COUNT ON DETECTIVE DRAKE!

by Arthur Stamos

ADVISED

advised (ad – vised ) verb

Offers ideas about solving a problem

The dentist advised me to brush more often.

DEPART

depart ( de – part ) verb

To leave or go away

The bus will depart at 7:00 a.m. If you are late it will leave without you.

DISCOURAGED

discouraged ( dis – cour – aged ) adjective

Having little or no hope

The team felt discouraged after losing three games in a row.

INCREASE

increase ( in – crease ) verb

To make bigger or greater

We will increase the size of our garden by 10 square feet.

OBSERVED

observed ( ob – served ) verb

Learned by studying someone or something

The students observed the changes in temperature over a three week period and recorded their data.

SUITABLE

suitable ( suit - a - ble ) adjective

Proper or right

New paintbrushes are a suitable gift for the Art teacher.

WEARILY

wearily ( wear – i – ly ) adverb

Acting very tired

The bus driver wearily returned home after a very long day.

COUNT ON DETECTIVE DRAKE!

by Arthur Stamos

Detective Drake was napping with his feet up on his desk when the phone rang. He yawned and picked it up. “Hello?” he said wearily. “I’ll take the case. I will depart at once.” Drake grabbed his umbrella, which was suitable for the rain outside, and walked out into the noisy city.

THE CASE Drake pulled up to the police station. “We’ve been getting unfinished math problems in the mail,” the Chief said. “They’re signed ‘Guessss Who?’ Every day the number of letters increases. We keep getting more. They are clogging up the mail room.”

Drake looked at the paper in the Chief’s hand. He observed one letter’s clue.

+ 32 = 51 Guessss Who?

GATHERING CLUES “The word guess isn’t spelled right,” Drake said thoughtfully. “Give me the clues, Chief,” he said. And if someone asks you, say that I’ve advised you not to discuss the case. If you do what I say, I’ll get this problem solved quickly.”

Drake took the clues and went back to his office. First, he filled in the missing numbers. Then, he wrote the numbers in a notebook:

1 1 5 5 5 8 10 11 11 14 19 20

“Is it a code?” he thought aloud. “Think, Drake, think!” “Maybe it’s an alphabet code!” Drake shouted. When he matched the numbers to the letters of the alphabet, this is what he had:

A A E E E H J K K N S T

CASE SOLVED “This doesn’t add up,” he said, disappointed and discouraged. He kept moving the letters around. Finally, he had it:

JAKE THE SNAKE

Drake called the Chief. “That snake, Jake, is your man.” “I knew I could count on you!” said the Chief.