Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs Read Online Free PDF Page B

came up the driveway. “Thank goodness you’re here!” she declared. “I was afraid you might be at the beach trying to beat the heat.”
    â€œWe would be if we had any sense,” Sally said.
    â€œWhat can we do for you?” Encyclopedia asked.
    Penny laid a quarter on the gasoline can. She didn’t let go of it, though, not for a second. Penny didn’t part with her money easily.
    â€œWe’re hired,” said Sally. “Tell us the problem.”
    â€œWilford Wiggins has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone with a little extra cash,” Penny informed them
    â€œWilford?” Encyclopedia groaned. “Oh, not Wilford again!”
    Wilford Wiggins was a high school dropout and as peppy as a pillow. He couldn’t stand to watch people work before noon.
    â€œI’m saving myself until something important comes up,” he explained.
    His chief exercise was trying to swindle the little neighborhood kids out of their savings. Happily, Encyclopedia was there to halt his phony big deals. Only last week the detective had stopped him from collecting money to manufacture a new-car smell. It was for people who want to smell like a new car.
    â€œWilford is holding a secret meeting today at five o’clock at the city dump. It’s just for little kids,” Penny said.
    â€œIt’s nearly five now,” Sally said. “We better get going if we want to hear his latest big deal.”
    When they got to the dump, a crowd of about twenty little kids was waiting, eager to learn how they could get rich quick.
    Wilford stood on a rusted washing machine. “Gather round. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Time is money. I’m glad all my little friends could make it. Your faith in me will be rewarded—if you tell no one. I don’t want grown-ups reaching the treasure first.”
    The children made anxious noises, fearful for the money they didn’t yet have.
    â€œYour treasure is safe if you don’t speak of it,” Wilford said. “Loose talk is dangerous.” He motioned the children to come closer. “I have an uncle who lives down at the southern tip of South America. Last week it was really hot there, kind of like today. He went to the beach to cool off.”
    â€œSmart man,” Sally muttered.
    â€œHe was standing at the edge of the water,” Wilford continued, “when a sea chest washed up onto the shore. The chest held tools and several gold coins. My uncle is convinced there’s a shipwreck nearby. It could be a pirate ship or one of those treasure galleons that sailed the waters hundreds of years ago. Considering the coins he found, he figures there’s a fortune on board. It’s waiting at the bottom of the sea.”
    A scattering of “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” rose from the children.
    â€œI got excited, too, when I first heard my uncle talk about a wreck,” Wilford confessed. “He said a lot of ships went down in those parts during the 1600s and 1700s. Spanish ships and ships of other countries sailed there loaded with gold bars, coins, and jewels worth millions, and sank.”
    â€œI have a question,” Penny asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier for your uncle to borrow money from grown-ups he knows?”
    â€œAn excellent question,” Wilford said. “I asked him the same thing. He explained that if he tells anybody about the sea chest, they’ll start looking for the ship themselves. So he has to keep it a secret. That’s when he thought of me. He figures that his secret is safe this far away. At the moment, he doesn’t have the money to hunt the ship. He hopes he can still get the money he needs from me and my loyal little friends.”
    â€œWhy don’t you loan him the money yourself?” asked a boy.
    â€œMy money is tied up in oil wells,” said Wilford. “So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to make you rich beyond