Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues (6 page)

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Authors: Donald J. Sobol

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“We’ll soon find out,” said his father. “But no matter how many solve the case, it has made a big hit with everyone.”
An hour later Chief Brown finished looking through the answers.
“You didn’t make the case too easy,” he told Encyclopedia. “Only four of the thirty chiefs named the person behind the theft and told where the diamond necklace could be found.”
 
DO YOU KNOW?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Please see solutions section)
The Case of the Missing Statue
The news spread through the neighborhood. Linda Wentworth, the famous movie actress, was coming to Idaville!
A crowd of excited children hurried to the waterfront house that the star had rented. Soon three cars drove up.
The last car carried newspaper reporters. The middle car carried Miss Wentworth’s hairdresser and Miss Wentworth’s luggage. The first car carried Miss Wentworth and her bodyguard, a big man called Rocco.
As the actress got out, Bugs Meany shoved past Encyclopedia and stepped out in front of the children.
“Stand aside, I’m about to be discovered,” he said, whipping a comb through his hair. ‘I’ll be the hottest thing in picture-making since the washable crayon. Just watch me go places!”
Bugs went places—up. Rocco lifted him by the shirt collar.
“Sorry, kid,” said Rocco. He moved the toughest Tiger out of the way like a gooseneck lamp. “No autographs.”
“Some other day, darlings,” cooed Miss Wentworth. She blew kisses to the children and swept into the house.
“What is Miss Wentworth doing in Idaville, Dad?” Encyclopedia asked at the dinner table that evening.
“It does seem a bit strange,” said Chief Brown. “Her new picture,
The Stolen Lamb,
opens tomorrow in theaters across the country.”
“You’d think she would be going from city to city to build up interest in the picture,” said Encyclopedia.
“According to the newspaper, she brought the lamb used in the picture,” said Mrs. Brown. “It’s a silver statue covered with jewels and worth a hundred thousand dollars.”
“I read that,” said Chief Brown. “In the movie the lamb is stolen, and Miss Wentworth nearly is killed helping the hero find it.”
“I’ll have to go see the movie,” said Encyclopedia, as the telephone rang.
His father took the call in the kitchen. When he stepped back into the living room, he wore his gun.
“I have to go over and see Miss Wentworth,” he said. “The statue of the lamb has been stolen from her bedroom.”
“May I go along?” cried Encyclopedia.
“Ordinarily I’d say no,” answered Chief Brown. “But this case is different. It may teach you something about movie people. Let’s go.”
Sitting beside his father in the car, Encyclopedia asked, “What did you mean by the remark about movie people?”
“Movie people,” said Chief Brown, “will do anything to get their names and pictures in the news.”
“Do you think the statue
wasn’t
stolen?” exclaimed Encyclopedia. “Why would Miss Wentworth make it up? Just to get a news story to help her picture,
The Stolen Lamb?
That would be plain dishonest!”
“Actors aren’t like other people,” said Chief Brown. “They don’t care about what is right or wrong as long as they get attention.”
Encyclopedia felt angry at his father for talking like that. He sat in silence during the rest of the ride to Miss Wentworth’s house.
The actress herself answered the door.
“Darling, how good of you to come,” she said. “What a simply dreadful thing to happen!”
“May we see the room where the statue was kept?” asked Chief Brown, after he had introduced Encyclopedia.
The actress led the way through a group of newspaper reporters and up the flight of stairs to her bedroom. At the door, Rocco, her bodyguard, joined them.
“I haven’t touched anything,” said Miss Wentworth. “I know you wonderful policemen want everything left just as it was.”
“Thank you,” muttered Chief Brown.
Miss Wentworth’s bed stood against one wall. The sheets had been torn off and knotted together. One end of the sheets was tied to the foot of the bed. The other end hung out the window to within four feet of the ground.
“I kept the statue on this table,” said Miss Wentworth. “The thief must have hidden some place in the house. When we were all downstairs, he must have slipped in here and stolen the statue. I saw it was missing when I came upstairs to change my clothes for dinner.”
“I was coming from the garage when I saw a huge man carrying the statue drop to the ground,” said Rocco. “I ran up to him, but he knocked me down and got away.”
Encyclopedia wondered how anything smaller than a freight train could knock down Rocco.
“The thief was a very strong man to climb down the sheets with the statue,” said Chief Brown. “It must weigh a lot.”
“About a hundred pounds,” said Rocco.
Chief Brown looked around the room carefully. Then he asked Encyclopedia to step into the hall. Father and son agreed upon their next move.
Encyclopedia was to use the sheets to climb to the ground, as the thief had done.
But from the window, Encyclopedia saw Bugs Meany standing on the sidewalk below. He was still dreaming of becoming a movie star, for his hair was parted and he wore sunglasses.
“Hey, Bugs,” called Encyclopedia. “Want to help Miss Wentworth? Climb up the sheets. She’s right up here.”
“Rabadabadoo!”
sang Bugs, grabbing hold of the end of the sheets. “I knew she couldn’t get me out of her mind.”
Bugs started up. The bed, to which the other end of the sheets was tied, creaked loudly. Suddenly it pulled away from the wall.
Bugs Meany was standing on the sidewalk below.
Encyclopedia heard something fall down, something that had been caught between the bed and the wall. It was a fountain pen. Chief Brown picked it up.
“Is it a clue, darling?” asked Miss Wentworth.
“It’s the clue that solves this case,” said Chief Brown.
Encyclopedia had never seen his father look angrier.
Bugs Meany appeared at the window. It was his big moment. But Miss Wentworth didn’t even know he was there.
She was looking nervously at Chief Brown. “The statue of the lamb was never stolen,” he said. “Where have you hidden it, Miss Wentworth?”
 
HOW DID CHIEF BROWN KNOW THE ROBBERY WAS FAKED?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Please see solutions section)
The Case of the House of Cards
During the week that Encyclopedia’s mother stored her old sofa in the garage, Benny Breslin came around regularly.
Benny was a wonder at making things. It was widely held that he would grow up to become a famous builder of bridges and skyscrapers—if he could keep awake.
Benny and Encyclopedia liked nothing better than to talk about bridge building. Benny talked while lying on the old sofa. It helped him “think like a bridge,” he said.
He usually stayed awake till they had worked out the bending moment of a cantilever. At that point, he rolled over and started snoring.
Benny stopped by the day after the Salvation Army finally carted off the sofa. He stared at the empty place in the Brown garage. Disappointment dripped from his face.
“Sorry,” said Encyclopedia. “Maybe we could talk about flagpole watching. That might help you keep upright.”
“Never mind,” said Benny. “I just wanted to invite you to my birthday party Monday.”
“Gosh, thanks, I’d love to come,” said Encyclopedia, though he remembered the strange ending of Benny’s birthday party last year.
Then, the children had played softball after lunch, and Benny had hit a triple. But he had fallen asleep while waiting on third base. The game had to be called, because no one dared to wake him. After all, it was
his
party.
By Monday, Encyclopedia had polished up his black shoes till they shone like the seat of a bus driver’s pants. He biked over to Sally’s house, and together the partners rode to Benny’s.
“What’s your present?” asked Sally.
“A book about bridges, naturally,” said Encyclopedia. “What’s yours?”
“Two decks of playing cards. Each card has a picture of a different famous building.”
The other children had brought presents in line with Benny’s interest in construction. There were eight boys and eight girls. Encyclopedia knew them all except a boy named Mark Plotz.
Mark kept to himself. He seemed more interested in the tool chest Mr. Breslin had given Benny than in making friends. Encyclopedia learned from Herb Stein that Mark was new in Idaville.
“His parents are friends of Benny’s parents,” said Herb. “I tried talking to him, but it’s like crossing a mule with an otter. All you get are mutters.”
When all the presents had been fingered, Benny’s mother served lunch. Then the games began.
The first game was a scavenger hunt. Mrs. Breslin gave each child a paper bag, a pencil, and a list of eight things to collect.
Encyclopedia’s list read: a safety pin, a flashlight, a 1960 penny, a green crayon, an ace of hearts, a bar of pink soap, a toothbrush, and a soup spoon.
“I’d rather finish the softball game we started last year,” Fangs Liveright whispered to Encyclopedia. “We only got in three innings before Benny went into his standing snooze at third base.”
“Me, too,” said Encyclopedia. “Where will I find a bar of pink soap?”
An hour later Encyclopedia was hunting through his mother’s medicine chest for the soap when Sally shouted from the street.
“Come back to Benny’s house!” she cried. “His new tool chest has been stolen!”
Encyclopedia flung down his half-filled paper bag. “Benny’s best present!” he said, jumping on his bike. “Poor guy!”
Benny looked close to tears when Encyclopedia entered the Breslin living room. The other children stood around dazedly, except Mark Plotz. He seemed in pain. Encyclopedia noticed he was limping.
Mrs. Breslin was talking on the telephone. Encyclopedia could hear her telling somebody about the theft.
The tool chest was missing from its place on the floor beside the other presents.
“Who discovered the theft?” asked Encyclopedia.
“I did,” said Mark. “I needed a queen of hearts for the scavenger hunt. I remembered the cards Benny got for his birthday. I came in here to borrow the queen.”
“That’s when you noticed the tool chest missing?”
“Missing, nothing!” exclaimed Mark. “I saw a big kid with it in his hand. He ran to that window and jumped out.”
“You didn’t try to stop him?”
“Sure I tried,” snapped Mark. “I ran for him, but I hit my shin against the coffee table and fell flat. Boy, my leg still hurts. When I got up, the thief was being driven off in a black hot rod.”

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