1. COUNT ON DETECTIVE DRAKE!
by Arthur Stamos

2. ADVISED
advised (ad – vised ) verb Offers ideas about solving a problem The dentist advised me to brush more often.

3. 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.

4. DISCOURAGED
discouraged ( dis – cour – aged ) adjective Having little or no hope The team felt discouraged after losing three games in a row.

5. INCREASE
increase ( in – crease ) verb To make bigger or greater We will increase the size of our garden by 10 square feet.

6. 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.

7. SUITABLE
suitable ( suit - a - ble ) adjective Proper or right New paintbrushes are a suitable gift for the Art teacher.

8. WEARILY
wearily ( wear – i – ly ) adverb Acting very tired The bus driver wearily returned home after a very long day.

9. COUNT ON DETECTIVE DRAKE!
by Arthur Stamos

10. on his desk when the phone rang. He yawned
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.

11. Drake pulled up to the police station. “We’ve been
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.”

12. + 32 = 51 Guessss Who? He observed one letter’s clue.
Drake looked at the paper in the Chief’s hand.
He observed one letter’s clue.
= 51 Guessss Who?

13. “The word guess isn’t spelled right,” Drake said
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.”

14. First, he filled in the missing numbers. Then, he
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:

15. “Maybe it’s an alphabet code!” Drake shouted. When he
“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

16. JAKE THE SNAKE “This doesn’t add up,” he said, disappointed and
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

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