Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers Read Free Page B

pink-and-orange bottom.

    “Not a scratch on her,” he muttered.
    “What’s this all about?” Encyclopedia asked.
    “Just making sure,” Captain Pete said. “Three fishing rods were stolen from the ranger’s station.”
    Earlier in the morning, he explained, the ranger had overheard a boater’s distress call on the radio. He had dashed off in his powerboat. He must not have closed the door securely, and the wind blew it open.
    As he pulled away, he glimpsed a pink-and-orange canoe approaching the station.
    “It had to be one of my canoes,” Captain Pete said. “I purposely use colors no one else uses.”
    “Who was in the canoe?” Tommy asked.
    “The ranger didn’t notice,” Captain Pete replied. “He was too concerned with the distress call. When he came back to the station an hour later, the three fishing rods were missing.”
    “Who else rented a canoe this morning?” asked Encyclopedia.
    “The Baldwin sisters went out half an hour before you,” Captain Pete said. “Andthe Smith twins left right after them.”
    “Here they come,” said Tommy, motioning toward two pink-and-orange canoes on the river.
    First to tie up were the Smith twins, Barry and Gary. They were powerful, one-hundred-sixty-pound high-school wrestlers.
    The Baldwin sisters came in shortly afterward. Peggy, a small sixth-grader, sat in front. Nancy, a big eighth-grader, sat in back.
    They tied the front of the canoe to the dock, as the twins had done.
    The twins and the sisters claimed they knew nothing about the stolen fishing rods.
    “We never even got out of our canoe,” Gary insisted.
    “Nor did we,” Nancy said.
    Their canoes had neither fishing rods on the inside nor scratches on the outside.
    “Heck,” Tommy whispered. “Whoever stole the rods had time to hide them among the trees. Why did Captain Pete look for scratches?”
    “He probably figured the thieves beached their canoe on the rocks behind the ranger’sstation, where there is less chance of being seen,” Encyclopedia said. “Scratches would tell which canoe it was.”
    “They could have used the ranger’s dock,” Tommy pointed out. “Come to think of it, so could any boater. Maybe the fishing rods were stolen by someone else.”
    “No,” Encyclopedia said.
    “How can you be so sure?” Tommy inquired.
    “When we brought the canoes in,” Encyclopedia replied, “we all made wet sneaker prints on Captain Pete’s dock—you, me, the twins, and the sisters.”
    “Of course we did,” Tommy said. “All three canoes still had rainwater in them.”
    “True,” Encyclopedia said. “But there was one set of footprints too many, and they belong to the thief.”
    WHO WAS THE THIEF?
    (
Turn to this page for the solution to The Case of the Rented Canoes.)

The Case of the Brain Game
    T yrone Taylor was a friendly boy who was known throughout the neighborhood as Romeo Glue.
    He was always stuck on some girl.
    “Who is she this month?” Encyclopedia asked Sally as they biked to Tyrone’s birthday party.
    “Cindy Hayes, the blonde in Mrs. Benson’s fifth-grade class,” Sally said. “She looks as if she’d lose her way walking upstairs. But she’s smart. She’s doing seventh-grade math.”
    Cindy Hayes was also quick on her feet. She won the first game at the party, musical chairs played blindfolded.
    “The music was wrong,” Sally complained, rubbing her leg. “It should have been ‘Lullaby to Shin Splints.’ ”
    For the second contest, pie eating, there were only four contestants. Chester Jenkins, Encyclopedia’s widest pal, scared off everyone else. As soon as the eating began, Chester showed why he was nicknamed Jet Jaws. He won by half a pie.
    “You only go around once in life,” Chester told the detectives. “You’ve got to eat all the banana-cream pies you can.”
    After he waddled off, Sally said, “Chester is sure to win another prize, first one in the dining room.”
    Encyclopedia defended his pal. “Chester is more than an