Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  The Case of the Vanished Sculpture

  The Case of the Glittering Diamonds

  The Case of the Tempting Toys

  The Case of the Missing Songs

  The Case of the Home-run Hitter

  The Case of the Lazy Lion

  The Case of the Explorer’s Map

  The Case of the Arrowhead Hunters

  The Case of the Courageous Camper

  The Case of the Carnival Crime

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE SECRET PITCH

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN FINDS THE CLUES

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN GETS HIS MAN

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SOLVES THEM ALL

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN KEEPS THE PEACE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN SAVES THE DAY

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN TRACKS THEM DOWN

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN TAKES THE CASE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN LENDS A HAND

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE DEAD EAGLES

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN CRACKS THE CASE

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, SUPER SLEUTH

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE SECRET UFOs

  DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa • Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2011 by Lobos Enterprises, LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Summary: Ten brief cases allow the reader to match wits with ten-year-old crime-buster, Encyclopedia Brown, as he investigates such cases as toys missing from a fair, music stolen from a singer-songwriter, and arrowheads that disappear during a campout.

  Contents: The case of the vanished sculpture—The case of the glittering diamonds—The case of the tempting toys—The case of the missing songs—The case of the home-run hitter—The case of the lazy lion—The case of the explorer’s map—The case of the arrowhead hunters—The case of the courageous camper—The case of the carnival crime.

  ISBN : 978-1-101-53575-2

  PZ7.S68524Ent 2011

  [Fic]—dc22 2010045854

  Published in the United States by Dutton Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 • www.penguin.com/youngreaders

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For Richard Siegelman,

  my Number One Fan among school teachers

  The Case of the Vanished Sculpture

  The town of Idaville had a secret.

  From the outside Idaville looked like many seaside towns its size. It had several banks, three movie theaters, and two delicatessens. It had churches, synagogues, and clean beaches.

  Nevertheless, Idaville was different. No one, grown-up or child, got away with breaking the law in Idaville.

  Police across the country puzzled over how Idaville did it. Whose masterful mind cracked the hardest crimes? The popular choice was Chief Brown of the Idaville police force.

  The Chief was brave and smart. He always knew what to do with an especially hard mystery. He went home to eat.

  His only child, ten-year-old Encyclopedia, solved the case at the dinner table. Usually he needed to ask only one question.

  Chief Brown wanted to tell the world about Encyclopedia. Yet who would believe him? Who would believe a fifth-grader belonged in the Detective Hall of Fame?

  So Chief Brown said nothing and neither did Mrs. Brown.

  Encyclopedia wasn’t looking for the spotlight. He had read more books than almost anyone and never forgot what he read. That was how he had gotten his nickname. Only his parents and his teachers called him by his real name, Leroy.

  Thursday night the Browns were having roast chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. As his father poured gravy on his potatoes, Mrs. Brown said, “Careful, dear, you don’t want to drown them.”

  Chief Brown put down the gravy boat. “Sorry,” he said. “This museum case has me stumped.”

  “What happened?” asked Encyclopedia.

  “A small sculpture was stolen yesterday from the Idaville Museum. It was a statue of the Roman god Mercury.”

  “How small is small?” asked Mrs. Brown.

  “It was about a foot tall,” said Chief Brown. “And pretty heavy, too, because it was carved out of marble. The robbery took place a couple of hours after the museum had closed.”

  “Doesn’t the museum have security cameras and an alarm system?” asked Mrs. Brown.

  “They certainly do,” said the Chief, “and they’re good ones. We reviewed the tapes. They show that all the museum visitors left when they were supposed to.”

  “After that?” asked Mrs. Brown.

  “After that,” Chief Brown said, “the security camera was mysteriously turned off. Now, it made sense that the alarm system was not activated for the night since people were still at work inside. But the security cameras are never turned off on purpose. That points to an inside job. The problem is, there were three employees inside the museum at the time the robbery occurred. One was the Curator of Antiquities, the second was a security guard, and the third was a janitor. They all claim to be innocent.”

  “The Curator of Antiquities would certainly know how much a statue like that was worth,” said Encyclopedia.

  “He ought to,” his father said. “In fact, he was the one who told us the statue is worth a hundred thousand dollars. However, he’s not familiar with how to turn the security cameras on and off.”

  “The security guard could do that,” said Encyclopedia.

  “He could,” agreed his father, “but he claims he was nowhere near the control room

  —which is where the switch off happened. We dusted for fingerprints. The place was clean as a whistle.”

  “What about the janitor?” asked Mrs. Brown.

  The Chief shrugged. “He says he knows nothing about ar
t. If you need advice on washing a floor, though, he’s your man.”

  “Have you arrested anyone?” questioned Mrs. Brown.

  “No,” said the Chief. “The problem is, the three suspects alibi one another. They were all in the building at the same time. The security guard was making his nightly rounds when he saw the curator working late in his office. They even said hello to each other. The security guard also saw the janitor washing the floor of the lobby. Both the security guard and the curator saw the janitor later rolling the pail away with the mop over his shoulder when the floor was done. They waved to him, too. Apparently, the staff doesn’t stand much on ceremony. They’re pretty friendly.”

  “I don’t suppose you can arrest them all?” asked Mrs. Brown.

  “No,” said the Chief, “not unless we thought they were working together. We don’t think that. We’ve interviewed the other museum employees, and these three don’t seem to have known one another especially well. We’ve checked their work schedules. Nothing out of the ordinary. And that’s too bad. I’m afraid if we don’t zero in on one of them soon, the trail will go cold.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” said Encyclopedia. “I believe I know who’s artfully hiding his guilt.”

  WHO DOES ENCYCLOPEDIA THINK IS THE THIEF?

  (Turn to page 77 for the solution to “The Case of the Vanished Sculpture.”)

  The Case of the Glittering Diamonds

  During the year Encyclopedia helped his father solve crimes. When school let out for the summer, he helped the children of the neighborhood as well. He opened a detective office in the family garage. Every morning after breakfast he posted his business sign outside the garage. He kept his fee to only twenty-five cents.

  Encyclopedia Brown was sitting in his agency reading the business section of the newspaper. There was an article on the stock market quoting some financial experts. Half of them thought the market would go up. The other half thought it would go down. There was also an item about an Idaville man who had started a company that made triangular-shaped cardboard boxes. Encyclopedia was wondering what kind of company he might start for himself when he heard a voice in front of him.

  “Buy low, sell high, and never be afraid to leave some of the profit for someone else.”

  These words of wisdom were uttered by Dollar Bill Pesada. He was in the sixth grade. Everyone called him Dollar Bill because he was careful with his money. He always had his eye out for good investments.

  Encyclopedia put down the newspaper. “That’s sound advice.”

  Dollar Bill smiled. “The trick is knowing when the right moment has come.” He took out a quarter and put it down on the empty gasoline can. “I won’t waste your time with small talk because time is money.”

  “Good to know,” said Encyclopedia.

  Bill went on. “I’m here for a reason. I want to hire you to check out a new opportunity I’ve just heard about. Bugs Meany is selling shares in a diamond mine.”

  “Bugs Meany?” Encyclopedia groaned. “Ugh.”

  Bugs was the leader of a gang of boys called the Tigers. They were so underhanded that sometimes they had trouble raising their arms over their heads.

  “This could be a great opportunity,” said Dollar Bill. “If what he’s claiming is true, I could double or triple my investment in no time.”

  “If I know Bugs,” said Encyclopedia, “he’ll be the only one making money on this.”

  “In that case,” said Dollar Bill, “we’d better investigate at once.”

  They found Bugs standing in front of the Tigers’ clubhouse, an unused toolshed behind Mr. Sweeney’s Auto Body Shop. A crowd of kids had gathered around him. Bugs was talking about the diamond mine Dollar Bill had mentioned.

  “You know how women wear diamond engagement rings?” said Bugs.

  The crowd of kids sounded off to let him know they did.

  “Some of the diamonds found in this mine are too big and heavy to put on a finger. You’d barely be able to lift one with two hands.”

  “Is that all diamonds are good for?” asked a kid in the front.

  Bugs said, “No, no, they’re used in machines and other things. Believe me, it won’t be hard to find a home for any diamonds dug out of this mine.”

  The kid in front still wasn’t satisfied. “I’m not so sure. What if your cousin just made the whole thing up?”

  Encyclopedia feared Bugs might take a swing at the kid for saying something like that, but Bugs surprised him.

  “I don’t blame you for doubting,” Bugs said calmly. “After all, nobody wants to be tricked into losing money.”

  The kids laughed a bit uneasily.

  Bugs grinned. “My cousin knows that, too. He didn’t want you to take my word for anything. That’s why he sent me some proof.”

  Bugs drew a box out of his pocket and opened it.

  Everyone moved forward for a closer look.

  “Oooh!”

  “Wow!”

  “Just look at the size of that diamond!”

  “That’s right,” said Bugs. “It’s nearly as big as a golf ball. Look how it glitters in the sun. You don’t see diamonds like that every day. It’s probably worth thousands. My cousin didn’t mind sending it to me because it’s one of the smaller ones.”

  “If diamonds like that are the small ones, why do they need us?” the first kid asked.

  “I’ll tell you,” Bugs said grandly. “The way my cousin explained it, the diamonds don’t come out of the mine all polished and everything. They’re dark and rough. Getting them ready to sell costs money. The miners aren’t a big group. They don’t want to sell out to some huge company. That’s why they’re looking for small investors to chip in.”

  “Makes sense to me,” said Spike, a Tiger, who was watching from the side. “It’s one of those rags-to-riches success stories. Luckily, it sounds like there’s still time for us to get in on the big money.”

  Dollar Bill pushed forward for a closer look. “Can I hold the diamond?” he asked.

  Bugs snapped the box shut. “I’m surprised at you, Dollar Bill. You’re known as someone who recognizes the value of a good investment. I just told you this diamond is probably worth thousands. If I let you hold it, you’d promise to be careful. But then everyone else is going to want to hold it, too. What if one of you slipped and dropped it or just scratched it while passing it around? The diamond could be ruined.”

  “Sorry, Bugs,” Dollar Bill apologized. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He turned to Encyclopedia. “It seems like Bugs has thought of everything. This is the time to act fast.”

  “You mean run as fast as you can,” Encyclopedia said. “That diamond is a fake.”

  HOW DOES ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

  (Turn to page 78 for the solution to “The Case of the Glittering Diamonds.”)

  The Case of the Tempting Toys

  Encyclopedia always looked forward to the annual Idaville Fair. The town made a point of dressing up for the event. Doors were freshly painted, and red, white, and blue bunting hung from every window on Main Street. But none of those things, nice as they were, explained why Encyclopedia looked forward to the fair itself.

  There was no mystery involved. The explanation for Encyclopedia’s enthusiasm could be summed up in one word—pie. The fair was famous for homemade pies of every variety—apple, peach, cherry, lemon meringue—Encyclopedia liked them all. His stomach had convinced him that Idaville had more fine pie makers per square mile than anywhere else in the state.

  As Encyclopedia walked home after getting a haircut, preparations for the fair were in full swing. There was a lot of hustle and bustle. The fair put everyone in a good mood. One high school girl seemed to be an exception. She was setting up one of the concession stands. As Encyclopedia passed by, she kicked a table leg.

  “Ouch!” she muttered.

  “Are you all right?” Encyclopedia asked.

  “Yes, yes,” she said. “Or I would be if I didn’t go around kicking table l
egs.”

  “Then maybe you should stop,” said Encyclopedia.

  “Good idea. I’m just feeling upset.” She took another look at him. “Hey, you’re Encyclopedia Brown, the boy detective.”

  Encyclopedia admitted it.

  “My little sister, Carrie, talks about you a lot. I’m Mindy Harmon.” They shook hands. “You’ve arrived in the nick of time.”

  “I have?”

  “If you’re as smart as Carrie says you are, I’ve got a case for you,” Mindy said. “You charge a quarter, right?” Without waiting for an answer, she fished a quarter out of her pocket and handed it to him. “That makes it official.”

  “Tell me what happened,” said Encyclopedia.

  Mindy’s dog, who was sitting nearby, barked twice.

  “Quiet, Cooper!” said Mindy. She turned back to Encyclopedia. “Don’t mind him. He always barks at strangers. It doesn’t seem to scare them much.”

  “Something was stolen?” asked Encyclopedia.

  Mindy nodded. “A large box of stuffed animals is missing from my supplies. They were meant to be prizes for some of the games. It’s too late now to get new ones.”

  Encyclopedia was a little relieved that no pies were involved. “When did you notice the animals were gone?”