The Case of the Jumping Frogs (2 page)

One morning Encyclopedia and Sally had just opened the Brown Detective Agency for the day when Marsha Murphy stepped in.

“Take a look,” she said. “This may be your last chance to see the old me. Soon I’ll be in the money.”

“Who says?” Sally asked.

“Wilford Wiggins,” replied Marsha.

The detectives groaned.

A teenager, Wilford was as lazy as a time-out. Resting was what he did best. Whenever he got to his feet, he tried to fast-talk the little kids of the neighborhood out of their savings.

He never did. Encyclopedia always stopped his shady deals.

“Wilford has called a secret meeting for five o’clock today in the city dump,” Marsha said. “He promised to make us little kids so rich we’ll be the talk of the continent.”

“What’s he selling now,” Encyclopedia asked, “a breakfast shake made of yeast and car polish for people who want to rise and shine?”

“Wilford’s changed,” Marsha said. “He told me so himself. He’ll never tell another lie.”

“Don’t worry,” Sally said. “You always know when Wilford is lying. His lips move.”

Marsha’s faith seemed to waver. She laid a quarter on the gas can beside Encyclopedia. “I want to hire you. Maybe Wilford isn’t as honest as he says.”

“We’re hired,” Sally said. “See you at the city dump at five o’clock.”

When the detectives arrived, Wilford was standing behind a broken table.

On the table were an empty clear plastic bottle, an ice pick, a small jar, a drinking glass, and a pitcher filled with clear liquid.

Wilford started his big sales pitch.

“Gather around,” he bellowed at the crowd of little kids waiting for him to fulfill their dreams of untold riches. They edged closer.

“Don’t leak a word to any grown-up about the wonder I’ve got for you,” he warned out of the side of his mouth. “They’ll take over and cheat you out of every cent.”

“Stop beating your gums and get to the big bucks,” a boy shouted.

“You’re keen for the green, eh, kid?” Wilford purred. “What I have for you today is Antiflow, the world’s greatest gift to mankind! The savior of nations, the scientific marvel of the age! Remember the name:
Antiflow!
”

He unscrewed the cap on the plastic bottle and passed the bottle around. Next he took the ice pick and punched a tiny hole in the side of the bottle about an inch from the bottom. Then he filled the bottle from the pitcher. The liquid streamed out of the tiny hole.

Quickly he took a white pill from the jar. He held it up. “Observe:
Antiflow!
”

He dropped the pill into the bottle and screwed on the cap.

Although the bottle was still almost full, liquid stopped streaming out of the hole.

“Baloney!” a girl snapped. “It’s a trick. There’s something else in there.”

“Oh, ye of little faith!” Wilford exclaimed. He filled the water glass from the pitcher and handed it to the girl. “Drink!”

She drank. “It’s just water,” she said, puzzled.

“Would Wiggins fool you?” Wilford cried. “The secret is the Antiflow. It was invented by Professor Stubblehauser of Germany. He doesn’t trust anyone but straight shooters like yours truly. That’s why he granted me the rights to sell the miracle pill in the U.S.A. He trusts me to give him half the profits.”

Wilford paused to let the moneymaking possibilities of Antiflow sink in.

Then he said, “All my cash is tied up in oil wells. So I’m going to let my little friends in on this chance of a lifetime. For five dollars, you can buy a share in my Antiflow company. The more shares you buy, the more money you’ll make!”

“Where’s your factory?” a girl demanded.

“I’m glad you asked, friend,” Wilford said. “I need your cash to help build the factory. When it’s built, I’ll make Antiflow by the ton. Don’t miss out! Buy shares today
at my special low-price, one-day-only offer.”

The children talked excitedly among themselves. With Antiflow, floods would be a thing of the past. There were millions in it. Maybe more!

“Buy shares now,” Wilford blared. “In a year you can afford to retire your mother and father.”

That clinched it. The children lined up, eager to buy shares.

Encyclopedia hurried to the front of the line.

“Put away your money if you don’t want a soaking,” he said.

E
ncyclopedia and Sally were straightening the Browns’ garage when Waldo Emerson came in. He looked like he had stepped off a roof, or worse.

“Good to see you, Waldo,” Sally said. “We haven’t seen you round lately.”

“Don’t say that word!” Waldo howled.

“Sorry,” Sally apologized. “I wasn’t thinking.”

Waldo had a thing about the word “round.” Even when he heard it used harmlessly with other words, as in “round trip” or “round of golf,” he threw a fit. It reminded him that some kids still believed the earth was round.

Waldo was the new president of the Idaville Junior Flat Earth Society. He was also the only member.

He laid a quarter on the gasoline can next to Encyclopedia. “I know the detective agency is closed until summer. But I want to hire you.”

“What for?” Sally asked.

“I wrote an essay for Columbus Day tomorrow,” Waldo answered. “The public library is giving a prize for the best essay about the explorer.”

“What’s the problem?” Encyclopedia asked.

Waldo moaned. “My essay was stolen yesterday. There isn’t time to rewrite it. The contest closes at noon today. I wrote about how Columbus proved the earth was flat.”

“How did he?” asked Sally.

“He didn’t sail off the curve!” Waldo sang.

Encyclopedia never knew when Waldo was serious or having fun.

“I want you to get my essay back,” Waldo said. “I’m sure Stinky Redmond stole it. He’ll enter my essay as his and win the prize, a book called
The World of Dinosaurs
.”

“Have you accused Stinky?” Sally asked.

Waldo rolled his eyes. “Yes, and of course he says he’s innocent. He claims
he
wrote the essay. I dared him to meet me in half an hour in South Park at the carousel.”

“Carousel,” not “merry-go-
round
,” Encyclopedia thought instantly. “Why at the carousel, Waldo?”

“The carousel is the scene of the crime,” Waldo declared.

“But it doesn’t open for an hour,” Sally said.

“That’s what I want,” Waldo replied. “Stinky and I can have it out better with no one there to bother us. If Stinky doesn’t show up, I’ll know he’s guilty.”

On the bike ride to the carousel, Sally asked Waldo
what made him believe the earth was flat.

“Most of the earth is made up of water,” he said, “and water is flat. Did you ever see a lake or a pond that had a hump in it?”

Sally and Encyclopedia admitted that they had not.

Waldo rolled on.

“The pictures taken of the earth from outer space are fakes,” he insisted. “If the earth were a globe, China would be under the United States. My neighbor Mr. Chan comes from China. He would have hung by his feet when he lived there. He didn’t. In fact, he has never hung by his feet in all his life.”

Waldo reasoned like that.

Stinky Redmond was waiting by the carousel. The double ring of ride-on animals stood silent and still.

Waldo sneered at Stinky. “The thief returns to the scene of his crime! He thought he could get away with stealing my essay!”

“Let’s hear what happened,” Encyclopedia suggested.

Waldo said, “When I climbed onto the carousel platform yesterday, Stinky was already standing by that black horse.”

He pointed to a black horse with one hoof off the ground. It seemed about to prance away. Like all the animals, it had a pole through the back of its neck.

Waldo pointed to a bench beside the black horse. “Before the carousel started, I laid my bag with the essay on that bench,” he said. “Stinky swiped it.”

“I didn’t swipe his bag!” Stinky broke in. “He’s afraid my essay will beat his. Mine is oh, so funny. It’ll win in a laugh. I wrote that Columbus proved the earth is flat!”

Waldo harrumphed and continued. “Then I got on that white horse,” he said, pointing to a white horse three horses in front of the black one. “I never saw you get on the black horse. I never saw you get off. But when the ride ended, I did see you run from the bench like you were legging it for a lifeboat.”

“This kid isn’t two days out of his tree,” Stinky growled. “Sometimes I get sick going up and down, even on a seesaw.”

“You weren’t on a seesaw,” Waldo snapped.

Stinky retorted, “I started getting sick when the black horse moved up and down on the pole as the carousel turned. So I got off and sat on the bench until the ride ended and I felt better. There was a bag on the bench, but I never touched it.”

“Why did you rush off the carousel when the ride ended?” Sally asked.

“I had to go to the you-know-where,” Stinky mumbled.

Sally whispered to Encyclopedia, “I don’t know who to believe. Maybe Waldo never wrote an essay and he’s trying to get Stinky in trouble by saying he’s a thief. Or maybe it’s Stinky who never wrote an essay and stole Waldo’s.”

“Take another look at the bench and the horses,” Encyclopedia suggested.

“I’m looking,” Sally said. “Stinky’s black horse is three
horses directly behind Waldo’s white horse. The bench is just to the left of the black horse.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, except I wish the horses could talk and tell us who is lying.”

“One has, in its way,” replied the detective.

T
he detectives were closing the agency for the day when Nemo Huffenwiz, a pudgy sixth grader, blew in. He plunked twenty-five cents on the gas can.