Tattoo Clue

“It’s a swarm! ” George cried.

Nancy gasped as a horsefly landed on her forehead. “Let’s get out of here! ”

Covering their faces, the girls raced through the caterpillar.

“Safe! ” George gasped as they stumbled out at the other end.

When Nancy uncovered her face she saw Orson Wong. He was standing outside the caterpillar and staring at them.

“Blurrrp! ” Frogzilla croaked from inside his case.

“Get away from meeee! ” Orson yelled as he spun around on his heel.

The chase went on — this time all the way to the balloon gate.

“Stop, Orson! ” Nancy called. “We just want to ask you some questions! ”

Orson did stop. He pulled Frogzilla out and held it in front of his face.

“Back! Back! ” Orson demanded. “Or you’ll get warts! Giant oozy warts! ”

“Bluuurp! ” Frogzilla croaked.

The girls jumped back. They stayed silent as Orson ran out of the gate and into his dad’s car.

“He’s guilty all right! ” Bess said. “Did you see the way he ran from us? ”

“And all that candy? ” George asked. “There were candy wrappers at the scenes of all the crimes.”

Nancy pulled out her detective notebook. “And Orson did have a big jar of horseflies yesterday, ” she said. “Maybe he let them loose in the caterpillar.”

“To make more trouble! ” Bess added. Next to Orson’s name Nancy wrote “candy wrappers” and “horseflies.”

“What do we do now? ” Bess asked.

Nancy looked at her watch. Hannah would pick them up in a half an hour.

“We have just enough time to get rub-on tattoos, ” Nancy said.

“Great! ” George said. “Maybe I’ll get a butterfly.”

“George! ” Bess shuddered. “Did you have to say fly? ”

The girls each decided to get the temporary carnival tattoo on her hand. It showed a friendly red dragon wearing a yellow River Heights Carnival cap.

When the tattoos dried, the girls ran to the balloon gate to meet Hannah.

Nancy smiled when she saw her father drive up instead.

“Hi, girls! ” Mr. Drew called from the car window. “I left the office early so I could pick you up.”

“Thanks, Daddy! ” Nancy said.

All three girls climbed into the backseat and buckled their seat belts.

“Did you all have a good time at the carnival? ” Mr. Drew asked.

“Yes, ” Bess said.

“And no, ” George added.

Nancy told her father everything — the eggy potato sacks, the messed-up cutout, and the fly-filled caterpillar.

“If I don’t solve this case in one day, ” Nancy said, “we’ll be dancing to Henrietta Von Peck instead of Isabelle! ”

“Don’t worry, ” Mr. Drew said. “A carnival is full of surprises. You never know what you’ll find.”

Nancy smiled. Her father was a lawyer. He always gave good advice. But this time Nancy needed more than that.

She needed good luck!

• • •

“‘Candy wrappers, ’” Nancy read from her notebook later. “‘Horseflies…’”

It was just before dinner. Nancy was sitting on her doorstep with her notebook on her lap. Her puppy, Chip, wagged her tail as Nancy studied her notes.

“One clue leads to Cruncher, ” Nancy said. “The other to Orson. But who is it? ”

Chip barked. Nancy looked up. She saw three cone-shaped heads bobbing above the Drews’ hedge.

“Another mystery, Detective Drew? ” a voice behind the hedge asked.

Nancy frowned. She knew that voice. It belonged to Jason Hutchings.

Jason, David, and Mike ran into her yard. They were wearing their Moleheads from Mars costumes.

“Our spaceship has landed! ” Jason announced. “Take us to your leader! ”

“Or to your kitchen, ” Mike said. He rubbed his stomach. “We’re hungry! ”

Nancy rolled her eyes. Moleheads from Mars was the boys’ favorite TV show. They loved to dress up as aliens and act silly.

“How come you weren’t at the carnival yesterday or today? ” Nancy asked.

“We hate the carnival! ” David said.

“Why? ” Nancy asked. She couldn’t imagine anyone not liking the carnival.

“Because we wanted to be Isabelle Santoro’s opening act, ” Jason explained.

“And do what? ” Nancy asked.

“Sing the Molehead rap, ” Jason said. “But Shirley said only Isabelle can sing at the carnival.”

“So who needs the carnival? ” Mike growled. He turned to his friends. “Hit it, guys! ”

Nancy wrinkled her nose as Jason, David, and Mike began to shout.

“We’re Moleheads from Mars,

And we’re in your face!

We won’t stop invading

Till we rule Outer Space! ”

Nancy gritted her teeth. For the big finish the boys blared their Mars radar blasters.

“Time out! ” Nancy shouted, covering her ears. “The show is over! ”

“Moleheads rule! ” the boys declared. They held up three clenched fists.

That’s when Nancy saw them: three rub-on carnival tattoos. The same dragon tattoos that she, Bess, and George had gotten!

“To the spaceship! ” Jason declared.

Then the Moleheads from Mars marched out of Nancy’s yard.

“Chip, ” Nancy said slowly. “If the boys weren’t at the carnival, then how did they get those carnival tattoos? ”