Encyclopedia Brown and The Case

Of The Flashing Toilet

So one day, our toilet stopped flushing. These things happen. It's an imperfect world. But Todd noticed that when he looked down into the bowl, there seemed to be a flashing red light down there blinking. That sounded suspiciously to me like Henry's FireFly toothbrush which blinks red, and had also gone missing.

So Todd spent THREE HOURS taking apart every piece of the toilet. Snaking it, snaking everything, and while he had it all apart, replacing parts and readhering pieces. (sometimes it's handy to own a hardware store) So after three hours, he yells, "Hey I found something!"

He'd found the toothbrush.

It looked something like this, only...not quite as pristine. The toothbrush blinks so kids know how long to brush. So the question remained. Who done it?

Was it that cagey vixen Loretta Lou Who? She had the opportunity and the interest. Playing in the toilet bowl is her #1 favorite thing to do. (besides all-you-can-eat-buffets) Up 'til now though, I'd never seen her be able to flush the toilet.

Or was it Handsome Hank? He had the motive. He's not a big fan of oral hygiene. And he is able to flush the toilet.

Well, we did some sleuthing and extracted a confession...

It was Colonel Pfeiffer in the conservatory with the FireFly.

And he promised he'd never to do it again.