The Case of the Mysterious Handprints (4 page)

“Encyclopedia,” Sally said anxiously, “you’ve got to prove the picture is a fake!”

Encyclopedia studied the photograph more closely.

“The fish is the only hard part,” he said. “The rest of the case is easy.”

WHAT DID HE MEAN?

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

E
ncyclopedia and Sally were worried. Their bus was an hour late reaching the fairgrounds.

“Golly, I hope we haven’t missed seeing Hambone run,” Sally said.

Hambone, a young racing pig, was trained by Lucy Fibbs, a classmate of the detectives. Lucy lived on a farm. She loved all animals, but pigs were her favorites. “Pigs don’t get any respect,” she often complained.

“Hambone will get plenty of respect if he wins today,” Encyclopedia told Sally.

The huge tents of the Farm Progress Show
stood in a circle on the fairgrounds. Hurrying through the parking lot, the detectives came upon Chuck Dawson. He was tying his shoelace beside his motorcycle.

“Are the pigs still racing?” Sally asked him.

“Don’t know,” Chuck answered. “I just got here myself.”

Chuck was nineteen, the son of a tobacco farmer. His motorcycle was painted tobacco-leaf brown, and he was never without a cigar.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “My dad’s fastest pig, Upset Tummy, is entered in the races. I’ve a hunch there may be dirty work.”

“What makes you think that?” inquired Encyclopedia.

“Whichever pig wins will be worth a barrel of money,” Chuck replied. He flicked the long ash off his cigar, lighted it, and puffed. “What say we join forces and keep watch for any funny business.”

Encyclopedia agreed. If trouble came, he wanted Chuck on his side, with or without a cigar.

At the pig-racing tent, Chuck stationed himself by the entrance. The detectives went inside and looked for Lucy Fibbs and Hambone.

Most of the tent was occupied by a half-oval track surrounded by wood stands. Pig fans filled every seat.

Not a pig was in sight. Encyclopedia and Sally worked their way to the staging area in the rear. They found Lucy and Hambone in the third stall on the right.

“How’d you like my Hambone’s speed?” Lucy asked, beaming.

“We just arrived,” Sally replied sheepishly.

“Not to worry,” Lucy said. “You’ll see Hambone run in the final. He won his heat in three and a half seconds flat, a track record.”

She finished pinning a big number “1” onto Hambone’s racing silks of maroon and gray.

“In the final, Hambone will start in chute number one because he had the fastest time in the heats,” she said.

She gave Hambone a loving pat and hug. Then she launched into her favorite subject, pig racing.

“A farmer begins with ten or twelve three-month-old piglets,” she explained. “For six hours a day the little porkers are trained to start at the sound of a bell. They race to a trough with a chocolate chip cookie in it.”

“That must wear you out,” Sally said.

“No, pigs are easy to train,” Lucy replied. “They are humble, even-tempered, and smarter than dogs.”

A man in a dark suit shouted, “Two minutes to post time.”

Lucy gave the leash around Hambone’s neck a gentle tug. “Stay close to me,” she whispered to the detectives. “I’ll say you’re my assistant trainers.”

Encyclopedia and Sally joined Lucy and Hambone in the pig parade to the track. At the starting line were four chutes, large plywood boxes with an overhead door at each end. An air slot six inches long and an inch wide was cut into the top of each chute.

Encyclopedia had a minute to study the other three racers and their trainers.

At chute number two was Fast Fatso, trained by Mrs. Markin. Fast Fatso seemed excited. Mrs. Markin seemed nervous. She kept glancing over at Hambone.

At chute number three was Greasy Lightning, trained by Mr. Heston, who was chewing yellow bubble gum.

At chute number four was Upset Tummy, trained by Mr. Dawson, Chuck Dawson’s father.
Mr. Dawson was speaking into Upset Tummy’s right ear.

“Runners, take your mark,” the starter hollered.

Lucy removed the leash from Hambone’s neck. Immediately Hambone darted through the open rear door and into the chute.

“Strange, he usually doesn’t like to get
into
the chute,” Lucy remarked. She let the rear door drop closed.

Within seconds all the pigs had disappeared into the chutes. The starter rang a bell. At the same time he pulled a rope that opened the front doors of the four chutes.

The huge tent shook with cries of
“They’re off!”

Hambone never had a chance. He broke from his chute late and couldn’t make up ground. Mrs. Markin’s Fast Fatso took the win in 4.12 seconds and the chocolate chip cookie at the finish line even faster. Hambone wound up last.

Lucy was stunned. “Hambone always makes such a great start,” she murmured. “I don’t understand.…”

While Sally tried to comfort her, Encyclopedia examined the top of Hambone’s chute. He
had noticed a speck of brown on the edge of the air slot. He sniffed … chocolate!

“Did you find something?” Sally asked anxiously.

“I found the reason for Hambone’s bad start,” Encyclopedia said, “and the person responsible. To think I nearly missed one of the clues!”

WHAT DID ENCYCLOPEDIA MEAN?

(
Turn to
this page
for the solution to The Case of the Prize Pig.
)

A
rty Yakamoto came into the Brown Detective Agency. He was smiling.

Immediately Encyclopedia knew something was wrong.

Arty smiled only when he suffered. Hard luck followed him like the seat of his pants. If a day went well, he was disappointed.

“What’s the bad news today, Arty?” Encyclopedia asked.

“For starters, it’s my birthday,” Arty replied. “I’m eleven today.”

“Happy birthday,” Sally said.

Arty winced. “Happy? No chance. I’m already halfway to being twenty-two, and that’s halfway to forty-four. Yuck! Forty-four is
middle-aged.
What’s happened to my life?”

“Arty, you don’t need a detective,” Sally declared. “You need a longer calendar.”

“I’m not here because of my age,” Arty said. “I’m here because of my vocabulary.”

He explained. The Friends of the Library had a birthday that day, too. The club was six years old. As part of the celebration, the women were holding a vocabulary quiz. Any sixth-grader who held a job could enter. Arty worked at his family’s furniture store.

“I’ll win,” Arty said, “if I can beat Mary McKean, Peggy Olsen, and Herb Levy. They’re the word brains.”

Encyclopedia knew the three. Mary McKean called herself a bookkeeper because she straightened the shelves in her father’s bookstore after school. Peggy Olsen helped her teenage brother with his summer lawn business. Herb Levy had a year-round newspaper route.

Arty counted out twenty-five cents.

“The vocabulary quiz starts in twenty minutes,” he said. “I want to hire you to look after my interests. With my luck, I could lose even if I win.”

“We’ll take the case,” Encyclopedia said, and wondered what Arty was talking about. The “case” had neither a crime nor a mystery.

The Friends of the Library rented rooms in a house on Worth Street. The detectives and Arty arrived with five minutes to spare.

Encyclopedia spent a minute taking note of the ground-floor layout. Four rooms and a bathroom opened off the center hall. At the far end, a water cooler stood beside a staircase.

Most of the contestants were crowded before one of the rooms. They chattered about what the prizes might be. Encyclopedia rose on tiptoes and peeked in.

He saw three boxes on a desk. A card marked each box clearly:
FIRST PRIZE, SECOND PRIZE, THIRD PRIZE.

Mrs. Fuller, the club president, came down the stairs. “Time to begin, children,” she called, waving the quiz sheets. “Everyone else outside, please.”

She herded the contestants into the largest room. Encyclopedia and Sally moved outside.

During the fifty minutes that the quiz lasted, Encyclopedia watched the front door of
the house. Sally watched the back. No one went in or out of the building.

When Arty appeared, it was obvious that he had done well. He looked disappointed.

“No sense in your hanging around,” he said to the detectives. “The winners won’t be announced for an hour at least. I’ll let you know if I win anything.”

Encyclopedia and Sally returned to the detective agency. They felt funny. They had done nothing to earn their fee.

They felt worse when Arty came by later that afternoon. He was smiling.

“I told you it would happen,” he said in a voice heavy enough to sink a ship in dry dock. “I won, but I lost.”

He held out his first prize, a wristwatch. It was broken.

“It was broken when I opened the box,” Arty said.

Encyclopedia and Sally stared in disbelief. Then they began questioning Arty. He told them what he knew.

The prizes had been handed out in reverse order. Herb Levy was awarded third prize, a bicycle light. Next, Mary McKean was awarded second prize, a small adding machine.
Finally, Arty received the broken wristwatch. True to his nature, he had accepted his fate and told no one.

Afterward, though, he had spoken with Mrs. Fuller, the club president. He learned that she had inspected the prizes that morning. They were in perfect condition. She had not, however, checked them again before the awards ceremony.

Mrs. Fuller had supervised the quiz. She had allowed one child at a time to leave the room for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Arty hadn’t noticed which kids left the room. He’d been busy answering questions.

“There were ten questions,” he said. “Herb Levy missed the second question and half of the last question. Mary McKean missed all of the last question. I missed only half of the last question.”

“The last question must have been tough,” Sally observed. “What was it?”

“The first half was to write a word with two double letters in a row,” Arty replied. “I put down, ‘balloon,’ and so did Herb Levy.”