Encyclopedia Brown and Dead Eagles (3 page)

“You don’t have a shred of proof,” Encyclopedia protested.

“I
had
proof,” retorted Bugs. “Monday afternoon about three o’clock I took movies of you feeding a parking meter. But this screwy dame stole the film.”

“I did what?” gasped Sally.

Officer Culp broke in. “Bugs claims he picked up the developed film yesterday. At seven o’clock in the evening he showed it in his living room to his pals.”

“Just as the film ended, you jumped through the window,” Bugs said to Sally. “You grabbed the reel right off the movie projector.”

“You’re lying through the hole in your head!” cried Sally. “This is a dirty trick to get us in trouble.”

“I chased you across my backyard,” went on Bugs. “When you passed under the streetlight, I saw that you didn’t have the film anymore. You must have got scared and tossed it away in the dark.”

“Where were you Monday at three o’clock?” Officer Culp asked Encyclopedia. “And where were you yesterday at seven?” he said to Sally.

Encyclopedia explained about the telephone calls that had drawn him to the Indian Burial Grounds and Sally to the old airstrip. Neither of them had a witness.

“Some alibis!” jeered Bugs. “I’ve heard better ones from a horse with lockjaw.”

Officer Culp decided to settle the argument by driving the children to Bugs’s house. He had them search the backyard for the missing reel of film.

After two minutes, Bugs shouted, “I’ve got it!” He held up a reel of film. “No wonder I couldn’t find it before. The wind blew a newspaper over it.”

Bugs set up a movie projector and screen in his living room. Grinning, he put on the reel, threaded the film, and clicked the starting switch.

Most of the film showed Bugs and his Tigers making muscles at the beach.

The last bit of film was of a boy dressed in sneakers, jeans, and a red shirt like one of Encyclopedia’s. He put a coin in a parking meter. Then he tucked a card under the windshield wiper of the car by the meter.

“You saw him with your own eyes!” sang Bugs.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” objected Sally. “We never saw the boy’s face.”

She was plainly worried, however.

“That boy looks like you from the back,” she whispered to Encyclopedia. “Bugs has really built a case against us.”

“No, against himself,” said Encyclopedia.

WHAT WAS BUGS’S MISTAKE?

 

 

 

The Case of the Hidden Will

Tuesday evening Chief Brown sat at the dinner table and stirred his soup thoughtfully. Encyclopedia knew what that meant.

His father had brought home a case he couldn’t solve.

“Do you remember Brandon King?” asked Chief Brown.

“He owned the largest lumberyard in this part of the state,” replied Encyclopedia. “He died last week in Glenn City.”

“What is the mystery, dear?” asked Mrs. Brown.

“Mr. King hid his will,” said Chief Brown. “It tells who will get all his money and possessions.”

“Doesn’t his lawyer know where the will is?” inquired Encyclopedia.

“Yes, but Mr. King swore him to secrecy,” replied Chief Brown. “Last summer Mr. King wrote the lawyer ordering him not to tell where it is until ninety days after his death. If the will is not found by then, everything he owned is to go to the magicians’ union.”

“I visited his home four years ago,” said Mrs. Brown. “The basement was filled with all kinds of strange equipment. He had a box in which people disappeared. In another box he could saw a person in half.”

“Magic was only one of his hobbies,” said Chief Brown. “He was also a champion card player. The walls of his playroom were hung with framed enlargements of every card in the deck.”

Chief Brown took a spoonful of soup. Then he went on.

“The chances are that Mr. King’s sons will inherit everything. His wife died eight years ago, and he has no other relatives.”

“The sons helped him in the business, didn’t they?” said Mrs. Brown.

“Yes,” answered Chief Brown. “But Mr. King didn’t think much of them, I’m sorry to say. In fact, his friends believed that one of the sons was stealing from the business.”

“Didn’t Mr. King know about it?” asked Mrs. Brown.

“Of course he did, but he never would say which son was the thief,” replied Chief Brown. “Whoever he is, he’s been left out of the will.”

“How can you be so sure?” declared Mrs. Brown. “No one knows where the will is hidden except the lawyer. Did he tell you?”

“No, but he gave me this,” said Chief Brown, unbuttoning his breast pocket. He drew out a sheet of paper and handed it to Mrs. Brown.

“Nine months ago Mr. King sent a copy to each of his four sons,” continued Chief Brown. “The lawyer received this, the original.”

Mrs. Brown peered at the paper. “I’m not certain I understand it,” she said, and passed it to Encyclopedia.

On the paper was typed a poem. Encyclopedia read:

Encyclopedia studied the poem as his mother cleared the soup dishes. She looked at him anxiously while she served the meatloaf and vegetables.

She always expected him to solve his father’s toughest cases before dessert. So Encyclopedia ate slowly. He needed time with this one.

“How did you come into the case, Dad?” he asked.

“The four sons visited me this afternoon,” said Chief Brown. “They wanted help in finding the hidden will.”

“One of them—the thief—was faking,” said Encyclopedia.

“What makes you think that?” asked Mrs. Brown.

“The crooked son really doesn’t want the will found, since he has nothing to gain. The poem tells him that he is left out of it. Besides, if the will is found, everyone will learn he is the thief.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted Chief Brown.

Encyclopedia put down his fork and settled back in his chair. He closed his eyes. He always closed his eyes when he did his heaviest thinking.

Mrs. Brown said, “I don’t understand Mr. King. He must have been a nice man to give magic shows at schools. Why should he want to leave his money to the magicians’ union rather than to his own sons?”

“None of the sons, even the honest ones, worked very hard,” said Chief Brown. “Mr. King was a demanding father. He was probably disappointed in them.”

Encyclopedia opened his eyes. That was the sign that he was ready to ask the one question that would break the case.

“Is there anything odd about one of the sons?” he asked. “I mean, is one different in any way from the other three?”

Chief Brown thought a moment. Then he said,

“Three of them are over six feet tall, but Arthur is much shorter,” he said. “Frank is the only one without a moustache. Only John wears glasses. Charles is blond and the others are dark-haired.”

“Does that tell you where Mr. King hid his will?” asked Mrs. Brown, puzzled.

“Yes, Dad just added another clue to the ones I already have,” answered Encyclopedia. “Mr. King wanted to give his sons a chance at finding the will, but he didn’t want to make it too easy for them.”

The boy detective forked the last piece of meatloaf from his plate.

“Mr. King,” he said, “hid the will—”

WHERE?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Case of the Mysterious Thief

Encyclopedia had a chance to solve a mystery at lunchtime when Sally suggested they bike to Mario’s Restaurant.

“We’ve got enough money saved up,” she said. “We can pick up a pizza and something to drink and eat lunch by the duck pond.”

“A neat idea,” said Encyclopedia. “If we have any leftovers, we can feed the ducks.”

Mario’s Restaurant was on Fourth Street. When the detectives arrived, only four tables were being used. It was ten minutes past noon.

The detectives went to the take-out counter. While waiting to give their order, Encyclopedia had a chance to study the room.

Against the wall stood a row of tables for two, empty except for a middle-aged couple. The man was slender and sat with his back to the wall. Facing him was a beefy woman in a tight brown dress. They were eating spaghetti.

Three men and a very fat woman sat at a table by the window. They were sharing a pizza. The woman ate daintily with a knife and fork. The men used their fingers and talked with their mouths full.

At a table near the take-out counter were two men and two women drinking coffee. The men were arguing about baseball. The women seemed bored.

At the fourth table were five young men wearing the uniform of the telephone company. They were eating submarine sandwiches and joking with a waitress.

A bearded cook appeared at the take-out counter. “What’ll it be, kids?” he inquired.

“One all-the-way pizza and two large root beers, please,” said Encyclopedia.

“Ready in a few minutes,” said the cook. “You can wait over there.”

He pointed to a bench next to the cash register. Encyclopedia and Sally sat down, their backs to the tables.

“Something funny is going on here,” whispered Sally.

“I didn’t notice anything,” replied Encyclopedia. “What is it?”

Sally shrugged uneasily. “I’m not sure. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

A few minutes later, the beefy woman in brown and the slender man stopped at the cash register. They paid their check and left.

The next to depart were the five telephone-company men. As they stopped to pay, a scream sounded from the rear of the restaurant.

“Trouble,” said one of the men. He dropped two bills hastily by the cash register. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Police! Call the police!” a woman screamed.