Read Online Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man by Donald J. Sobol - Free Book Online Page A

‘Tigers’ written on it, like his friends.”
    “I knew it!” exclaimed Encyclopedia. “Bugs Meany!”
    Bugs Meany was the leader of the Tigers, a gang of tough older boys. When it came to upsetting the peace of the neighborhood, they were worse than noisy plumbing. Since opening his detective agency, Encyclopedia had often been hired to stop Bugs’s dishonest doings.
    For several minutes Encyclopedia was silent, thinking.
    Algernon stood by, working his thumb to develop muscle.
    Finally Encyclopedia said, “Bugs will say he never saw you before. We must make him admit he knows you.”
    “He knows me,” said Algernon. “He called me ‘Algernon’ and ‘old pal’ when we started to shoot marbles. After I licked him, he called me a ‘dirty thief’ and lots of other names.”
    “We had better talk with Bugs,” said Encyclopedia. “Let’s go, Algernon.”
    “Just call me Al, if you don’t mind. Algernon means ‘with the mustache.’ ”
    The Tiger’s clubhouse was an unused tool shed behind Mr. Sweeny’s Auto Body Shop. When Encyclopedia and Algernon arrived, Bugs was alone. He was playing checkers with himself, and cheating.
    “Scram,” he snarled when he saw Encyclopedia. “Or I’ll knock you so hard on the head you’ll have to take off your shoes to watch television.”
    “I ought to tweek him now while he’s alone,” whispered Al.
    “Take it easy,” Encyclopedia whispered back.
    But Algernon began working his thumb excitedly.
    Bugs Meany stared. “What’s with this kid?” he asked. “Is he practicing to be a hitch-hiker?”
    “His name is Al Kehoe, and you stole Minnie and Moocher and his other marbles,” said Encyclopedia. “Kindly return them.”
    “I stole his marbles?” cried Bugs. He clapped himself smartly on the forehead. “Why, I never saw Jumpy Thumb here before in my life.”
    Algernon’s marble-shooting thumb was wiggling faster than ever. “I was a coward to let him rob me,” he muttered. He started for Bugs.
    Encyclopedia pushed him back.
    “I’m going to tweek him, so help me,” said Algernon.
    Just then Duke Kelly and Spike Larsen, two Tigers, entered the clubhouse. They glared at Encyclopedia. Then they saw Algernon’s thumb wiggling.
    “Who is he?” they asked.
    “Algernon Kehoe,” answered Bugs. “He says I stole his marbles.”
    “I ought to tweek them all,” Algernon growled under his breath. “Tweek, tweek, tweek.”
    “What’s he mumbling about?” demanded Bugs.
    “I beat you at marbles, and I can beat you at tweek,” said Algernon.

    “I stole his marbles?” cried Bugs.
    “Tweek?” said Bugs.
    “Tweek,” repeated Algernon. “It’s played like this.”
    His right hand, with his powerful thumb tucked under his forefinger, shot out. When his hand got under Bugs’s lower lip, his thumb snapped free like a broken spring.
    “Tweek!” said Algernon.
    Boing! Boing! went Bugs’s lips. They bounced up and down like the tip of a diving board.
    While Bugs danced around, flapping his arms in pain, Spike and Duke cocked their fists.
    Encyclopedia held up his hands.
    “Don’t make more trouble for yourselves,” he warned. “Bugs stole Algernon’s marbles all right.”
     
    WHAT MADE ENCYCLOPEDIA SO SURE?

The Case of Bugs Meany, Detective

    Whenever Encyclopedia crossed his path, Bugs Meany burned with a single desire.
    It was to fill Encyclopedia’s mouth with a fist.
    But Bugs never swung a blow. Every time he felt like it, his jaw ached. For he remembered the detective’s junior partner, Sally Kimball.
    Sally was the prettiest girl in the fifth grade. She was also the best athlete.
    The first time she had seen Bugs, he was bullying a Cub Scout.
    Sally had jumped off her bike. She had put her left into Bugs’s face rap-tap-tap. Then her right had gone whammo!
    After the first punch, Bugs had seen red. After ten punches, he had seen stars.
    “Bugs is like a lumpy mattress,” warned Encyclopedia. “He won’t rest till he gets