Free Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All by Donald J. Sobol

The Case of the Missing Clues
    Although there are thousands of private detectives in the United States, the town of Idaville had but one.
    Idaville did not need more. Its one detective was Encyclopedia Brown, and he had never lost a case.
    Aside from Encyclopedia, Idaville was like most towns its size. It had three movie theaters, two delicatessens, and four banks. It had rich families and poor families. It had churches and synagogues, and a lovely beach which everyone could use.
    And for more than a year, no grown-up or child had got away with breaking the law.
    Encyclopedia’s father was chief of the Idaville police. People across the country believed he was the best police chief in the world.
    Chief Brown was proud of his record. He was proud of his men. But he was proudest of his only child, Encyclopedia.
    Alas, Chief Brown had to keep his pride in Encyclopedia a secret. Whom could he tell? Who would believe him? Who would believe that the real mastermind behind Idaville’s war on crime was ten years old!
    Whenever the police came up against a puzzling case, Chief Brown knew where to go. He went home. Encyclopedia would solve the case during dinner in the Brown’s red brick house on Rover Avenue.
    Encyclopedia never whispered a word about the help he gave his father. He didn’t want to seem different from other fifth graders.
    But he was stuck with his nickname.
    Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else in Idaville called him Encyclopedia.
    An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with all kinds of facts. Encyclopedia had read more books than anyone in Idaville, and he never forgot what he read. He was the only library in America that could get around on a two-wheeler.
    Between schoolwork and police work, Encyclopedia kept busy during the winter. During the summer he ran his own detective agency. He solved cases for the children of the neighborhood.
    Every morning during the summer he hung his sign outside the garage:

    Early one afternoon a small boy pulled a red wagon into the Brown Detective Agency.
    The wagon was loaded with fresh fruit. The boy was loaded with anger.
    He slammed twenty-five cents onto the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia.
    “My name is Abner Nelson,” he said. “I want to hire you. I sell fruit.”
    “Is business dropping off?” said Encyclopedia.
    “No, it’s disappearing!” said Abner. “For the past two weeks a big kid comes to my stand every day. He helps himself to whatever he likes. And he doesn’t pay!”
    “You need protection,” said Encyclopedia.
    “Protection!” screamed Abner. “Oh, no! I want to be protected from protection!”
    Abner explained. He grew the fruit in his back yard and sold it at a stand on Grant Road. Two weeks ago a big kid had stopped at the stand.
    “He told me I needed protection,” said Abner.
    “From whom?” asked Encyclopedia.
    “From other boys who have fruit stands during the summer,” replied Abner. “The big kid said they might wreck my stand.”
    “So he offered to protect you?”
    “Yes,” said Abner. “He comes by every day with a big grin and brags about what a swell job he’s doing of protecting me. ‘Nobody has bothered you, right?’ he says. Then he takes something to eat for his services.”
    “He’s protecting you clean out of business,” said Encyclopedia.
    “I never needed him. He fooled me with his fast talk,” said Abner. “You’ve got to stop him before he eats me into the poorhouse.”
    “What’s his name?” said Encyclopedia.
    “Bugs Meany.”
    “I might have guessed!” said Encyclopedia.
    Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of wild older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Berries. They were always getting into one jam after another.
    “That Bugs is awful tough,” said Abner.
    “Don’t be afraid,” said Encyclopedia. “I’ve dealt with him before. Let’s hear what he has to say for himself.”
    “He