The Case of the Two Spies (3 page)

E
ncyclopedia and Sally biked to the beach early Saturday morning to view the sand sculptures.

The day before, children and grown-ups had dug, shaped, and patted sand from dawn until dusk. Along the high-tide line had risen a wonderland of castles, animals, streets, and ships.

By nightfall only the winners among the grown-ups had been chosen. The judging of the children's sculptures had to be put off until morning.

The detectives were eager to see what Pablo Pizzaro had made. Pablo was Idaville's greatest ten-year-old artist.

The children's sculptures stood separate from the grown-ups'. Encyclopedia saw two castles, one lion, and one pile of lumps.

Nearby, three of the young artists, Kevin Baines, Marty Ginsberg, and Lance Wills lay side by side, sunning themselves. All wore bathing suits and sunglasses.

Pablo, the youngest young artist, sat by himself. He spied the detectives and drooped over to them.

“Sorry we couldn't come yesterday,” Encyclopedia apologized.

Pablo was in no condition to accept anything but mis-ery. “Somebody smashed my castle,” he fairly sobbed.

He led the detectives to the pile of lumps.

Sally was furious. “Encyclopedia, do you think one of the others did this? Kevin, Marty, and Lance have a better chance of winning now!”

Encyclopedia did not answer. He was studying the mess of barefoot prints in the dry sand by Pablo's ruins.

Marty and Lance, he had already observed, were barefoot; Kevin wore sandals.

“Can the footprints tell us who smashed Pablo's castle?” Sally asked.

“No chance,” Pablo said. “There must have been two hundred people around the sculptures yesterday.”

Encyclopedia stepped to the ocean side of Pablo's castle. The smooth, damp sand there was without a footprint. The only mark was the fresh high-tide line. The line stopped inches short of the ruined castle.

Pablo moaned. “We'll never find out who did it.”

“Can you fix up what's left?” Encyclopedia asked.

Pablo moaned again, harder. “How? The judging starts in fifteen minutes.”

“Tessie!” Sally suddenly exclaimed. “I might have known she'd show up wherever Kevin is.”

Encyclopedia turned. He saw Tessie Bottoms, looking a little like a walrus in a pink bathing suit, and her poodle, Cuddles.

“Cuddles should be on a leash,” Encyclopedia said.

“So should Tessie,” declared Sally.

Sally didn't like Tessie, a big, pushy eighth-grader who tried to boss around little kids.

“Look at her pose for Kevin, will you!” Sally said disgustedly. “She thinks she has an hourglass figure, and she's right. It takes an hour to figure it out.”

Cuddles bounded playfully among the boys before sniffing at Kevin's sandals.

“That pooch must be trained to pay attention to Kevin,” Pablo observed. “Tessie's been chasing him since seventh grade.”

“Cuddles can't help her get a date,” Sally said. “Even the tide wouldn't take her out.”

“Maybe she wanted to help Kevin win,” Pablo said thoughtfully. “She could have flattened my castle at one sitting.”

“Or she let Cuddles run through it/’ Sally said.

“Cuddles is in the clear,” Pablo stated. “There isn't a paw print near the castle.”

Cuddles had quit sniffing at Kevin's sandals and was eagerly licking Lance's ankle.

“Question Kevin, Lance, and Marty,” Sally urged.

Encyclopedia nodded and walked over to the boys. “Were any of you in the ocean this morning?” he asked.

“No,” the three boys grunted together.

‘Have you taken a shower since you left die beach yesterday?’

The three boy growled, “Yes.”

Another question would bring a fast punch in the nose. Encyclopedia was glad to see a man and woman approaching.

“The judges,” Pablo whimpered.

“Please stand by your artwork, boys,” the woman requested.

“You, too, Pablo,” Encyclopedia said. “Go on. Tell them the lumps represent Baldwin Castle after William the Conqueror destroyed it in the eleventh century.”

“He must have used an atomic bomb,” Pablo said.

“Well, say it's modern art,” Sally offered. “Modern art doesn't have to make sense.”

For a moment Pablo looked like a dead fish on a slab. Then he blinked feebly and threw back his shoulders. “Okay, Pll give it a try.”

Neither William the Conqueror nor modern art helped him, however. He was awarded last place.

Lance took third, Marty took second, Kevin took first, and Tessie took Kevin.

Cooing congratulations, she swished her arms around his waist and squeezed.

Kevin's jaw dropped sideways and he squeaked like a boy with a rusty tonsil.

Sally stared helplessly at Encyclopedia. “If you just had more time….”

“To discover who smashed Pablo's castle?” Encyclopedia smiled. “It was—”

Who Smashed the Sand Castle?

(Turn to page 67 for the solution to
The Case of the Sand Castle.)

I
have a surprise for you, Leroy,” Mrs. Brown said after dinner. “Cousin Derek is coming for the weekend.”

“Great!” exclaimed Encyclopedia. He always looked forward to seeing his cousin.

Derek was seventeen and lived in Atlanta, Georgia. He arrived in time for dinner Friday. He ate quietly, hardly saying a word.

After dessert he excused himself and went to his room.

“What do you think is troubling him, Mom?” Encyclopedia asked.

“He was fired from his summer job last week,” Mrs. Brown answered. “It has upset him terribly. Aunt Helen felt he needed a change. So she sent him to us for a few days.”

“Why was he fired?” Chief Brown asked.

“They say he caused his company to miss a big order,” Mrs, Brown replied, “Derek claims it wasn't his fault.”

“Derek wouldn't lie,” Chief Brown declared.

“Perhaps you can speak with him, Leroy,” Mrs. Brown said. “You might find out what really happened.”

Encyclopedia agreed to try. He wasn't hopeful, though. Idaville was a long way from Atlanta, Georgia. Any clues would have to come from Derek's memory.

The detective went up to the guest room. Derek was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Encyclopedia began by asking about the Yankees, Derek's favorite baseball team. It was hard at first, but he finally got Derek talking.

When Encyclopedia saw his chance, he said, “Mom told me that you lost your summer job.”

“I was fired,” Derek corrected. “They said I left work early. I didn't. It's not losing the job that hurts so much. It's losing the chance to win a scholarship.”

He explained. His job had been with a small shoe company in Atlanta. Every four years the shoe industry awarded a college scholarship to a high school student working at one of its member companies.

“You have to have good grades in school first,” Derek said. “Then you have to be a good worker. Getting fired rules out rny chance for the scholarship.”

“Do you mind telling me what happened?” Encyclopedia asked.

Derek shrugged. “Last Monday Mr. Barton, the owner, left before noon. He had a headache. Mrs. Miller, his secretary, left at three-thirty. Her mother was in an automobile accident.”

Derek sat up and took a deep breath,

“My job is in the stockroom,” he went on, “But on days when both Mr, Barton and Mrs. Miller leave early, I go to the office and stay there till five o'clock. Then I can go home,”

“What do you do in the office?”

“I answer the phone and take messages,”

“How late did you stay in the office on Monday?”

“I left at five o'clock, when I'm supposed to,” Derek answered, “Mr, Barton claims I left earlier. He says I missed an important telephone call at four-thirty,”

“What made him think that?”

“When I leave, 1 turn on the answering machine on Mrs, Miller's desk. If the phone isn't answered after four rings, Mr, Barton's recorded voice comes on. It says,
I
can-not come to the phone now. At the sound of the beep, please leave the time, your name, message, and phone number, I'll get back to you when I can,’”

Derek slapped his thigh angrily,

“The phone didn't ring while I was in the office between three-thirty and five o'clock,” he protested, “Mrs, Miller played back the answering machine the next morning. There was a message from a shoe company in California, She claimed the caller gave the time as four-thirty,”

“Did Mr, Barton hear the recording?” Encyclopedia asked,

“No, just Mrs, Miller, She told Mr, Barton about it, I told him the phone never rang!”

“You didn't leave the office, even for a few minutes?” Encyclopedia asked.

“Absolutely not,” Derek said, “I was in the office until five o'clock/’

“What was the call on the answering machine about?”

“It was a rush order for five hundred of Mr, Barton's new two-way slippers,” Derek replied, “You can put them on from either end,”

“Wow!” Encyclopedia exclaimed, “That may be the greatest invention since cheesecake, Mr, Barton must be some kind of genius,”

“Mr, Barton lives in his own world,” Derek said, “He can't remember what month it is. But he's great at inventing. Last year he invented a sneaker with a ball in the arch. It makes you walk on your toes. You burn calories like crazy,”

“Did Mr, Barton lose the order for the two-way slippers because no one got the call till the next morning?”

“And how,” Derek answered, “The slippers had to be shipped the same day, or not at all. Mr, Barton threw a fit…Say, do you think Mrs, Miller lied about the time of the call in order to get me fired?”

“No,” Encyclopedia said, “Everyone was just too upset to think straight, Mrs, Miller's mother was in an automobile accident, Mr, Barton lost a big order. You were fired. Cheer up. You'll get your job back,”

What Made Encyclopedia So Sure?

(Turn to page 68 for the solution to
The Case of the Telephone Call.)

O
ne of Encyclopedia's good pals was Benny Breslin.

Everyone liked Benny—until he went to sleep. Then his nose was not only seen but heard.