Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Treasure Hunt Read Free Page B

‘Don’t write anything down. Keep it in your head. Just remember—it’s the last upside-down year. The next one won’t come for more than four thousand years.’ ”
    Sally frowned, puzzled. “What happened then?”
    “They got up from the bench and separated,” Dustin said. “The short man decided he wanted a snapshot with the President. I’d just clicked his picture when the tall man rushed back and grabbed the camera. ‘You crazy fool, having your picture taken!’ he yelled at the short man. Then they both took off fast with the camera and the picture.”
    “Can you describe the two men better?” Encyclopedia asked.
    “The short man had red hair and his left arm was in a sling,” Dustin said. “The tall man was bald and had a dark mustache.”
    Encyclopedia whistled. “Those descriptions fit the two men who held up Polk’s Jewelry Store yesterday, except they were wearing women’s sheer stockings over their heads.”
    “I’ll bet the short man was told to leave the stolen jewels at a house on Highland Avenue,” Sally said. “Let’s go there and watch for them.”
    Encyclopedia agreed. After Dustin stored the “President” in the first-aid station, the three children rode the number three bus to Highland Avenue.
    As they alighted, Sally’s face was a study ingloom. “I forgot that Highland Avenue is twenty blocks long. We can’t watch every house.”

    Encyclopedia said nothing. He continued walking. After five blocks he remarked quietly, “This is the house—the gray one on the right.”
    “How do you
know
this is the house?” Sally whispered.
    Before Encyclopedia could answer, a blue car drove up and stopped in the driveway. A short man with his left arm in a sling got out. He was carrying a briefcase.
    “He’s one of them!” Dustin gasped.
    “The stolen jewels may be in the briefcase,” Encyclopedia murmured. “Time to call the police.”
    He made the call at the public telephone on Quincy Road. When he returned to the hedge, he saw that the short man had come out of the house.
    The man no longer had the briefcase. He stopped and stared at the hedge.
    “He’s spotted us!” Dustin yelped. “
Run for your life!”
    There was no need to run. A patrol car had pulled in front of the gray house. The short man bolted, but he was quickly captured.Within two hours, the police work was done.
    The gray house belonged to Baldwin Van Carson III, a banker with a sideline in stolen goods. The jewels from the holdup were found in the briefcase in his bedroom closet. The short man, frightened, turned informer; his partner, the tall man, was arrested in a motel on Ocean Drive. Dustin got his father’s camera back.
    At police headquarters, Chief Brown congratulated Encyclopedia. “How did you figure out which house to watch?” he asked.
    “I’d like to know, too, Encyclopedia,” Sally said. “In all the excitement, you never told me!”
    HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW
WHICH HOUSE TO WATCH?
    (Turn to this page for the solution to
The Case of the Stolen Jewels.)

The Case of the Painting Contest
    P ablo Pizzaro was Idaville’s greatest child artist.
    The fifth-grader had won first prize at the Talent Day in April. His winning statue, titled
Bumps on a Log
, was carved out of three potatoes.
    “It invites the viewer to eat his art out,” Pablo had explained to his friends.
    Frankly, Encyclopedia thought
Bumps on a Log
was small potatoes. He dared not say so, however, in front of Sally. She became fluttery whenever she was near Pablo.
    “If Pablo wins a prize at the Modern Art Festival today, fame will be within his grasp,” Sally said dreamily.
    Encyclopedia kept a straight face. “True,” he agreed. “Art lovers yet unborn will praise his name.”
    The Modern Art Festival was held in the high-school gym. The detectives saw Pablo as they entered.
    The young artist was dressed for the part. He wore a beret, a tan smock, and a huge, floppy bow tie.
    “He looks gift-wrapped,” Encyclopedia