The Case of the Fifth Word – Class 8 English Poorvi Question Answer (NCERT 2026–27)

Complete solutions for Class 8 English Poorvi Unit 3 (Mystery and Magic) – “The Case of the Fifth Word” by Donald J. Sobol: summary, theme, word meanings and every textbook exercise (Let us discuss, Let us think and reflect, Let us learn, Let us listen, Let us speak, Let us write, Let us explore) answered in full. We keep the questions exactly as in the NCERT book and write out every fact/opinion task, table, match, code and fill-in activity as readable text – including the famous answer to “What was the fifth word?”

Class: 8 Subject: English Book: Poorvi Unit: 3 – Mystery and Magic Type: Story (Chapter 5) Author: Donald J. Sobol Session: 2026–27
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About the chapter

“The Case of the Fifth Word” is a detective story from Unit 3, ‘Mystery and Magic’. It features Encyclopedia Brown (Leroy), a young boy of Idaville, USA, whose father is the Chief of Police. Although only an eighth grader, Encyclopedia is the ‘best detective alive’ and quietly helps his father crack cases at the dinner table. Here he decodes a strange dying message of four words – Nom Utes Sweden Hurts – to reveal where a fortune in stolen jewellery is hidden. The fun of the story lies in working out the missing ‘fifth word’ for yourself.

Theme, characters & message

Theme: The power of sharp observation, logical thinking and general knowledge to solve a mystery that even the police cannot.

Main characters: Encyclopedia Brown (Leroy) – a knowledgeable, modest and keenly observant boy detective; Chief Brown – his father, an honest, smart police chief who proudly relies on his son; Mrs. Brown – an alert former teacher who follows the case with interest; and Tim Nolan & Daniel Davenport – the jewellery thieves whose hidden loot drives the plot.

Message: Knowledge and clear, patient reasoning are powerful tools. A simple code can hide in plain sight, and a clever mind that connects small clues – days of the week, a calendar sheet, a single fir tree – can uncover the truth.

About the author

Donald J. Sobol (1924–2012) was an American author best remembered for his hugely popular Encyclopedia Brown series for young readers. He created the brilliant boy detective Leroy ‘Encyclopedia’ Brown, who solves mysteries using facts, observation and logic, inviting readers to crack each case alongside him before the solution is revealed. Sobol wrote dozens of these mystery books over several decades and won a special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his contribution to the genre. His clear, witty style and clever puzzles made detective fiction both fun and educational for generations of children around the world.

Summary

Encyclopedia Brown is a young boy living in Idaville, USA, whose father is the Chief of Police. Though only in the eighth grade, Encyclopedia (real name Leroy) is so full of facts and so quick at reasoning that he is the best detective alive. His father cannot tell anyone – no one would believe a boy could solve cases the police could not – so the two quietly discuss mysteries at the dinner table, and Encyclopedia usually cracks them before dessert.

One Tuesday, Chief Brown brings home a puzzle. Tim Nolan, a man he had long suspected of a million-dollar jewellery robbery five years earlier (along with a friend, Daniel Davenport), has just died of a heart stroke. The stolen jewellery was never found, and Davenport had vanished after the hold-up. As he was dying, Nolan left a will giving everything, including his palm-tree nursery, to Davenport. Clipped to the will was a calendar sheet bearing Davenport’s name and address and four strange words: Nom Utes Sweden Hurts.

Mrs. Brown, a former English teacher, explains the literal meanings of the words but cannot crack the message. Encyclopedia closes his eyes, thinks hard, and asks just one question: is there a young fir tree in Nolan’s nursery? There is – one. The four words, he reveals, are a simple code. Written on a calendar sheet, they stand for days of the week with the letters ‘d-a-y’ dropped: Nom = Monday, Utes = Tuesday, Sweden = Wednesday, Hurts = Thursday. The unwritten fifth word is ‘Fir’ – Friday. The jewellery is hidden under the fifth word, that is, beneath the fir tree – inside a twenty-gallon jug of earth from which it grew, exactly as Encyclopedia had foreseen.

Word meanings

Word/PhraseEnglish meaningHindi meaning
nicknamepet nameउपनाम
in a matter-of-fact mannerwithout showing much emotionभावहीन ढंग से
hold-upsrobberies done using threat or violenceहथियारबंद लूट
nurseryplace where young plants are grown for saleपौधशाला, नर्सरी
testifymake a statement in court to prove somethingगवाही देना
huncha strong feeling about somethingअंदेशा, पूर्वाभास
lootstolen goodsलूट का माल
strokea sudden serious illness affecting movementआघात, लकवा
willlegal document stating who gets one’s property after deathवसीयत
leafed throughquickly turned the pagesपन्ने पलटना
confessedadmittedस्वीकार किया
codehidden messageगुप्त संकेत, कूट
foreseenpredictedपहले से जान लेना
suspiciouscausing doubt or distrustसंदेहास्पद
nominativea grammatical term (the subject form)कर्ता-कारक
recognisedidentified as known beforeपहचाना
arrestedtaken into custody by the policeगिरफ़्तार
yielded(here) produced (income)उपज देना, मिलना
fira kind of evergreen cone-bearing treeदेवदार जैसा वृक्ष
matter-of-factplain, unemotionalसीधा-सपाट

Before you read

I. Work in pairs. Solve the crossword puzzle with the clues in the form of anagrams (Across: 3. Declare, 6. Tucks, 7. Heart, 9. Felt, 10. Sown, 12. Sword, 13. Evil; Down: 1. Aces, 2. Read, 4. Tool, 5. Alps, 6. Hooks, 8. Mane, 11. Loves).

ANSWER (anagram solutions) Across: 3. Declare → CLEARED   6. Tucks → STUCK   7. Heart → EARTH   9. Felt → LEFT   10. Sown → OWNS   12. Sword → WORDS   13. Evil → LIVE Down: 1. Aces → CASE   2. Read → DEAR   4. Tool → LOOT   5. Alps → SLAP   6. Hooks → SHOOK   8. Mane → NAME   11. Loves → SOLVE (Each answer is a rearrangement of the same letters used in the story.)

II. Match the different meanings of ‘case’ in Column 2 with the correct usage in Column 1.

ANSWER 1. “…that was not the case as he sang melodiously…” → (iii) situation 2. “The lawyer was waiting for the case to be taken up in court.” → (iv) matter 3. “My pencil case is a gift from my grandmother.” → (ii) container 4. “…written in title case.” → (i) writing format The ‘case’ in the title refers to a matter/mystery to be solved – a detective case.

Let us discuss (after Part I)

I. Complete the following statements with suitable reasons.

ANSWER 1. Leroy’s nickname was Encyclopedia and everyone called him by that name because his head, like an encyclopedia, was filled with facts from A to Z – he read more books than anyone in Idaville and never forgot a fact. 2. At the dinner table on Tuesday night, Chief Brown stared at his cream-of-mushroom soup as he had a mystery he could not solve, and his family knew that this silent staring was his way of bringing the case to Encyclopedia. 3. Encyclopedia sat quietly at the dinner table because he knew his mother and father were discussing the case for his benefit, and he was listening carefully to gather all the facts before thinking. 4. Nolan put the will on the kitchen table because he was dying after a stroke and wanted to leave everything – including the secret of the hidden jewellery (through the coded calendar sheet) – to his partner Davenport.

II. Do you think Chief Brown would need Leroy’s help to solve this case? If yes, why? If no, why not?

ANSWERYes, Chief Brown would need Leroy’s help. The case turns on a strange four-word code that neither Chief Brown nor Mrs. Brown (a former English teacher) could decode. Such puzzles need wide general knowledge and sharp, out-of-the-box thinking – exactly Leroy’s strength. As in earlier cases, Encyclopedia is able to link the calendar sheet, the days of the week and the single fir tree to crack a clue the police would otherwise miss.

Let us discuss (after Part II)

I. Identify which statements are facts or opinions. (1 has been done: “Encyclopedia’s father was the Chief of Police” – Fact.)

ANSWER 1. Encyclopedia’s father was the Chief of Police. – Fact (given) 2. Everyone thought that Chief Brown must be the smartest police chief in the country. – Opinion 3. An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with facts from A to Z. – Fact 4. Leroy’s friends said that he was like a library and computer rolled into one, and more user-friendly. – Opinion 5. Two masked men held up the Diamond Mart on Sixth Avenue. – Fact 6. Nolan and Davenport had met while both were in prison in South Carolina. – Fact 7. Chief Brown’s hunch was that Davenport and Nolan decided to hide the loot until things cooled down. – Opinion (it was a hunch/belief) 8. Nolan wrote a four-words code to tell Davenport where he had hidden the stolen jewellery. – Fact

II. Complete the table with the character traits of Leroy from the box (cleverness, knowledgeable, keen, listener, gentle, humble). One is done: trait 1 = knowledgeable.

Textual EvidenceTrait
1. He read more books than anyone in Idaville, and he never forgot a fact.knowledgeable
2. Encyclopedia never spoke of the help he gave his father. He didn’t want to seem different from other boys.humble
3. Encyclopedia sat quietly. He knew his mother and father were discussing the case for his benefit.keen (a good listener / attentive)
4. Usually, he needed to ask only one question to solve a case before dessert.cleverness

(‘Gentle’ is the extra word not needed.)

Let us think and reflect

I.1. Extract – “Chief Brown would have liked to tell everyone about his only child. But who would believe him?… He was stuck with it… Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy.”

ANSWER (i) Chief Brown’s dilemma can be called unique because his own son is the best detective alive, yet he cannot reveal this to anyone – no one would believe that an eighth-grade boy solves the cases that baffle the police. (ii) C. He desires to blend with the other boys to prevent seeming different. (iii) The false reason is – C. “They want him to be remembered as different from the others around.” (His parents call him Leroy precisely so that he feels like an ordinary, loved child, not different.) (iv) ‘Stuck with’ the name means that the nickname had become permanent and unavoidable – everyone but his parents and teachers called him Encyclopedia, and there was nothing he could do to get rid of it.

I.2. Extract – “Chief Brown studied the four words: Nom Utes Sweden Hurts… ‘Nom is a shortening of nominative, a grammatical term,’ stated Mrs. Brown… ‘I can’t figure it out,’ she confessed. ‘Davenport disappeared right after the hold-up,’ Encyclopedia reminded her.”

ANSWER (i) B. He is confused, unable to make sense of the words. (ii) True. Mrs. Brown explained only the literal/dictionary meanings of the individual words, not the hidden message behind them. (iii) Her inability to decode the words suggests that the message is a deliberate, hidden code – it is not meant to be understood from the obvious meanings of the words, but only by someone (Davenport) who knows what to look for. (iv) The purpose of Encyclopedia’s reminder was to refocus the discussion on the context of the crime / imply that the coded message was likely a clue, meant for Davenport, about the location of the stolen jewellery.

II. Answer the following questions.

ANSWER 1. Nolan and Davenport were very close. Evidence: they met in prison and became friendly because of shared interests; Davenport came to live with Nolan a week before the hold-up; they pulled the robbery together and hid the loot jointly; and as he was dying, Nolan left everything – and the secret of the hidden jewellery – to Davenport in his will. 2. Davenport disappeared right after the hold-up to avoid being caught by the police while the case was ‘hot’. Had Nolan not died, the two had probably planned to stay apart until things cooled down and then quietly recover and share the hidden jewellery once it was safe. 3. Mrs. Brown’s keen interest shows that she is intelligent, alert and curious. A former English and high-school teacher, she remembers details of the old case, reasons along with her husband and son, and tries hard to crack the code – a sharp, involved and supportive mind. 4. Chief Brown was proud of his son because, although Encyclopedia was only an eighth grader, he was the best detective alive – full of facts and able to solve, calmly and quickly, the very mysteries that defeated the trained police force. 5. His suspicions were justified because the circumstantial links were strong: Nolan and Davenport were ex-convicts who shared a house just before the robbery; a clerk thought she recognised Nolan; the stolen jewellery never surfaced; Davenport vanished; and finally Nolan’s coded dying message proved both their guilt and the hiding place – even though hard proof had been lacking earlier. 6. The four-word coded message is the heart of the story. It is the secret key that links the two criminals, hides the location of the loot in plain sight, and creates the central puzzle. Decoding it (the days of the week with ‘day’ dropped, pointing to the unwritten fifth word ‘Fir’/Friday) is what solves the entire case and reveals the jewellery under the fir tree. 7. Character sketch of Leroy: Encyclopedia was a knowledgeable eighth grader who never forgot a fact that he read. His mind, like an encyclopedia, was stocked with information from A to Z, which earned him his nickname. Yet he was remarkably humble – he never boasted of helping his father and only wished to seem like an ordinary boy. He was a keen, attentive listener, sitting quietly to absorb every fact before reasoning. Above all he was clever: with calm, logical thinking he could crack a case with a single question, making him the best young detective in Idaville.

Let us learn

I. Match the phrasal verbs (Column 1) with their meanings (Column 2), then fill in the blanks.

ANSWER – matching 1. put on → (iv) wear (clothes, hat, etc.) 2. cooled down → (iii) became normal or calmed 3. turned up → (i) appeared, been discovered 4. make of → (vi) have an idea or understanding of something 5. figure out → (ii) solve a problem 6. got away with → (v) escaped without being punished
ANSWER – fill in the blanks A. Finally, some important evidence about the case has turned up. B. After I cooled down, I understood that I had made a big mistake. C. I couldn’t figure out why he was angry with me. D. He put on his special coat and went to his friend’s birthday party. E. Ravi forgets to do his homework but he got away with it as the teacher didn’t ask for it that day. F. I do not know what to make of his behaviour.

II. Fill in the blanks with the correct word pairs (week/weak, dying/dyeing, fore/four, peace/piece, break/brake).

ANSWER 1. After running for 50 kilometres last week, I felt weak for two days. 2. When the committee met yesterday, they brought four local cases to the fore. 3. While learning to drive, Rina used too much force on the brake, causing the car to break down. 4. He has composed a beautiful piece of music in order to bring peace to thousands of people. 5. She was busy dyeing her hair, not caring about the dying flowers in her garden.

III. Solve the rebus puzzles in the illustrations (one example: SECRET / SECRET → ‘Top secret’).

ANSWER (sample readings) SECRET over SECRET → Top secret (example) AGED AGED AGED → Middle-aged (‘aged’ in the middle) stand / I → I understand Try Try → Try again / “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” “sense” written six times → Sixth sense ONCE over M1LLION → One in a million R O A D S forming a cross → Crossroads (These are word-picture puzzles; read the position, number and arrangement of the words to get the phrase.)

IV. Find the correct order for the following spoonerisms.

ANSWER 1. knowing sits → sewing knits (swap the opening sounds) 2. it’s roaring with pain → it’s pouring with rain 3. plaster man → master plan 4. blarm wanket → warm blanket 5. tars and crucks → cars and trucks 6. shake a tower → take a shower 7. bead a rook → read a book 8. mardon me padam → pardon me, madam

V. Fill in the blanks with the correct linking words (where, when, why, because, who, whose, though, if, which, how).

ANSWER (i) who the real culprit is.   (ii) where clues are hidden carefully. (iii) Though the mystery seems tricky…   (iv) why criminals leave small but important clues. (v) which suspect is guilty.   (vi) When the truth is revealed, everything makes sense. (vii) how they could have solved it themselves.   (viii) because they make readers think till the very end.

VI. Combine the pairs of sentences using the word in brackets. (Example: We gave him the signal that he was waiting for.)

ANSWER 2. (where) We went to a place where the incident occurred. 3. (who) Teacher, who is now nearly sixty, said she would retire soon. 4. (when) It was the day when half the class was absent.

VII. Transform the example sentences from direct to indirect speech.

ANSWER – Indirect Speech (i) Mrs. Brown asked what was suspicious about that. (ii) Mrs. Brown questioned Leroy what he made of the four words. (iii) Mrs. Brown inquired whether/if he had been mixed up in a jewellery robbery a few years before. (iv) Mrs. Brown asked Chief Brown whether/if he had searched Nolan’s house, dear. (v) Mrs. Brown inquired whether/if there was a young fir tree in Mr. Nolan’s palm-tree nursery.

VIII. Rewrite the following sentences in Reported Speech.

ANSWER 1. Rohan questioned why I had stopped talking to him. 2. My aunt asked whether/if I had enjoyed the family gathering the day before. 3. My grandmother inquired when I would visit them again. 4. Madavi asked Ravi whether/if he would come with her to meet their old teacher the following day. 5. My friend inquired what gift I was planning to give my brother. 6. Veenu asked her teacher whether/if she should carry those notebooks to the staffroom.

IX. Complete the paragraph by transforming the dialogue (Aditi & Rahul) into indirect speech.

ANSWER 1. Aditi asked Rahul whether/if he had seen anyone leave a package near the lift. 2. Aditi asked Rahul what time he had seen that happen. 3. Aditi further inquired whether/if he had been able to see his face.

Let us listen

(Listening tasks are based on a podcast about ways of improving observation skills – the audio/transcript is provided by the teacher. Indicative answers below.)

ANSWER – I (True/False) 1. Observation skills help improve your common sense. – True 2. Rushing through tasks helps you focus better and observe more. – False (you should slow down) 3. Taking notes or making sketches helps with what you observe. – True 4. Incorporating tips on observation skills will soon lead to success. – True
ANSWER – II (fill in the blanks) 1. It is important to slow down and focus/observe to notice several aspects around you more clearly. 2. The more senses like hearing and smelling you use, the more information/details you absorb. 3. People who are curious tend to be better observers because they seek to understand what they notice. 4. When you make a note of things, it helps reinforce the memory/observation in your memory. 5. Practising mindfulness helps a person stay present/connected with their surroundings. (Use the exact one-to-three words you hear in the podcast.)

Let us speak

I. Read the words aloud using the pronunciation guide (jewellery – jool-ree; clerk – claak; dessert – dih-zuht; January, sour, Wednesday – wenz-day; bowl – bol; pronunciation; pizza – peet-zaa; buffet – buh-fay).

ANSWERThis is a pronunciation-practice task. Note especially the ‘silent’ or unusual sounds: jewellery = ‘jool-ree’, clerk = ‘claak’, Wednesday = ‘wenz-day’ (the first ‘d’ is silent), buffet = ‘buh-fay’ (silent ‘t’). Practise reading each word aloud with these sounds.

II. Group discussion on ‘The Interesting Aspects of a Mystery Story’.

ANSWER (points to use)This is a speaking activity. Useful points: a mystery story keeps readers guessing with suspense; it has clues hidden cleverly that we try to spot; a smart detective uses logic and observation; there are twists and red herrings; and a satisfying solution at the end. Use turn-taking and agreement/disagreement phrases (“If I may say something…”, “I fully agree…”, “I’m afraid I don’t agree…”) as guided in the book.

Let us write

I. Study the sample report on an Inter-school Football Tournament (format, content, language).

ANSWERNote the report’s features: a clear title and byline; Paragraph 1 covering What, Who, When, Where in the past tense; Paragraphs 2–3 describing the event in detail using sequence markers (following, after, subsequently, finally) and the passive voice (was declared, were held, were cheered); and a final paragraph on the prize-giving and remarks. A report is factual, formal and written in the past tense.

Write a report on an ‘Inter-school Art Exhibition’ organised by your school (sample).

SAMPLE REPORT Inter-school Art Exhibition – by Aarav Sharma, Class 8-A An Inter-school Art Exhibition was organised by our school’s Art and Craft Club from 12 to 14 March 20XX in the school auditorium. Eight schools took part, displaying paintings, sketches and craftwork made by their students. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Mrs. Leela Nair, a well-known artist, on Friday, 12 March in the presence of teachers and students. The works were displayed theme-wise – nature, festivals and ‘Save the Earth’. Following a keen contest, entries from our school and St. Mary’s School were judged the best. Visitors were charmed by the creativity on show. On the final day, prizes, medals and certificates were awarded to the winners by the Chief Guest. Addressing the students, she said, “Art teaches us to see beauty everywhere.” The exhibition was a grand success, celebrating the talent and imagination of young artists. (Write your own report in proper format with all the necessary details.)

Let us explore

ANSWER I. Observing optical illusions and checking the two images you can see in each is a pair activity to do in class. II. ‘Name the Mystery Object’ is a team language game. (Example clues describe a whiteboard/blackboard.) Prepare three hints each for your chosen object. III. Visit the library and look at an encyclopedia: it is a reference work giving detailed information and articles on many subjects, arranged A–Z. A dictionary, by contrast, mainly gives the meanings, spellings and pronunciation of words; an encyclopedia gives fuller facts and explanations about topics, people and events. IV. Using a thesaurus, find synonyms for five words, e.g. happy → joyful, glad, cheerful; big → large, huge, enormous; quick → fast, swift, rapid; clever → smart, sharp, intelligent; hide → conceal, cover, screen.

Extra questions

Short answer

1. Why was Leroy nicknamed ‘Encyclopedia’?

ANSWERBecause his head, like an encyclopedia, was filled with facts from A to Z; he read more books than anyone in Idaville and never forgot a fact.

2. What were the four words written on the calendar sheet?

ANSWERThe four words were “Nom Utes Sweden Hurts”, written below Davenport’s name and address.

3. Where was the stolen jewellery finally found?

ANSWERIt was found inside a twenty-gallon jug of earth from which the young fir tree grew in Nolan’s palm-tree nursery.

4. What did Chief Brown do when he could not solve a case?

ANSWERHe cleared his desk, put on his hat and went home to dinner, where Encyclopedia would solve the case for him before dinner was over.

5. How did Encyclopedia behave when he did his hardest thinking?

ANSWERHe leaned back and closed his eyes; after a few seconds of quiet thought he would open his eyes and ask the one question needed to crack the case.

Long answer

6. Explain in detail how Nolan’s four-word code worked and what the fifth word was.

ANSWERNolan wrote the code on a sheet torn from a desk calendar – the calendar was itself the clue, hinting at days of the week. To form the four words he took the names of the days and simply dropped the letters ‘d-a-y’, then rearranged or shaped what was left: Nom = Monday, Utes = Tuesday, Sweden = Wednesday, Hurts = Thursday. The series obviously continues to a fifth day – Friday – but Nolan deliberately left it unwritten. The unwritten fifth word was ‘Fir’ (Friday), and ‘under the fifth word’ meant under the fir tree. The jewellery lay buried in the jug of earth beneath that single fir tree, exactly as Encyclopedia worked out.

7. How does the story show that knowledge and observation are more useful than guesswork?

ANSWERBoth Chief Brown and the well-read Mrs. Brown fail to solve the riddle by guessing at the words’ ordinary meanings. Encyclopedia succeeds because he observes and connects the right facts: the message is on a calendar sheet (days of the week), Davenport vanished after the hold-up (so the loot must be hidden), and the words form a pattern with ‘day’ removed. He then confirms his reasoning with a single, precise question about a fir tree before announcing the answer. The story shows that careful observation, wide knowledge and step-by-step logic can crack a problem that random guessing never could – the true mark of a good detective.

MCQs & Assertion–Reason

1. Where does Encyclopedia Brown live?

(a) Idaville   (b) Sixth Avenue   (c) South Carolina   (d) Sweden

ANSWER(a) Idaville.

2. What is Encyclopedia’s real name?

(a) Tim   (b) Daniel   (c) Leroy   (d) Brown

ANSWER(c) Leroy.

3. What was Encyclopedia’s father’s profession?

(a) Lawyer   (b) Chief of Police   (c) Teacher   (d) Jeweller

ANSWER(b) Chief of Police.

4. How many years before the story did the Diamond Mart hold-up take place?

(a) Two years   (b) Three years   (c) Five years   (d) Ten years

ANSWER(c) Five years.

5. What business did Nolan run in Idaville?

(a) A jewellery shop   (b) A palm-tree nursery   (c) A bakery   (d) A bookstore

ANSWER(b) A palm-tree nursery.

6. The four coded words stood for:

(a) names of months   (b) days of the week   (c) colours   (d) countries

ANSWER(b) days of the week.

7. What was the unwritten fifth word?

(a) Friday (Fir)   (b) Saturday   (c) Sunday   (d) Money

ANSWER(a) Friday – written as ‘Fir’.

8. The jewellery was hidden:

(a) under the kitchen table   (b) in a bank   (c) in a jug of earth under the fir tree   (d) in Davenport’s house

ANSWER(c) in a twenty-gallon jug of earth under the fir tree.

9. Why did Mrs. Brown fail to decode the message?

(a) She could not read   (b) She explained only the literal meanings   (c) The words were in Swedish   (d) The sheet was torn

ANSWER(b) She explained only the literal meanings, not the hidden code.

10. Who is the author of the story?

(a) Ruskin Bond   (b) Donald J. Sobol   (c) Roald Dahl   (d) O. Henry

ANSWER(b) Donald J. Sobol.
Answer key: 1-a, 2-c, 3-b, 4-c, 5-b, 6-b, 7-a, 8-c, 9-b, 10-b.

Assertion–Reason – choose: (a) A and R true, R explains A; (b) A and R true, R does not explain A; (c) A true, R false; (d) A false, R true.

1. Assertion (A): Chief Brown did not tell anyone that his son solved his cases.

Reason (R): No one would believe that the best detective alive was an eighth grader.

ANSWER(a) Both true and R correctly explains A.

2. Assertion (A): The coded words were written on a sheet from a desk calendar.

Reason (R): The calendar sheet was the key that hinted the words stood for days of the week.

ANSWER(a) Both true and R correctly explains A.

3. Assertion (A): Mrs. Brown easily decoded the hidden message.

Reason (R): She had taught English and other subjects in high school.

ANSWER(d) A is false (she could not decode it), while R is true.

4. Assertion (A): Encyclopedia asked whether there was a young fir tree in the nursery.

Reason (R): The fifth word in the code was ‘Fir’ (Friday), pointing to the hiding place.

ANSWER(a) Both true and R correctly explains A.

5. Assertion (A): Nolan left the will and the coded sheet for Davenport.

Reason (R): Nolan and Davenport were strangers who had never met before the robbery.

ANSWER(c) A is true, but R is false – they had met in prison and were close partners.

Exam tips & common mistakes

Exam tips

Remember the decoding clearly: the words are on a calendar sheet, so they are days of the week with ‘d-a-y’ removed (Nom-Monday, Utes-Tuesday, Sweden-Wednesday, Hurts-Thursday), and the fifth word is Fir = Friday → under the fir tree. Be ready to explain Leroy’s traits with textual evidence (knowledgeable, humble, keen listener, clever) and to tell facts from opinions (an opinion can’t be proved; a hunch/belief is an opinion).

Common mistakes

Do not write that Mrs. Brown solved the code – she only gave the literal meanings and failed to decode it. Do not say Nolan and Davenport were strangers – they met in prison and were close partners. Spell the boy’s real name Leroy (nickname Encyclopedia), and remember the jewellery was inside a jug of earth under the fir tree, not buried loose in the ground.

FAQs

What was the fifth word in ‘The Case of the Fifth Word’?

The unwritten fifth word was ‘Fir’, standing for Friday. Like the other four words, it is a day of the week with the letters ‘day’ dropped, and it pointed to the fir tree under which the jewellery was hidden.

How did the four-word code work?

The words were written on a desk-calendar sheet, so they stood for days of the week with ‘d-a-y’ removed: Nom = Monday, Utes = Tuesday, Sweden = Wednesday, Hurts = Thursday. The next, unwritten day was Friday = ‘Fir’.

Why is Leroy called Encyclopedia?

Because his mind, like an encyclopedia, was full of facts from A to Z; he read more books than anyone in Idaville and never forgot a fact.

Where was the stolen jewellery found?

Inside a twenty-gallon jug of earth from which the young fir tree grew in Tim Nolan’s palm-tree nursery – exactly as Encyclopedia had foreseen.

Questions are taken verbatim from the NCERT Poorvi textbook; summaries and answers are written originally by ClearStudy.

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