The Case of the Two Spies (6 page)
Read The Case of the Two Spies Online
Authors: Donald J. Sobol
”T
hat was Officer Clancy on the phone just now,” Chief Brown said. “Want to come along on a case, Leroy?”
“Do I!” Encyclopedia exclaimed. “What's it about, Dad?”
“A rare coin was stolen this evening from the home of two sisters, Betsy and Claire Millen,” Chief Brown said. “We'll know more when we get there.”
A ten-minute drive in the patrol car brought them to the Millen house on Meadowbrook Lane.
Officer Clancy was waiting at the curb.
“What have you got, Tim?” Chief Brown asked him.
“Just what I told you over the telephone, sir,” Officer Clancy replied. “A nineteenth-century half dollar was stolen at the dinner table while the lights were out. The owner of the coin, Jay Cook, was unconscious. An ambulance was taking him away as I got here.”
“Anyone else leave?”
“No,” Officer Clancy replied, “and I'm told that nothing on the dinner table has been touched”
“Good,” Chief Brown said, “Let's get started.”
Two men and three women were in the dining room. Officer Clancy introduced them.
Encyclopedia studied the Millen sisters. Claire was broad shouldered and had a freshly scrubbed look. Betsy was slightly built and wore a great deal of makeup.
The others were Rodney Thomas, a pilot; Edgar Rice, a doctor; and Sara Lawson, an attorney.
“Will you all please take the same places you had at dinner?” Chief Brown requested.
The five took their seats at the round dining table. Betsy Millen and Dr. Rice sat on either side of the chair used by Jay Cook.
“Why did Jay Cook bring a valuable coin to the table?” Chief Brown inquired.
“We are a rare-coin club,” Rodney Thomas explained. “We get together at a member's home once a month. At most meetings at least one of us shows a favorite coin.”
“This evening Jay brought a half dollar,” Sara Lawson said. “After it was passed around the table, Jay placed it by his water glass.”
“Did anyone leave the table during the meal?” Chief Brown asked.
“I did, twice,” Claire Millen said. “The first time I was in the kitchen carving the roast. The house went dark for about two minutes. A power failure, I suppose.”
Chief Brown pointed to the empty water glass at Jay Cook's place “Does he usually drink a lot of water?”
“Jay has diabetes,” Dr. Rice said. “He has to drink water frequently.”
“Did anyone leave the table besides you?” Chief Brown asked Claire Miller.
“No,” she answered. “I went to the kitchen the second time to get the dessert. While I was there, the lights went off again but came back oil in a few minutes.”
“Before the lights went out the second time, did Mr. Cook seem sleepy?” Chief Brown asked.
“And how,” Rodney Thomas said. “That's a joke among us. Jay overworks. He's always tired. Sometimes he falls asleep before dinner.”
“When the lights came back on the second time,” Chief Brown said, “was the coin still on the table?”
“It was gone,” Betsy Millen said. “Officer Clancy searched all of us. None of us had it. When we couldn't wake Jay, I called the police.”
“Jay was drugged, no question about it,” said Dr. Rice. “But how? The drug wasn't in the food. The meal was passed around the table in serving dishes, and none of us was knocked out. Besides, it couldn't have been in the drinking water.”
“Why not?” questioned Chief Brown.
“Because I forgot water glasses are set to the right of the plate,” Dr. Rice said. “I drank from the glass on my left, Jay's glass. When I realized my mistake, I gave him my untouched glass.” “Don't forget the thin red line across the bridge of Jay'ss
nose,” Sara Lawson put in, “It was there when the lights came on the second time.”
“Oh, yes,” Betsy Millen said. “I tried to bring Jay around with a cold wet cloth on his forehead. The red line wiped off.”
“The strange part is that it looked like blood,” Sara Lawson said. “Yet there was no bruise or cut.”
Chief Brown asked to see the kitchen. Upon his return he motioned Encyclopedia into the hall.
“There are stairs from the kitchen to the basement,” he said. “The way I see it, Claire Millen went from the kitchen down to the basement and threw a circuit breaker, cutting the electricity in the dining room. In the darkness her sister, Betsy, slipped knockout drops into Jay Cook's water glass.”
“And after Claire put the lights back on,” Encyclopedia said, “she waited for Mr. Cook to doze off. When he did, she went back to the kitchen to get the dessert—and to turn off the lights again.”
Chief Brown nodded. “That gave Betsy Millen, who sat next to Cook, the chance to steal the half dollar.”
“She had time to hide it before Officer Clancy arrived,” Encyclopedia said. “Mr. Cook wasn't searched. So the thief can say Mr. Cook pocketed the coin when the lights went out, and it was stolen after he was taken to the hospital.”
Chief Brown sighed heavily. “We need proof. The lab might tell us what kind of sleeping drug was slipped into Jay Cook's glass. But not who slipped it in.”
“Did you notice that two other water glasses were empty?” Encyclopedia asked.
“Yes, Rodney Thomas's and Betsy Millen's.” “But only Betsy Millen's glass had lipstick on the rim,” Encyclopedia said.
Chief Brown looked puzzled. “So?” “So her glass is your proof, Dad!”
What Did Encyclopedia Mean?
{Turn to page 73 for the solution to
The Case of the Stolen Coin)
SOLUTION TO
The Case of the
Kidnapped Dog
The kidnapper, besides writing “on fifth of this month” instead of “Sunday,” had written “at which” instead of “where,” and “horn” instead of “telephone.” Further, he had written “Mrs. Joan T.” instead of “Mrs. Joan Todd,” and “pooch” instead of “dog.”
Encyclopedia realized the d and e keys on the kidnapper's computer keyboard were broken.
Chief Brown found a computer keyboard at a shop on South Street. The d and e keys were being repaired. The keyboard belonged to Mr. Gibson.
Mr. Gibson returned Royal Blackie in time for the Great Dane to win a first prize at the dog show.
The Case of the
Fireflies
Encyclopedia talked Bugs into claiming he and his Tigers had caught the fireflies in the stadium.
But all the Tigers, working from nightfall to dawn in the stadium, could not have filled the can with fireflies.
Not in a week. Not in a month.
As Encyclopedia and Fanchon knew, the female firefly waits in bushes and tall grass for a mate to fly by.
In a stadium the female has no place to wait. There are no bushes, and the grass is cut short.
On a clear night only a few lost fireflies might be seen in a stadium, and probably none on a rainy night.
Bugs admitted he had lied and returned the fireflies to Fanchon.
The Case of the
Duck Derby
Bugs wrote his name on the bicycle basket while the detectives were watching the races.
But his attempt to get revenge on Encyclopedia backfired.
To support his claim of theft he said he saw Encyclopedia bike into the park. He traced Encyclopedia's route to the tree by sweeping his arm from right to left.
True enough, but…
Anything moving from his right to his left would have shown him its left side.
Therefore Bugs couldn't have seen his name on the outside of the basket. He had written it on the right side.
The Case of the
Sand Castle
Lance was guilty. He lied about not having been in the ocean that morning.
In truth, he had sneaked to and from Pablo's castle by the ocean. He knew the incoming tide would wash away his footprints.
He was afraid Pablo's castle would win, and so he had smashed it with a piece of driftwood before dawn.
However, Lance had forgotten that dogs love salt….
When Cuddles licked Lance's ankle, Encyclopedia realized that Lance had not taken a shower. The dog was licking the dried ocean salt on it.
When the judges heard from Encyclopedia, they awarded Lance's prize—a month's free ice cream at Jo^Jo's Ice Cream Shop—to Pablo.
The Case of the
Telephone Call
Mr. Barton, Mrs. Miller, and Derek overlooked what “four-thirty” on the answering machine really meant.
They were upset and not thinking clearly.
The telephone order for the slippers came from Los Angeles, California. It was received in Atlanta, Georgia.
Los Angeles, California, is on the West Coast. Atlanta, Georgia, is in the East. The two cities are more than 2,000 miles apart and in different time zones.
Atlanta is three hours later.
When the caller in Los Angeles said it was four-thirty, it was seven-thirty in Atlanta. That was two and a half hours after Derek had left the office at five o'clock, Atlanta time.
The Case of
the Stolen wallet
Todd and his brother, Garth, were mad at Charlie. He had made them throw back all their small fish. So Todd lifted Benny's wallet and tried to pin the theft on Charlie.
Todd had two problems with his story. First, he had to give a reason why both Charlie and he were awake late at night. So he blamed Benny's snoring.
Second, he had to explain how he could see the wallet. He couldn't have seen it if Benny was lying facing him, or on his back. So he claimed Benny had his back to him.
Only one of the statements could be true, Encyclopedia realized.
If Benny had his back to Todd, he was sleeping on his side. And when Benny slept on his side, “his snoring didn't bother a soul.”
The Case of the
Manhole Cover
Wilford fooled the small children with his square manhole cover.
He didn't fool Encyclopedia, however.
The detective knew the reason why manhole covers are always round. They cannot fall through the hole in the street.
A square manhole cover could fall if it were turned a certain way.
After the children had left the dump, Encyclopedia took a close look at Wilford's square manhole cover.
It was really the door to the furnace
of
an old French locomotive.
Wilford confessed. He had bought the door at a flea market for three dollars and sawed off the hinges.
The Case of the
two Spies
Hudson and Severin had photographic memories. So they didn't need to write anything down on paper.
Encyclopedia figured out why Hudson showered first. When the mirror was steamed, he wrote about the defense plant on it with his finger. Then he cleared the mirror by opening the window and leaving the door open.
Whenever one of the detectives slipped in, he saw a clear mirror.
Severing shower caused the mirror to steam over again and show what Hudson had written! Severin then wiped the mirror clean.
Using a master key, Chief Brown surprised Hudson writing on the steanvcoated mirror!
The Case of the
Violinist's Chair
After stealing Fay Xanikis's armchair Taggart discovered her initials, FX, on it. He had to explain them.
The only other Idaville person he could think of with the initials FX was Francis Xanathippe. So Taggart said the chair had once belonged to Xanathippe.
But Taggart got carried away with his story. He claimed the violinist used the armchair when playing at home.
He thought no one could prove he lied. Xanathippe was dead. His widow had moved to Greece.