The Case of the Electric Clock
Why did the police always catch anyone who broke the law in Idaville?
Only three persons knew the secret—Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and their only child, Encyclopedia.
And they weren’t telling.
Mr. Brown was chief of police. Whenever he was asked about his success, he quickly spoke of many things. He spoke of Idaville’s wonderful fresh air, its beaches, its three movie theaters and four banks, its churches and synagogues, its Little League, and its two delicatessens.
But of catching crooks he spoke not a word.
The police department solved most of the crimes in Idaville, true enough. The hardest cases, however, Chief Brown brought home to his red brick house on Rover Avenue. Encyclopedia solved them while eating dinner.
Chief Brown would have liked to announce on national television, “My son is the greatest detective who ever climbed a tree!” But he didn’t announce it. He didn’t even whisper it.
What good would it do?
Who would believe that the real brain behind Idaville’s war on crime was only ten years old?
So Chief Brown kept the secret even from the FBI. And people across the country went on thinking that Idaville had the smartest policemen in the world.
Encyclopedia never let a word slip about the help he gave his father. He did not want to seem different from other fifth graders.
His nickname was another matter. He was stuck with it.
Only his parents and teachers called him by his right name, Leroy. Everyone else in Idaville called him Encyclopedia.
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with all kinds of facts from A to Z. Encyclopedia had read more books than anybody in Idaville, and he never forgot a word. Really, he was more like a whole library than an encyclopedia. You might say he was the only library in America that closed at night to take a bath.
In the winter Encyclopedia did his detective work sitting in the dining room. When school let out, he moved to summer quarters in the garage. At his battered old desk by the gasoline can he was ready to help the children of the neighborhood.
Every morning he hung his sign outside the garage. It read:
One morning Gil Tubbs came into the Brown Detective Agency.
Right off Encyclopedia knew something was wrong. Gil didn’t fall over a thing.
Gil was Idaville’s leading boy astronomer. He studied clouds, and he knew the names of two hundred and thirty stars. He could find the Big Dipper faster than his Sunday pants.
Usually Gil walked around staring up at the sky and tripping over porch steps and sleeping cats. But this morning he looked like any other boy—where he was going.
“What’s up?” asked Encyclopedia.
“I wouldn’t know. I can’t raise my head,” said Gil. “Last night I tripped over my desk clock and hurt my neck.”
“Do you often walk across your desk at night?” asked Encyclopedia.
“I wasn’t walking,” said Gil. “I was running.” He put twenty-five cents on the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia. “I want to hire you.”
“To catch a runaway clock?” said Encyclopedia.
“To get back my telescope,” said Gil.
He explained. He had awakened last night and had seen a boy in his room. The boy was climbing out the window with his telescope. Gil had leaped out of bed—and nearly knocked himself out.
“The thief had unplugged my electric desk clock,” said Gil. “He’d tied the cord between my bed and the desk so I’d trip over it chasing him. Did I sail across the room! Wow! My head hit the wall so hard I thought I’d broken both my ankles.”
“Makes my hair hurt just to hear it,” said Encyclopedia. “When did this happen?”
“The clock was stopped at eleven minutes past ten,” answered Gil. “I guess that’s when the thief pulled out the plug. I don’t have another clock so I can’t be sure of the exact time.”
“Did you get a look at the thief?” asked Encyclopedia.
“No, it was too dark. But I think it was Bugs Meany.”
“Bugs!”
Why did the police always catch anyone who broke the law in Idaville?
Only three persons knew the secret—Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and their only child, Encyclopedia.
And they weren’t telling.
Mr. Brown was chief of police. Whenever he was asked about his success, he quickly spoke of many things. He spoke of Idaville’s wonderful fresh air, its beaches, its three movie theaters and four banks, its churches and synagogues, its Little League, and its two delicatessens.
But of catching crooks he spoke not a word.
The police department solved most of the crimes in Idaville, true enough. The hardest cases, however, Chief Brown brought home to his red brick house on Rover Avenue. Encyclopedia solved them while eating dinner.
Chief Brown would have liked to announce on national television, “My son is the greatest detective who ever climbed a tree!” But he didn’t announce it. He didn’t even whisper it.
What good would it do?
Who would believe that the real brain behind Idaville’s war on crime was only ten years old?
So Chief Brown kept the secret even from the FBI. And people across the country went on thinking that Idaville had the smartest policemen in the world.
Encyclopedia never let a word slip about the help he gave his father. He did not want to seem different from other fifth graders.
His nickname was another matter. He was stuck with it.
Only his parents and teachers called him by his right name, Leroy. Everyone else in Idaville called him Encyclopedia.
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with all kinds of facts from A to Z. Encyclopedia had read more books than anybody in Idaville, and he never forgot a word. Really, he was more like a whole library than an encyclopedia. You might say he was the only library in America that closed at night to take a bath.
In the winter Encyclopedia did his detective work sitting in the dining room. When school let out, he moved to summer quarters in the garage. At his battered old desk by the gasoline can he was ready to help the children of the neighborhood.
Every morning he hung his sign outside the garage. It read:
One morning Gil Tubbs came into the Brown Detective Agency.
Right off Encyclopedia knew something was wrong. Gil didn’t fall over a thing.
Gil was Idaville’s leading boy astronomer. He studied clouds, and he knew the names of two hundred and thirty stars. He could find the Big Dipper faster than his Sunday pants.
Usually Gil walked around staring up at the sky and tripping over porch steps and sleeping cats. But this morning he looked like any other boy—where he was going.
“What’s up?” asked Encyclopedia.
“I wouldn’t know. I can’t raise my head,” said Gil. “Last night I tripped over my desk clock and hurt my neck.”
“Do you often walk across your desk at night?” asked Encyclopedia.
“I wasn’t walking,” said Gil. “I was running.” He put twenty-five cents on the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia. “I want to hire you.”
“To catch a runaway clock?” said Encyclopedia.
“To get back my telescope,” said Gil.
He explained. He had awakened last night and had seen a boy in his room. The boy was climbing out the window with his telescope. Gil had leaped out of bed—and nearly knocked himself out.
“The thief had unplugged my electric desk clock,” said Gil. “He’d tied the cord between my bed and the desk so I’d trip over it chasing him. Did I sail across the room! Wow! My head hit the wall so hard I thought I’d broken both my ankles.”
“Makes my hair hurt just to hear it,” said Encyclopedia. “When did this happen?”
“The clock was stopped at eleven minutes past ten,” answered Gil. “I guess that’s when the thief pulled out the plug. I don’t have another clock so I can’t be sure of the exact time.”
“Did you get a look at the thief?” asked Encyclopedia.
“No, it was too dark. But I think it was Bugs Meany.”
“Bugs!”
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