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Authors: Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch (7 page)
BOOK: Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
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Herb quickly pulled back the canvas. Underneath was a shiny red bicycle. It lay on its side on the green grass.
“Yours?” Encyclopedia asked.
“It looks like my bike, but I can’t be sure,” said Herb. “I only got it two days ago. I didn’t have a chance to put my name on it yet.”
“You mean it might not be yours?” Encyclopedia gazed uneasily at Biff. The big boy was rolling on the ground in pain.
Encyclopedia was knocked backward.
“What do you eat, Blimp, nails?” groaned Biff, shaking his hurt hand.
“You stole this bike yesterday, confess!” said Encyclopedia.
“You’re crazy,” grunted Biff. “It’s been here under the canvas ever since I bought it two months ago.”
“Maybe it’s all a terrible mistake,” whispered Herb. “Biff still has a good left hand. Let’s get out of here while we can still walk.”
“We’re pedaling out—both of us,” said Encyclopedia. “There’s been no mistake. Biff stole your bike all right.”
HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?
(See the section SOLUTIONS for the solution to The Case of the Stomach Puncher.)
SOLUTIONS
Solution to The Case of the Secret Pitch
Encyclopedia knew instantly that neither the letter nor the check was written by the Yankee pitcher, Spike Browning, nor by any grown-up.
Both the check and the letter bore the same date -June 31, but no year was given.
And
there is no June 31.
June has only 30 days!
there is no June 31.
June has only 30 days!
Shown the errors, Bugs could do nothing but admit having written the letter and check himself. As the loser of the bet, he had to give Speedy Flanagan his baseball bat.
Solution to The Case of the Balloon Man
Mr. Potts overlooked the fact that Izzy always blew up his green and pink balloons with his mouth. That is, the balloons had nothing but breath, or air, in them. Balloons with nothing but air in them do not rise high into a tree on a day without breeze. They sink to earth!
(Only a balloon blown up with something lighter than air-such as helium-will rise high into the air.)
Encyclopedia immediately realized that Mr. Potts had planted the balloon in the tree ahead of time. Then he had told the Reverend he had just seen it.
This gave Mr. Potts the chance to climb up the ladder. Looking over the twelve-foot wall, he pretended to see Izzy kidnapping little Bobby.
Encyclopedia knew that Mr. Potts must have kidnapped both Izzy and Bobby at some earlier time.
When Chief Brown heard this, he went to Mr. Potts’s house. He found Bobby and Izzy tied up. Izzy’s truck was hidden in Mr. Potts’s garage.
Caught, Mr. Potts confessed. He had rented the house behind the Tylers’ in order to kidnap Bobby and hold him for the ransom money.
Solution to The Case of the Ambushed Cowboy
Ringo Charlie had said Johnny Kid knew he was coming because at nine o’clock in the morning, his shadow, falling
abead
of him, gave him away.
abead
of him, gave him away.
Johnny Kid had seen the shadow and jumped from behind the rock shooting.
But Mr. Scotty, the guide, acting out the part of Ringo Charlie at the same time in the morning eighty-five years later, had “squinted into the morning sun.”
That proved Ringo Charlie lied.
With the sun in his face, Ringo Charlie’s shadow would have fallen
behind
him!
behind
him!
Solution to The Case of the Forgetful Sheriff
Mr. Baker said: “You can’t shoot seven bullets from a six-gun.” Count them.
Sheriff Wiggins claimed: he was wounded in the left arm by two shots (two bullets) from the lookout’s six-gun; he then seized the lookout’s gun and killed him with it (three bullets); then he shot the remaining four outlaws (seven bullets! ).
Encyclopedia reasoned (as had Mr. Baker) that the sheriff was secretly a member of the holdup gang. In riding after his outlaw partners, the lawman didn’t bother to put on his gun because he didn’t think he’d need it.
Then he had a falling out over the division of the loot, probably. Getting hold of a gun, he surprised and killed his partners.
Before he could ride off with the gold, the posse reached him. So he had to make up the story about shooting the five outlaws in the line of duty.
Solution to The Case of the Hungry Hitchhiker
The hitchhiker made his mistake by trying to be friendly. He never should have given the boy detective the chocolate bar.
Encyclopedia had to “break off” two squares. That meant the chocolate was
hard.
But the hitchhiker had said he was waiting at the crossroads for “about an hour” on a hot day when the temperature had reached “ninety-three” degrees.
hard.
But the hitchhiker had said he was waiting at the crossroads for “about an hour” on a hot day when the temperature had reached “ninety-three” degrees.
Had the hitchhiker been telling the truth, the chocolate bar would have melted in the heat. Instead of being
hard,
it would have been like
soup.
hard,
it would have been like
soup.
The hitchhiker could only have had one reason for lying. He had to be a member of the holdup gang who was left behind to direct pursuit away from the road that the getaway car had really taken!
The fake hitchhiker confessed that he kept the knapsack in the air-conditioned getaway car till it was time for him to act out his part.
The entire gang was quickly rounded up.
Solution to
The
Case of the Two-Fisted Poet
The
Case of the Two-Fisted Poet
Before the fight, Percy had placed his eyeglasses in “the breast pocket” of his suitcoat.
During the fight, the bigger boy pounded Percy’s “chest” and stomach with body blows.
Yet after the fight Percy had put on his eyeglasses again.
That was Percy’s mistake!
Had the bigger boy hit Percy as hard as he could, Percy’s eyeglasses-lenses and frames-would have been smashed by the body blows.
Encyclopedia knew, therefore, that the bigger boy was faking his punches. He was helping Percy show off in front of Sally!
Solution to The Case of the Wounded Toe
Duke told Encyclopedia that he “didn’t know anything about Charlie being shot in the foot.”
But he gave himself away by not asking
which
sneaker he should bring from Charlie’s closet.
which
sneaker he should bring from Charlie’s closet.
When Dr. Ross cut a hole for the wounded toe in Charlie’s sneaker, “It fit perfectly.”
That meant Duke had brought the left sneaker.
Yet he couldn’t know whether to bring the left or the right sneaker unless he had seen the wound.
When Chief Brown told this to Duke’s parents, Duke confessed. He said he had not meant to hit Charlie, only to scare him away from the Tigers’ secret firing range.
The police took the air gun from the Tigers.
And each boy’s parents punished him for holding target practice in the ancient burial grounds.
BOOK: Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
11.93Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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