Solution to the Case of the Dead Child Beauty Queen
Bugs may have known a little bit about astronomy, but fortunately
for the Ramseys, Encyclopedia knew a lot more. Encyclopedia knew that at the
latitude of Boulder, Colorado the Canis Minor constellation can be viewed only
in the months of February and March, not December when JonBenet was killed.
Tripped up by his own story, Bugs confessed, but not before trying to make a
break for it. Bugs didn’t get far before Sally chased him down and flattened
him with a right cross. Bugs said he only meant to scare JonBenet to keep her
from competing in pageants, so that his sister, Regina, could win enough prize
money to pay for a black market kidney for their mother, Ludmilla Meany.
Unfortunately, Bugs went a little too far with his threats and accidentally
killed JonBenet. Then he hid JonBenet’s body in the Ramseys’ wine
cellar and wrote the ransom note, hoping that the police investigation would
center on the Ramseys themselves as the most likely suspects. This seemed like
a good plan, given that parents are involved in nearly 95% of all child homicides.
But Bugs hadn’t counted on the money and influence that Mr. Ramsey used
to stonewall the Boulder police. Nor had he counted on the Ramseys hiring the
smartest ten-year-old in the country, Encyclopedia Brown.
After Bugs was safely in police custody, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey took Encyclopedia
and Sally out for ice cream to celebrate.