The Case of the Two Spies (2 page)

E
ncyclopedia helped his father solve mysteries throughout the year. During the summer he helped children in the neighborhood as well.

When school let out, he opened his own detective agency in the family garage. Every morning he hung out his sign:

Brown Detective Agency

13 Rover Avenue

LEROY BROWN

President

No case too small

25$ a day plus expenses

The last customer Thursday afternoon was Fanchon DuBois.

Fanchon was born in France and was into flies. She was known on the block as French Fannie die Female Fly Catcher,

“Bugs Meany stole my fireflies,” she blurted,

“Oh, boy,” Encyclopedia groaned, “Bugs never quits,”

Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers, In Encyclopedia's opinion they should have called themselves the Shoelaces, When they weren't tied up cheating little kids, they were at loose ends,

“Tell me what happened,” Encyclopedia said,

“Ten minutes ago I was running down Brickell Avenue with a can of fireflies,” Fanchon said, “Bugs Meany stopped me. He asked, What's the big hurry?’ I told him I had three minutes to mail off my fireflies before the post office closed.”

“Why were you mailing them?” Encyclopedia asked,

“A company in Texas has some seven hundred kids in twenty states catching fireflies,” Fanchon said, “The company gives us nets and a special storage can that kills and dries the fireflies. We get a penny for each one,”

“So Bugs just up and grabbed the can from you?”

“Not right away,” Fanchon answered, “First he laughed and said little girls shouldn't play with fireflies. That burned me good, I lost my temper,”

“Go on,” Encyclopedia said,

“Like a dope I told him the fireflies were worth a penny apiece,” Fanchon said, “That's when he grabbed the can,”

She laid a quarter on the gas can beside Encyclopedia,

“I want to hire you to get back my fireflies. Bugs must still have them. He wouldn't have had time to mail them off before the post office closed.”

Til go see him,” Encyclopedia said. “But you'll have to come along.”

“Not me,” Fanchon protested. “I don't want to get rid of my health.”

“You have to come with me,” Encyclopedia insisted. “Otherwise I won't know your can if I see it. Don't be afraid. I've handled Bugs before.”

“All right,” Fanchon muttered uneasily. “But I could use something for the headache I'm about to have.”

The Tigers’ clubhouse was an empty toolshed behind Mr. Sweeney's auto body shop. On the way to it Fanchon and Encyclopedia talked fireflies.

“The male lights up to let the female know he's around,” Encyclopedia recalled. “The female waits in bushes or in tall grass and flashes her light to show she's interested.”

“Right,” Fanchon said.

“I read about the company that sends you the cans,” Encyclopedia said. “When the cans are full, you mail them back. The part of the firefly that lights up is sold to hospitals and laboratories for medical purposes.”

“Good golly, Encyclopedia!” Fanchon gasped. “Is there anything you don't know?”

A minute later they reached the Tigers’ clubhouse. Bugs Meany was alone. Beside him on an orange crate was a can.

“That's my can,” Fanchon murmured. “I'm sure of it.”

Bugs saw them and snarled, “Look what's come down the beanstalk. Make like a bumblebee and buzz off.”

“I wish he wouldn't talk like that,” Fanchon whispered.

“Fanchon says you stole her can of fireflies, Bugs,” Encyclopedia said calmly.

“Fan her head!” Bugs roared. “This kid's been sniffing too-many gumdröps.” He advanced on Fanchon, teeth bared.

Fanchon turned pale and she took off. Encyclopedia was left to face the Tigers’ leader alone.

“That's her can on the orange crate,” he said.

Bugs sneered. “You must have a leak in your think tank. Me and my Tigers caught those fireflies.”

Therewith he closed his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and gently sniffed the breeze.

“Everybody takes me for an unfeeling roughneck.” He sighed. “Fact is, me and my Tigers are nature lovers at heart.”

“Next you're going to tell me you caught those fireflies in the stadium last night,” Encyclopedia said.

The stadium was in South Park. It was completely enclosed by a wooden fence, but the gates were never locked.

Bugs smirked. “Good try, wise guy. It was raining last night. We caught the fireflies there Tuesday night after the girls’ softball doubleheader.”

“Since when have you been interested in fireflies?”

“Us Tigers are working to save energy,” Bugs declared. “We're going to turn fireflies into cheap light and earn the thanks of a grateful nation.”

“The fireflies in the can couldn't light up a buttonhole,” Encyclopedia pointed out. “They're dead.”

Bugs received the news like a camel with the staggers. He recovered quickly, however.

“Those fireflies aren't for light,” he said. “They're for research. We're studying them. We have to move care-fully, step by step, like all true scientists. Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb in a day, you know.”

“Give it up, Bugs,” Encyclopedia said. “The fireflies belong to Fanchon. You didn't catch them.”

What was Bugs's Mistake?

(Turn to page 65 for the solution to
    The Case of the Fireflies.)

B
ugs Meany hated being outsmarted by Encyclopedia Brown all the time. He longed to get even.

Bugs never used his muscles, however. Whenever he felt like it, he remembered Sally Kimball. Sally was Encyclopedia's junior partner in the detective agency.

She was also the prettiest girl in the fifth grade. And she could do what no little kid thought was possible.

Punch out Bugs Meany.

Whenever they traded blows, the toughest Tiger ended on his back, as full of fight as a ten-minute egg.

“Bugs doesn't like you any better than he does me,” Encyclopedia warned Sally. “His brain is working overtime at revenge.”

“We're safe,” Sally said. “If you planted Bugs's brain in a goldfish, it would drown.”

The two detectives were biking to South Park for the yearly Duck Derby. People from all over the state had flocked there to watch the ducks run.

The detectives parked their bikes under a banyan tree. Encyclopedia saw Cecy Wenor, a classmate, approaching through the crowd. She was carrying a duck.

“Isn't this great!” she exclaimed. “Two hundred ducks are entered in the races this year.”

She held up her duck. “Meet Duck Amuck.…Hey, didn't you bring a racer?”

“No, we came to watch,” Sally said.

“You're not too late for a chance to be in the winner's circle,” Cecy said.

She led the detectives to a covered pen filled with ducks. A sign by the gate read:

RENT A DUCK FOR $5.00, PLUS $10 ENTRANCE FEE

Cecy looked over the ducks and shook her head.

“Forget it,” she said.

“What's wrong?” Sally asked.

“None of those w^ddlers can win,” Cecy answered. “They're too old. Most ducks are fastest at four months, like Duck Amuck.”

Cecy stroked Duck Amuck's feathers lovingly. “He's what I've been looking for all year,” she said. “A small bird with long legs. He was born to race. You should see him do Windsprints.”

The call for the start of the junior division races boomed over a loudspeaker.

“Here we go,” Cecy said,

“Good luck,” Encyclopedia said.

“Thanks, we'll need it,” Cecy said. “There are lots of serious trainers here today. The winner of each heat gets a twenty-five-dollar savings bond. Top duck in the junior division gets a hundred-dollar bond.”

“That's not exactly chicken feed,” Encyclopedia murmured.

The detectives walked with Cecy to the racecourse. Eight lanes, fifteen feet long, were separated by wire fencing.

“Trainers can run along the ramp and shout encouragement to their ducks,” Cecy explained. “But they can't touch them once the race has begun.”

A judge announced the racers for the first heat. Eight web-footed sprinters, including Duck Amuck, were brought to the starting line.

The ducks took off at the starter's whistle.

Duck Amuck won by a beak over a fast fowl named Salty Quackers. The time was a swift 1.9 seconds.

The detectives watched five more heats. Before the sixth Encyclopedia saw Bugs Meany and Officer Muldoon closing in on him.

“There's the little thief!” Bugs cried, waving at Encyclopedia. “Arrest him in the name of the law!”

“Better come with me,” the policeman said quietly.

Encyclopedia did as he was told. Sally followed him. People were staring.

“That no-good Bugs,” Sally whispered. “He's pulling another of his dirty tricks.”

The detectives followed Bugs and Officer Muldoon to the banyan tree where they had parked their bikes.

“Bugs says the basket on your bike belongs to him,” Officer Muldoon said. “He claims you stole it.?

“That's not true,” Encyclopedia protested.

“His name is on the outside of the basket,” Officer Muldoon replied sternly.

“I saw it when these two biked into the park,” Bugs said. He pointed to the park entrance on his right.

“How could you see your name from so far away?” Sally demanded.

Bugs grinned. “1 mean I saw the basket when you two rode into the park.” He correctly traced the detectives’ path to the tree with a leftward sweep of his arm. “I didn't see my name until Mr. Goody-Goody here passed five feet in front of me. There it was on the basket.”

Encyclopedia examined the basket. BUGS MEANY was inked on the right side in big red letters.

“If only it were not true.” Bugs sighed. “The son of our beloved chief of police is a cheap crook. Oh, the pity of it!”

“This is a frame-up,” Sally said to Officer Muldoon. “Bugs is trying to get Encyclopedia in trouble. He must have written his name on the basket while we were watching the races!”

Bugs tilted his head toward Sally and rolled his eyes. “I have this one failing,” he confessed. “I'll never understand the workings of the criminal mind.”

Sally stamped her foot. “Encyclopedia, don't let Bugs get away with this!”

“He won't,” Encyclopedia said calmly. “He wrote his name on my basket, all right.”

What was the Proof ?

(Turn to page 66 for the solution to
  The Case of the Duck Derby)