Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues (3 page)

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Authors: Donald J. Sobol

BOOK: Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues
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Bugs put on a brave look and continued.
I was minding my own business when somebody hit me on the head.”
“He might have been killed!” said Mrs. Meany.
Bugs put on a brave look and continued.
“When I woke up, I was lying in a dark room without lights or windows.”
“Could you hear anything?” asked Officer Carlson.
“Yeah,” said Bugs. “I heard the kidnappers talking in the next room. They had telephoned my mother. She had agreed to pay one thousand dollars ransom money for my safe return.”
Mrs. Meany broke in. “Around six o‘clock last night I got a telephone call. The voice at the other end said to bring one thousand dollars to the old railroad station at nine o’clock that very night. I was not to call the police. A boy would meet me and take the money.”
“That boy was Encyclopedia Brown, the pride of Idaville!” said Bugs. “I heard the kidnappers say he was to get one hundred dollars for picking up the ransom money.”
“That’s a lie!” said Encyclopedia.
“Quiet down,” said Officer Carlson. “You’ll have your turn. Go on, Bugs.”
“When Encyclopedia didn’t show up with the money,” said Bugs, “the kidnappers figured he’d kept it all for himself. They got angrier every minute.”
“I brought as much money as I could get together on such short notice to the old railroad station,” said Mrs. Meany. “Nobody met me.”
“I guess our little Mr. Smarty lost his nerve at the last minute,” said Bugs. “But I didn’t lose mine. I knew the kidnappers might kill me, they were so angry. I looked for a way to break out.”
“My poor baby,” said Mrs. Meany.
Bugs made a face and went on.
“I felt around the dark room where the kidnappers had put me,” he said. “I found a crowbar. I thought I’d take the hinges off the locked door, but no luck. The hinges were on the other side of the door.”
“How terrible!” sobbed Mrs. Meany.
“For Pete’s sake, Ma, let me finish! ” exclaimed Bugs.
He licked his lips and said, “I decided to break the lock and fight my way out. Before I could start, I heard the kidnappers coming toward the door. I planned to hit the first one who came into the room with the crowbar, take his gun, and shoot my way to freedom.”
Bugs drew a deep breath. “I never swung the crowbar. The door was unlocked and pushed open hard. It swung into the room, knocking me down. I looked up. By the hall light, I saw a man pointing a gun at me.”
Mrs. Meany gasped and wrung her hands.
“It looked like my number was up,” said Bugs, rolling his eyes to heaven. “Instead, the kidnappers drove me to the place where they’d kidnapped me and let me go.”
Mrs. Meany muttered about a miracle.
Officer Carlson said to Encyclopedia, “Is this some kind of prank?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Encyclopedia. “It is.”
Sally covered her mouth, stunned.
“It was probably one of the Tigers who telephoned Mrs. Meany to say Bugs had been kidnapped,” explained Encyclopedia. “The rest is all made up.”
“I’m no liar! ” shouted Bugs. “I heard the kidnappers say you were hired to pick up the ransom money. You never showed up at the old railroad station. You got scared. My mother is right—I’m lucky to be alive!”
“I wasn’t part of the kidnap gang,” said Encyclopedia, “because there was no kidnapping. Except for one slip, you might have made everyone believe you, Bugs.”
"
 
WHAT WAS BUGS’S SLIP?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Please see solutions section)
The Case of the Boy Bullfighter
Charlie Stewart, who owned the best tooth collection in Idaville, slipped into the Brown Detective Agency. He wore bright red pants and a funny look.
Encyclopedia stared at his pal’s red pants. “Who’s chasing you? A lovesick fire engine?”
“How’s your Spanish?” asked Charlie.
“Awful. Even Spanish moss gives me trouble,” said Encyclopedia. “What’s the problem?”
“My tooth collection has been stolen, including the flowered cookie jar I keep it in,” said Charlie. “And I got bitten something fierce.”
“One thing at a time,” said Encyclopedia. “I thought you could reach into that cookie jar and pull out a tooth without getting nipped, kind of like a snake trainer.”
“I wasn’t bitten in the cookie jar,” said Charlie, turning around. “I was bitten here.”
The seat of his red pants was missing.
“The teeth that bit me belong to a dog—a big, black dog,” said Charlie. “And he understands only Spanish.”
“I don’t do well with dogs that understand only English,” said Encyclopedia.
“You won’t have to talk to the dog. Just get back my tooth collection,” wailed Charlie.
He slapped twenty-five cents on the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia. “And while you’re at it, find the seat of my pants!”
“Okay, but start at the other end,” said Encyclopedia.
“You know Miguel Sebastian?” began Charlie. “He’s eleven and lives on Hardiee Street. His father tosses the Spanish omelets at the cafeteria.”
“Makes my Adam’s apple jump just to think about them,” said Encyclopedia, nodding.
“Half an hour ago I was going into Miguel’s back yard with my tooth collection,” went on Charlie. “He’s putting on a show today.”
“You tried to slip in free?”
“No, I thought if I got there before anyone else, I could give Miguel a gopher’s tooth instead of the ten cents admission charge.”
“What did Miguel say?”
“Something in Spanish, and
zoom!
His big, black dog caught me by the seat. Miguel was very polite. While he asked me if he could do anything, he took the cookie jar with the teeth. So it wouldn’t break, he said.”
“You were fighting all the time?”
“I was screaming bloody murder and running in place,” said Charlie. “You should see that dog.”
“Hmm,” said Encyclopedia. “This case calls for extra equipment.”
He filled a paper cup with chocolate drops left over from his mother’s card party. Charlie borrowed a pair of pants, and the two boys went to see Miguel’s show.
Charlie paid the admissions, and they found seats on the grass just in time. Miguel was about to start.
He was supposed to be a bullfighter, and his big, black dog was the bull. For horns, Miguel had tied two knives to the dog’s head. To prove their sharpness, he sliced a banana on each knife.
The girls in the audience squealed in fright. Encyclopedia saw Sally in the front row. “She ought to be minding the detective agency,” he thought darkly.
Miguel shook a red blanket. Like a real bullfighter with a cape, he began to play the big dog. The dog had been trained to charge like a bull. It rushed the red blanket, teeth bared and knives flashing. Miguel spun aside.
“He spins better than a dime-store top,” thought Encyclopedia. “But he’s crazy! Those knives could hurt.”
After ten or twelve passes, Miguel threw away the blanket he had been using. He took from his pocket a small piece of red cloth.
Miguel began to play the big dog.
Charlie muttered something that wasn’t very nice. Encyclopedia could hardly blame him.
The small piece of cloth was the seat of Charlie’s red pants!
Miguel used the piece of pants as a cape. Because it was smaller than the blanket, the knives passed dangerously close to the boy each time the “bull” charged.
After every charge Miguel stamped his foot, smiled at Sally, and shouted
oles
above the happy screams of the girls.
At last Miguel finished the act with a bow and ran into the garage. The show was over.
When most of the audience had left, Encyclopedia and Charlie started toward Miguel. The hero of the afternoon stood talking with Sally. The big, black dog sat between them.
Encyclopedia and Charlie slowed till they were traveling by inches. When Miguel glanced the other way, Encyclopedia tossed the dog a chocolate drop.
He fed the dog three more chocolate drops before he accused the boy bullfighter.
“You stole Charlie’s flowered cookie jar with his entire tooth collection!”
“I did no such thing,” said Miguel, calmly looking down his nose at the younger boys.
The dog growled. Encyclopedia eyed the big teeth and dropped more candies to help their friendship along.
“This afternoon you gave your dog an order in Spanish. It was to attack Charlie,” said Encyclopedia.
“While that monster was hanging onto the seat of my pants, you took my tooth collection,” said Charlie.
“I gave no such order!” said Miguel. “My dog did attack Charlie, all right. It is trained as a bull to go after anything red, like Charlie’s pants. I pulled the dog off before Charlie was hurt. I wasn’t even thanked!”
“You’re lying!” said Encyclopedia.
“How dare you say Miguel did such a low thing,” said Sally. “You ought to be ashamed. Miguel is no thief. He’s brave and true!”
“The dog didn’t attack Charlie because of the red pants,” said Encyclopedia. “Miguel gave the order.”
“Prove it,” said Sally.
“That’s easy,” replied Encyclopedia.
 
WHAT WAS THE PROOF?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Please see solutions section)
The Case of the Divining Rod
Sally jumped off her bike in front of the Brown Detective Agency.
“How much money do we have in the treasury?” she called.
Encyclopedia took the shoe box from its hiding place behind an old tire. He counted the money in it.
“Three dollars and eighteen cents,” he said. “It’s time we went to the bank.”
“It’s time we went to the beach,” corrected Sally. “We can make a million at the beach.”
“A million what? Footprints?”
“Take out the money and come on!” said Sally. “We can buy a divining rod for three dollars. We can make a million dollars with it. Maybe even more!”
The idea of making a million dollars had crossed the mind of Encyclopedia before. But he never thought of making
more
than a million.
“A divining rod?” he mumbled. “Say, isn’t that a twig of hazel wood that’s used to find underground water?”
“This divining rod doesn’t find water,” said Sally. “It finds
gold.”
Encyclopedia shoved three dollars into his pocket. He reached for his bike. “Tell me more,” he said.
Sally explained how easy it would be to get rich as they rode toward the beach.
“Ace Kurash is selling the divining rods for three dollars apiece,” she began.
“Ace Kurash ... ?” Encyclopedia couldn’t place the name.
“Last week Ace’s father brought twenty rods back from the islands,” continued Sally. “The first time out, Ace found a gold coin. It’s worth ten dollars!”

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