Featured mysteries from
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
The Case of Natty Nat
The Case of the Scattered Cards
BY DONALD J. SOBOL
illustrated by Leonard Shortall
A Penguin Special
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Encyclopedia Brown Double Mystery #1
Featured mysteries from Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Originally published as The Case of Natty Nat and The Case of the Scattered Cards.
Copyright 1963 by Donald J. Sobol
This edition copyright 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed
in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
ISBN 978-1-101-61853-0
Read all the Encyclopedia Brown Books
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues
Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man
Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All
Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace
Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day
Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down
Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case
Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor
Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case
Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme
Join us in celebrating
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Encyclopedia Brown in 2013...
Encyclopedia Brown and
His Best Cases Ever
Coming January 24, 2013
978-0-14-75087-3
$6.99
Featuring fifteen of his greatest cases and
the story of how Encyclopedia Brown came to be!
Read all the Encyclopedia Brown Books
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues
Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man
Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All
Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace
Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day
Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down
Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case
Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor
Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case
Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme
Solution to The Case of the Scattered Cards
Bugs Meany said that Clarence had stolen the tent from the Tigers clubhouse this morning. That is, on the second day of the rain. Therefore, the ground under the tent should have been wet.
But when Encyclopedia scattered the cards with his foot, he discovered that the ground inside the tent was dry. This proved that the tent had been put up before the rain, as Clarence claimedand not during the rain this morning, as Bugs said.
The Case of Natty Nat
Mr. and Mrs. Brown had one child. They called him Leroy, and so did his teachers.
Everyone else in Idaville called him Encyclopedia.
An encyclopedia is a book or a set of books giving information, arranged alphabetically, on all branches of knowledge.
Leroy Browns head was like an encyclopedia. It was filled with facts he had learned from books. He was like a complete library walking around in sneakers.
Old ladies who did crossword puzzles were always stopping him on the street to ask him questions.
Just last Sunday, after church, Mrs. Conway, the butchers wife, had asked him: What is a three-letter word for a Swiss river beginning with A?
Aar, Encyclopedia answered after a moment.
He always waited a moment. He wanted to be helpful. But he was afraid that people might not like him if he answered their questions too quickly and sounded too smart.
His father asked him more questions than anyone else. Mr. Brown was the chief of police of Idaville.
The town had four banks, three movie theaters, and a Little League. It had the usual number of gasoline stations, churches, schools, stores, and comfortable houses on shady streets. It even had a mansion or two, and some dingy sections. And it had the average number of crimes for a community of its size.
Idaville, however, only looked like the usual American town. It was, really, most unusual.
For nearly a whole year no criminal had escaped arrest and no boy or girl had got away with breaking a single law in Idaville.
This was partly because the towns policemen were clever and brave. But mostly it was because Chief Brown was Encyclopedias father.
His hardest cases were solved by Encyclopedia during dinner in the Browns red brick house on Rover Avenue.