Free The Case of the Two Spies by Donald J. Sobol Page A

Laser printers print alike.”
    “Then you don't have a clue ?” Mrs. Brown said.
    “I have a lead,” Chief Brown said. “Last month two Idaville men bought Mayfair laser printers. I had the stores in town that sell computers check their records. The two men, Howard Bass and Hal Gibson, live near Mrs. Todd. Both have complained to the police about Royal Blackie getting into their vegetable gardens last month.”
    “So the dog wasn't kidnapped for the ransom money?” Mrs. Brown said.
    “Hardly likely, or the kidnapper would have asked for more than five hundred dollars,” Chief Brown said. “He probably wants revenge for what Royal Blackie did to his vegetable garden. What better way than to make the dog miss the dog show!”
    Chief Brown paused. “Then he said, “That's about it.”
    He regarded Encyclopedia hopefully. So did Mrs. Brown.
    The boy detective had closed his eyes. He always closed his eyes when doing his deepest thinking.
    After a few seconds he opened his eyes and asked his one question.
    “Did Mr. Bass and Mr. Gibson go to college?” Chief Brown seemed amazed by the question. “Y-yes,” he answered. Mr. Bass is a lawyer. Mr. Gibson is an engi-neer. What has their education to do with the kidnaps ping?”
    “The ransom note doesn't appear to be written by a college graduate,” Encyclopedia observed.
    Chief Brown frowned. “Then you don't think the kidnapper is Mr. Bass or Mr. Gibson?”
    “I don't mean that, Dad,” Encyclopedia declared.
    “Perhaps Mr. Bass or Mr. Gibson tried to throw off sus-picion by wording the ransom note poorly, like an uneducated man,” Mrs. Brown said.
    “No, or he would have purposefully misspelled a word or two,” Encyclopedia answered.
    “Well, what
do
you mean?” Chief Brown demanded.
    “For one thing,” Encyclopedia said, “the kidnapper wrote that he would inform Mrs. Todd where to leave the money ‘on fifth of this month.’ That's Sunday. Why didn't he write ‘Sunday’?”
    “I give up, Leroy,” Chief Brown said. “Why?”
    “Because he couldn't,” Encyclopedia answered.
    Chief Brown and Mrs. Brown seemed about to jump out of their seats.
    “Leroy!” cried Chief Brown.
    “Leroy!” cried Mrs. Brown.
    “Who is the kidnapper?” they cried together.
    Encyclopedia smiled. “He has to be—”
    Who is Royal Blackie's Kidnapper?
    (Turn to page 64 for the solution to
The Case of the Kidnapped Dog.)

The Case of the Fireflies

    E ncyclopedia helped his father solve mysteries throughout the year. During the summer he helped children in the neighborhood as well.
    When school let out, he opened his own detective agency in the family garage. Every morning he hung out his sign:
    Brown Detective Agency
    13 Rover Avenue
    LEROY BROWN
    President
    No case too small
    25$ a day plus expenses
    The last customer Thursday afternoon was Fanchon DuBois.
    Fanchon was born in France and was into flies. She was known on the block as French Fannie die Female Fly Catcher,
    “Bugs Meany stole my fireflies,” she blurted,
    “Oh, boy,” Encyclopedia groaned, “Bugs never quits,”
    Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers, In Encyclopedia's opinion they should have called themselves the Shoelaces, When they weren't tied up cheating little kids, they were at loose ends,
    “Tell me what happened,” Encyclopedia said,
    “Ten minutes ago I was running down Brickell Avenue with a can of fireflies,” Fanchon said, “Bugs Meany stopped me. He asked, What's the big hurry?’ I told him I had three minutes to mail off my fireflies before the post office closed.”
    “Why were you mailing them?” Encyclopedia asked,
    “A company in Texas has some seven hundred kids in twenty states catching fireflies,” Fanchon said, “The company gives us nets and a special storage can that kills and dries the fireflies. We get a penny for each one,”
    “So Bugs just up and grabbed the can from you?”
    “Not right away,”