Encyclopedia Brown and the case of the midnight visitor Read online

  This book made available by the Internet Archive.

  For Lenore and Jerry Gundersheimer

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROIVN

  and The Case of the Midnight Visitor

  Tlie Case off the Mkfail^t Hsitor

  Now there are some people in the United States who had never heard of Idaville. But they were not policemen.

  Every policeman from Maine to California knew about Idaville. Anyone who broke the law there was caught. Not a crook escaped.

  How could that be? What was the secret?

  No one ever guessed.

  Idaville looked like many other seaside towns its size. It had lovely beaches, three movie theaters, and four banks. It had churches, a synagogue, and two delicatessens.

  And on Rover Avenue it had a certain red brick house.

  In the house lived Idaville's secret weapon against crime—ten-year-old Encyclopedia Brown.

  Encyclopedia's father was chief of police. Because no one got away with breaking the law, the people of Idaville thought he was the bravest and smartest police chief in the world.

  True, Chief Brown was brave. And he was smart enough to know what to do with a case Ixe could not solve.

  He took it home to dinner.

  Over soup, he told his son the facts. Encyclopedia usually figured out the answer before dessert.

  Chief Brown hated keeping the help he got from his only child a secret. He wanted Encyclopedia's sneakers hung in the Crime Fighters' Hall of Fame.

  But what good would it do to suggest it?

  Who would take him seriously? Who would believe that the mastermind behind Idaville's spotless police record was a fifth grader?

  So Chief Brown said nothing.

  Encyclopedia never mentioned the help he gave his father. He didn't want to seem different from other boys.

  There was nothing he could do about his nickname, however.

  Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else called him Encyclopedia.

  An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with facts from A to Z. So was Encyclopedia's head. He had read so many books his pals swore his ears were turning into bookends.

  Monday evening Chief Brown sipped his soup slowly. Encyclopedia and his mother knew what that meant. He had his mind on a case.

  Finally, Mrs. Brown said, "Why don*t you tell Leroy about it, dear?"

  Chief Brown sighed. "I don't know ... this is an awfully tough case," he said. "It has me beaten."

  "Leroy has never failed you. Tell him," urged Mrs. Brown.

  "Very well," said Chief Brown. "C. T. Butler was kidnapped from his home last night."

  Mrs. Brown gasped. Encyclopedia let out a low whistle.

  C. T. Butler was a millionaire. He owned a string of pizza parlors in three states and a big house by the ocean.

  "Today at noon, Mrs. Butler received a phone call," said Chief Brown. "A man's voice said that her husband was unharmed, but he was being held for half a million dollars' ransom. The caller told Mrs. Butler to remain home tomorrow, at which time she would be told by phone where to leave the money."

  '*You hope to capture the kidnappers before they are paid the ransom, Dad?" said Encyclopedia.

  ''We must," replied Chief Brown grimly. "Kidnappers want money. Once they get it, there is no telling what they might do to their victim."

  ''Poor Mr. Butler!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, at least you have until tomorrow to find him."

  "That's too little time," said Chief Brown.

  "Somebody must have heard or seen something,'' said Encyclopedia.

  '*Mrs. Butler was of some help," said Chief Brown. "From what she told me, it's possible to fit together a few pieces."

  He took a spoonful of soup. Then he related all that the police had been able to learn about the kidnapping.

  ''Last night, Mr. and Mrs. Butler were in bed watching a late movie on television. A little after midnight, the front doorbell rang.

  ''Mr. Butler went downstairs to see who it was. Mrs. Butler turned off the television and listened. She heard him talking to someone—she thinks a man. She couldn't make out the words, but the tone was friendly.

  "Then she heard the sounds of the door closing and footsteps going into the den. Mr. Butler and his visitor lowered their voices. She could scarcely hear them at all.

  "She went to sleep. She was awakened by the closing of the front door and then went back to sleep.

  "When she awoke this morning, Mr. Butler wasn't in the house. The front door was closed but unlocked."

  ''Wasn't Mrs. Butler worried?" asked Mrs. Brown.

  ''No," answered Chief Brown. "She thought her husband had dressed quietly so he wouldn't wake her and had gone to the office. He sometimes forgets to lock the front door behind him. She didn't report him missing until she got the phone call from the kidnapper."

  "Wasn't she worried when he didn't return to bed after the visitor left?" said Mrs. Brown.

  Chief Brown shook his head. "Mr. Butler often gets up at night to work in his den. She thought he had simply remained downstairs to go over some business."

  "You don't have much to work with, dear," said Mrs. Brown.

  "We know that whoever came to the door wasn't a stranger," said Chief Brown. "Mr. Butler never would have let a stranger into his house late at night. I think this is what happened.

  "The visitor spoke with Mr. Butler in the den. Then he opened the window and made Mr. Butler climb into the back yard, where other men were waiting. They

  forced Mr. Butler into a car on the dark street and drove away. The visitor left by the front door."

  ''Wasn't that dangerous?" said Mrs. Brown. "Someone might have seen him under the night light."

  "He was probably afraid that he'd been seen entering the house. So he had to be seen leaving. He was prepared to say that Mr. Butler was still in the house when he left. But no one saw him enter or leave."

  "Then you really have no clues," said Mrs. Brown glumly.

  "Only a calendar," replied Chief Brown.

  He got up from the table and returned with his briefcase. He took out a calendar. On it was handwritten in pencil, "7891011."

  "Mrs. Butler had been in the den last night with her husband just before they went upstairs to the bedroom," said Chief Brown. "She said nothing was different on his desk this morning but the writing on the calendar. That is, this number."

  Chief Brown passed the calendar to Encyclopedia. "Make anything out of it, son?" he inquired.

  'My only clue is a calendar/' said Chief Brown.

  Encyclopedia studied the number and the calendar. He closed his eyes. He always closed his eyes when he did his hardest thinking.

  ... 7891011 ...

  "Does Mr. Butler have any enemies?" asked Mrs. Brown.

  "Every wealthy man has enemies," said Chief Brown. "He is known to have argued with Arthur Jason, John McNear, and Matt Short. There are probably a dozen others."

  "I argue with my closest friends," objected Mrs. Brown, "and I haven't been kidnapped."

  Encyclopedia opened his eyes. He asked his one question. He seldom needed more than one question to break a case that his father brought home to dinner.

  "Was there any paper on Mr. Butler's desk?"

  "Just a small pad by the telephone," said Chief Brown. "But it was blank."

  "Is that a clue, Leroy?" said Mrs. Brown anxiously.

  "Yes," said Encyclopedia. "When the visitor went to open the window, Mr. But-

  ler seized the moment to write this number on the calendar."
/>   "What does it mean?" asked Mrs. Brown.

  **It tells us the visitor's name," said Encyclopedia. *'The rest should be easy, right, Dad?"

  WHAT WAS THE VISITOR'S NAME?

  (Turn to page 103 for the solution to The Case of the Midnight Visitor.)

  UieCaseof Bndden Penny

  Encyclopedia wanted to help the children of the neighborhood. So when school let out for the summer, he opened his own detective agency in the garage. Every morning he hung out his sign:

  ^ - 13 Rover Avenue'"

  Uwjv Brown, presideKt Mo case too small ,

  ^plus expenses ^^^

  On Tuesday, business was slow all morning till Elmo Thomas came in. Elmo was Idaville's junior yo-yo champion.

  ''Mothers/' he grumbled. "They don't understand kids."

  ^'That's no way to talk," protested Encyclopedia.

  "If my mother understood me, I wouldn't have got kicked in the rear and had my best yo-yo stolen. I'd be worth a lot of money, besides."

  "All that is your mother's fault?"

  "Well, not really," admitted Elmo. "She just doesn't understand what it takes to be a yo-yo champ. You can't sit back. You have to keep your hand and eye sharp to stay in the big time. You follow me?"

  "Keep talking, and maybe I'll catch up," said Encyclopedia.

  "Last week I broke a lamp in the living room doing a loop-the-loop," said Elmo. "This morning I was in the kitchen practicing round-the-corner when Mom tripped over the string. Her breakfast went flying."

  "She said something to you," guessed Encyclopedia.

  '*And how. She told me I'd have to practice outdoors. That was mean. It's daylight outdoors."

  "You noticed?" said Encyclopedia, blinking.

  *'I'd planned to work today in the basement with my number-one yo-yo. It glows in the dark," said Elmo. ''But I made the best of things. I went outside and put a blanket over my head."

  Encyclopedia could scarcely wait to hear what was coming next.

  "I was getting pretty good under the blanket," said Elmo. "No fancy stuff like three-leaf-clover or man-on-the-flying-trapeze. Just lots of fast zzizz thwopl —till Bugs Meany kicked my backside."

  "Oh, boy," said Encyclopedia. "Bugs shows up wherever there is trouble."

  Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Taffee Twisters. They were always pulling something crooked.

  "After Bugs kicked me, he yanked off the blanket and begged my pardon," recalled Elmo. "He said he thought I was an

  ''Bugs Meany kicked my backside while I was practicing my glow-in-the-dark yo-yo" said Elmo.

  Arab. He took my yo-yo and put it in his pocket and asked me my name.

  " 'Elmo Thomas/ I said.

  '*Bugs laughed. 'Go buy yourself a last name,' he said, and flipped me a penny."

  ''He bought your best yo-yo for one cent?" exclaimed Encyclopedia. "No wonder you're sore."

  "Forget the yo-yo," said Elmo. "The penny was dated 1864, and it's worth more than a hundred dollars. Bugs must have seen the look on my face right away. He took back the penny and kept the yo-yo."

  Elmo put a quarter on the gas can beside Encyclopedia.

  "I want to hire you," he said. "Get back the penny. I figure it belongs to me."

  "So do I," said Encyclopedia. "If I know Bugs, he'll have hidden the yo-yo, but he won't let the penny out of his sight. C'mon."

  The two boys hurried to the Tigers' clubhouse, an unused tool shed behind Mr. Sweeny's Auto Body shop. The clubhouse was empty.

  "When Bugs celebrates a crooked deal,

  he usually goes to Friedman's Delicatessen for a hot dog and root beer," Encyclopedia said. "The sauerkraut is free. He's probably there now."

  Encyclopedia was correct. Bugs stood at the relish counter. He had piled sauerkraut two inches high on his hot dog and roll and was smearing mustard on top with a wooden spoon.

  "Make like a rattlesnake and bite yourself to death," he growled as the boy detective came up.

  Encyclopedia was used to Bugs's warm greeting. "You stole the penny you paid Elmo for his yo-yo this morning. Give it back."

  ''Elmo? Who's Elmo?" gasped Bugs, looking around.

  "Me, you big bully!" said Elmo.

  "Man, oh, man!" cried Bugs. "I never saw this child in my life. I was out in the woods all morning studying woodpeckers to find out why they don't get headaches."

  He walked toward a table and sat down. Encyclopedia and Elmo followed.

  Bugs leaned over and tightened the lace on his right shoe. He bit into his hot dog

  and chewed, his mouth barely able to close. Then he took a drink of root beer.

  *'Go on, scram," he said. 'I'm eating." He shifted under Encyclopedia's stare and tapped his right foot nervously. "Say, maybe you'd like to search me?"

  '*Nope," said Encyclopedia.

  Bugs shrugged and finished his drink. He tossed the paper cup into a trash can ten feet away.

  **rm going for another soda," he announced. ''Be useful and watch my hot dog while I'm gone."

  He walked toward the soda counter grinning.

  "Why didn't you search him?" demanded Elmo.

  "Because I know where he's hidden the penny," replied Encyclopedia.

  WHERE?

  (Turn to page 104 for the solution to The Case of the Hidden Penny.)

  ^

  TheC^aseof tlie Red Srweater

  Bugs Meany lived for the day when he could get even with Encyclopedia.

  Bugs hated being outsmarted all the time. He longed to smack Encyclopedia so hard the boy detective would have to stand on his head to turn things over in his mind.

  But Bugs never dared throw a punch.

  Whenever he felt like it, he thought of Sally Kimball. Sally was Encyclopedia's partner and the prettiest girl in the fifth grade.

  More to the point, she had done what no boy under twelve had believed possible. She had punched out Bugs Meany!

  The skull had two holes in the top. ''Bullet holes/' said the girl. *7 jv^st know it."

  Whenever they fought, Bugs ended on the ground mumbUng about a low bridge.

  Because of Sally, Bugs never tried to bully Encyclopedia. But he never stopped planning his day of revenge.

  "Bugs hates you as much as me," Encyclopedia said to Sally. "He'll never live down the lickings you gave him."

  The two detectives were sitting in the Brown Detective Agency playing checkers. It was a chilly morning. Sally wore a gray sweat shirt and Encyclopedia his red sweater.

  Suddenly a girl in a black leather jacket appeared at the door. She was holding a human skull.

  The skull had two holes in the top.

  *'Bullet holes," said the girl. **I just know it."

  Encyclopedia studied the holes and shook his head.

  **The science department at the high school got a new skeleton last year and threw away the old one," he said. "The skull had two holes in the top where it was hung by wire."

  "Where did you find it?" asked Sally.

  '*In the junkyard an hour ago," answered the girl. *'The rest of the skeleton is there."

  Encyclopedia had been eager to own a skeleton for some time. He asked the girl to take them to the spot.

  During the bike ride, he learned that her name was Carmine Oldfield and that she was new in the neighborhood.

  "I heard you were detectives," she said. ''I thought rd better bring the skull straight to you."

  When they arrived at the junkyard. Carmine went to the back gate. The lock was broken.

  "See that oil drum by the yellow truck?" she asked. 'The rest of the skeleton is in there."

  The detectives hurried to the oil drum. Inside was a thick sack. Encyclopedia reached down and pulled it out.

  "Caught in the act!"

  Bugs Meany leaped from behind a pile of wrecked cars. Officer Murphy was at his heels.

  "Let me have the sack," said Officer Murphy sharply.

&n
bsp; Encyclopedia handed it to the policeman, who opened it upon the ground.

  Instead of bones, the sack held pens, wallets, toy cars, and other small articles.

  "Man, oh, man!" sang Bugs. '1 broke Idaville's biggest shoplifting ring!"

  "Bugs claims you've been shoplifting at the Five-and-Dime for months," explained Officer Murphy. "On the way back from town, you hide your loot here. He's been tailing you."

  ''When did we shoplift?" demanded Sally. "Tell me!"

  Bugs named days. They were the days the detectives had hiked into town during the past month.

  "Nice try. Bugs," said Encyclopedia. "But we have a witness. Carmine Oldfield. Carmine ... ?"

  Carmine was nowhere in sight.

  "You put her up to this, Bugs Meany!" cried Sally. "You're so crooked you have to screw on your socks."

  Bugs sniffed. "Kindly tell them, Officer."

  Officer Murphy spoke to Encyclopedia. "Bugs stopped me this morning as I was

  driving past the junkyard on my rounds. He said he saw a boy in a red sweater— you—leaning over the oil drum/'

  *'Bugs knows I have only one sweater, this red one," said Encyclopedia. 'This is a trick to get even."

  *'Mr. Dillon, who owns the yard, saw a boy leaning into the barrel at about the same time," said Officer Murphy. ''However, he couldn't make out more than the red sweater because of the distance."

  "The boy was Bugs in a red sweater pretending to be Encyclopedia," said Sally. "Then Bugs changed to the brown one he has on now before stopping you. Officer."

  "This dame is off the wall," said Bugs. "If I changed sweaters, the red one would still be around here. I didn't have time to go home."

  "So why are you wearing a girl's brown sweater?" said Sally. "The buttons are on the left side. A boy's sweater has the buttons on the right side."