin. “You’re the detective! ”

Then Brenda took out a camera and snapped a picture of the cutout.

“What are you doing? ” George asked.

“It’s for my article, ” Brenda replied. “I thought Isabelle might want to see what she looks like with a mustache.”

“That’s not nice! ” Nancy scolded.

“I know, ” Brenda said. “But I don’t have to write a nice article. Yet.”

Nancy felt her cheeks burn as Brenda walked away. “Let’s catch that carnival creep, ” she said. “Once and for all! ”

Nancy walked around the cutout looking for clues. She found two candy wrappers by Isabelle’s cardboard feet.

“Those must be Cruncher’s, ” George said. “Who else eats that much candy? ”

“We’ll show them, ” a voice muttered. “We’ll show them. We’ll show them….”

Nancy saw Orson Wong walking by. Over his shoulder was Frogzilla’s carrying case. In Orson’s arms were bags of candy bars, taffy, and jelly beans.

“Orson with loads of candy, ” Nancy whispered. “And he’s a suspect, too.”

“Orson! ” George yelled. “Wait up! ”

Orson looked over his shoulder. His mouth dropped open, and he began to run.

“Get him! ” Nancy ordered.

The girls ran after Orson. They chased him around the carnival booths and the snack stands. Then they lost him.

“Look! ” George said. She pointed to the ground. “A trail of jelly beans! ”

The girls followed the jelly bean trail to the soccer field. They found a few more jelly beans but no Orson.

Nancy looked around and saw the caterpillar tunnel. It gave her an idea.

“Maybe he hid in there, ” Nancy said.

Nancy, Bess, and George had to duck a bit as they walked inside the caterpillar.

“We caught you taffy-handed, Orson! ” George called out. “So give yourself up! ”

The girls were halfway through the caterpillar when Nancy stopped.

“What’s that buzzing noise? ” Nancy asked in a hushed voice.

“What buzzing noise? ” Bess asked.

Nancy saw a big fat fly land on Bess’s nose. Then one on her arm. And on her forehead.

“Eeek! ” Bess shrieked. Her eyes crossed as she swatted the fly from her nose.

“Attack! ” George cried as flies dotted her own arms and legs.

Nancy screamed, too.

The caterpillar tunnel was filled with big, black horseflies!