May 2013
21 posts
3 tags
The Case of the Lazy Lion
Chief Brown was able to score some tickets to the circus for his family because he was friends with circus owner Phineas Dailey. I wonder why Chief Brown is so close to so many circus owners.
All in all, the family was impressed with the circus. The only part that didn’t seem right was the lion tamer, who couldn’t get Felix the Ferocious to do anything. The lion tamer whipped and yelled through a...
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The Case of the Home-run Hitter
Chip Caswell’s liked collecting baseball souvenirs. In addition to that, he had kept every ticket stub from every game he had ever been to. That’s why he was excited that a sports museum was opening in Idaville. It doesn’t really make sense that such a museum would open in a small town in Idaville, which had no connection to professional sports. What made even less sense was the fact that there...
“The science of probability doesn’t really work like that.”
– Encyclopedia Brown, just being Encyclopedia. The Case of the Carnival Crime
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The Case of the Missing Songs
The Browns were waiting in line for Fiona Slocum’s concert. Slocum was Chief Brown’s favorite country western singer. While waiting in line, the three discussed Slocum’s career. That’s where we learned that her first album was successful, but she took some time off after that tour and that this was her comeback tour.
Encyclopedia noticed two police officers heading towards them. The officers...
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The Case of the Tempting Toys
The town was getting ready for the Idaville Fair, which meant that either someone was getting ready to cheat at some contest, or someone was about to steal something. The latter turned out to be true and Encyclopedia had no problem spotting the victim of the latest petty crime. He noticed a high school student setting up one of the concession stands who seemed to be in a grouchy mood.
Encyclopedia...
“I could sell this map to a museum if all I cared about was the money. The way I...”
– Nate Switcher, explaining why he was selling his 15th century map to a child for a few bucks and not to a museum for a few thousand bucks. The Case of the Explorer’s Map
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The Case of the Glittering Diamonds
“Dollar” Bill Pesada earned his nickname because he was careful with his money and was always on the lookout for good investments. He hired Encyclopedia to check out a tip on a possible investment opportunity.
Bugs Meany was offering shares in a diamond mine. At this point, I’d have to wonder how business-savvy Dollar Bill really was. I don’t know the first thing about telling a good investment...
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The Case of the Vanished Sculpture
Chief Brown was distracted for yet another dinner, because of a case involving a theft at the Idaville Museum. A one-foot-tall statue of the Roman god Mercury was stolen from the museum after it had been closed for the night. Mrs. Brown asked if the museum had security cameras or an alarm system. They did, but there were still three employees inside, so the alarm system had not been armed yet....
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The Case of Mrs. Washington’s Diary
Encyclopedia and Sally were roaming the aisles of the flea market. Sally was desperate to find a last-minute birthday gift for her mother. Mrs. Kimball was interested in history, so Sally figured she would be able to find something in that vein somewhere, but she was having no luck.
That is until she came to a booth run by high school student Jack Higginbottom. Sally asked Jack if he had anything...
“Babe Ruth hit 714 homeruns over his long career … The Babe ate even more...”
– Sammy Jackson, spouting the least impressive food-related statistic in the history of baseball.
Eating 714 hot dogs over the span of 21 years amounts eating fewer than three hot dogs per month, which is nothing for someone who famously overindulged in hot dogs on a fairly regular basis
The Case of...
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The Case of the Shipwreck
It was a hot summer day in Idaville. Sally Kimball was complaining that they weren’t at the beach to cool off. Encyclopedia should have just let her go; she served no purpose in these stories anyway.
Penny Nichols came by and put a quarter down in front of Encyclopedia and Sally and told them that Wilford Wiggins was holding a meeting about his latest business opportunity. Now, it’s not explained...
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The Case of the Missing Medallions
Chief Brown had just picked up Encyclopedia from the library when the police radio came alive. A robbery was in progress at the Den of Antiquities. Chief Brown, unsure the nature of the robbery or if anyone was armed, went straight to the scene with his 10-year-old son.
When they arrived, they saw shop owner Roger Cuthbert standing out in front of his store, holding young junk collector Winslow...
“You’re the Chief of Police. Maybe something will come up that demands your...”
– Mrs. Brown, talking to her husband about whether or not he’ll get an opportunity to meet his favorite singer. She was basically saying that the town was a haven for criminals and that something was going to go wrong at the concert that would warrant police presence. Of course, she was right....
4 tags
The Case of the Giant Shark Tooth
Charlie Stewart stopped by the Brown Detective Agency. He said that the reason for his visit was because, “Duke Kelly, one of Bugs Meany’s Tigers, is selling what he says are the largest shark teeth ever. If it is true, I just have to have one. It would be the star in my collection.” This was the first mention of Charlie’s tooth collection since a story published in 1968. I had assumed that the...
“I wouldn’t call it suspicious exactly, but I did notice Biff Bumpkin...”
– Mindy Harmon, who apparently doesn’t consider being watched from a distance by someone with a bad reputation as “suspicious.” The Case of the Tempting Toys.
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The Case of the Grabbed Groceries
Ginger Bailey hired Encyclopedia to figure out who stole her groceries. She had gone to the supermarket to pick up items for her block’s Fourth of July barbecue. After making her purchase, she realized that she had forgotten to buy mustard. So she left her bags of groceries on a counter near the front door and went to buy some mustard. In a town where anything not nailed down is generally regarded...
April 2013
31 posts
3 tags
The Case of Grandma’s Cookies
The last time we met Ziggy Ketchum, he hired Encyclopedia to find an old sandwich that he had hidden among the hats that was sold at the department store where he worked. He was forgetful to the point that I would think would warrant the attention of a professional, though no one seemed to be all that concerned.
One day, Ziggy came to Encyclopedia, forgetting why he gone to hire him in the first...
“Both the security guard and the curator saw the janitor …. They waved to...”
– Chief Brown, seemingly taken aback by the fact that co-workers and casual acquaintances would wave too each other and not use more formal greetings. The Case of the Vanished Sculpture
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The Case of the Roman Pots
Julie Benson liked to collect old things. When a local high school student, Gus Anthony, announced that he was going to be selling ancient Roman pots, Julie’s interest was piqued, but so was her skepticism. She wanted to hire Encyclopedia to tell her if the pots were authentic.
Encyclopedia gets hired for this sort of job a lot. I guess when fraud runs as rampant as it does in Idaville, that kind...
6 tags
The Case of the Scrambled Eggs
The Brown Detective Agency had an unlikely customer one morning; Bugs Meany. He was carrying a carton of eggs. He needed Encyclopedia to guard the eggs and to bring them to the intersection of Main and Elm Streets at 1 p.m. He explained that he’d ask one of his fellow Tigers, but they were all busy.
Encyclopedia opened the carton and it didn’t seem like there was anything special about them; it...
“I know I may have done a few things in the past. That doesn’t mean...”
– Rocky Graham, explaining that just because he once tried to break into a car, that didn’t mean that he stole someone’s cookies. While he has a point, I should note that he actually did steal the cookies in question. The Case of Grandma’s Cookies
4 tags
The Case of the Secret UFOs
A fifth-grader named Gordon Borden was in a rush when he passed by the Brown Detective Agency. Bugs Meany was selling photos of UFOs and he didn’t want to miss it.
Here’s a little background information about this kid. His nickname was Flash because he was a big fan of flash photography and taking pictures at night. Believe it or not, that’s not the dumbest thing about that nickname. The dumbest...
3 tags
The Case of the Stolen Stamps
Chief Brown had yet another case he was helpless to solve on his own, so he gave it Encyclopedia to take a swing at it. A robber had hit Terrence’s Stamp Store. I hope that tip of the hat to actor Terence Stamp was on purpose. It seems like an odd celebrity to make a reference to in a book for children, but I suppose when an author writes about a town hit with as many instances of stamp thievery...
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The Case of Shoeless Sam
Before I start with this one, I would like to warn everyone that nothing in the following story makes any sense. This story is confusing even for Idaville.
It started one afternoon when the sun had just come out after a rainy morning. Pinky Plummer ran to Encyclopedia’s house to tell him that Shoeless Sam was “back from the mountains” and that he had challenged the Idaville Sluggers to a baseball...
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The Case of Giggling Goldilocks
Patrick Behr was pissed. Goldie Jenkins broke into his home, ate three boxes of cereal and slept in his bed. Encyclopedia laughed at the fact that someone named Behr was being terrorized by a 5-year-old girl nicknamed Goldilocks. I can’t really say Encyclopedia was displaying the correct level of professionalism towards his customers, but whatever.
Patrick said that he had confronted Goldie, but...
“Who wants worms? I’m no early bird.”
– The supposed credo of Punctual Pete Leonard, a child in Idaville who earned his nickname from always being on time. The Case of the Stolen Watch
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The Case of the Supercomputer Brain
Encyclopedia noticed Jacob Sampson walking down the sidewalk, and he appeared to have been having both sides of one conversation while occasionally taking swigs of a blue liquid from a bottle. When Encyclopedia asked him what was going on, Jacob proclaimed that he was going to be the smartest kid in the third grade, if he didn’t skip it and go on straight to college. Encyclopedia asked why and...
3 tags
The Case of the Gym Bag
Saturday morning, Encyclopedia and Chief Brown went to the high school to watch a track meet. The meet was between Idaville High School and Glenn City High School. It was a foregone conclusion that Idaville was going to kick serious butt at the meet, but people poured in to watch the meet anyway because of the rivalry between Fleet Fletcher and Baldy Jones, who both ran for Idaville.
Baldy earned...
“You were gypped in the sing-off.”
– Sally Kimball, who should stop saying that word. The Case of the Brain Game
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The Case of the Stolen Watch
Encyclopedia and Sally went to the Idaville Art Show and saw the latest works of child artist Pablo Pizarro. Pablo’s painting of a pocket watch with Idaville’s City Hall and clock tower in the background earned the most attention. The real pocket watch that Pablo used as a model for the painting stood on a nearby easel.
Punctual Pete Leonard showed up and asked about the painting with the clocks....
2 tags
The Case of the Patriotic Volunteer
Encyclopedia and Sally had walked to the park in hopes of seeing local magician Donald Martinez giving a free show. What they found instead was a man dressed up like Uncle Sam standing in a gazebo as a small group of children gathered around him.
Mary Lukeman spotted the detectives and excitedly told them about the new charity the man was talking about. She asked the man, named Mr. Jefferson, to...
“My dad blamed me when he had to go without his crunchy oat flakes this morning....”
– Patrick Behr, complaining about about Goldilocks impersonator, Goldie Jenkins. He tripped upon an interesting point. Dad was allowed to get angry, but it was mom’s job to clean up the mess. The Case of the Giggling Goldilocks
hikuta asked: In the Case of the Stolen Money you state: "Are we supposed to ignore the fact that this took place in Canada, where they use Celsius and not Fahrenheit?" The book was published in 1973, and according to the Wikipedia page 'Metrication in Canada': "In April 1975 Fahrenheit temperatures were replaced by Celsius. "
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The Case of the Disappearing Hundreds
Encyclopedia and Sally wanted to celebrate them solving a big case, so they headed to Mr. O’Hara’s drugstore for an ice cream soda. We should look beyond the fact that this story is in a book published in 2009, and the book’s target audience would probably wonder why Walgreen’s or CVS would be serving ice cream sodas. We should also consider that even the parents of the book’s target audience are...
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The Case of the Stolen Moonstone
Rico Ayres’ family had recently moved from Glenn City to the house next to Bugs Meany’s. Rico had invited Encyclopedia over to show off his insect collection, but Encyclopedia noticed that the whole time he was there, Rico spent most of the time showing off his grandmother’s moonstone ring. He also noticed that Rico kept nervously looking out of his window towards Bugs’ house. However, when...
“Those two have never liked each other. In fact, they hate each other.”
– Sally Kimball, showing there’s no limit to the stupid things she says. The Case of the Backwards Runner
3 tags
The Case of the Headless Ghost
Young pirate-enthusiast, Davy Jones (I see what they did there), rode his bike past the Brown Detective Agency with some exciting news. The ghost of Old Cutthroat Flint had appeared at the Tigers’ clubhouse and Davy was going to ask him where his treasure was buried.
Old Cutthroat was a legend in Idaville. He was a pirate who spent a lot of time hiding out in what would later become Idaville and...
