Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Treasure Hunt by Donald J. Sobol Page A

Both men are retired. Fred moved to Idaville six months ago. Carl followed him a month later. Each lives alone.”
    “What about an alibi?” Mrs. Brown asked. “Where were the twins when Mr. Crandan was robbed?”
    Chief Brown flipped a page in his notebook. “Fred claims he didn’t get up until eight o’clock today, more than an hour after the robbery. Carl says he slept until nine. Neither has a witness to back up his story.”
    “So neither has a real alibi,” Mrs. Brown stated.
    “For that matter, neither does Mr. Crandan,” Chief Brown pointed out. “He could be making up a story about a robbery.”
    “I see—then he can get the insurance money and still keep the Chinese screens,” Mrs. Brown murmured. “But why would he say one of the twins robbed him?”
    “Mr. Crandan dislikes them,” Chief Brownreplied. “They dislike him. I don’t know why, but it has something to do with a tennis tournament many years ago.”

    “Mr. Crandan may have faked the robbery,” Mrs. Brown said, “and he’s trying to blame one of the twins.”
    “Mr. Crandan doesn’t have a criminal record,” Chief Brown pointed out. “But the twins do. They spent a year in jail in Alabama two years ago for stealing oil paintings.”
    “Then turn everything around,” Mrs. Brown said thoughtfully. “The robber didn’t put on his mask until Mr. Crandan entered the living room because he
wanted
Mr. Crandan to see his face.”
    Chief Brown frowned. “The robbery might be a clever trick. The twins could be setting Mr. Crandan up. If he accuses one of them of stealing the screens and can’t prove which one, he’ll look foolish. Good heavens, what a twist!”
    Mrs. Brown glanced at Encyclopedia again. The boy detective had closed his eyes. He always closed his eyes when he did his deepest thinking on a case. Suddenly his eyes opened.
    “What was the robber wearing, Dad?” he said.
    “Dark trousers and a white, short-sleevedshirt,” Chief Brown answered.
    “Leroy,” Mrs. Brown said, obviously disappointed by the question. “How can his
clothes
be important?”
    “Not all his clothes, Mom,” Encyclopedia replied. “Just his shirt. It tells us who is guilty.”
    WHY?
    (Turn to this page for the solution to
The Case of the Masked Robber.)

The Case of the Round Pizza
    T hroughout the year Encyclopedia helped his father solve mysteries. During the summer he helped the children of 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:

    The last customer Monday was Farnsworth Grant. Farnsworth, who was ten, had founded the Idaville Flat Earth Association.
    “If the earth were round, people in Australia would be hanging upside down,” he insisted.
    When he came into the Brown Detective Agency, he wasn’t having fun with the earth, round or flat. He was concerned with something round
and
flat.
    “Bugs Meany stole my pizza!” he blurted.
    Encyclopedia groaned. “Bugs, forever Bugs.”
    Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Spoons. They were always stirring up trouble.
    Farnsworth explained what had happened. His mother was feeling ill, so he had volunteered to bring home a pizza for dinner.
    “Ten minutes ago I was carrying the pizza when Bugs stopped me,” he said. “Bugs looked into the box and helped himself to a piece. Then he said I was just the kind of kid he needed.”
    “For what?”
    “To join his new society,” Farnsworth answered. “It’s called the Society to Preserve the Round Pizza. He said he needed concerned citizens like me as members.”
    “I can guess what happened next,” Encyclopedia remarked. “Bugs said you could join his society if you paid the dues. Since you didn’t have enough money, he took the rest of the pizza in payment.”
    “You know Bugs, all right,” Farnsworth said bitterly. He laid twenty-five