Encyclopedia Brown sets the pace Read online

  Bugs drew himself up straight as an Eagle Scout. ''Fireworks are dangerous and against the law/' he announced.

  Sally whirled on him. "What are you doing here?"

  "I made the call to the police," Bugs boasted. "Us Tigers uphold the law. Why, one firecracker could set this field blazing. Five hundred acres of natural beauty up in smoke, pfft! All because of a couple of smart-aleck lawbreakers."

  "That's a lie, you teen-age junk heap!" snapped Sally.

  "I've got news for you," snarled Bugs. "If looks were a crime, you'd have been born in prison."

  "Don't get smart," Sally retorted. "It will clash with your brains."

  "Easy does it, you two," Officer Friedman said. He peered at the litter of burned firecrackers. "I'll have to report this."

  Encyclopedia protested. He told Officer Friedman about the telephone call summoning them to the clearing. The policeman con-

  The Case of the Used Firecrackers

  tinued writing in his notebook.

  'We didn't do anything," insisted Sally. "Bugs is trying to get us into trouble."

  "My, how she blabbers on. Pitiful," said Bugs. "Think of the headlines tomorrow: 'Idaville Disgraced—Son of Police Chief and Female Sidekick Nabbed in the Act!' "

  Sally's cheeks reddened in helpless rage. She looked up at the birds perched on the telephone wires. "They saw everything. If only birds could talk!"

  "They don't have to say a word," remarked Encyclopedia. "As usual, Bugs talked too much."

  WHAT WAS BUGS'S MISTAKE?

  (Turn to page 82 for the solution to 'The Case of the Used Firecrackers.")

  I

  i

  THE CASE

  OF THE

  UGLIEST DOG

  ENCYCLOPEDIA AND SALLY REACHED the high school shortly before the First Annual Idaville Children's Dog Show was to start.

  Little kids and dogs of every description were gathered at one end of the football field. Sally stooped to pet a cocker spaniel wearing sunglasses and a straw hat.

  ''Hold it!" called Scott Curtis, clicking his camera.

  Scott was the neighborhood shutterbug.

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  He could make a photograph of a drowning bullfrog look like the centerfold of a dance magazine.

  'That was a nifty shot/' he said to Sally. "I'm the official show photographer, you know."

  "Gosh, Scott, how neat!" Sally exclaimed.

  "Thanks," Scott replied. "This is a great day for me and all animal lovers."

  "So I see," Encyclopedia commented. "But aren't there an awful lot of strange mutts here?"

  "That's the idea," Scott said. "Any dog can be entered. This isn't one of those snobby shows."

  "Why the costumes?" asked Sally.

  "There's a class for the best-dressed dog," Scott answered. "There are other classes for the funniest dog, the oldest-looking dog, and the ugliest dog. The main event is worst in show."

  Scott pointed to Jim Mack and his dog, Twitchy, "Twitchy is the favorite to win ugliest dog," he said.

  Encyclopedia could see why. Twitchy looked like a cross between a St. Bernard and a French rat.

  "I guess every little kid should be proud of

  The Case of the Ughest Dog

  his pet," Sally said softly.

  "Any pet is beautiful," stated Scott. "It's just that some aren't so beautiful on the outside."

  He turned to snap a picture of a passing collie in an apron, beads, and wig. Then he waved to the detectives and hurried off to take more pictures.

  Encyclopedia and Sally wandered among the dogs. Most of them looked like they had been given a home out of sympathy.

  At noon the judging started. For each class there was a champion and ten runners-up. Nearly every kid would win a prize.

  Twitchy didn't win anything. When the ugliest-dog contest was called, she was fast asleep and could not be wakened. Unable to make it to the judges' ring, she was disqualified.

  Despite the excitement over Twitchy, the show went on.

  Kate Felton's pooch. Something Else, won ugliest dog and later worst in show, but only after Kate had convinced the judges that Something Else was a dog, not a dust mop.

  After the prizes had been awarded, Scott Curtis collected the champions and runners-up for a group photograph. He asked Kate Fel-ton, the grand winner, to pose in the center

  The Case of the Ughest Dog

  of the front row. She refused.

  She had tripped, she said, against the freshly painted side of the gym. The front of her skirt was smeared with dried white paint. ''I look awfuV she wailed.

  The others argued with her in vain. Sally offered to exchange skirts for the picture.

  "Oh, no! I can't have my picture taken in your purple polka-dot skirt and my orange blouse,'' Kate complained. "The colors are gross together."

  The other children lost patience.

  "Aw, hurry up and change, Kate," screamed Bill Seiple.

  "Who'll notice the colors, anyway?" yelled Ted Corbin.

  "They won't even show," chimed in Earl Hanes.

  "Stop acting like a spoiled brat," scolded Debbie Worthheimer.

  "Oh, all right," said Kate, and reluctantly joined the group.

  That evening, Sally stayed at Encyclopedia's house for dinner. She was still grumbling about Kate Felton's behavior when the telephone rang. It was Jim Mack, Twitchy's owner.

  "My dad took Twitchy to the veterinarian,"

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  he told Encyclopedia. 'Twitchy was drugged!"

  Half an hour later Scott Curtis rang the doorbell. ''Somebody changed the film in my camera/' he said. 'The film I just developed has only the four shots I snapped of the winners. It's black and white, and everyone knows I was shooting color."

  He explained that he had left his camera in the custodian's office for half an hour while he paraded his dog, Brownie, in the ugliest-dog class. During that time, Mr. Everet, the custodian, had gone outside, leaving the office empty for about ten minutes.

  "If someone wanted your film, why didn't he steal the camera?" Sally mused.

  "Probably he didn't dare risk being seen with it," said Scott. "But why didn't he just steal the film? Why did he replace it with another roll?"

  "Because," said Encyclopedia thoughtfully, "he didn't want you to learn that anything was wrong while he was still at the show."

  Sally said, "One thing is certain. The guilty person must be someone who had a camera of his own at the show."

  "That's no help," Scott objected. "Almost everyone had a camera. What puzzles me is why anyone wanted my film."

  The Case of the Ughest Dog

  ''Perhaps you took a picture of something you weren't supposed to/' suggested Encyclopedia.

  Scott shook his head. "I photographed only dogs and people."

  "Kate Felton is the one," declared Sally. "All that fuss about paint on her clothes. Encyclopedia, you should question her!"

  "No need to," replied the boy detective. "I already know who drugged Twitchy and stole Scott's film."

  WHO?

  (Turn to page 83 for the solution to 'The Case of the Ughest Dog/')

  I

  THE CASE

  OF HILBERT'S

  SONG

  ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, ENCY-clopedia and Sally closed the detective agency at one o'clock and headed for Maggie DeLong's birthday party.

  At the corner of Bleeker Street, Hilbert Capps joined them without a word.

  Hilbert was the state junior hollering champion. Normally he was quick to talk about his hobby. How hollering was a dying art. How hoUerers were being replaced by screechers, screamers, and yellers. But not today.

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  He greeted the detectives with a friendly wave and fell into step beside them. He did not holler a single chorus of "Precious Memories/' his medal-winning selection.

  'Tou're unusually quiet, Hilbert/' commented Sally after they had walke
d a block in silence.

  "My top notes are shot/' said Hilbert in a voice raspy enough to smooth asparagus tips. "I overdid it yesterday."

  "You joined a protest march?" inquired Encyclopedia.

  "Naw, I shouted down two hound dogs, a garbage-pail lid, and a washboard," replied Hilbert.

  He explained. Three days ago, he had passed Maggie DeLong's house and heard some men and women screaming.

  "I thought a person was getting murdered," Hilbert said. "Turned out it was just the television. An announcer came on and said, Tou have just heard the top song of the month, "Stompin' in Mother Hubbard's Slippers." ' "

  "I'll bet you were glad to learn the screaming was a song and not a murder," Sally said. "It must have eased your mind."

  "It made up my mind," corrected Hilbert. "Right then I decided to earn some big money. If that was a hit song, I knew I could write a

  The Case of Hilbert's Song

  better one and sell it to a record company."

  Yesterday, he said, Maggie DeLong had lent him her tape recorder. They set it on a table in her backyard. He brought over his neighbor's two hound dogs, a metal garbage-pail lid, a washboard, and two sticks.

  "I beat on the lid and scraped the washboard and hollered at the top of my lungs," Hilbert said. "In no time the dogs started to howl. The more I beat and scraped and hollered, the louder they barked and howled. When the tape was completed, I felt real proud of myself."

  "Hoppin' harmonies!" exclaimed Encyclopedia. "You may have the smash tune of the year. What do you call it?"

  Hilbert said, " Tve Been Crying Over You Since You Fell Into the Well.' You'll hear the tape today. Maggie promised to play it at her birthday party."

  At Maggie's house, the three children left their gifts on the hall table. Then they joined the other guests in the living room.

  After an hour of games, Hilbert's great moment arrived. Maggie clapped her hands for silence.

  "I have a surprise," she announced. "Hilbert has recorded an original song. I want to play it for you. It's super!"

  The children settled down, uncertain of

  The Case of Hilbert's Song

  what to expect. Maggie went to the back of the house. She was gone several minutes.

  When she reappeared, she looked terribly upset. A single tear, running from the outside corner of her eye, glistened on her cheek. She wiped it with a pink handkerchief and blew her nose.

  "H-Hilbert!" she gasped, ''the tape is missing!"

  The children were shocked. Sally was the first to speak. ''You probably just misplaced it."

  Maggie shook her head. "No, I'm certain I left it on my desk."

  "We'll organize a search," Sally said.

  While the other children looked about the living room, Encyclopedia, Sally, and Hilbert went with Maggie to her bedroom.

  "I put the tape and recorder here," Maggie said, rapping her desk top. "They were here when the first guest arrived."

  Sally shooed away Maggie's gray cat. Ladybird, and picked up the empty recorder. "If the thief took only the tape, he must have believed Hilbert's song was very valuable. Who else knew about the song?"

  "I didn't tell a soul," Maggie said.

  "The only ones I told were my folks and

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  you and Encyclopedia/' Hilbert said.

  "The neighbors must have heard us make the recording/' Maggie said. "Some of their kids are here at the party."

  "You can't accuse them/' Hilbert objected. "Everyone in the neighborhood must have heard me and those hound dogs."

  "But Charlotte Bevins and Mitch Waller live close enough to have seen what you were doing/' Sally said.

  Hilbert brightened. "We could frisk Charlotte and Mitch/' he said. "They haven't had a chance to hide the tape anyplace."

  "Wrong/' Maggie said glumly. "All the kids went outdoors during the scavenger hunt."

  Sally frowned. "Just before I went outside, Mitch passed me. He said he was going to the kitchen to see if your mom needed help."

  "Mitch is tone deaf/' said Maggie. "He couldn't tell a hit tune from an alarm clock ringing."

  "Hang on/' Hilbert said. "Charlotte excused herself just before the scavenger hunt. She said she had to fix her hair."

  "Charlotte fixes her hair every hour/' said Maggie. "To tell the truth, I doubt if either Charlotte or Mitch is the thief. You might as well blame my cat."

  The Case of Hilbert's Song

  Sally grumbled, "We're no place." She turned to Encyclopedia impatiently. "Don't you have any idea who stole the tape?"

  "Of course I have," answered the detective.

  WHO WAS THE THIEF?

  (Turn to page 84 for the solution to 'The Case of Hilbert's Song/')

  THE CASE

  OF THE CROWING ROOSTER

  THURSDAY EVENING ENCYCLOPEDIA was trimming the bushes in front of his house when Lisa Periwinkle raced by on her bicycle.

  "What's the hurry, Lisa?" called the detective.

  "I'm on my way to make my fortune," Lisa hollered. She skidded to a halt and regarded Encyclopedia with interest. "Aren't you going, too?"

  "Where?"

  "The city dump," answered Lisa. "Wilf ord

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  Wiggins called a meeting there for seven thirty. He has a big deal just for us kids."

  "The lazy con artist," mumbled Encyclopedia.

  Wilford Wiggins was a high school dropout who began his day by going back to sleep. In the afternoon he figured ways of fast-talking the neighborhood children out of their savings.

  "Wilford didn't tell me about the meeting," Encyclopedia observed.

  "He's sore at you," Lisa replied. "You always squelch his big money-making deals. Frankly, sometimes I don't trust him myself."

  "You can never trust Wilford," Encyclopedia said. "He might be telling the truth."

  Lisa's face showed uncertainty. "He promised to make us kids so much money we'd be rolling in it," she said.

  "Wilford's an expert in rolling," Encyclopedia said. "He has to stuff his mattress with golf balls to roll out of bed."

  "Then come to the dump," Lisa urged. "You might keep me and the other kids from losing our money."

  "I suppose I'd better go along," Encyclopedia said. "I'll get my bike. Won't be a second."

  It was just seven thirty when they arrived at the city dump. The first shades of sunset were beginning to close in.

  The Case of the Crowing Rooster

  Wilford stood facing the crowd of children. Beside him was a youth of about eighteen who wore an overcoat with a bulge in it.

  Wilford flung up one hand and then the other, as if to prove he was on the up-and-up.

  ''Gather round, friends," he called. 'That's it, step closer. I don't want you to miss hearing how you can"—he chuckled mysteriously— "feather your nest."

  The children murmured with excitement and inched closer. Bugs Meany and two of his Tigers elbowed their way to the front.

  Wilford said, "Allow me to introduce my partner. Bill Canfield."

  The youth beside Wilford bowed. He drew a rooster from under his overcoat and set it on the ground. Then he took a tiny box from his pocket. The box had two knobs.

  Wilford cried, "You're thinking, 'What does this tiny box do?' I'll tell you, my friends. It controls roosters. It's Bill's secret ray!"

  "I'll make the rooster crow by sending rays to its brain," Bill announced. He turned the knobs on the tiny box.

  The rooster stretched its neck and crowed. It crowed twice more within a minute.

  Bill turned the knobs back and tucked the rooster into his overcoat.

  "I could make this rooster crow hundreds

  The Case of the Crowing Rooster

  of times in an hour/' he proclaimed. "But I don't want to wear out the poor bird in a mere demonstration."

  Wilford was fairly dancing with glee. "You saw Bill do it! You saw his box send out secret rays that made the rooster cr
ow three times!"

  "You're full of baloney," jeered Bugs. "That's a trained rooster."

  "You can't train a rooster, friend," Wilford asserted. "The rays made him crow."

  "So what?" cried Bugs. "What's Bill going to invent next? An electric spoon?"

  "Bugs is right," Lisa whispered to Encyclopedia. "What good is a ray that makes a rooster crow?"

  "I'm sure Wilford has something else up his sleeve," answered Encyclopedia.

  Wilford's eyes were gleaming. He had played his audience to a fine pitch of doubt. Now he was ready to turn the doubt into belief.

  "Bill is developing a ray to control hens," he declared. "Hens are smarter than roosters. So the hen ray takes longer to work out."

  "Hens don't crow," shouted Lisa. "They cluck."

  "How right you are!" Wilford trumpeted. "Hens cluck . . . and they lay eggs. Bill is perfecting a ray to make hens lay eggs on command!"

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SETS THE PACE

  The children suddenly grew still.

  'Tm on the brink of success/' Bill declared. ''But I've run out of money to complete the research. So my pal Wilford called this meeting to give all his young friends a chance to buy a share of my hen ray. With your help, 111 finish the project, and you'll reap the rewards."

  "An ordinary hen lays about three hundred eggs a year," Wilford said. "Using the ray, a person can make a hen lay two or three or even ten times that number!"

  The children understood what that would mean. Farmers all over America—all over the world—would buy the ray. Starvation would be a thing of the past. And everyone would make a bundle of money.

  "Don't miss out," Wilford called. "Step right up. Buy a share in Bill's invention for only five dollars. A year from now you'll thank me with every breath you take."

  "I have ten dollars with me," Lisa said to Encyclopedia. "Should I buy two shares?"

  "You'd be buying two shares of nothing," replied the detective.

  WHY WASN'T ENCYCLOPEDIA FOOLED?