Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All (8 page)

According to his own story, Bugs chased Charlie out of the house. Furthermore, he did not go upstairs to his room where the cabinet was until he brought back Officer Carlson, Charlie, and Encyclopedia.

Yet he knew how the cabinet had been opened!

He could not have known whether the lock had been forced, or the glass door broken, or the hinges removed—unless he had been the “thief” himself!

When Encyclopedia pointed out his mistake, Bugs confessed. He had tried to make it look as if Charlie were the thief in order to get Charlie’s tooth collection.

The Tiger leader admitted he had been the boy who had lured Charlie to the telephone booth with the offer of selling him grizzly bear teeth. He had wanted Charlie to tell a story so unbelievable that Officer Carlson would think Charlie was guilty.

Wilford Wiggins tried to make the children believe Mike had gained a hundred pounds in one year by drinking Hercules’s Strength Tonic.

He also tried to make them believe Mike had been unable to buy a suit because all his money went into developing the tonic.

But the old suit coat still “fit perfectly” on Mike.

If Mike had really gained a hundred pounds in one year, he would have outgrown the suit coat!

When Encyclopedia pointed out this fact to the crowd of children, Wilford had to stop the sale.

And he returned Cadmus’s two dollars.