Hogs and Frogs

“May I see those candy wrappers? ” Cruncher asked.

After examining each wrapper Cruncher began to laugh.

“What’s so funny? ” George asked.

Cruncher didn’t answer. She grinned and held up a green candy wrapper.

“Coconut Crunchy? ” Cruncher said. “Would I eat a coconut candy bar? I don’t think so! ”

Nancy stared at the wrapper and blushed. “I guess I should have read the wrappers first, ” she said.

“Nobody’s perfect, ” Cruncher said with a smile. “So, am I clean? ”

“Yes, ” Nancy told her.

“But your friend with the pumpkin pie face sure wasn’t! ” Cruncher joked. She gave a little wave and walked away.

“Now we have only one suspect.” Nancy sighed. She crossed Cruncher’s name out of her notebook. “Orson Wong.”

Nancy was about to shut her notebook when she heard snickering. She glanced up and saw the Three Little Pigs standing behind the pie booth counter. They were holding mini-pies.

“Hi! ” Nancy called.

The three ducked behind the counter.

“What’s with them? ” Nancy asked.

“Who knows? ” George said. “Maybe they’re afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.”

Nancy, Bess, and George walked through the carnival looking for Orson. But he was nowhere in sight.

“Maybe Orson came early this morning, ” George said. “Some of the trouble did happen before we got here.”

“We can still question Orson tomorrow, ” Bess suggested. “After we buy some pies from Simon the Pieman.”

Nancy’s heart sank. The next day was Thursday. That was the day that Brenda planned to deliver the Carlton News — and her horrible article!

“We have to find Orson today, ” Nancy said. “Even if it means going to his house.”

“His house? ” Bess gasped. “Then we’d better bring along some pest spray.”

“For the horseflies? ” Nancy asked.

“No, ” Bess said. “For Orson! ”

The girls finally bought mini-pies from Simon. Afterward Nancy wanted to question some people at the carnival — like Trish, the owner of the Big Squirt.

“Did you see anyone pour molasses on the squirt handles, Trish? ” Nancy asked.

“Nope, ” Trish said. “I keep my eye on all the kids who play this game.”

“Then did anyone have messy or sticky hands? ” Nancy asked.

Trish laughed. “This is a carnival, ” she said. “Everyone has messy and sticky hands! ”

Next Nancy wanted to question Lou Fowler, but when they reached Henrietta’s tent there was a big sign that read SHOWS CANCELLED.

“Wow! ” George whistled. “Henrietta really can’t play without her lucky star.”

The girls decided to spend the next hour playing their favorite carnival games — Hole in One, Cover the Dot, and Knock ’em Down. They didn’t win any pandas, but they did win pretty plastic bracelets.

After slipping on the bracelets, Nancy and her friends met Hannah. She dropped them off at Orson’s house.

“There he is, ” Bess whispered.

Nancy saw Orson sitting on his doorstep. He was spraying Frogzilla with a plastic water bottle.

“What are you doing? ” Nancy asked.

“I’m spraying Frogzilla, ” Orson explained. “To keep him moist and limber.”

“Blurrrp! ” Frogzilla croaked.

“What are you doing here anyway? ” Orson asked, not looking up.

“There’s been trouble at the carnival, ” Nancy said. “Yesterday there were raw eggs in the potato sacks. And big black horseflies in the caterpillar.”

“Today there was more trouble, ” George pointed out. “The Big Squirt —”

“Hel-lo? ” Orson interrupted. “I wasn’t at the carnival today.”

Nancy looked at Bess and George. Should they believe Orson?

“Blurrrp! ” Frogzilla croaked. Then he leaped off the doorstep.

“Frogzilla! ” Orson cried. He stood up to grab his frog.

As Orson bent over Nancy saw something sticking out of his back pocket. It was his carnival passbook.

“Gotcha! ” Nancy said, grabbing it.

“Hey! ” Orson said. He spun around with Frogzilla in his hands.

Quickly, Nancy opened the passbook. It was stamped for Monday and Tuesday. But it wasn’t stamped for Wednesday.

“See? ” Orson said. “I wasn’t at the carnival today. You’ve got the wrong man.”

“But what about the horseflies in the caterpillar yesterday? ” Bess asked. “Weren’t those flies yours? ”

“Yeah.” Orson sighed. “But I didn’t put them there on purpose.”

“What do you mean? ” Nancy asked.

“It was an accident, ” Orson said. “I was crawling through the caterpillar and the lid popped off the jar. Soon there were flies everywhere! ”

“We know.” Bess shuddered.

“The only way I could think of getting them back was with sugary stuff, ” Orson said. “So I bought a load of junk food.”

Nancy looked at Bess and George. That explained all the candy.

“But what did you mean when you said, ‘We’ll show them’? ” Nancy asked.

Orson rolled his eyes. “It means Frogzilla will be in the frog jumping contest tomorrow. We’ll show them when we win.”

Then Orson picked up Frogzilla. He grinned as he held him out to the girls.

“And maybe if you kiss him, ” Orson said, “he’ll turn into a prince! ”

“Blurrrrp! ”

“Ewww! ” Bess cried.

“Gross! ” George exclaimed.

The girls ran from the Wong house. When they were two blocks away they turned to one another and giggled.

“That rules out Orson, ” George said.

“If it isn’t Orson, and it isn’t Cruncher, ” Bess asked. “Then who is it? ”

Nancy stopped giggling. She had no more suspects and only a few hours left. But she was not going to give up.

“Let’s get our bikes and ride back to the carnival, ” Nancy said. “There might be something we missed.”

The girls got permission to ride their bikes to the carnival. They showed their passbooks at the gate and went in.

“Where do we start? ” George asked.

“At Simon’s, ” Bess said. “I could use another Little Boy Blueberry mini-pie.”

“But you already had a mini-pie, ” Nancy said.

“That was almost two hours ago, ” Bess said.

Once again the girls lined up at Simon the Pieman’s booth.

While Bess ordered a mini-pie, Nancy saw a colorful postcard pinned above the counter. It showed a lake and thick green trees.

“Who is that nice postcard from, Simon? ” Nancy asked.

“Oh, that’s from Nicky, Vicky, and Ricky, ” Simon said. “My kids are at sleepaway camp all summer.”

“Camp? ” Nancy repeated. “But —”

“Sure do miss them, ” Simon said. Then he called over Nancy’s head. “Next! ”

Nancy looked at Bess and George. Then the girls stepped away from the booth.

“If the triplets are in camp, ” Nancy said slowly. “Then who are the Three Little Pigs? ”