Headscratchers / Encyclopedia Brown

• Has anyone actually seen the version of "The Case of the Civil War Sword" where the sword in question was awarded by Robert E. Lee? Because I never have, and I'm beginning to doubt its existence.
  • I remember seeing this and being mildly put off that they lionized a Confederate general like that. Pretty sure it's real.
• Did the Great Merko ever actually exist in-universe, or was she just made up for Sally’s story?
  • Probably not, considering that such worldplay probably wouldn't really pass muster in a court of law.
• "The Case of the Tied-Up Twins": Shouldn't the Hanson twins have won by default once all of the other contestants dropped out?
• Whatever happened to the real Roman-Numeral Robber in the eponymous case, seeing as the one note from him seen was actually Mr. von Martin's fake note? Or are we meant to infer that von Martin was the Roman-Numeral Robber all along?
• "However, while 'he's a professional painter trying to pass as an amateur' is the most likely explanation for the masquerade and was probably sufficient grounds on its face to get him disqualified, he might have had other reasons for the pretense" What might some of these other reasons be?
• In book 8, chapter 3 ("The Case of the Flying Submarine"), Bugs Meany somehow gets away with lying to the police chief's face, accusing Encyclopedia and Sally of a serious crime. How did he get away with this, rather than get hauled to the station for blatant perjury?
  • Because he wasn't in court or under an oath.
• Even if the books were published long before South Park they mention a "South Park" and the show's titular location is in Colorado. Are there hints Idaville is in Colorado?
  • No. There are stronger hints that it's in Florida than anywhere else.
    • Such as?
    • From the main page: "While the location of the series' setting, Idaville, is never explicitly given, enough clues exist in the books to identify it as somewhere on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Some hints suggest that it's in the Southeast, and an Onion story spoofing the books put it in Florida. Book 11, Chapter 3 ("The Case of the Skunk Ape") mentions that the Skunk Ape is "Idaville's version of Bigfoot", further suggesting Florida and the Southeast. In another case — Book 18, Chapter 5 ("The Case of the Rented Canoes") — thieves hid stolen fishing rods among the mangrove trees. Nearly all mangroves in the USA grow in Florida."
• The solution to The Missing Skate is confusing. Billy Haggerty gave himself away by not knowing who Dr. Vivian Wilson because he knew his gender and job? But Encyclopedia clearly said the pronouns. Definitely the job would give him away.