Danger on Parade by Carolyn Keene

a large theater. A black sign above the door read Disguise, Inc. Three mannequins were in the window, dressed as a fairy princess, a mermaid, and a soldier.
    A bell rang as they entered the shop. A glass case with a cash register at one end ran along one wall. Racks filled with costumes and tables loaded with props and hats were squeezed into the rest of the space.
    â€œHello. May I help you?” asked a short, gray-haired man who stood behind the glass counter.
    â€œI’m here to pick up the clown costumes for the Mitchell’s parade,” Jill said.
    The man gazed at Jill uncomprehendingly. “They were delivered to the store yesterday.”
    â€œThey were supposed to be, but my staff never received them,” Jill said firmly.
    â€œNo, miss, I am sure they went out yesterday,” the gray-haired man said. He shuffled back behind the counter and picked up a pile of receipts. “Let’s see. The records of yesterday’s deliveries are right here,” he murmured, flipping through the stack. “Lane, Lansman, Marshall, ahh— Mitchell’s.” He held up the pink paper. “Here’s the receipt.”
    Jill frowned. “That’s impossible,” she said. “Who signed for the costumes?”
    Nancy and Bess gazed over Jill’s shoulder at the pink slip on the counter. All three of them gasped as they read the signature.
    There, next to the X, was the name Bess Marvin.

Chapter

Six
    I — I COULDN ’ T have signed for them!” Bess stammered, turning red. “I’ve never even seen any clown costumes!”
    Jill took a deep breath. “Bess, are you sure you didn’t sign for the delivery?” she asked in a tight voice. Nancy could tell she was trying hard to control her anger.
    â€œBess doesn’t even work for the store. She wouldn’t have signed for them,” Nancy said before Bess could answer. “Plus, we were in your office together. If anyone had asked her to sign for something, I would have seen it.” First the explosion, and now this, she thought. Something about the whole thing smelled like a setup.
    â€œNancy’s right,” Bess said, giving Nancy a grateful look for coming to her defense.
    Had someone tricked Bess into signing for thecostumes? Nancy wondered. Or had they forged her name? “Bess, let’s compare your signature with the one on the receipt,” she suggested.
    Jill asked the man behind the counter for a pen and a piece of paper, and Bess wrote out her full name. The signatures matched exactly.
    â€œWell, that’s just great,” Jill muttered angrily. Turning away from Bess, she stormed to the other side of the shop. “I don’t care who signed for them, I still need those costumes!” she said.
    â€œThey were delivered to you,” the shopkeeper shot back, following her. “Either you return them, or you pay me for them!”
    While the two argued, Nancy turned back to Bess. “Someone may have tricked you into signing that receipt,” Nancy said in a low voice. “Think hard, Bess. Have you signed anything since we’ve been in New York?”
    Bess closed her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. “The only thing I’ve signed was the charge receipt for the scarf I bought at Mitchell’s yesterday evening when I was with Neil and Greg, on our way over to Morelli’s,” she said.
    â€œAre you sure you signed a charge receipt and not something else?” Nancy asked.
    Bess bit her lip. “We were in such a hurry, and I was talking to Greg. I just signed what was put in front of me,” she said. “I guess it could have been anything.”
    â€œSuch as the delivery receipt for the costumes,”Nancy suggested. She tried to think of who could have set up Bess. Louis Clark, her only suspect for the explosion and break-in, would hardly have been able to pull off the ruse without being noticed. Plus, he