Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case (4 page)

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Authors: Donald J. Sobol

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“I know you,” said Marlin, looking down his nose. “You’re the little chick who has the Tigers scared cuckoo. And you’re Mr. Know-it-all. And you must be the kid who wears earrings.”
Trisk reddened. His hands clenched, but all he held was his tongue.
Sally wasn’t so easily frightened. “You stole the earring while you were walking to the water to skin dive,” she said to Marlin.
“Your head is out of town,” Marlin retorted. “I was skin diving when this kid started scaling stones. One nearly hit me. So I came ashore and asked him to stop.”
“If you’re innocent, you won’t care if we search you,” said Encyclopedia.
“Right on,” said Marlin with an amused smile. “I’ll help.”
He turned the pockets of his pants and shirt inside out. They held a dollar bill, two nickels, and a dirty handkerchief.
Sally’s eyes narrowed.
“Stay out of it, Encyclopedia,” she said softly. “I can solve this case myself.”
She turned back to Marlin. “You hid the earring because you saw us talking with Trisk. Where is it?”
“I’m trying not to get angry,” said Marlin. “But keep accusing me of stealing, and I might change my mind.”
“Change it. It’ll work better,” said Sally.
“Now you’ve gone too far!” announced Marlin.
He circled Sally, shouting fighting words and moving his hands like ax blades.
“He’ll chop her to pieces with his karate!” squeaked Trisk.
Sally, however, didn’t give him the chance. She peppered him with jabs and crossed a right to the jaw. Marlin’s eyes squinched shut in pain.
“Ooooo ... enough!” he wailed. “Stop!” He held his head and looked at Sally fearfully.
“How’d you know?” he gasped. “What made you so
sure
I stole the earring?”
WHAT?
 
 
 
 
(Turn to page 91 for the solution to The Case of the Skin Diver.)
The Case of the Barefoot Thieves
Tyrone Taylor knew how to treat the fair sex.
He was the only boy in Idaville who got up to give a girl his seat-even when they were the only two passengers on the bus. The other fifth-grade boys called him Sir Galahad.
Monday afternoon Tyrone came into the Brown Detective Agency. He looked as sick as a horse.
“Don’t call me Sir Galahad,” he said sadly. “Call me Sir Had-a-Gal.”
“Who was it this time?” asked Encyclopedia.
“Betty Holden,” said Tyrone. “Just when I figured I had a chance with her, what happens? She goes out with Stingy Stetson!”
“Don’t worry,” said Encyclopedia. “Stingy is so tight that if he blinks his eyes, his knuckles crack. When he dates a girl, the money flows like glue.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Tyrone. “But last night I saw them together in Mr. O’Hara’s drugstore. Stingy bought her the Idaville Special with
three
scoops of ice cream!”
“Wow! That costs twenty cents extra,” exclaimed Encyclopedia.
“I want to hire you,” said Tyrone. He slammed a quarter on the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia. “Find out where Stingy stole the money he’s spending.”
“Just a minute,” said Encyclopedia. “You can’t go around accusing him of stealing—”
“What was he doing outside the Medical Building yesterday morning?” snapped Tyrone. “It was Sunday. The building was closed. And you should have seen his crazy walk.”
Encyclopedia scratched his head. “You’d better show me,” he said.
The two boys biked to the Medical Building. It was after five o’clock when they arrived. The doctors had all gone home. The parking lot was empty.
“Sunday was a hot day,” said Tyrone. “So I sat under that shade tree while I thought about Betty. Suddenly I saw Stingy and his big brother Pete. They were walking in the parking lot, one behind the other. Crazy!”
“Crazy?” repeated Encyclopedia.
“They walked as if they couldn’t keep their balance,” said Tyrone. “Then they jumped into a red truck that had ‘Mac’s Service Station’ written on the door. They drove away,
zoom!”
“Sit under the same tree,” said Encyclopedia. “I’ll do what they did.”
He went down to the parking lot, which was enclosed by a seven-foot stone wall. He walked across the blacktop surface till he could see Tyrone over the wall.
“Stingy and Pete were farther back,” said Tyrone. “I can see only your head above the wall. I saw them down to the waist.”
Encyclopedia moved back a few steps.
“Stop,” called Tyrone. “That’s where they were.”
Encyclopedia had halted on a long, narrow white line. Branching out on either side of it were short white lines to mark spaces for cars to park.
“Stingy and Pete were walking a narrow white line you can’t see from there,” shouted Encyclopedia. “They were having fun keeping their balance.”
“Fun, nothing,” insisted Tyrone. “They were celebrating. They probably just robbed some doctor’s office.”
Tyrone refused to believe anything but the worst about Stingy. He made Encyclopedia promise to ask his father if the Medical Building had been robbed yesterday.
At dinner, Encyclopedia put the question to his father.
“Why, yes,” answered Chief Brown, surprised. “Officer Clancy handled the case. I learned about it this morning.”
“What was stolen, dear?” asked Mrs. Brown.
“Thieves took about two hundred dollars altogether from the petty-cash boxes in several offices,” said Chief Brown.
“Isn’t the Medical Building locked on Sunday?” asked Encyclopedia.
“The front door lock was broken Saturday,” said Chief Brown. “A watchman was hired till it could be repaired today.”
“Where was the watchman during the robbery?” asked Mrs. Brown.
“He was drinking at the water fountain when he glimpsed two pairs of bare feet disappearing up the stairs,” said Chief Brown. “He chased them. As he turned a corner, he was struck and knocked out. He awoke to see Mac’s red service truck leave the parking lot.”
“So the robbers work at Mac’s gas station!” declared Mrs. Brown.
“We can’t be sure,” said Chief Brown. “The watchman telephoned Mac immediately. Sundays the truck is driven by Pete Stetson. Sometimes he takes his younger brother-the one everyone calls Stingy—along on service calls. When they returned to the station, both boys had on shoes.”
He was drinking at the water fountain when he glimpsed
two pair of bare feet disappearing up the stairs.
“What were the Stetson boys doing at the parking lot?” asked Mrs. Brown.
“Pete said he was looking for a key, which he thought he dropped Saturday after visiting Dr. Marshall. He did see the doctor. We checked on that.”
Chief Brown took a spoonful of soup. Then he continued.
“No doubt the thieves removed their shoes in order to walk more quietly,” he said. “Pete and Stingy may have robbed the offices. But we can’t shake their alibi.”
“You mean, you need a clue to prove they had their shoes off when they entered the building?” said Mrs. Brown.
“One clue will do,” said Chief Brown. “But we don’t have even one.”
“I have,” said Encyclopedia.
WHAT WAS THE CLUE?
 
(Turn to page 92 for the solution to The Case of the Barefoot Thieves.)
The Case of the Dog-Paddle Derby
Business kept Encyclopedia and Sally in the detective agency all morning. Not until noon were they free to bike to the rock pit, where the Idaville Dog-Paddle Derby was being held.
“If we hurry, we can see the final,” said Encyclopedia.
Sally was upset. “A swimming meet in a rock pit!” she exclaimed. “Dogs should be allowed in pools.”
“It’s against the health law,” said Encyclopedia.
“Why?” demanded Sally. “There are more short-haired dogs than people.”
“Maybe dogs won’t swim in people-polluted pools,” said Encyclopedia.
At the rock pit they were met by Fangs Live-right, one of Encyclopedia’s pals. Pinned to his shirt was a button with the words “Meat Director.”
“Shouldn’t that be ‘Meet Director’?” Sally asked.
“No, I’m in charge of the meat,” said Fangs. “The winning dog gets five pounds of hamburger.”
The three children walked through the crowd till they stood at the edge of the rock pit. It was filled with rainwater.
“Too bad you missed the heats,” said Fangs. “The final is about to start. It’s a sprint-just one lap.”
“No lap dogs allowed, of course,” commented Sally. “They’d have too big an advantage.”
Encyclopedia watched five dogs being lined up by a teen-age boy. He was moving a cocker spaniel into position. He had one hand under the dog’s jaw.
Encyclopedia watched five dogs being lined up by a
teen-age boy.
“Who is he?” asked the boy detective.
“Horace Cushing, from the north side,” said Fangs. “He’s an official, like me and Puddinghead Peabody. Puddinghead is water boy.”
Beside each dog was a one-quart bowl filled to the top with water. Fangs explained that Puddinghead emptied the bowls after each race and filled them before the next with fresh water from a can.
“Every dog gets the same, a full quart of water,” said Fangs. “It’s a hot day, and we don’t want thirsty dogs. They might stop to drink during the race.”
Encyclopedia nodded. He understood the importance of being fair to all the dogs. A lot was at stake. The winner would advance to the state championship.
“In this kind of race, it’s easy to tell the underdog,” observed Encyclopedia. “But who is the favorite?”
“Rags, the cocker spaniel,” said Fangs. “Rags not only cleans his plate, but dries it with his ears.”
“How many housewives can do that!” cried Sally.
Just then the starter’s gun went off.
In an instant the five dogs were off and swimming. Or four were.
Rags, the favorite, had rolled over on his side. His tearful owner tried frantically to awaken him. In vain. Rags was still fast asleep when the race ended.

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