Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case (4 page)

The morning of the Idaville Cookie Bake-off, Joey Perkins, Encyclopedia's classmate, walked into the Brown Detective Agency.

“I need your help,” he said, placing a quarter on the red gasoline can. “I have three recipes for chocolate-chip cookies. I want to hire you to tell me which one is best.”

“You can pay me to eat your cookies anytime,” Encyclopedia said.

Sally agreed. “But what are you worried about?” she asked. “You're sure to win the bake-off this year.”

Joey's cookies had come in second to Christina Vargas's three years in a row in the twelve and under class. But Christina had turned thirteen in June. No one else's sweet treats would come close to Joey's in a taste test.

“There's a new twelve-year-old baker in town, Mary Macaroon,” Joey said. “Her cousin is one of the judges, and she's tough. My cookies have to be perfect.”

“I heard that this year's first prize is fifty dollars, and the winning recipe will be printed in a cookbook,” Sally said.

Joey nodded. “I've always dreamed of having my recipes published.”

He placed a plate with six cookies on the workbench—three cookies for each detective. Then he handed them water bottles so that they could rinse their mouths after tasting each one.

The detectives munched on the delicious cookies, carefully rinsing their mouths after each taste.

“Yum,” said Sally, “they're all delicious.”

“What's this in cookie number two?” Encyclopedia asked. “A hint of cinnamon?”

Joey shook his head with a grin. “It's a secret,” he said. “I won't tell.”

“They're all winners,” Encyclopedia said. “But I like cookie number two best.”

Sally took another bite of cookie number three. Then she tasted cookie number two again. “Cookie number two it is,” she said.

“I sure hope I win this year,” Joey said, picking up his plate and heading down the driveway. “I want a first place ribbon and my cookie recipe in that cookbook!”

“We'll be there to cheer you on,” Encyclopedia said.

“Good luck!” Sally called after him.

Later that afternoon, Encyclopedia and Sally biked to the high school. The bake-off was being held in the school's kitchen. Four tables were set out for the contestants in the twelve and under category. Each table held flour, sugar, butter, eggs, chocolate chips, and a few spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Encyclopedia and Sally watched Joey measure his ingredients carefully and mix his cookie dough.

Two of the contestants—Emily Drew and Michael Esposito—each seemed to be making more of a mess than a cookie. Flour flew when Michael tried to mix his dough, sprinkling the judges and making them sneeze.

Mary Macaroon looked like a serious challenger. She even wore an official chef's hat and apron.

“Fashion doesn't win bake-offs,” Sally said with a sniff.

But Encyclopedia noticed that she whisked her eggs and creamed her butter and sugar like a pro.

Joey was the first to slide his cookie sheets into the oven, followed by Mary. Soon the smell of baking cookies filled the room. Encyclopedia's mouth watered.

Ten minutes later, four oven timers buzzed, one after the other. As soon as all four trays of cookies were on the table, the judges took out their clipboards. They stopped at Michael Esposito's table first.

Each of the three judges carefully chewed one of his cookies, making notes about the crispness of the baked dough or the sweetness of the chocolate. When all three were finished, an assistant handed them glasses of water. The judges swished water around their mouths and then swallowed.

“They're clearing their taste buds for the next cookie,” Sally remarked.

The judges went through the same routine with Emily Drew's cookies. Then they stood in front of Mary Macaroon.

“They're taking extra bites of Mary's cookies,” Sally noticed. “They must be good.”

“Not too good, I hope,” Encyclopedia said, watching closely. “Getting his recipe published is Joey's dream.”

The judges finished with Mary's cookies and motioned for the assistant to bring them fresh water. They rinsed their mouths and emptied their glasses. Judge number two filled her glass again. Then all three stepped in front of Joey's table.

Joey nervously chewed on his lip. He watched the judges pick up his cookies. His mouth opened and closed with theirs as they each took a bite.

The judges coughed and sputtered. One spit Joey's cookie into a napkin. Judge number two quickly downed her water as the assistant rushed forward with filled glasses for the other judges.

Joey's face fell in dismay. He took a bite of one of his cookies, and then spit it out again. “I don't know what happened,” he cried. “This tastes awful!”

Encyclopedia stepped forward and took a small nibble. He sniffed the cinnamon on Joey's table. Then he shook some sugar into his hand and tasted it. “Someone's substituted salt for your sugar, and red pepper for cinnamon,” he said.

Joey's shoulders slumped. “I won't even be number two this year,” he moaned. “I'll be last.”

Encyclopedia turned to the judges. “Can you let everyone start over, with fresh ingredients?”

“That's not fair to the other contestants,” judge number two said sternly. “We need to award the prize.”

“That's easy for you to say,” Encyclopedia said. “You were the one who rigged the ingredients.”

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

 

(Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Counterfeit Dough.”)

Encyclopedia and his pal Charlie Stewart had a watermelon-seed spitting contest after lunch. Sally used a tape measure to determine the winner. Encyclopedia was ahead by three inches.

Suddenly, Moonboy Webster ran by wearing his astronaut helmet.

Moonboy Webster, whose real name was Austin, was Idaville's astronaut-in-training. He'd been talking about rocketing to the stars ever since he witnessed his first space shuttle launch. He walked, talked, ate, and dreamed about nothing but outer space.

“Did you hear?” he called excitedly from the end of the driveway. “There's a real NASA astronaut right here in Idaville!”

That got Encyclopedia's attention. He liked to learn about outer space, too.

“He's raising money for a space mission,” Moonboy said. “He's going to talk at the town hall about being an astronaut!”

Sally's eyes lit up. “Let's go hear him speak,” she said.

“He's charging fifty cents,” Moonboy told them. “I just ran home to get my money. The talk starts in ten minutes.”

Encyclopedia kept the money he earned from his detective business in a shoe box. He hid the shoe box behind an old tire in the garage. Every Friday, he and Sally took the week's earnings to the bank.

Luckily, today was Thursday. There was enough money in the shoe box for the two detectives and Charlie to attend the talk without having to stop at the bank. They walked downtown with Moonboy, who chattered about space.

“This is more popular than a free trip to the circus,” Sally said, eyeing the long line in front of the town hall.

The detectives and their friends shuffled forward as one by one kids from all over Idaville handed their coins to a man wearing a NASA T-shirt.

As soon as the man had collected everyone's money, he walked to the front of the auditorium and climbed to the stage.

Moonboy fired questions like rocket boosters from his front-row seat. He was too excited to even wait for the answers.

“Did you work on the Mars mission?

“Are moon rocks heavy?

“Have you ever been to the space station?

“Is zero gravity really cool?”

Finally, the astronaut jumped in. “I'll take questions after my talk,” he said. “But now I want to tell you all about a new space mission. It's top secret, so I'm only sharing it with you. And you have to promise to keep it that way.” He swept his eyes over all the children in the audience. “Top secret,” he said gravely.

Moonboy's eyes got wide. “Top secret,” he whispered.

Encyclopedia watched the kids around him nod yes as they waited for the astronaut to share his secret.

Pictures of men in space were projected onto the screen behind him as the astronaut spoke.

“I've gone on many missions for NASA,” he said. “I've traveled through space. I've conducted experiments on the International Space Station. I've even walked in space.

“Now I'm ready,” he announced solemnly, “to travel to another galaxy. To find planets that no human has ever seen, even through a telescope.”

A diagram of a spaceship unlike anything the kids had ever seen was shown on the screen. It was round and flat, like a flying saucer, and it had a small pool next to the pilot's seat.

“And I will take just one companion as I travel through space.”

The astronaut took a dramatic pause and reached behind a curtain. A duck wearing a little space helmet waddled onto the stage. There were gasps from the audience. Encyclopedia heard a muffled quack from behind the helmet.

“An astronaut duck!” Moonboy said, jumping to his feet.

Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.

“I could go into a lot of details about aerodynamics and space and how many years of my life will be devoted to this great mission,” the astronaut said, “but I know you all really want to know about this wonderful duck.”

Encyclopedia raised his eyebrows. “I've got to hear this,” he said.

Moonboy bit his lips to keep from asking the astronaut a million questions.

A series of pictures continued to flash behind the astronaut as he talked about the duck. “This astronaut duck has been to the moon. He's been to the space station. He's even walked in space!”

Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.

The astronaut took the duck's helmet off and a loud quack echoed through the auditorium.

“I need a volunteer to take care of this brave astronaut duck while I raise money for my mission,” the astronaut said. “There must be one child here who would do this for his country.”

Moonboy jumped to his feet. But he was surrounded by a chorus of other kids volunteering to take the duck.

“And, of course, I'll need a small fee of fifty dollars,” the astronaut said.

“Fifty dollars!” the kids cried. Most of them sat right back down. But Moonboy stayed on his feet.

“It'll take every penny I have saved, but I'll get the money,” Moonboy said.

The astronaut seemed relieved and happy, until Encyclopedia got to his feet.

“Save your money, Moonboy,” he said. “And, you,” he said to the man, “better give us back our fifty cents. You're not an astronaut. You're a fake.”

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

 

(Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Astronaut Duck.”)