Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme by Donald J. Sobol

Author:Donald J. Sobol
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2012-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

HOW DID ENCYLOPEDIA KNOW?

(Click here for the solution to “The Case of the April Fools’ Plot.”)

The Case of Wilford’s Big Deal

Danny Proxmire, who was eight, laid twenty-five cents on the empty gas can by Encyclopedia. “I’m hiring you.”

“For what?” asked Encyclopedia.

“Wilford Wiggins called a secret meeting for little kids at five o’clock. He promised to make us rich beyond imagining,” Danny said.

“Wilford, oh that Wilford!” Sally groaned. “Phew!”

Wilford Wiggins was a high-school dropout and as peppy as seaweed washed up on the beach. He swore he wasn’t afraid of work. He had fought it for years.

“The only exercise he gets is yawning,” Sally said.

Wilford championed the grand old rule. Never stand if you can sit and never sit if you can lie down. While on his back he dreamed up new ways to cheat the little kids out of their piggy-bank savings.

Last month he was raising money to save the Pony Express. A week ago it was funds for an electric napkin. It lit up so you could see to wipe your mouth in the dark.

Wilford never got away with his phony get-rich deals, however. Encyclopedia was always there to stop him.

“You can’t trust Wilford,” Sally advised Danny.

“That’s why I’m here,” Danny said. “I need you to make sure he’s on the up-and-up this time.”

“Wilford wouldn’t be on the up-and-up in a ski lift,” Sally said.

“We’ll take the case,” Encyclopedia said.

* * *

Wilford usually held his secret meetings in the city dump. This one was in the dance classroom of the Community Center.

“The dance class for today was called off,” Danny said to the detectives. “The teacher had to fly to Akron. Wilford gets to use the room because he claimed his talk is educational. It teaches little kids how to invest their money wisely. Lucky for us, this secret meeting isn’t in the city dump again. We won’t go home stinky.”

The dance classroom at the Community Center was overcrowded with little kids eager to hear Wilford on how to get rich quick.

Wilford was standing in front of the children, about to offer them his newest can’t-lose moneymaking deal. Beside him stood a thin, pale-faced teenager holding a knapsack.

“Meet Bruno McCumber,” Wilford announced in the voice of a duke introducing the king of England.

Bruno bent in a modest bow. Encyclopedia remembered seeing him around town.

He was usually admiring himself in the nearest mirror.

“Bruno got home yesterday from the desert where he’d been for three months prospecting for gold,” Wilford said. “He barely had enough water to stay alive. It was hot and rainless. But Bruno, alone day and night, didn’t give up. Thirsty and tired, he kept digging. Finally he struck pay dirt, and here it is. Show ’em, Bruno!”

Bruno carefully shook a few bright yellow pebbles from his knapsack. He held them for everyone to see.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” a boy cried. “Cut the lip drip and get to it.” Other children joined in, demanding Wilford get to his new moneymaking deal.

“Those are no ordinary pebbles you see,” Wilford sang. “That’s gold! Bruno discovered the richest gold mine in the state.

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