Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case

by Donald Sobol

  Encyclopedia Brown

  Cracks the Case

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF

  THE SECRET PITCH

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN FINDS THE CLUES

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN GETS HIS MAN

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SOLVES THEM ALL

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN KEEPS THE PEACE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SAVES THE DAY

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN TRACKS THEM DOWN

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN TAKES THE CASE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN LENDS A HAND

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF

  THE DEAD EAGLES

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF

  THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR

  Encyclopedia Brown

  Cracks the Case

  Donald J. Sobol

  Illustrated by James Bernardin

  DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0745, Auckland, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa • Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2007 by Donald J. Sobol

  Illustrations copyright © 2007 by James Bernardin

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  CIP Data is available.

  Published in the United States by Dutton Children’s Books,

  a division of Penguin Young Readers Group

  345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  www.penguin.com/youngreaders

  Designed by Jason Henry

  ISBN: 978-1-1012-0064-3

  For Joe Cirulli

  CONTENTS

  1 The Case of the Forgetful Jewel Thief

  2 The Case of the Autographed Alice in Wonderland

  3 The Case of the Lemonade Stand

  4 The Case of the Revolutionary Treasures

  5 The Case of the Missing Butterfly Brooch

  6 The Case of the Counterfeit Dough

  7 The Case of the Astronaut Duck

  8 The Case of the Lucky Catch

  9 The Case of the Missing Money

  10 The Case of the Stolen Confederate Stamps

  Solutions

  The Case of the Forgetful Jewel Thief

  To most people, Idaville looked like many seaside towns. It had four banks, three movie theaters, and two delicatessens. It had churches and synagogues and lovely white beaches.

  But Idaville only looked like other seaside towns.

  For more than a year, no grown-up or child in Idaville had gotten away with breaking the law. Police officers across the nation wondered how Idaville did it. What was the secret?

  Only three people knew the answer to that question, and they weren’t telling.

  All three lived in a red brick house at 13 Rover Avenue—Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown, and their only child, ten-year-old Encyclopedia, America’s best crime-buster.

  Mr. Brown was Idaville’s chief of police. He was honest, brave, and smart. Whenever he had a case that seemed impossible to solve, he always did the same thing. He went home to dinner. Encyclopedia usually would solve the case with just one question. Usually before dessert.

  Police chiefs across America believed that Mr. Brown was the best police chief in the world. Chief Brown was proud of his record and proud of his officers. But he had to keep his pride in Encyclopedia a secret. Who would believe that a fifth-grader was the real mastermind behind Idaville’s war on crime?

  So he said nothing.

  Encyclopedia never bragged about the help he gave to his father. He didn’t want to seem different from other fifth-graders.

  But he was stuck with his nickname.

  Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else in Idaville called him Encyclopedia.

  An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with all kinds of facts from A to Z. Encyclopedia had read more books than anyone in Idaville, and he never forgot what he read. He was the only walking library in America.

  One Friday evening at the dinner table, Encyclopedia poked his salad with his fork, searching for raw onions. There weren’t any.

  Chief Brown sat staring at his salad instead of eating it.

  Encyclopedia and his mother knew what that meant. A case had Chief Brown puzzled. Encyclopedia leaned back. He waited for his father to speak.

  At last Chief Brown put down his fork.

  “We caught a jewel thief this morning coming out of Von Martin’s Fine Jewelry Store right here in Idaville. He’s the same man who has been robbing stores all over the state,” he said.

  Mrs. Brown and Encyclopedia had both read about the robber in the newspaper. A number of stores in their part of the state had been hit.

  The thief would tell the salesperson that he was looking for an expensive gift for his elderly mother. As soon as the store clerk opened the jewelry cases, the thief grabbed the most expensive jewels and ran. Priceless pieces had disappeared into his pockets.

  “But you caught the thief, dear. I wonder why you don’t sound happy,” Mrs. Brown said, rubbing her eyes.

  “Mr. von Martin got his jewelry back,” Chief Brown explained. “And we have clear pictures of the thief from security cameras in other stores. We know he’s guilty, but the thief says he can’t remember where he hid the jewels from his other robberies. I spent all afternoon questioning him, but he didn’t give up any clues.”

  “I’m sure Leroy can help you solve the case.” Mrs. Brown sniffed and rubbed her eyes again. “My eyes sting,” she said. “Were the jewels very valuable?”

  “Yes,” Chief Brown said with a sigh. “The very first store he robbed didn’t have insurance. The owners will be ruined if we don’t get their jewels back.”

  “Could the thief have a partner?” Mrs. Brown asked. “Could he have given the jewels to his mother?”

  Encyclopedia listened carefully as his mother spoke. He knew she was asking questions so he would have all the facts.

  Chief Brown said, “She was terribly shocked when she heard her son had been arrested. She seems like a nice woman. I don’t think she’s involved.”

 
“Have you searched the thief’s home?” Mrs. Brown asked.

  “We’ve gone over every inch,” Chief Brown said. “We found pictures of jewelry, books about jewelry, and maps of towns with jewelry stores in them. But no jewels.”

  Mrs. Brown glanced at Encyclopedia. He wasn’t ready to ask his one question, so she continued. “What about his car?”

  “There was nothing in his car, except some letters he hadn’t gotten around to mailing to his mother.” Chief Brown patted his pocket. “He even asked if he could write her another one after lunch this afternoon.”

  “Are there clues in the letters?” Mrs. Brown asked.

  “Not that we can tell,” Chief Brown answered. “Perhaps he really doesn’t remember where he hid the jewels.”

  “Hmmm,” Mrs. Brown said thoughtfully. “If I was that forgetful, I would write things down. Perhaps the letters are written in code.” Mrs. Brown coughed. She was too polite to ask the biggest question on her mind—and up her nose. “Read the letters to Leroy,” she urged. “He’s broken codes before.”

  Mrs. Brown looked at her son again. The boy detective had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath. He always closed his eyes when he did his deepest thinking. Suddenly his eyes opened.

  Encyclopedia asked the question his mother wanted to. “How come you stin…er, smell so awful, Dad? What’s that smell?”

  Mrs. Brown seemed tempted to scold her son. The question wasn’t a very nice one. But she was curious about the answer, too.

  Chief Brown reached into his pocket and pulled out the letters. The odor got even stronger as he fanned the papers out on the table.

  “Onions!” Mrs. Brown proclaimed, holding her nose and blinking back tears. “The letters smell like onions.” She looked more than a little relieved that the odor came from the letters and not her husband.

  “It’s peculiar,” Chief Brown said. “This fellow claims he needs to drink a glass of onion juice every day for his health. I had to ask Max at the diner to make up a batch for him. Everything the thief touches smells like onions.”

  Encyclopedia blinked back a couple of onion tears.

  His mother waited for him to ask the question that would solve the case.

  The odor got even stronger as he fanned the paper out on the table.

  But Encyclopedia didn’t need to ask another question. He already had his answer.

  “He might be a forgetful jewel thief,” Encyclopedia said. “But if we read between the lines, we’ll find out where he hid the jewels.” He picked up one of the thief’s letters. “All we need a 150-watt lightbulb.”

  WHY DID ENCYCLOPEDIA NEED

  A LIGHTBULB TO SOLVE THE CASE?

  (Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Forgetful Jewel Thief.”)

  The Case of the Autographed Alice in Wonderland

  Between schoolwork and police work, Encyclopedia kept busy during the winter. During the summer he ran his own detective agency in his family garage. He solved cases for the children of the neighborhood.

  Every morning during the summer he hung his sign outside the garage:

  The first customer Friday morning was Melissa Stevens. Melissa was only five, and her favorite game was tea party. She set up a tea table in her front yard every afternoon and served tea to her dolls and stuffed animals.

  “My Alice book is broken,” she announced.

  “Broken?” Encyclopedia asked. He had read more books than just about anybody, but never a broken one.

  “Bugs Meany talked me into trading my Taffy the Tiger for it,” Melissa said. “I didn’t want to at first, but he said there was a tea party in the book. And that it was worth a whole bunch of money because the author signed it. But there’s no tea party.”

  Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Screwdrivers. They were always twisting the truth. Encyclopedia spent a lot of his time protecting the neighborhood kids from Bugs and his gang.

  “There is a tea party in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland,” Encyclopedia said with a smile. He reached for the book and flipped through a few pages. Half of the pictures had been cut out, and there were whole pages missing. “But you’re right—it’s not in this book.”

  Melissa’s eyes widened. “Do you think the tiger thief tore up the book?”

  Encyclopedia frowned. “Tiger thief?”

  “Bugs said there was a tiger thief in town and Taffy wasn’t safe,” Melissa said. “I miss Taffy. I bet the author didn’t even sign the book like Bugs said.”

  Encyclopedia turned to the front of the book. There was an autograph all right, but it wasn’t the author’s.

  Melissa laid two quarters on the gas can beside Encyclopedia. “I want to hire you for two jobs—to get Taffy back from Bugs and to catch the tiger thief.”

  Encyclopedia gave her back one of her quarters. “I’ll try to get Taffy back for you,” he said. “But there is no tiger thief.”

  Melissa gasped. “Bugs lied?”

  Encyclopedia nodded. “Bugs made that up to scare you into trading Taffy for his book.”

  “Can you get my Taffy back?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Encyclopedia said. “We’d better go find Bugs.”

  “I have to tell you something very important,” Melissa said nervously. She was afraid to go with him. “I’ll stay here.”

  The detective talked Melissa into going with him. She had to identify Taffy.

  The Tigers’ clubhouse was an unused toolshed behind Mr. Sweeney’s Auto Body Shop. The closer they came to it, the slower Melissa walked.

  Bugs was sitting on an orange crate out front. Taffy stood at attention on the clubhouse roof.

  “There he is,” Melissa whispered. “And there’s Taffy.”

  Upon seeing Encyclopedia, Bugs growled. “Scram before I hit you on the head so hard you’ll blow your nose with your socks. This is Tiger land.”

  “Call the police,” Melissa whispered. “All of them.”

  “We’re here to get Melissa’s tiger and give you back your book,” Encyclopedia said.

  Duke Kelly and Rocky Graham, two of Bugs Meany’s Tigers, came out of the clubhouse and stood behind Bugs, sneering.

  Bugs stood and puffed out his chest. “You two must have fallen down a rabbit hole and knocked your brains out,” he said. “That book is signed by a famous author. It’s worth a lot of money—way more than a silly stuffed tiger.”

  “Then you won’t mind trading back,” Encyclopedia said.

  “No way,” Bugs said. “A deal’s a deal. Besides, I’ve gotten attached to Terrible Ted the Tiger. He’s the mascot for our clubhouse.”

  Melissa stamped her little foot. “Her name is Taffy,” she said.

  “Well, he’s mine now, and I can name him whatever I want,” Bugs roared. “Besides, a book signed by the author is priceless. You could buy a hundred stuffed tigers for what that book is worth.”

  Melissa eyed Taffy longingly. “Maybe I should keep the book,” she said. “If it’s worth a lot of money.”

  “A storyteller signed this book,” Encyclopedia said, “but it wasn’t the author of Alice in Wonderland.”

  “You’re crazy. That book was signed by the guy who wrote it.” Bugs glared at Encyclopedia and Melissa. “Now get lost, bookworms. Slither back underground before I feed you to the birds.”

  Duke and Rocky laughed at Bugs’s joke, but Melissa hid behind the detective again.

  “I don’t think he wants to be friends,” Melissa said in a whisper.

  Encyclopedia swallowed. It was three against one, but he had promised Melissa to get her tiger back. “You fooled Melissa with that phony story.”

  “You can’t prove anything,” Bugs said. “How do you know the author didn’t sign that book?”

  “If I can prove it,” Encyclopedia asked, “will you give Melissa her tiger back?”

  “Why not?”

  Encyclopedia pulled a notebook and pen
out of his back pocket. “Would you write the author’s name on this paper for me?”

  Bugs eyed his Tiger friends with a smirk and swaggered up to Encyclopedia.

  Melissa took a few steps back.

  “You think I signed the book, but I didn’t.” Then Bugs grabbed the pen and wrote in big letters:

  LOUIS CAROL

  “See,” he said, “the handwriting doesn’t match.”

  The handwriting didn’t match. But Encyclopedia had all the proof he needed. “A deal’s a deal,” he said. “Give Melissa back her tiger.”

  HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA PROVE THAT THE AUTHOR HADN’T SIGNED THE BOOK?

  (Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Autographed Alice in Wonderland.”)

  The Case of the Lemonade Stand

  Bugs Meany hated being outsmarted by Encyclopedia all the time. He longed to get even. But every time he thought about giving Encyclopedia a mouth full of knuckles, he remembered Sally Kimball.

  Sally was Encyclopedia’s junior partner. She was also the prettiest girl and the best athlete in the fifth grade. What’s more, she had done what no one—boy or girl—thought was possible. She had punched out Bugs Meany.

  Bugs was trying to bully a little boy out of his bicycle the first time Sally knocked him silly. There was nothing Sally hated more than a bully.

  “You need help,” Sally said, dusting Bugs’s chin with a straight right.

  Bugs walked around like a boy who didn’t know whether he was walking or riding. “I hope she isn’t asking me to dance,” he blubbered. Her punch had knocked him silly.

  “Bugs doesn’t like you any more than he likes me,” Encyclopedia warned Sally. “His brain is working overtime on revenge.”