The Case of the Slippery Salamander (4 page)

“Oh.” Encyclopedia poured himself a bowl of Rice Crunchies and sat down at the table.

Mrs. Brown had taught English and other subjects at the high school. During summer vacation, she helped to organize the Annual Idaville Flower Show. The show drew hundreds of talented gardeners from all over the state.

“What was Ms. Wedgwood’s category?” Encyclopedia asked his mother.

“Garden mazes,” replied Mrs. Brown. She explained that this was a new category at the flower show.

“Since no one in the club knows anything about garden mazes, we had to hire Ms. Wedgwood. She’s very unusual, but she’s a landscape architect and an expert on English garden mazes.”

“What do you mean, she’s very unusual?” Encyclopedia asked.

“Before Ms. Wedgwood became a landscape architect, she worked at a dozen different jobs,” Mrs. Brown said. “She was a waitress, a code breaker for
the Army, a circus clown, a garbage collector, a jeweler, a toll collector.… Not only that, this is the fifth time in seven years that she’s been married.”

“Wow.” Encyclopedia grinned. “She does sound unusual!”

“Still, she came highly recommended,” Mrs. Brown went on. “I’m very surprised that she’d leave before finishing her job as judge. I really do hope the name of the winner is in that envelope.”

Encyclopedia offered to go with his mother to the inn. Thirty minutes later, they parked in front of the building.

The Blue Point Inn was a rambling white house with fourteen guest rooms, and a restaurant on the ground floor. Colorful flowers were in bloom all over the grounds.

The innkeeper, Mr. Crawford, was at the front desk. “Ms. Wedgwood’s mind was definitely on romance when she left,” he told them. “The woman who cleans the rooms said Ms. Wedgwood forgot to pack a couple of things.”

“May I see the envelope she left for me, Mr. Crawford?” Mrs. Brown asked politely.

“Certainly,” he replied. “We have a reception in the restaurant this afternoon, so I asked the
maid to finish cleaning Ms. Wedgwood’s room later. The letter is still in the room.”

The innkeeper gave Encyclopedia and Mrs. Brown the key, and they headed to Room 10 on the second floor.

Inside, Encyclopedia gazed around in wonder. It was a large room, with pale pink carpeting and white wicker furniture. Thrown across the couch was a red dress. On the table was a pocket-size calendar open to January.

“There it is!” Mrs. Brown exclaimed. An envelope with her name written on it was propped against a lamp. She quickly ripped it open and read the letter aloud:

“So who’s the winner, Mom?” Encyclopedia asked.

“I don’t know, Leroy.” Mrs. Brown frowned as she scanned the letter again. “Ms. Wedgwood didn’t write down the winner’s name!”

Encyclopedia gazed around the room, thinking hard. “Do you have a list of the gardeners who entered the maze contest, Mom?” he asked.

“Actually, I do. Ms. Wedgwood gave me the names of the finalists the other day.” His mother fumbled in her purse for a moment before pulling out a handwritten list of six names.

Encyclopedia quickly looked them over.

“Didn’t you say that Ms. Wedgwood used to work as a jeweler and as a code breaker, Mom?” Encyclopedia asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Brown said with a sigh. “I hope she was more responsible when she worked at those jobs. I can’t imagine what she was thinking last night when she left without leaving me the winner’s name.”

“You know what, Mom?” Encyclopedia said slowly. “I think she
did
leave you the winner’s name.”

His mother looked at him sharply. “What do you mean, Leroy?”

“As you said, Mom, Ms. Wedgwood is very unusual,” Encyclopedia told her. “She left the name in code.”

Encyclopedia pointed to a name on the list. “The winner in the maze category is—”

Who is the winner?

(Turn to
this page
for the solution to The Case of the Runaway Judge.)

“E
ncyclopedia!”

One Thursday afternoon Jack Connor hurried into the Browns’ garage. Encyclopedia saw that his six-year-old neighbor was carefully holding a large egg.

Jack reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a coin. “I want to hire you,” he said, putting a quarter on the gas can. “I think Wilford Wiggins has cheated me out of my birthday money!”

“Not Wilford again,” Encyclopedia groaned.

Wilford was a high-school dropout. He spent his mornings lying in bed. He was so lazy that he couldn’t stand to watch people work before noon.

Most of his time was spent thinking up ways to cheat little kids out of their savings.

“What’s Wilford up to this time?” Encyclopedia asked.

Jack held up the egg. “He sold this to me last week. He swore if I took good care of the egg, it would hatch into a beautiful peacock with colorful feathers.”

“Wilford Wiggins lies like a rug,” Encyclopedia remarked in disgust.

“You’re telling me!” the younger boy exclaimed. “Wilford said it would take only five days for this egg to hatch. But I’ve waited a whole week and nothing has happened. I want to stop that crook before more kids shell out their savings.”

Encyclopedia took the egg from Jack and checked it carefully. It was large, and its shell was light brown.

“I have a feeling Wilford’s story is full of cracks,” he said, returning the egg to Jack. “I’ll take the case.”

Jack reached into his pocket again and pulled out a crumpled blue flyer. He showed it to Encyclopedia. “Wilford is trying to sell more eggs right now.”

Encyclopedia read the flyer.

Encyclopedia glanced at his watch. It was nearly one o’clock. “If we bike to Sunny Spot Farm, we’ll make it in time to stop Wilford.”

Sunny Spot Farm was about a mile from the Browns’ house. When Encyclopedia and Jack arrived, Wilford Wiggins was standing near the long gravel driveway leading to the farm. A large group of children was standing around listening to his sales pitch.

“Step right up and get your
gen-u-ine
peacock’s eggs! For just fifteen-ninety-nine, you, too, can be the owner of a real, live peacock! Your bird’s amazing plumage is sure to dazzle your friends and family.”

A girl with long brown hair raised her hand. “Can you tell us where you got the peacock eggs?”

“Of course, little lady.” Wilford’s lips curled
into a smile as he jerked his thumb at the farm behind him. “These eggs are from Idaville’s own Sunny Spot Farm.”

A boy standing near Encyclopedia looked suspicious. “Oh yeah? I’ve been to Sunny Spot Farm dozens of times, and I’ve never seen any peacocks here.”

Wilford lowered his voice. “These are extremely rare birds, Joey. They’re kept in a special pen, and only fine peacock collectors such as myself have been allowed to see them.”

“What’s so special about them?” another boy called out.

“Their feathers are very colorful,” Wilford answered. “In fact, the peacock who laid these eggs had the most beautiful feathers I’ve ever seen.”

With that, Wilford held up the basket of eggs. “Now, who would like to buy one for just four ninety-nine?”

Several children in the crowd waved bills at Wilford.

“You’ve got to do something, Encyclopedia,” Jack whispered. “Wilford’s going to cheat those kids too!”

“Don’t worry, Jack.” Encyclopedia patted the younger boy on the shoulder. “He’s not going to get away with anything.”

The detective marched up to the egg salesman.

“Not so fast, Wilford!”

Wilford looked up, startled. But then he smiled.

“Why, Encyclopedia,” he cooed. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to stop these dear children from buying pet peacocks?”

“I hate to ruffle your feathers, Wilford, but that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Encyclopedia said. “You’ve fouled up your fowls for the last time!”

What does Encyclopedia mean?

(Turn to
this page
for the solution to The Case of the Peacock’s Egg.)

I
t was the night of the championship baseball game between the Idaville Indians and the Pittfield Porpoises.

When Encyclopedia and Sally entered South Park, the bright lights over the baseball diamond were on. A big crowd had already filled the bleachers.

Sally was wearing her blue Indians T-shirt. “The Indians are going to wallop the Porpoises tonight!” she said, rubbing her hands gleefully.

“I hope the Indians win, but the Porpoises are favored,” Encyclopedia replied. “They have the best record in the league.”

“But the Indians have Tara Padrowski,” Sally reminded him.

Tara Padrowski was a home run–hitting sensation. All summer long the local papers had been filled with stories about how the power hitter had hit more home runs than anyone else in the league. Encyclopedia hoped they’d get to see her hit one out of the park tonight.