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The Case of the Sleeveless Lock

    I daville seemed no different from many other seaside towns.
    It had lovely white beaches, a Little League, banks, churches, a synagogue, and two delicatessens.
    Nevertheless, Idaville was different.
    Very different.…
    For more than a year no one, grown-up or child, had gotten away with breaking the law there.
    How did Idaville do it? Police officers from coast to coast wondered. So did the CIA and the FBI. What was the secret? How did it happen?
    Only three people knew, and they weren’t telling.
    All three lived in a redbrick house at 13 Rover Avenue—Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown, and their only child, ten-year-old Encyclopedia, America’s crime-buster in sneakers.
    Mr. Brown was chief of police. He was honest, brave, andsmart. When he had a case that puzzled him, he always knew what to do.
    He drove home.
    Encyclopedia solved the case for him at the dinner table. Usually before dessert. Usually with one question.
    Chief Brown wished he could tell the world about his son. But he knew it was useless. Who would believe him?
    Who would believe that a fifth-grader was the mastermind behind Idaville’s war on crime?
    So Chief Brown didn’t say a word. Neither did Mrs. Brown.
    For his part, Encyclopedia never boasted about the help he gave his father. Boasting was for people who needed to feel important.
    There was nothing, however, he could do about his nick-name.
    Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else called him Encyclopedia.
    An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with facts from A to Z. So was Encyclopedia’s head. He had read more books than anybody, and he never forgot a word.
    His pals said he was better than an encyclopedia. He was like a whole library that you could take along on a fishing trip.
    Monday evening Chief Brown sat silently at the dinner table, staring at his cream of broccoli soup.
    Mrs. Brown and Encyclopedia knew what was wrong. A case had him troubled.
    â€œWhat sort of case is it, dear?” Mrs. Brown asked.
    â€œOne without a crime,” Chief Brown answered. He stirred his soup for a moment.
    Mrs. Brown and Encyclopedia waited patiently.
    â€œJohn Long is getting married tomorrow,” Chief Brown said. “He hoped to give his bride the wedding ring that his grandmother left him. He can’t.”
    â€œHe lost it?” asked Mrs. Brown.
    â€œNo,” Chief Brown replied. “The ring is safe. In fact, it’s altogether too safe.”
    He explained. The ring was kept in a safe in the home of John’s uncle, Gordon Long, with whom John lived. The uncle was the only person who could open the safe.
    â€œThe uncle flew to Brazil shortly before John announced his wedding date,” Chief Brown said. “He said he’d be back in a few days. He’s already been gone two months. Brazil is a big country, and John doesn’t know where to reach him.”
    â€œWhy doesn’t John postpone the wedding?” Mrs. Brown inquired. “Or use another ring?”
    â€œJohn has had his heart set on using his grandmother’s ring,” Chief Brown said. “Besides, it’s too late to postpone the wedding. Most of the out-of-town guests have already arrived in Idaville.”
    â€œThe uncle must have hidden a spare key someplace,” Mrs. Brown said.
    â€œA spare key won’t help,” Chief Brown said. “The safe has a combination lock.”
    â€œThis really isn’t a police case,” Mrs. Brown said. “How did you get into it?”

    â€œI caught the thieves who robbed John’s gas station last year,” Chief Brown replied. “He asked me to help him again. I’m supposed to figure out how to open the safe. He said he didn’t trust anyone else.”
    Encyclopedia had been sitting quietly, listening. He knew his father and mother were going over the case for his sake. They were trying to give him all the