Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs by Donald J. Sobol

DUTTON CHILDREN’S BOOKS
A division of Penguin Young Readers Group
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    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2010 by Lobos Enterprises, LLC
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    Published in the United States by Dutton Children’s Books,
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    eISBN : 978-1-101-46457-1

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For Jim Eiler and David Lile

The Case of the Stolen Stamps

    To a person passing through, Idaville looked like many seaside towns. It had lovely white beaches, four banks, three movie theaters, and two delicatessens. It was a wonderful place to live and work.
    Unless you were a crook.
    No one, grown-up or child, got away with breaking the law in Idaville. The reason for the town’s spotless police record was to be found in a redbrick house on Rover Avenue. There lived Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their only child, ten-year-old Encyclopedia.
    Mr. Brown was chief of police. He was always being praised for his work. It seemed no case was too tough for him.
    In truth, Chief Brown was brave and smart, as were his officers. He knew what to do when a case had him stumped. He went home to dinner. Encyclopedia, the real mastermind behind the war on crime, solved the case at the dinner table. Usually before dessert. Usually by asking only one question.
    The chief would have liked to give his son credit. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops or take out a full-page ad in the Idaville News . But even if he did that, what good would it do? Who would believe a ten-year-old boy could outsmart hardened criminals?
    Besides, Encyclopedia wasn’t looking for the extra attention. He was already a little different because only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else in town called him Encyclopedia.
    An encyclopedia is a book or a set of books filled with facts from A to Z , like Encyclopedia’s head. He had read more books than just about anyone, and he never forgot what he read.
    One Tuesday evening at the dinner table, Encyclopedia was finishing his meat loaf. His mother was almost done eating as