Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way (4 page)

“Not likely,” said Wilford. “But I know where it is.”

“So tell us,” shouted several children at once.

“I’m getting to it,” said Wilford, holding up his hands for quiet.

“Yesterday,” he said, “my pal Jim Baker took the bus from Glenn City to Idaville. As he sat down, the loudspeaker in the station blared. It said that the Detroit Armored Truck robber was believed to be in or around Idaville. Everyone was asked to watch out for a red-haired man who acts suspiciously.”

“Let me guess,” said Bugs, rolling his eyes in disgust. “Your pal Jim Baker spotted the robber on the bus.”

“Well, it’s true,” Wilford said calmly. “As the bus started, a red-haired man in a brown suit spoke to a blond man sitting across the aisle. You know what he said?”

The children were silent as stones.

Wilford continued. “The red-haired man said, ‘Did you hear the loudspeaker? I’d better slip off at the first stop. Get the money. It’s in Detroit in my closet. But keep away from airports. Rent a car. Here’s my address.’ ”

Wilford paused to let the suspense build before going on. “The red-haired man wrote on a piece of paper and gave it to his friend. Then he said, ‘Memorize the address and tear up the paper.’ ”

Wilford held up a slip of paper. It had been torn into pieces and was taped together.

“This is the address where the stolen money is!” he cried. “My friend Jim picked up the pieces from the floor of the bus after the blond man got off.”

Carefully Wilford returned the paper to his pocket.

“I have to beat the blond man to Detroit,” he said. “I don’t dare telephone the Detroit police. I have to see them in person to be sure of the big reward!”

“So you’re putting the touch on us for the plane ticket?” asked Bugs. “How much?”

“The flight alone costs more than two hundred dollars,” said Wilford. “I’m broke at the moment. So I’m letting all my young friends in on a sure thing. For every ten dollars you give me, I’ll pay back a hundred!”

“Not so fast,” grumbled Bugs. “How come nobody else on the bus heard the red-haired man talking?”

“Maybe there was too much noise,” answered Wilford. “Or maybe he whispered. It doesn’t matter. Jim didn’t
hear
him. Jim has been deaf since birth.
He reads lips.”

“What’s the robber doing around here if the money is in Detroit?” demanded Gus.

“The police have the serial numbers of some of the stolen bills,” replied Wilford. “So he probably came east and spent some of the money here to make the cops think he was heading for Europe. Instead, he must have doubled back and gone west to Los Angeles. He’s clever!”

“So is Wilford,” Encyclopedia whispered to Gus. “But not clever enough. Don’t give him a cent!”

 

 

WHY NOT?

“Who was that on the telephone?” asked Sally.

“Phineas Cole,” answered Encyclopedia as he came back into the garage. “Phineas is pulling teeth at the First Church Summer Carnival. He wants us to come over right away.”

“Did he yank a wrong tooth?” asked Sally worriedly.

“No,” said Encyclopedia. “But he’s afraid there may be trouble. He’ll tell us about it at the carnival.”

The two detectives closed the agency and biked to the church. The carnival was set up on the back lawn. Children and parents moved among the rows of tents and booths playing games of all kinds.

“There’s Phineas,” said Encyclopedia. He pointed to a booth with a pool table. Above the booth hung a sign: “Be Your Own Dentist. Win a Prize. Two Tickets.”

“I’m glad you got here so fast,” Phineas greeted the sleuths. “Something bad is going to happen.”

He had to break off in order to see to business. A small girl had stepped uneasily to the pool table.

She eyed the shelf of prizes. Without a word, she handed Phineas two tickets and tapped her loose tooth.

“Don’t be scared,” Phineas said. “You won’t feel a thing.”

Quickly he tied a piece of string to the wobbly tooth. The other end he tied to the tip of the cue stick. He put a black ball in the center of the table and gave the girl a white ball and the cue stick.

“Make the white ball hit the black ball,” he said. “Call your pocket. If you sink the black ball, you win a prize.”

The girl lined up the white ball with the black ball. “Corner pocket,” she said.

She gripped the cue stick tightly. Just before she shot, she lost her nerve and shut her eyes. The cue stick jerked forward. Out popped the tooth, but the white ball rolled wildly. It missed the black ball completely.

Phineas untied the tooth. He handed it to the girl, wrapped in paper. “Better luck next time,” he said.

To Encyclopedia he added proudly, “I get a lot of repeat business.”

“You didn’t call us here to show us your do-it-yourself tooth puller,” said Encyclopedia. “What’s wrong?”

“Bugs Meany,” answered Phineas. “Do you remember what he did at last year’s carnival?”

Encyclopedia remembered. Bugs had stood near Phineas’s booth and had sold pills for ten cents apiece. The pills were really only candy aspirin from a toy doctor’s kit, but Bugs said they were pain-killers.

“Without pain to worry about, nearly every kid sank his shot,” recalled Phineas. “I was cleaned out of prizes in three hours. Bugs was chased later, but he swore to get revenge on me this year.”

“I don’t see Bugs around,” said Sally.

“You probably won’t,” said Phineas. “Bugs has an opening for a new Tiger. The word is out that he’s giving some boy a trial today. If the boy does something to me without being caught, he becomes a Tiger. But nobody knows who the boy is.”

“Has there been any trouble yet?” asked Sally.

“Plenty,” said Phineas. “Take a look.”

Coming between the rows of booths and tents was a parade of children in costumes.

“The parade is to build interest in the amateur show tonight,” said Phineas. “The kids are marching to the auditorium for tryouts. Of course, some won’t be good enough. Others will get stage fright when they see so many seats and head straight home.”

“I’m not following you,” said Encyclopedia.

“Look closer,” said Phineas.

Encyclopedia looked closer. Ann and Willie Hallstrom, who sang duets, were limping. Ted Carter, who did hog calls, had his left arm in a sling.

Hank Ives, who did magic tricks, had a long scratch between his elbow and the bottom of his short sleeve. Kitty Bly, Idaville’s best ballerina, had a bandaged arm.

There were about thirty children in the parade. Everyone had cuts and bruises. Many wore bandages.

“What hit them?” exclaimed Encyclopedia.

“A tent,” said Phineas.

He explained. The performers had gathered in the office tent before the parade. Suddenly the center pole had mysteriously given way, and the tent had fallen. The children were treated by a nurse. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt.

“It’s the work of the boy who wants to be a Tiger,” said Sally. “I just know it is!”

“But how does knocking down a tent help Bugs get revenge on me?” said Phineas. “I saw the tent fall and ran over to help. When I returned to the booth, nothing was missing. I telephoned you just to be safe.”

“Phineas!”

It was Mrs. Garcia, the carnival chairman.

“A roll of carnival tickets was stolen from the office tent when it fell,” she said. “I just had a telephone call. The caller didn’t give his name. But he said you stole the tickets and hid them in the pool table.”

“That’s not true,” said Phineas. “See for yourself.”

“I shall,” said Mrs. Garcia sternly.

She dropped the white ball into three pockets. Each time the ball ran down the gutter under the table and came out in a shelf at the far end.

She tried a fourth pocket. The sound of the ball rolling stopped suddenly. She reached into the pocket and drew out the ball. She reached into the pocket again and pulled out what had blocked the ball—a roll of carnival tickets!

“Mrs. Garcia,” said Encyclopedia. “Phineas didn’t steal the tickets. But I think I know who did.”

 

 

WHO WAS THE THIEF?

Through the doorway of the Brown Detective Agency walked a girl with short blond hair and an angry face.

“Boys are rat-finks!” she said.

“Nonsense,” objected Sally. “Some boys are very nice.”

“Not if they play baseball,” said the girl.

She tossed a quarter into the air, caught it behind her back, and slapped it on the gasoline can.

“I’ve come all the way from Glenn City to hire you,” she said. “I want you to find out who learned I am a girl.”

“Huh?” said Encyclopedia. Suddenly he wished he had gone fishing.

The girl explained. Her name was Edwina Silverstein, and she was nine. She lived in Glenn City. She had been the shortstop on an all-boy midget baseball team until last night.

“I joined up as Ed Silverstein,” said Edwina. “My hair is shorter than most of the boys’. In a uniform and sunglasses, nobody could tell I was a girl.”

“But somebody did,” remarked Encyclopedia.

“One of my teammates followed me home after the game yesterday,” said Edwina. “I saw him peeping through the kitchen window—after I’d put on a dress.”

“And the dress put you off the team, but fast,” said Sally.

“Two hours later Coach Pardee telephoned,” said Edwina. “He said he was sorry, but I couldn’t play. Girls are against the rules.”

“How come you didn’t recognize the peeper?” asked Encyclopedia.

“It was too dark,” replied Edwina. “Besides, he had on his baseball uniform and sunglasses. All the players wear uniforms and sunglasses, and it’s hard to tell them apart.”

“Don’t you even have a tiny clue?” pleaded Sally.

“Only this,” said Edwina.

She took a pair of sunglasses from her pocket. “The boy tripped and fell near our fence when I chased him,” she said. “The sunglasses went flying. He was in too much of a hurry to pick them up.”

Encyclopedia examined the sunglasses. The piece of frame that hooked over the right ear was bent outward slightly.

“It must have got bent when the boy fell,” said Sally.

“There are no marks or scratches,” Encyclopedia pointed out. “So the frame was bent before he fell down.”

“We ought to be at the next game Edwina’s team plays,” said Sally. “The boy without sunglasses is our man.”

Encyclopedia shook his head. “You can buy these sunglasses in any drugstore. The guilty boy will have bought a new pair before the next game.”

He returned the sunglasses to Edwina. “Still, it wouldn’t hurt to watch a game,” he added.

So the following Friday the two detectives rode the bus to Glenn City. Edwina met them at the station and took them to the ball field.