The Case of the Exploding Plumbing Read Online Free PDF Page B

copper sweat joints in the pipes to soften and pull apart clear to the top floor.”
    “And where the joints didn’t break,” said one of the firemen, “the hot water shot into the cold porcelain bowls and tanks and shattered them.”
    “Say,” declared the handyman, his voice full of wonder. “You’re some smart little kid.”
    “But who would want to smash all Winslow’s lovely antiques?” protested Gladys.
    “You,” said Encyclopedia.
    HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?
     
     
     
     
     
    (Turn to page 95 for the solution to The Case of the Exploding Toilet.)

The Case of the Salami Sandwich
    Ziggy Ketchum was sixteen and the most absentminded boy in Idaville.
    He often hired Encyclopedia to help him find things. Only last month Ziggy lost his wristwatch. Encyclopedia found it on his other wrist.
    Early Friday morning Ziggy entered the Brown Detective Agency. He laid a quarter on the gas can.
    “I want to hire you,” he said. “I’m going to lose my job.”
    “Good grief, Ziggy,” exclaimed Encyclopedia. “We can’t help you find something you haven’t lost yet!”
    “Well, if you find my lunch, I won’t lose my job.”
    While Encyclopedia blinked his eyes, Ziggy explained.
    During the summer he worked in Hector’s Department Store. Every day he hid his lunch in a different box of boys’ shoes.
    “I forgot where I hid my lunch—a salami sandwich—Monday. If Mr. Wilson, the floor manager, finds it before I do, I’m dead.”
    “Why do you have to hide your lunch?” asked Sally.
    “Al Noshman is the other stock boy on the third floor,” said Ziggy. “If I don’t hide my lunch, he eats it.”
    “He must be fast with the teeth,” said Encyclopedia.
    “Fast as lightning,” said Ziggy. “He eats his dessert with his soup spoon.”
    “You should go to a restaurant for lunch,” said Encyclopedia.
    “Naw, it costs too much,” said Ziggy.
    “Al Noshman should at least take you out to eat now and then,” said Sally. “He owes it to you.”
    “He took me to the Dog Shack last week,” admitted Ziggy. “I’ll never go again.”
    “Why not?” inquired Sally. “Didn’t he pay the check?”
    “He paid,” replied Ziggy. “But he said terrible things like: ‘This tablecloth is filthy—has it come straight off the bed?’ ‘Do you run your own hospital for people who eat here?’ It was awful.”
    “It could have been worse,” said Encyclopedia. “Al forgot to ask, ‘When did the waiters go on strike?’ and ‘Do you kill your own garbage here?’ ”
    “He probably said those things on purpose,” suggested Sally, “so you wouldn’t want to go out to eat with him again.”
    The detectives discussed what to do. They decided to go with Ziggy to Hector’s Department Store and search the stock room for the salami sandwich. They took the number 3 bus into town.
    Ziggy went into the store by the employees’ entrance. Encyclopedia and Sally waited on the street until ten o’clock, when the doors opened. They met Ziggy on the third floor.
    Home furnishings took up half the floor, and men’s and boys’ clothing the other half. Ziggy pointed to a door at each end of the floor.
    “Those doors lead to the stock rooms,” he said. “Al Noshman handles home furnishings. I take care of clothing. Follow me.”
    The children walked slowly through the clothing department. It was filled with every kind of wear from caps to shoes.
    Sally gasped as they entered the stock room. “There must be five hundred boxes of shoes, plus a zillion others!”
    “I’ve been working here a month,” said Ziggy. “I still haven’t learned half the colors and sizes.”
    “We’ll never be able to look through all the boxes without being caught,” said Sally.
    “How do you remember which shoe box you put your lunch into?” asked Encyclopedia.
    “I make a list for each week,” said Ziggy. He took a piece of paper from his pocket.
    On it he had written: “Brown 7½, Brown 7, White 7½, Tan 6, White