The Case of the Two Spies (5 page)

“The man in the gray suit was following the man in the red shirt, Dad,” Encyclopedia said that night at dinner. “He followed him to a run-down hotel.”

“The Martin Inn,” Chief Brown said.

“Gosh, yes,” Encyclopedia said. “How did you know?”

“The man in the gray suit is Arthur Colp, an FBI agent,” Chief Brown explained. “The other man is John Hudson.”

“Why is he being followed?” Mrs. Brown asked.

“Hudson worked for two years at the defense plant over in Glenn City,” Chief Brown replied. “Two weeks ago he simply quit. The company believes he was spying.”

“What is John Hudson doing in Idaville?” Mrs. Brown said.

“A man named Otto Severin had moved into the Martin Inn a week before Hudson did,” Chief Brown said, “Severin worked in Chicago as a mechanic. The FBI believes he is a spy, too, and Hudson reports to him.”

“If Hudson and Severin are working together,” Mrs. Brown said, “why didn't they meet in Chicago?”

“Too risky,” Chief Brown replied. “The FBI has kept a tight watch on Severiri for months, and he knows it.”

“Hudson and Severin are together now,” Mrs. Brown pointed out. “In the old hotel.”

“So far the two haven't met or talked to each other,” Chief Brown said. “When Severin took a room near Hudson's, the FBI asked me to help keep watch on both men.”

“How do you check their mail and telephone calls?” Mrs. Brown inquired.

“Neither Hudson nor Severin receives mail,” Chief Brown answered. “The hotel lobby has the only telephone, and they don't use it. Hudson goes out in the morning. Severin goes out in the afternoon. Each man spends the rest of the time in his room.”

“Don't they ever go to the same places?” Encyclopedia asked.

“Only in the morning,” Chief Brown said. “The hotel is so old, it has but a single bathroom on each floor. Every morning Hudson and Severin shower, one after the other. But they don't even meet in the hall.”

“You suspect Hudson is passing information about the defense plant in the bathroom?” Mrs. Brown asked.

“It sounds crazy, but I think so,” Chief Brown said.

“You should take Leroy to the hotel,” Mrs. Brown said. “Leroy can figure out how they do it.”

“Want to help, son?” Chief Brown inquired.

“I'd like to try, Dad,” Encyclopedia said.

On the drive to the Martin Inn, Chief Brown remarked, “I forgot to tell you one thing. Both Severin and Hudson have photographic memories. ITiey don't forget anything.”

The Martin Inn was a three-story walk-up covered with peeling paint and years. It looked ready to fall over.

Father and son climbed to the top floor. Encyclopedia saw three rooms on each side of a center hall. At the end of the hmll was a door marked Bathroom.

All the doors, except the bathroom door, had a peephole.

“Hudson has the center room on the right, Severin the center one on the left,” Chief Brown whispered. “My men and two FBI agents are in the other four rooms.”

Chief Brown knocked softly on room 303.

The door was opened by Arthur Colp, the FBI agent whom Encyclopedia had seen following Hudson that morning.

“Anything new?” Chief Brown inquired.

“Same old story,” Mr. Colp said. “Hudson goes out in the morning. Severin goes out in the afternoon. They sure don't hide messages anywhere.”

“You search the bathroom after Hudson leaves and before Severin goes in, I trust?” said Chief Brown.

“And after Severin leaves as well,” Mr. Colp answered. “Nothing is hidden in the pipes or anywhere else.”

“How about their rooms?” Chief Brown said.

“We search them whenever Hudson or Severin goes out, as you instructed,” Mr Colp said. “Nothing but the usual stuff—clothes, toilet articles, towels, a few books. That sort ofthing.”

Mr. Colp looked baffled and angry.

“They're laughing at us,” he said. “They know they're being watched. Yet somehow they're passing information under our noses. Otherwise, their living in the same hotel doesn't make sense.”

Chief Brown gestured for Encyclopedia to slip out and investigate the bathroom.

The bathroom door stood open. Encyclopedia went in and closed the door behind him.

The room had a window, a toilet, a sink, and a shower.

Encyclopedia searched every inch of everything.

He spent a moment staring at the mirror above the sink. Then he closed his eyes and thought his hardest.

“Of course,” he murmured, and returned to room 303.

“When you check the bathroom after Hudson takes his shower and before Severin takes his,” Encyclopedia asked, “is the window open?”

“Yes,” said Agent Colp.

“And does Hudson leave the bathroom door open when he goes back to his room?”

“Wide open.”

“There is your answer,” Encyclopedia said. “Hudson and Severin chose this hotel because it is so old, it has only one bathroom on each floor. Perfect! They can pass secrets with’ out ever being seen together.”

How Did the Spies Pass Secrets?

(Turn to page 71 for the solution to
The Case of the Two Spies.)

S
unday afternoon Encyclopedia and Sally went to the Collectors’ Show at the Convention Center.

They had just walked through the door when Fay Xanikis came leaping toward them as though she had a bellyful of butterflies.

“Encyclopedia, Sally!” she cried. “Am I glad you're here. I saw my chair. Taggart Smith stole it!”

“Go over that again, please?” Encyclopedia requested.

Fay gulped breath and explained. Last month she had found a wooden armchair on a neighborhood trash pile. With her father's help he had fixed it up and put it out on her front porch. The next morning it was gone.

“I didn't see it again until today,” Fay told the detectives. “Taggart is trying to sell it!”

“We'll see about that,” Sally said.

Encyclopedia didn't like Sally's tone, which she used when spoiling for a fight. He understood, however

Taggart was the sixth-grade bully. His classmates rooted for the day he'd bring home a note from the principal demanding his absence,

“Where is the chair?” Sally asked.

“Taggart is sitting on it,” Fay replied, “Follow me,”

She led the detectives past tables piled with beer cans, old lunch boxes, doorknobs, quilts, and Transylvanian road maps,

“This show is for fun collectors,” Fay said, “You won't see any fancy stuff like rare stamps or coins. And everything is for sale. You can pick up some real bargains,”

She halted in a corner under a sign, CHILDREN'S ALLEY, Several little kids displayed their collections of trading cards, toys, bottle tops, marbles, and comic magazines.

Taggart Smith was sitting in a wood armchair. In front of him was a table loaded with hubcaps, A sign by his elbow
read: PRICES AS MARKED.

Sally marched straight up to him, “Fay says the chair you're sitting on belongs to her,”

Taggart bounded to his feet, “Her chair? Why, the kid needs oxygen.”

“You stole it off my porch,” Fay insisted.

“If you wish to buy it, I'll make you a special deal,” Taggart purred, “The regular price is twelve dollars. But today only, I'll let it go for ten,”

“I'm not buying back my own chair,” Fay retorted, “I found it in a trash pile and fixed it up,”

Taggart laughed. “I repaired this chair personally. I found it in the city dump.”

“You couldn't find your head with both hands,” Sally snapped.

“It's my chair and I can prove it,” Fay said. “I scratched my initials, FX, under the seat.”

Taggart didn't seem the least startled by the news. Indeed, he suggested having a look.

He turned over the chair. On the bottom of the seat was scratched FX.

“What did I tell you!” Fay exclaimed triumphantly.

Taggart smiled slyly. “Those aren't your initials, little girl. The FX stands for Francis Xanathippe.”

Francis Xanathippe had been IdavilleVfinest musician. As a teenager he had started a business clipping and cleaning the hind half of cows, Farmers disliked the job, but a state law required it be done for sanitary reasons.

As he worked, Francis Xanathippe hummed to himself. Thus began his career in music. By the age of forty he was first violinist in the State Symphony Orchestra.

“This was the chair he sat in when he practiced at home,” Taggart declared. “He died five weeks ago. Before his widow moved to Greece, she cleaned out the house. The old chair ended up in the dump.”

“I never heard a worse lie!” Sally announced.

Taggart reddened “That does it! Pm calling you out.”

“After you,” Sally said with a bow.

The detectives and Fay followed Taggart through a rear exit and into a narrow back alley.

Sally raised her fists. “Make your move.”

Everything was happening so quickly, Encyclopedia had no chance to think about the chair. He could only watch and hope no one got hurt,

“One punch from me,” Taggart snarled, “and you'll have tired blood for a month.”

Sally wagged her right, “If I hit you with this, you'll be reading get-well cards tomorrow,”

“Oh, yeah?” Taggart roared, and swung a haymaker, Sally slipped it and stung him with a rap on the ear,

Taggart stepped back, surprised.

He went into a dance, trying to confuse her with his speed, Sally was faster. Her jab beat “Taps” on his nose. Soon she had him wobbling around like a boy learning to walk on stilts.

“Curtain time,” she said at last, and fired a fast one-two.

The two punches must have felt like ten, Taggart doubled over as if to get a closer look at the best place to land.

Fay hopped in glee. “Rest in pieces,” she cried as Taggart sank to the ground.

He lay on his back, afraid to move. A girl had put him away. His bullying days were over.

Sally blew on her knuckles. Suddenly her brow knit in concern.

“Encyclopedia,” she said, “you can prove he was lying about the chair belonging to Francis Xanathippe, can't you?”

Encyclopedia nodded pleasantly.

“Of course,” he replied.

What Made Encyclopedia So Sure?

(Turn to page 72 for the solution to
The Case of the Violinist's Chair.)