The Halloween Hoax (2 page)

“Maybe Lisa can tell Peter to stop talking in class,” Marcy Rubin snickered.

“Very funny,” Peter muttered.

“Now here's someone you all know,” Valerie announced.

Excited whispers filled the studio as Kirby Kessler ran over to Valerie. Kirby was Dudley's ten-year-old helper on the show. He usually wore jeans and a T-shirt. But today he wore a long black cape for Halloween.

“These kids must be in third grade,” Kirby said.

“How did you know?” Valerie asked.

Kirby turned to show a hump under his cape. “I had a hunch!” he joked.

A few kids laughed. A few groaned. “Good one,” George said with a chuckle.

“It's him!” Shelby shouted. “It's Dudley!”

The kids cheered as Dudley suddenly ran across the studio toward the audience. His lab coat was decorated with a spider design for Halloween.

“Did you know a handshake is science too?” Dudley asked as he shook Shelby's hand. “I just passed hundreds of germs from my hand to yours.”

“Oh, thank you,” Shelby gushed. “I am never going to wash this hand again. Ever!”

Next, to get the audience excited and because Halloween was on the way, Dudley held a screaming contest. Everyone got a chance to give his or her best scream. Bess's scream sounded more like a squeak. Kevin Garcia gave a good scream until his fake vampire fangs fell out. But when Nadine “the Drama Queen” Nardo screamed, everyone covered their ears.

“We have a winner!” said Dudley. He
snapped his fingers. Kirby ran to Nadine, handing her a Dudley button as a prize.

“Mr. Dudley? Mr. Dudley?” George called. “Can you sign my sneaker, please?”

“Sure,” Dudley said. He snapped his fingers again. Kirby handed a pen to Dudley. He quickly scribbled his name on George's sneaker.

“Wow!” George exclaimed as Dudley walked over to the cameras. “I'm never going to wash this sneaker either.”

“Since when do you
ever
wash your sneakers, George?” Bess said with a sigh.

George stuck her tongue out at Bess. Sometimes Nancy couldn't believe they were cousins.

“Ready to tape,” Lisa shouted.

“This is it,” Nancy whispered excitedly.

The lights on the ceiling flashed brighter. Lisa turned to Dudley and began to count down: “Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .”

“It's Dudley the Science Dude's Halloween show!” an announcer's voice boomed. “Kids, give it up for Dudley!”

Everyone cheered as Dudley ran onto the set.

“Happy Halloween, you guys,” he declared. “In our audience today we have kids from River Heights Elementary School, and they are ready for some creepy and fun-tastic experiments!”

“Yeah!” Nancy's class shouted.

“And wait till we check out those pains in the neck, our friends the bats!” Dudley went on.

Excited whispers filled the studio.

“But what would Halloween be without a bubbly witch's brew?” asked Dudley. He held two bottles over a bowl. “The secret recipe is baking soda, vinegar—and a dash of spooky glow-in-the-dark green paint!”

Everyone watched as Dudley poured the green-
colored vinegar and baking soda into the bowl. The mixture began to fizz and foam until—

“Whoa!” Dudley cried as he jumped back. The fizzy brew was oozing out of the bowl and across the counter!

“Neat!” Kevin laughed.

But Nancy noticed that Dudley wasn't laughing. When the cameras stopped rolling, he stared at the icky green puddle on the floor.

“That wasn't supposed to happen,” Dudley said. “I measured the right amount of ingredients before the show.”

“Some scientist,” Deirdre muttered.

Shelby heard Deirdre and jumped to her feet. “Yay, Dudley!” she cheered. “That experiment was truly awesome!”

“Let's move on to the next one,” Valerie suggested.

“Three . . . two . . . one,” Lisa said. She pointed to Dudley, and he smiled into the camera.

“Did you ever try to squeeze an egg into a bottle?” Dudley asked. “I know it sounds weird, but it can be done!”

Dudley picked up an egg and—
crack
—it smashed in his hand. “Huh? What's going on?” he said. He sounded puzzled.

A door flew open. Sam the director marched into the studio. “That egg was supposed to be hard-boiled,” he said.

“It was,” Bill, one of the stagehands, said. “I boiled it myself this morning.”

Nancy didn't get it. Dudley's experiments never went wrong.

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of Nadine's prize-winning screams. Nadine's hand shook as she pointed up to the ceiling.

“B-b-b-b-,” she stammered.

Nancy and her classmates looked up.

They screamed too. Fluttering near the ceiling were at least a dozen real live
bats
!

Spirit on the Set!

“Bats get stuck in your hair!” Madison Foley cried.

“Bats suck blood,” Kevin said. “Cool!”

Dudley tried to keep everybody calm. “Bats are very helpful creatures!” he babbled. “Did you know they can eat up to six hundred mosquitoes in an hour?”

“How many kids can they eat?” Quincy asked.

The stagehands chased the bats with nets.

“I know I put the lid on the bat house,” said Fran, swinging a net. “What happened to it?”

Mrs. Ramirez ran into the studio. She had been sitting in a waiting room, watching the show on a monitor.

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Ramirez,” Valerie said. “We'll have to stop taping for the day. There are too many problems.”

“Can we come back another time?” Shelby asked.

Mrs. Ramirez shook her head and said, “I don't think so. This TV show doesn't seem safe for children.”

“Awwww!” the kids groaned.

“Sorry, kids,” Dudley called. He gave a nervous chuckle. “I guess the studio must be haunted or something.”

Mrs. Ramirez led the class out of the studio and into the hall.

“Look,” Bess said. She pointed down at Nancy's dragon tail. “You dragged your tail through Dudley's brew puddle on the way out.”

“Yuck!” Nancy said, lifting her drippy tail.

“You're so lucky, Nancy,” Shelby said, her eyes shining. “Now you'll have a souvenir from Dudley's show.”

“I told you Dudley wasn't a real scientist,” Deirdre scoffed. “He can't even boil an egg.”

“Dudley is a dud!” Peter laughed.

“I don't want to join his fan club anymore,” Kayla said to Shelby.

“But it wasn't Dudley's fault,” Shelby insisted. “You heard what he said—the studio is haunted.”

“Prove it,” Peter challenged.

Shelby's eyes darted around as she thought. Suddenly she pointed at Nancy, Bess, and George. “I can't prove it,” she said. “But I know the Clue Crew can!”

“What?” Nancy cried.

“Class,” Mrs. Ramirez called. “Keep walking double-file with your partners.”

Shelby ran next to Nancy. Bess and George walked right behind them.

“We can't prove Dudley's studio is haunted, Shelby,” Nancy whispered. “We don't even believe in ghosts.”

“You don't
have
to believe in them,” Shelby said. “You just have to find the ghosts who messed things up.”

“We're detectives,” George said. “Not ghost hunters.”

Shelby's big brown eyes filled with tears. “Thanks a lot,” she muttered. “Now nobody will join my fan club.”

Nancy's heart sank. The Clue Crew liked to help others by solving mysteries. And Shelby needed their help. So . . .

“No problem, Shelby,” Nancy said. “We'll do it.”

Shelby brushed a tear from her cheek and smiled. “Thanks, you guys!” she said. “But don't do it for me—do it for Dudley the Science Dude!”

Shelby skipped ahead slightly.

“Why did you say yes, Nancy?” George asked.

“Don't worry,” Nancy said. “Shelby will forget about everything once we don't find any ghosts.”

“What if we
do
find ghosts?” Bess asked.

Nancy stared at Bess. “Don't tell me you believe in ghosts too,” she said.

“Anything is possible,” Bess said with a shrug. “Especially around Halloween.”

Nancy wasn't worried. She knew they wouldn't find ghosts in Dudley's studio. After all, they were the Clue Crew—not the Boo Crew!

It was a cool sunny Saturday as Nancy sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of Squirrel Nuts cereal. Hannah Gruen stood at the kitchen sink, scrubbing Nancy's dragon costume.

Hannah was the Drew's housekeeper. She'd been helping out Mr. Drew since Nancy was three years old. That's how old Nancy was when her mother died.

“I couldn't get the green stain out,” Hannah said. “But at least it matches the rest of your dragon costume.”

“Thanks, Hannah,” said Nancy.

Mr. Drew walked into the kitchen. He was wearing corduroy pants and his favorite Saturday sweatshirt, not the usual suit he wore to his lawyer job during the week.