The Case of the Slippery Salamander (7 page)

“Oh, yes, you will,” Encyclopedia said firmly. Then he turned to Garth and Todd. “Where did you hide Benny’s board?”

How did Encyclopedia know that Garth and Todd were the thieves?

(Turn to
this page
for the solution to The Case of the Stolen Surfboard.)

Encyclopedia knew that Sam Maine was lying because he told Chief Brown he’d been taking care of “salamanders and
other
lizards for more than nineteen years.” Anyone who’d been taking care of salamanders for that long would know that salamanders are not lizards. They are classified as amphibians. Lizards are classified as reptiles.

Sam Maine admitted stealing the valuable new tiger salamander that morning. After he returned Fred to the aquarium, he was fired from his job as caretaker.

When Encyclopedia examined the first set of paintings, he noticed that the bowl contained seven pieces of fruit—three apples, two pears, and
two
bananas. In the second set of paintings, there were only six pieces of fruit, including one banana. This told Encyclopedia what he wanted to know—that the banana had disappeared between Session One and Session Two, before Pablo arrived.

Monsieur LeBlanc gave Pablo his job back. He also made Bugs Meany clean all the paintbrushes after class for the rest of the summer.

Bugs forgot one key fact: Roaches always die on their backs. When Encyclopedia looked in at the dead bug, he could see his shiny brown shell. If the roach had actually died inside the box, as Bugs claimed, the roach would have been lying on his
back
with his legs in the air.

When faced with the truth, Bugs was forced to admit that he’d planned the switch to make the two detectives look bad. The judges disqualified Bugs and his bug from the Insect Race.

The beetle was declared the winner when it reached the outer wall of the ring in one minute and twenty-two seconds.

Mr. von Martin made two mistakes.

First, he pretended he didn’t know anything about the Roman-Numeral Robber. But when the boys entered the shop, Encyclopedia spotted a copy of that day’s
Idaville News
near the cash register. Encyclopedia guessed that the jeweler was lying when he said he hadn’t read the articles about the Roman-Numeral Robber. Not only had he read them, the stories had given him the idea to stage a copycat robbery in his own store.

The jeweler made his second mistake when he wrote the date at the top of the note. Instead of writing “XXIV” for June 24, the jeweler wrote “XXIIII.” Encyclopedia remembered that jewelers often use “IIII” instead of “IV” when designing watches.

Mr. von Martin admitted that the recent development around the marina had been hurting his business. He’d been hoping to collect insurance money for the valuable watch.

Encyclopedia went home satisfied. He hadn’t caught any fish, but he had caught a liar!

The winner was Roberta Garnet.

Encyclopedia figured this out after he remembered two of Ida Wedgwood’s previous jobs: Before becoming a maze designer, she had worked as a jeweler and as a code breaker. Ms. Wedgwood hadn’t forgotten to pack her things. She’d left behind the red dress and the calendar open to January as part of the code.

When he looked at the items again, Encyclopedia remembered that the birthstone for the month of January is a dark red stone—a garnet.

It didn’t take long for Encyclopedia to prove that Wilford’s scheme was for the birds. If the con artist had bothered to do his homework, he would have discovered that
peacocks
don’t lay eggs,
peahens
do. Furthermore, Wilford was lying when he claimed to have seen the mother bird’s beautiful feathers. It’s the peacocks who have the beautiful feathers; the female birds are much plainer.

After Encyclopedia laid out the facts, Wilford had no choice. He admitted that the eggs were just ordinary large chicken eggs. He returned Jack’s money and stopped selling the phony peacock eggs.

When the substitute umpire dusted off the plate for the players, Encyclopedia was able to read the lettering on the
back
of the man’s T-shirt. But Encyclopedia knew that professional umpires are carefully trained to turn around to face the crowd when they dust the plate. In the major leagues, it is considered bad manners to show your backside to the fans.

Once he had proof that the phony ump had lied about working for the major leagues, Encyclopedia informed the Indians’ coach, who stopped the game. The championship match was rescheduled for a later date.

When looked at from
behind
the desk, the calculator spelled out the numbers
577345
. But when read upside down (or from the front of the desk), the calculator spelled out the word “ShELLS.” Encyclopedia realized that Kent had managed to leave his parents a secret message: The owner of Shells and More Shells was his kidnapper. The police quickly located the owner, who led them to Kent.

Gwendolyn forgot one important fact: George Washington had false teeth. Thus, he didn’t use a toothbrush.

After Encyclopedia caught her in the lie, Gwendolyn admitted that she’d found most of her “presidential antiques” at a local flea market. Benny and Charlie got their money back, and so did everyone else.