Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime

by Donald Sobol

  “What will help,” said the ringmaster, “is firing the lion tamer. This kind of behavior cannot go unpunished. What if the lion returns to being a dangerous animal because of poor training? What if it happens in the middle of a performance?”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Majesto. “Felix would never do that.”

  “Just like Felix would never be lazy,” retorted the ringmaster.

  “You wouldn’t dare say that if Felix were standing here!” said Majesto.

  “Why not?” said the ringmaster. “Should I be afraid he would eat me? After all, he did turn down the steaks.”

  “Hold on,” said Chief Brown. “We probably should talk to Bruno and then we’ll see.”

  The ringmaster snorted. “It’s a waste of time. We all know who’s guilty.”

  “Maybe not,” says Encyclopedia. “After all, at the circus not everything is as it appears to be.”

  WHO DOES ENCYCLOPEDIA SUSPECT?

  (Turn to page 82 for the solution to “The Case of the Lazy Lion.”)

  The Case of the Explorer’s Map

  Encyclopedia Brown opened his agency door one morning to find ten-year-old Sarah Jenkins sitting outside. “Wow!” he said. “You’re here early.”

  “I wanted to make sure I was first in line,” Sarah said.

  Encyclopedia looked both ways. There was nobody else in sight. “No problem there,” he said.

  “Good,” said Sarah. “I need your help right away.” She took out a quarter and placed it carefully on the old gasoline can. “You may not know this, Encyclopedia, but we’ve started a new club this summer. We’re calling it the Lost and Found Club.

  “The club members are all interested in explorers. The Explorers Club seemed like a boring name. Since explorers often get lost, and usually get found, we settled on the Lost and Found Club.

  “Anyway,” she went on, “we’re very interested in old maps. If you look at an explorer’s route on a map today, it doesn’t look so amazing because we now know where everything is. In the old days, explorers had no idea what was waiting for them beyond the horizon. They had to be brave and skillful.”

  “And careful, too,” said Encyclopedia. “A lot of them died before achieving their goals.”

  “Exactly,” said Sarah. “So you can understand how excited we were when Nate Switcher got in touch with us. He thought we would be interested in buying a map drawn by a Spanish mapmaker who accompanied Columbus on his historic voyage of fourteen ninety-two. Imagine what that trip must have been like. Sailing into uncharted waters . . . worrying about falling off the edge of the earth. . . .”

  “Columbus wasn’t concerned about that,” Encyclopedia said. “Knowledgeable sailors knew the earth wasn’t flat.”

  “That’s a fact. I can picture it in my head. I see their faces peering into the mists,” Sarah said.

  “They had to deal with more than mists,” Encyclopedia declared. “Certainly they had plenty of real things to worry about. Running out of food or fresh water. Fierce storms. Attacks from sea monsters . . .”

  “Sea monsters?” said Sarah.

  “That’s the picture in my head,” Encyclopedia said.

  Sarah laughed. “We figured you could help, you being a detective and all.”

  “I can try,” Encyclopedia said. “I think I’ve seen Nate around town. He’s a high school senior, isn’t he? Where would he get a map like that?”

  “He says he found it at a flea market on a trip his family took to Spain. I checked on that,” Sarah said. “The Switchers did go to Europe last summer. Since he bought it with his own money, his parents say he can do whatever he wants with it.”

  “Why is he singling you out?”

  “I guess he figures the Lost and Found Club has the most interest.” Sarah smiled. “And we do. He wants me to come over to his house for a look. I figured it would be good to get your opinion.”

  “Okay,” said Encyclopedia. “Let’s go.”

  When Nate saw them coming, he smiled broadly. “Glad you could make it, Sarah. Obviously, you know a good opportunity when you hear one. I see you brought a friend. How nice.”

  “So where’s the map?” Sarah asked excitedly.

  Nate laughed. “I understand your excitement. Imagine how I felt coming across the map under a pile of dusty papers. I have it right here.” He took it out of a box carefully and laid it out on a small table.

  “Behold!” he cried. “Columbus and his New World.”

  The map was yellow and stained. It was brown at the edges.

  “Hmmm,” said Sarah. “There isn’t much on it. Just a few islands and the words ‘Atlantic Ocean’ printed in fancy letters.”

  “That’s what makes it authentic,” Nate said. “You have to remember that Columbus did not go too far north or south on his first voyage, so naturally the map doesn’t show much of North or South America. Any map that showed all that might look truthful, but it would be a fake.”

  “Behold!” he cried. “Columbus and his New World.”

  “True enough,” said Encyclopedia.

  “Exactly,” Nate said smoothly. “Your friend knows what he’s talking about. Don’t forget that the word ‘America’ itself did not show up on a map until fifteen hundred and seven, and it had nothing to do with Columbus. A German mapmaker named America after another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. He didn’t really do that much for the honor, but the name stuck.”

  “Nate seems to have his facts straight,” said Sarah.

  “He’s on a roll,” Encyclopedia allowed.

  “As I said on the phone,” Nate went on, “I could sell this map to a museum if all I cared about was the money. The way I figure it, museums have way too much stuff already. They can’t even display most of what they own. I don’t want this map to be hidden in some dusty vault. I want it to be bought by people who will enjoy it openly—like the Lost and Found Club.”

  “This map would be a real inspiration for us,” Sarah admitted. “What do you think, Encyclopedia?”

  “Keep your money in your pocket,” the detective said. “That map will only take you in the wrong direction.”

  WHAT MAKES ENCYCLOPEDIA THINK THAT?

  (Turn to page 83 for the solution to “The Case of the Explorer’s Map.”)

  The Case of the Arrowhead Hunters

  Encyclopedia Brown and his friend Henry Millsap were sitting by a snapping fire deep in the woods of the Idaville Campgrounds.

  “I can’t believe I found three Indian arrowheads,” said Henry.

  He looked at them in his hand. The arrowheads were gray pieces of slate. Each one was about two inches long and had a chipped texture that looked like the scales of a fish.

  “You deserve them,” said Encyclopedia. “You searched long and hard yesterday.”

  “I have the mosquito bites to show for it,” Henry remarked. He rolled up his sleeves to inspect the bumps.

  The two boys had come to the campground with their fathers as part of an annual Idaville Father and Son camping trip. After setting up their tents, Encyclopedia and his father had gone fishing. Mr. Millsap had wanted to join them, but Henry had insisted on hunting for arrowheads. His father had kept him company. That meant mostly sitting on a log while Henry dug around in the dirt.

  It had rained during the night and was still drizzling. Henry was in too good a mood to mind.

  “As soon as we finish eating, I’m going to go out looking for more arrowheads,” he said. “Want to come?”

  This time Encyclopedia left the fish safe for another day. “Sure,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get lucky, too.”

  Henry stopped at his tent to put the arrowheads away. He was afraid to lose them by carrying them around. They went out and returned an hour later. It had continued raining, and they were both thoroughly wet.

  “We didn’t find another arrowhead,” Henry mumbled glumly.

  “We did find plenty of mud,” said Encyclopedia.

  “And bugs,” Henry reminded him. “There was
no shortage of bugs.” He looked down at his clothes. “We brought a lot back with us. The mud, I mean, not the bugs. I’m going to change.”

  He ducked into his tent.

  A few moments later he came out.

  “My arrowheads are gone! Someone went through all my stuff.”

  “I don’t suppose they left any clues,” said Encyclopedia.

  Henry frowned. “If they did, I probably destroyed them looking through everything.”

  “I’ll go tell my dad,” said Encyclopedia.

  Chief Brown promptly questioned the other fathers, most of whom had been with their sons during the time the arrowheads had been taken. If fact, only three boys at the campground did not have any alibis. That was because their fathers had spent the morning sleeping in their tents.

  The first was Frank Donner, who was cooking a hot dog over a bright fire.

  “Sure I heard the kid shouting about missing arrowheads,” he said. “You’d have to have been deaf not to hear him. This morning I was gathering wood for my fire here.” He pointed at a pile of dry wood. “There’s the wood—and here’s the fire.”

  It was burning brightly in front of him.

  Mr. Donner, who was already eating a hot dog, spoke up. “Listen to him, Chief. He’s making good sense.”

  The second camper was Jack Muir. He, too, claimed to have been gathering wood for the smoky fire he was tending.

  “I never heard of Millsap or his arrowheads,” he said, poking at the embers to keep his fire alive.

  Mr. Muir kept shaking his head in disbelief. “This is a terrible business,” he said. “Just terrible.”

  The third camper, Teddy Rose, also denied having anything to do with the theft. “I wouldn’t know an arrowhead if I fell over it,” he said.

  “Wouldn’t know it,” his father repeated.

  “That’s right, Dad.” Teddy shivered. “If I had known it was going to rain, I would have stayed home where it’s warm and dry. Out here it’s not easy keeping this fire from going out.” He coughed twice as the wind shifted and the smoke from the fire blew into his face.

  All three boys let the Chief search through their packs to see what he might find. No arrowheads turned up.

  “That doesn’t prove much,” Chief Brown observed. “Any of them could have the arrowheads hidden away somewhere safe. They could come back for them in a few days.”

  “It’s hopeless,” said Henry. “I mean, I want the arrowheads back, but I don’t want to accuse an innocent person by mistake.”

  “Don’t fret,” said Encyclopedia. “I didn’t want to speak up too soon in case the arrowheads were found in the search. I think now we can turn up the heat on the one who’s guilty.”

  WHAT DOES ENCYCLOPEDIA MEAN BY THAT?

  (Turn to page 84 for the solution to “The Case of the Arrowhead Hunters.”)

  The Case of the Courageous Camper

  When Paige Dutton first walked into the Brown Detective Agency, she didn’t stop right away. She just kept walking. She probably would have bumped into a wall if Encyclopedia hadn’t spoken up. “Watch out!”

  Paige stopped. “Oops,” she said, putting down the book she had been reading.

  Paige Dutton was a great reader. She probably had read almost as many books as Encyclopedia, but she only liked to read stories. So when it came to information, she knew Encyclopedia had her beat.

  “I need your help,” she said, taking out a quarter.

  “Book trouble?” asked Encyclopedia.

  “Not trouble, exactly,” Paige said. “Buster Wilde has a cousin who just survived an incredible wilderness adventure. He and Buster think that the adventure would make a bestselling book. But they don’t want to share the profits with some publisher. They want to make and market the book themselves.”

  “Sounds ambitious,” said Encyclopedia.

  “It is,” Paige said. “Printing books costs money, so they’re looking for investors. I’ve saved up a bit from babysitting, and I’d love to enter the world of publishing. This could be just the beginning. Someday I could have my own line of books.”

  “Have you heard the story yet?” Encyclopedia asked.

  “No, Buster’s going to tell it a little later today. I want you to hear what he says to see if the story rings true.”

  Buster Wilde was waiting for the kids behind the Idaville Public Library. About fifteen had gathered before Paige and Encyclopedia got there. Like Paige, most of them were serious readers who spent a lot of time at the library.

  “I’m glad so many of you have come here,” said Buster. “Today you will witness the beginning of a new chapter in publishing. Not everybody gets the chance to be part of something like this at such a young age. All of you are true pioneers.”

  “Tell us about the story,” one kid piped up.

  “Can’t wait, eh?” said Buster. “All right, let’s get started. As you know, the hero of the story is my cousin, Roger. Danger is his middle name—at least it should be after what happened to him.

  “Roger was on a trip with his parents out west,” Buster began. “They were in one of the national parks, the kind where the trees grow so thick you sometimes look up and can’t see the sky.”

  Buster hitched up his pants and went on.

  “Roger and his dad went out on a hike, and a sudden storm came up out of nowhere. The rain came pouring down, and the wind blew so hard they had trouble hearing each other. It was dark, too, because the storm clouds blotted out the sun. They got separated in the darkness. Now, it was bad enough that Roger was lost in a storm in the middle of the woods. Things suddenly got worse. The storm had awakened a hungry bear. When the lightning flashed, Roger saw the bear. Unfortunately, the bear saw Roger. Bears can run faster than people. You can’t climb a tree to get away from them. Bears climb trees better than people. Roger knew both of these things. He ran for his life. The bear chased him. Roger would have been a goner for sure—except he came to the edge of a cliff.”

  “How did that help?” asked Paige.

  “The wind had died down a bit, so Roger could hear water rushing below,” Buster said. “He figured there was a river at the bottom of that cliff. Since his choice was to be eaten by a bear or to jump blindly into the river—he jumped.”

  Everyone gasped.

  “The water was bitter cold,” Buster continued. “It felt like needles pricking his skin. The good news was the bear didn’t jump. Roger was safe. All he had to worry about now were the rapids up ahead. The current yanked him underwater. He struggled to the surface. Although pulled down again, he never gave up. Finally, he was washed ashore. For a long time he just lay there, shivering.”

  The kids who were listening shivered, too.

  “Roger managed at last to get up,” Buster told them. “The churning water had emptied all the supplies in his pockets except his compass. It was night now. Roger was afraid to sit still until morning, fearing he would freeze to death. He tapped the compass a few times. The needle seemed to be working. He knew the ranger station was near a lake to the east. He let the needle settle in that direction and followed it all night.

  “The path was not easy. It seemed as if every root and rock had been carefully placed for him to trip over in the dark. He developed blisters on both feet and painfully hobbled along.

  “When dawn came the next morning, he arrived at the ranger station. It was the best sunrise Roger had ever seen.

  “So who wants in?” Buster questioned.

  “I’m so excited,” Paige whispered to Encyclopedia. “This story has everything. What a way to break into publishing!”

  “I’m so excited,” Paige whispered to Encyclopedia.

  “It’s no way at all,” the boy detective said grimly. “It’s definitely time to close the book on this investment.”

  WHAT MAKES ENCYCLOPEDIA SO SURE?

  (Turn to page 85 for the solution to “The Case of the Courageous Camper.”)

  The Case of the Carnival Crime

  Every summ
er the carnival came to Idaville, filling the empty fields behind the high school with amusement rides and games. Over a long weekend, much of the town turned out to have fun and eat cotton candy.

  On Saturday afternoon, Encyclopedia and his junior partner, Sally Kimball, closed the office in the detective agency early and went over together to check out the attractions. Sally liked the Ferris wheel, which at the top gave a fine view of the town. However, Encyclopedia didn’t like riding it. Even though he understood all about centrifugal force, he didn’t like spinning.

  “You’re sure you don’t want to try the revolving teacups?” asked Sally.

  “Better for me if I don’t,” said Encyclopedia. “Probably better for the teacups, too.”

  “Not fair!” cried Dexter Mumford, coming up beside them. He was a seventh-grader and small for his age.

  “It’s not really a question of fairness,” said Encyclopedia. “My head—and my stomach—would say it was more a matter of common sense.”

  “Not fair at all,” Dexter went on.

  “I don’t think he’s talking about your motion sickness, Encyclopedia,” said Sally.

  “I feel sick, all right,” said Dexter. “Sick about what happened to me.”

  “Why don’t you tell us about it?” said Sally. “We’re detectives. Maybe we can help.”

  Dexter stared at them. “You don’t look much like detectives.”

  “We’re in disguise,” Encyclopedia said with a laugh.

  Dexter slowly nodded his head. “Okay,” he said. “I came to the carnival today to play the games. I do that every year. I’ve never won anything before. I figured maybe I was due.”

  “The science of probability doesn’t really work like that,” Encyclopedia explained.