The Case of the Revolutionary Treasures

Business was slow at the Brown Detective Agency. Encyclopedia and Sally were deciding whether to spend the afternoon at the beach or at the park when they heard a shout.

“The British are coming! The British are coming!”

They watched six-year-old Mark Goldberg race up the sidewalk on his scooter, waving a rusty lantern.

“Whoa, soldier,” Encyclopedia said. “What’s your hurry? You’re late. The British came more than two hundred years ago.”

“This was Paul Revere’s!” Mark said, waving the lantern in front of Encyclopedia. “I just bought it. And after Wilford’s book is published, I’m going to sell it for lots and lots of money. I’ll be rich.”

“Wilford Wiggins?” Encyclopedia asked. “He’s lazier than a dead battery.”

“He says he has to rest up before he gets tired,” Sally added.

“He’s not lazy,” Mark said. “He’s working on an important book about the war that made America, and he needs money to go to Philadelphia.”

“You mean the American Revolution?” Sally asked.

Mark nodded.

Encyclopedia was starting to catch on. “So he’s selling some historical treasures to get money for his trip?”

“Yup,” Mark said. “And after his book is published all his stuff will be worth a ton of money.”

Wilford was a high-school dropout. He spent his mornings under the covers and his afternoons trying to trick little kids out of their money. But his get-rich-quick schemes were usually bigger than his brains. Encyclopedia always stopped his phony deals in time.

“You’d better hurry,” Mark said. “The auction starts at the city dump at two o’clock . Wilford did me a huge favor by selling me this light before the bidding started.”

Encyclopedia took the lantern from Mark. “This is old all right, but if I believed it was Paul Revere’s, I’d also believe that pigs could fly.”

“You think it’s a fake?” Mark asked.

Encyclopedia nodded. “How many times has Wilford Wiggins said he was going to make you rich?” he asked. “And how many times was he lying?”

“I believed him this time. Look how old this is. It’s all rusty!” Mark shook his head sadly. “I emptied my piggy bank to buy this, or I’d hire you to get my money back.”

“I just hired myself,” Encyclopedia said. “If you get your money back, you can pay me a quarter.” He turned to his junior partner. “We’d better get over there—”

Sally finished his sentence for him. “Before Wilford cheats the whole neighborhood out of their life savings.”

Encyclopedia and Sally hopped on their bikes and headed to the dump, followed by Mark. He waved his lantern, only this time he cried, “The detectives are coming! The detectives are coming!”

Wilford was standing on a soapbox that looked all washed up. Another cardboard box sat at his side.

“Gather around,” he said to a group of little kids. “I don’t want to have to yell too loud and let the whole world know about the treasure—”

He broke off when he saw the detectives arrive with Mark.

He recovered quickly. “I guess everybody is welcome. Even nosy-bodies who weren’t invited.” Wilford pulled a stack of paper from the box and waved it in the air. “I’ve been working on a top-secret historical document for the past two years,” Wilford said.

Sally grumbled at hearing the word “working” coming out of Wilford’s mouth, but the other kids crowded in closer.

“I have collected some treasures from our country’s great history during the course of my work, and I’m almost ready to publish my book—a guaranteed million-copy best seller.” Wilford waved the papers, and repeated, “Million-copy best seller.

“But first,” he went on, “I need to travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to gather one last fact. And what do you think I need to get there.”

“Money?” Sally asked, sarcastically.

“Right!” Wilford ignored her tone of voice. “I need money to take my trip. So I have to give up my treasures. But I can guarantee each and every one of you,” Wilford stopped and swept his eyes over his audience, “that these treasures will be worth ten times what you paid for them after my book is published. Museums will be begging to buy them from you for whatever price you ask.”

Encyclopedia watched one little girl shake her piggy bank. Other children pulled quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies out of their pockets.

Danny Lucas waved a ten-dollar bill in the air. “I was saving for a video game, but I can buy the whole video store when I sell Wilford’s treasure.”

Wilford’s eyes lit up when he saw the bill. “Why, ten dollars will buy you my most important artifact. An original, handwritten letter from George Washington to his wife, Martha.”

There was a gasp in the audience.

Wilford pulled a yellowed paper tube tied with a ribbon from the box and unrolled it to reveal the letter. “It’s dated July 4, 1776, and begins: ‘My dear Martha, I have just signed the Declaration of Independence.’”

Wilford cleared his throat importantly. “As we Revolutionary War historians know, the Americans had been fighting the British for many months before Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration. Every member of Congress signed it, including George Washington.”

Encyclopedia opened his mouth to object. But Wilford cut him off. “Look how old and delicate this parchment is. It’s the gen-u-ine thing, boys and girls. And no one can prove otherwise.”

Sally took the letter from Wilford and scanned it. “It certainly looks old,” she said to Encyclopedia. “Can Wilford be telling the truth?”

“No. He’s lying, and I can prove it,” Encyclopedia said.

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA PROVE THE LETTER WAS A FAKE?

 

(Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Revolutionary Treasures.”)