Brockville Mysteries and Adventures

This book consists of eight stories about four middle school kids in Brockville, Ontario who set up a Private Investigator’s Club to solve mysteries after listening to a Career Day presentation by a local police detective. Ten-year-old Mary Cashman is nicknamed ‘Brains’ because she is a smart student with a variety of interests. She is President of the club for the first three adventures. Bobby is the more mature member, invited to join the club because of his brawn. Dick is the entrepreneur, running a lawn mowing business, and Tommy, the nephew of the police detective, is a questioning lad, always wanting to know what the difficult words mean. The club follows Robert’s Rules of Order to run their meetings. The eight stories are presented in chronological and alphabetical order..The Case of the Ancient American:.Bobby incessantly bullies the others, throwing stones at them, pushing Tommy into the St. Lawrence River and other unfriendly acts. The kids meet an ancient American who has retired to Brockville and are fascinated by his stories. Bobby joins the club and stops bullying..The Case of the Brainy Birds:.The four young detectives pick a name for their new club. Dick suggests that they solve the problem of the missing birds. He has noticed that all the seagulls that normally float over Brockville and the nearby St. Lawrence River are gone. That afternoon after school they set out to find the birds. A strong earthquake strikes..The Case of the Cannabis Cat:.The Frayne family at the dinner table discusses the legalities of arresting a person. Tommy knows the Miranda warning, but his Dad points out that the laws are different in Canada. The next day, a box is delivered to the Frayne home addressed to Tommy. When he opens it, he finds a little cat with a small barrel tied to a ribbon around its neck. A policeman arrives at their door and accuses them of drug dealing..The Case of the Diligent Detectives:.Bobby wants the young detectives to become more diligent in their investigations. He overrules various suggestions for investigation and chooses investigating the brown blotches that are appearing on the grass. He suspects that alien spacecraft are hovering over the city at night and shining powerful laser beams at the ground..The Case of the Electrified Envoy:.Bobby urges the detectives to be more professional. He wants to find someone whom they can follow as a suspect. They choose an older man who has just moved to Brockville. Dick acts as scout and reports when the man leaves his apartment. Mary scoots over to the supermarket to observe him. Before long, all four of the young detectives have the suspect under control. The story involves cosmology, parallel universes and science..The Case of the Forgotten Fort:.Bobby suggests that they try to find out what the City of Brockville is hiding in the closed and locked railway tunnel under the city. They go exploring, break into the tunnel and find many items that they conclude the Department of Public Works is storing there. Mary gets caught as she leaves the tunnel and is forced to seal the others inside..The Case of the Greedy Goat:.Tommy reports that he has received an invitation for the club members to have a holiday at Mr. J’s cottage in return for helping him open it for the summer. With some difficulty he leads them through the formal procedures to accept the invitation. They are driven to Chaffey’s Lock and taken by boat to a remote cottage on Scott Island. While working on the task of getting the water system working, their cell phones are eaten by the Greedy Goat..The Case of the Hidden Hound:.Tommy sees an ad in the newspaper offering a reward for finding a missing dog. The PIC decides to take on this challenge, using the cover story that they are looking for business for Dick's Lawn Service. They get into trouble when some officials do what Bobby calls a "Bee Sting" trick on them. Luckily, a police officer comes to their rescue.