“Calm down, my dear Watson,” I said. “Because you’re right. You haven’t learned this yet. You’re on the wrong page. I realized it when you looked up the answer. Not only was it not the correct answer to the problem, but you also had to flip only about 20 pages to get to page 170. According to your own handwriting, you’re supposed to be doing math on page 49—which, if my math is correct, would be more than 120 pages away.”
Jay’s eyes dropped to the page in the book. “I’m on page 149!” He flipped back to page 49 and slapped his forehead.
“Now how about you get a real brain freeze and join us for some ice cream,” I said, truly trying to be kind.
But it was too late. Jay wasn’t listening anymore. He was too busy pointing out the squirrel again.
Bible Evidence:
“Be kind and compassionate to one another.” —Ephesians 4:32
“I realized the answer when I remembered something you said, Em,” Matthew said.
“Glad to be of help,” I said.
“You said maybe I flew the helicopter too high.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But you said you didn’t.”
“That’s true. But I also said the remote control’s signal had a 20-meter radius. That means in every direction—not only up and down, but also side to side. The helicopter can’t go more than 20 meters away from me, or I’ll lose control.”
My eyes widened. “And you specifically said it fell when it was a good 100 feet away. Since one meter is about three feet, that means you can’t let it get—” I paused as I calculated.
“More than 60 feet away,” Matthew said, finishing my thought. “I had it 100 feet away—too far. That’s why it fell. It lost the signal.”
“I knew you’d be able to figure it out,” I said.
“Thanks, Em.”
“Now let’s get out of this cold. I’m supposed to be relaxing.”
Matthew laughed. “Good idea. How about some hot chocolate?”
“Sounds great!” With that, we picked up our bicycles and rode to Matthew’s house to enjoy the rest of our Sunday afternoon.
Bible Evidence:
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.” —Proverbs 12:25
“You’re going to say the squirrel did it, aren’t you?” Eugene said.
“Definitely not,” I said. “That would be too easy. No, in this case, the problem was the reindeer.”
“Right!” Matthew said. “It did take too much power—because it was so bright.”
“Not exactly. The key wasn’t the power it took, but the light it gave. It’s all about the light.”
“I’m not following,” Matthew said.
Eugene tapped his foot. “I think I am!” He moved over to the power box. “This is a dusk-to-dawn power box, meaning it has a sensor to ‘see’ when it becomes dark or light.”
“Exactly,” I said. “When the sun goes down at dusk, the sensor turns on the lights, and when it’s light at dawn, it turns them off. The problem was that the reindeer was sitting right in front of the box. So whenever the lights turned on—”
Matthew finished my thought. “The sensor thought it was morning. So it turned off the display. But then it was dark again, and the sensor calculated that it was night. So it turned the display on, then off. On, off, on, off.”
“Indeed!” shouted Eugene. “Which explains why it works now that the reindeer has been removed from the equation. I must offer my thanks to you both. Now everyone will see my bright idea after all!”
Bible Evidence:
“If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” —1 John 1:7
“What am I doing wrong?” Penny asked. “I know I gave them water and sunlight—just like every other plant.”
“The key is to know what kind of plant you’re dealing with,” I said. “Because not all plants are the same. Some need more sunlight and water, some less.”
Penny moved to the counter. “But aren’t these violets?”
Matthew’s eyes widened. “Yes! But we have to take the facts to another level. I read about these. They’re African violets, and you’re not supposed to pour water directly on the leaves . . . or they’ll get spot damage. The leaves turn brown and ugly and look as if they’re dying.”
I stared at Matthew for a minute.
“Earth Science 101,” he said, humbly.
“You probably got the leaves wet,” I said, grabbing the watering can. “You said you treated all the plants the same, so you likely watered them from above.”
“But you have to water African violets by pouring water in from the side,” Matthew jumped in. “The water should hit the soil around them, not the leaves directly.”
“That’s it!” Penny exclaimed. “The murder mystery is solved. Even if I can’t save these plants, I know what killed them. Now can you guys help me carry some violets back from Gower’s Flowers?”
Bible Evidence:
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” —James 4:6
“Clues are sometimes what you hear,” I said. “And the person who took my ticket is the one whose words gave her away.”
Valerie twisted her lips. “I’m not following.”
“I didn’t think you would,” I replied. “Because you’re the one who stole my ticket.”
“What?! Absurd!”
“Is it? When I questioned each of you, you were the one who specifically told me you didn’t take my green Ferris wheel ticket because you had your own. And yet, we never told you which ticket was missing.”
Matthew smiled. “Which means it had to be you. Only the culprit would know which ticket was taken.”
Jay and Vance stared at Valerie. Jay said, “Way to go, Val! You just cost us our free cotton candy!”
Valerie peeled the green Ferris wheel ticket away from the rest of her own and slapped it into my hand. “Fine. You won fair and square.”
I winked at Matthew. “All in a good day’s work!”
Bible Evidence:
“The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.” —Proverbs 28:13
“I know you’re guilty of something,” I said, “because of the red stripe on your hand.”
Mason winced. “You mean the burn I just gave myself? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“You’d like us to think you just burned yourself . . . but we were warned that you were clever.”
I walked to the cup and picked up the spoon. “Plastic doesn’t conduct heat, so you didn’t get that mark from this spoon. The missing screwdriver, on the other hand, was aluminum. Since it sat in the sun all day, it was hot enough to leave a mark when you grabbed it.”
Matthew slapped his notebook shut. “The good news is Red said there are no hard feelings if you return it. But this is your one chance.”
Mason stood and tapped his socked foot rapidly. Finally, he walked over to a drawer and pulled out Red’s screwdriver.
“Here,” he said. “I don’t need it anyway. I just thought it looked cool.”
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
Mason smiled for the first time.
“Red’s a pretty good guy for forgiving me,” he said. “Maybe I’ll stop by to see if I can help him clean up his shop sometime.”
Bible Evidence:
“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called.” —1 Peter 3:9, NIV
The ice-cream vendor looked one last time at the surrounding items. “I don’t get it. I included everything.”
“Maybe in the ice cream,” Matthew said, “but not in the ice.”
I resisted the temptation to raise an eyebrow.
“The mixture isn’t getting cold enough to become ice cream,” Matthew said. “To make it colder, you have to add salt to the ice in the wooden bucket that surrounds the ice cream. Adding salt causes the ice to melt, steal
ing heat from the ingredients in the inner canister and dropping their temperature. It lowers the freezing point . . . so the ice cream firms up as you stir.”
“Wow!” I said, “Cooking really is scientific!”
“It’s something any wise ice-cream maker would know,” Matthew whispered.
I smiled. Sidekicks really are unpredictable sometimes.
Mr. Cleese dumped a handful of salt into the ice surrounding the mixture and restarted the stirring mechanism. In a matter of time, the ice cream firmed up!
When it was finished, Mr. Cleese was so thankful to us for saving his dream that he gave us each a cone of turkey ice cream. You know, it wasn’t half bad.
Bible Evidence:
“I, Wisdom, share a home with shrewdness and have knowledge and discretion.” —Proverbs 8:12
“Okay, here’s how we unraveled it,” Matthew started out, as my dad and mom waited in anticipation. “Statement no. 2 tells us Bruce and John aren’t the leader. Since the leader is stocky, he isn’t Charlie. And since he plays in the tournaments on Wednesdays with Bruce, he can’t be Dougie, who works nights.”
“So,” I jumped in, “the ringleader is Harry.”
“This really is a sad case,” Mom said. “These teens should be out building for their futures—not trying to cover for one another in a robbery. But the truth always comes out.”
“Speaking of truth,” Matthew said, “since Harry had an argument with the robber, that means he’s crossed off the list of robbery suspects.”
“Exactly,” I said. “And the robber has a sister, so that leaves ‘only child’ John off the list.”
“Uh-huh,” Matthew continued. “And Charlie and Dougie are out, too, because one likes the robber’s sister, while the other one used to.”
“So that means the robber is Bruce,” my mother said with a dash of deductive panache worthy of her mom-ness. “Crime solving is fun. Let’s do some more.”
“You guys all came to the same conclusion as I did,” Dad grinned as he got up from behind his desk and tousled my hair. “Maybe Emily can give us a few more mysteries to chew on during dinner.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “As long as you don’t mind me talking with my mouth full. I’m starved!”
Bible Evidence:
“The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.” —Proverbs 13:20
“You’re crazy,” Vance growled. “The proof is right there in her locker.”
“Not really,” I replied. “The proof of your guilt is in your story. First of all, you said you spotted Olivia running from her locker and she turned ‘white as a sheet.’ Well, that’s impossible since she’s wearing all this colorful makeup for the musical. I’ve never seen her look so rosy.”
“Thanks.” Olivia smiled.
“I was speaking, you know, allegorically,” Vance said.
“Okay,” I continued. “But you admitted that you knew where Olivia’s locker was. So you could have easily put the books in her open locker to get her in trouble.”
Vance gritted his teeth. “Yeah. Well, even if that’s true, you can’t pin this on me. What proof is there that I put the books in there?”
“None,” I went on, “except for the fact you lied about what you were doing.”
“Huh?” Vance said.
“You said you were waiting for Jay to sell him a record and he never showed up. So where’s the album?”
Vance turned white.
“Since Ms. Adelaide grabbed you just as you came out of the classroom, and you don’t have a record, your story has a crack in it,” I summed up.
At that, Ms. Adelaide looked satisfied. Matthew and Olivia looked happy. And Vance, well, he looked like a record player that had just been unplugged.
Bible Evidence:
“Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.” —Exodus 20:16
“What are you jabbering about, Emily?” Jay said, flustered. “I told you I had nothing to do with it.”
“Ginnie,” I said, ignoring him, “if we go to Jay’s mom with his story, not only will you get an apology, you’ll likely get a new shirt paid for with Jay’s allowance money.”
“No way,” Jay said.
“Yes way,” I said. “For starters, you said you saw the culprit set the string and place the ‘fake’ money.”
“Yeah,” Ginnie cried out. “How did you know it was fake from way over here? It looked real to me, and I was right next to it.”
“Exactly,” I went on. “And there’s no way you’ve been sitting here for 40 minutes.”
“I was,” Jay blustered.
“Not possible,” I said. “When we walked over, I saw your cola dripping with water and looking refreshingly cool.”
“Of course, the condensation!” Matthew said, slapping his forehead. “When a cold bottle first contacts hot temperatures, it causes water vapor in the air to turn from a gas to a liquid. If you had been out here for 40 minutes, all that dew would have evaporated before we arrived.”
“Well, I was really thirsty, and this is my second soda,” Jay said.
“I’ll go check that with Grocer Jenkin,” I said.
“Don’t bother,” Jay said, throwing up his hands. “You caught me.”
“And now you’re the one who’s all wet,” Matthew summed up as Jay groaned.
Bible Evidence:
“These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your gates.” —Zechariah 8:16
“Mr. Doyle is definitely right,” I said as I laid out the facts. “If somebody were going to steal a 100-pound dog, that person would have to be pretty big.”
“But logic says the window breaker wasn’t a man,” Matthew said.
“Logic?” A flustered Harlow piped up. “How can you be logical at a time like this? There’s a dog’s livelihood at stake!”
“That’s just it, Mr. Doyle,” I went on. “I don’t think Fluffy is in danger. In fact, he’s the culprit.”
“What do you mean?” Mrs. Simmons said.
“Well, first, the broken glass from the window was scattered on the grass outside,” I said. “If a criminal had broken in through the window, the glass would’ve shattered inward.”
“But what about the boot print from the one-legged man?” Harlow said.
“That’s probably your boot print, Mr. Doyle,” Matthew said. “The boot pushed the glass shards into the lawn, so it happened after the incident.”
“The best explanation is that Fluffy saw something outside last night, got excited, and accidentally knocked over the heavy birdcage,” I said. “Then a bit of his fur caught on the broken glass when he jumped out the window.”
“Tibetan mastiffs are bred as guard dogs, so they’re alert at night and sleep more during the day,” Matthew added.
“Great crunchy, wholesome goodness, you may be right,” Harlow burst in. “Now let’s just hope that pup hasn’t already sold himself on the open market.”
Bible Evidence:
“Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.” —John 7:24
Matthew chewed on his pencil. “Well, we know the first person wore red, so that position belongs to Mr. Rosas or us.”
“Right,” I said. “And Mr. Stephanopoulos came in after Mrs. Longfellow. They were the last two.”
Mr. Stephanopoulos scowled.
“But what about the rest of us?” Mr. Fogerty asked.
I reviewed Matthew’s notes. “And since the groups before and after us didn’t have kids, that puts Mr. Rosas and his red blazer first, then us, and then you. Mrs. Longfellow is fourth, and Mr. Stephanopoulos came in last.”
“¡Muy bueno!” Matthew’s mother cheered.
Everyone clapped . . . except Mr. Stephanopoulos.
“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Rosas, your table is ready,” Jenny said, smiling.
My mom gave me a big hug. “I couldn’t be more pro
ud of my detective daughter!”
Like I said, sleuthing is practical. And definitely classy.
Bible Evidence:
“Honor your father and mother . . . so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.” —Ephesians 6:2-3
Matthew Parker’s Mystery Decoder
See if you can fill in Matthew Parker’s Mystery Decoder grid below and figure out this message. We filled in the letter B for you, and here are two hints:
Hint no. 1: 34-14-54-43-43-15-54 = ODYSSEY
Hint no. 2: There is room for only 25 letters in the grid, so I and J are combined. (You’ll find out why later.)
Once you understand the code by figuring out how the numbers correspond to the grid, you can write your own secret messages!
42-15-43-35-15-13-44 54-34-45-42 35-11-42-15-33-44-43 & 31-15-11-14-15-42-43
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ & __ __ __ __ __ __ __
See the answer on the next page.
Answer to Matthew Parker’s Mystery Decoder
The first digit in a number indicates which row to use on the left. The second digit tells you which column to use on the top.
The answer to the code is RESPECT YOUR PARENTS & LEADERS.
More Fun!
This decoder was actually created about 200 years before Jesus’ birth. The code maker was a Greek historian named Polybius. It’s called the Polybius checkerboard. The Greek alphabet has only 24 letters, so in the original Greek code version, all the letters fit. To make 26 letters fit, followers randomly chose I and J to be in a single box.
Jones & Parker Case Files Page 6