Thanksgiving Thief Read Free Page A

looking forward to eating it.”
    â€œMom uses your special stuffing in our turkey every Thanksgiving,” Bess told Mrs. Stanley. “She’s going to be so upset.”
    George sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?” she asked.
    â€œBurned cake,” Mrs. Stanley said. “Don’t ask. It’s a long story.”
    Nancy turned to Mary. “Could we practicelater?” she asked. “This mystery is getting more mysterious, and the Clue Crew needs to check it out.”
    Mary turned to her mother. “Is that all right?” she asked.
    â€œIt most certainly is,” said Mrs. White Cloud. “I can teach the girls how to be Native American princesses any time, but the mystery of what happened to the stuffing mix can’t wait.” To Mary, she added, “The fry bread is done. We need to go on home now, but we’ll come back later.”
    Mary and Mrs. White Cloud said their good-byes and left.
    Just then, a huge black dog raced through the kitchen. He had white powder all over his nose. He made a couple of circles and then headed into the gym.

    â€œWasn’t that Quincy Taylor’s dog?” George said.
    â€œI think so,” said Nancy. “I wonder what he’s doing down here.”
    â€œQuincy told me his dog has been jumping over their fence lately,” Bess said. “He’s afraid someone will dognap him if he doesn’t stop that.”
    Nancy turned back to Mrs. Stanley. “Maybe we can solve the mystery of who destroyed your stuffing mix,” she said. “We haven’t solved Mr. Madison’s crime yet, but we’re still working on it.”
    â€œThe two could be related,” Bess pointed out.
    Mrs. Stanley blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?” she asked.
    â€œMr. Madison’s pumpkin puree was destroyed in this same kitchen yesterday,” George reasoned. “We’re investigating that case too.”
    â€œI hadn’t heard about that. I was working in my bakery, trying to get caught up with holiday orders,” Mrs. Stanley said. “That’s just terrible! I use his pumpkin puree for my pumpkin pies.”
    â€œHow did you discover that something had happened to your stuffing mix?” asked Nancy.
    â€œWell, I came here to the school to do my part for the feast, but I also needed to bake a couple of holiday cakes for a customer,” Mrs. Stanley explained, “so I put one in the oven, and then I started making the second one, but I was listening to my favorite station on the radio at the same time, not paying as much attention to what I was doing as I should, and I burned the first cake.”
    Bess sniffed the air again and nodded to George.
    â€œSo I opened the door to the alley, to let in some fresh air, and then I went back to work on the cakes,” Mrs. Stanley continued. “When I finally finished with those, it was time to start adding the wet ingredients, such as turkey broth, to the dry stuffing mix for the feast, and that’s when I discovered that someone had knocked over all the bags and scattered the stuffing mix all over the floor.”
    â€œCan you make some more?” Nancy asked.
    Mrs. Stanley shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I use specially aged bread crumbs and just the right seasoning. It takes a while. There’s not enough time left between now and the feast.”
    â€œI think I know who’s responsible for these crimes!” George shouted. “Quincy’s dog!”
    â€œYeah!” Bess agreed. “He sure did look guilty when he raced through just now.”
    â€œMaybe he came through the door to the alley and got into the stuffing mix when you weren’t paying attention, Mrs. Stanley,” Nancy said. She turned to Bess and George. “I wonder if he’s responsible for destroying Mr. Madison’s pumpkin puree, too.”
    â€œWe should find out if he has an alibi for that time,”