EnglishCBSE Class 8 · The Case of the Fifth Word

The Case of the Fifth Word, Class 8: Encyclopedia Brown's Reasoning and the Weekday Code

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Tim Nolan's dying note lists four words, Nom Utes Sweden Hurts. Each is a weekday with day removed and the letters rearranged: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. The fifth, unwritten word is Fir, from Friday. Encyclopedia Brown reasons that the jewellery is hidden under the young fir tree in Nolan's nursery, and it is found in a jug of earth there.

Notice the pattern Monday to Thursday, then spot the missing Friday: it gives Fir, a tree, which points to the nursery.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code

The case in brief. Five years earlier, two masked men robbed the Diamond Mart of jewellery worth a million dollars. The police suspected Tim Nolan and his friend Daniel Davenport but had no proof. Davenport disappeared. When Nolan died, he left his will, his nursery and a calendar sheet with four strange words clipped to it. Chief Brown could not read the message. His son Encyclopedia could.

Step 1: What kind of message is it? The words are clipped to a sheet torn from a desk calendar. A calendar suggests days of the week. Encyclopedia says that the code is simple, especially because it is written on a calendar sheet.

Step 2: Find the rule. Take each weekday, remove the letters d-a-y and rearrange the remaining ones.

Monday gives MON, rearranged to Nom.
Tuesday gives TUES, rearranged to Utes.
Wednesday gives WEDNES, rearranged to Sweden.
Thursday gives THURS, rearranged to Hurts.

Step 3: Notice what is missing. The four words are Monday to Thursday. The next day is Friday. Remove day and rearrange FRI and we get Fir. The note stops before the fifth word, so the writer expected the reader to complete the pattern.

Step 4: Link to the place. A fir is a kind of tree. Nolan owned a nursery and grew trees. Encyclopedia asks whether there is a young fir tree in the nursery. There is one, on the south side of the house. He tells his mother that the jewellery is hidden under the fifth word.

Step 5: Check the reasoning. Davenport had been left the nursery in the will, so he was the person who would read the note and understand it. The police had searched the house thoroughly and found nothing, so the hiding place was probably outside it. The jewellery is found in a twenty-gallon jug of earth under the tree.

Skills the story shows. Pattern spotting, logical inference, using background knowledge and staying modest: Encyclopedia never boasts about helping his father.

The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code: key facts

The code rule: Take a weekday
Remove day
Rearrange the letters; Mon, Tues, Wednes, Thurs, Fri.
Decoded words: Nom = Mon
Utes = Tues
Sweden = Wednes
Hurts = Thurs
Fir = Fri; Fir is the unwritten fifth word.
Reasoning steps: Calendar sheet
Days of the week
Missing Friday
Fir tree
Nursery; The chain from clue to place.
Story qualities: Suspense
Humour
Pun on case
Dialogue; Literary devices to mention.

The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Spotting a pattern in a message

Suppose a treasure hunt note in school reads "Aprli Yam Eunj" and is clipped to a page from a calendar for the months April to June. The first word has been made by rearranging the letters of April; the second and third words are rearranged forms of May and June. A hint says "the next month holds the prize".

Which skill from the story helps to solve this, and what is the next clue?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The calendar page gives the category: months.
Each word is a month with its letters rearranged (Yam = May, Eunj = June).
The next month is July, so the clue points to a place linked with July.

Answer: The skill is spotting a pattern from the context, as Encyclopedia does with the weekdays. The next month in the series is July, so the missing clue refers to July.

Memory hook: Find the category, find the rule, find the missing piece.

Tricks to remember The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

D-R-M
Drop day, Rearrange, Match the weekday.
Use it when: The rule of the code.
Four words, five days
Four written words stand for Monday to Thursday; Friday is missing.
Use it when: The idea of the fifth word.
Fir is a tree
Fri turns into Fir, and a fir is a tree.
Use it when: Why the nursery was the hiding place.

The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Decode one word · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

The word Utes in the note stands for
(a) Monday (b) Tuesday (c) Wednesday (d) Thursday

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Tuesday minus day is TUES, which rearranges to Utes (1 mark).

Answer: (b)

Example 2: The calendar clue · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level

Why was it important that the four words were written on a sheet from a calendar? Answer in 30-40 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

A calendar suggests days (1).
So the words could be forms of weekdays (1).

Answer: The calendar sheet suggested that the words had something to do with days. This helped Encyclopedia to guess that each word was a weekday with day removed and its letters rearranged, so the code became simple.

Example 3: Why the fifth word · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

How did Encyclopedia work out that there was a fifth word and what it was? Answer in 50-60 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The four words are Monday to Thursday (1).
The pattern continues to Friday (1).
Fri rearranged gives Fir (1).

Answer: Encyclopedia saw that Nom, Utes, Sweden and Hurts are Monday to Thursday with day removed and the letters rearranged. The pattern suggested that the next weekday, Friday, was missing. Taking Fri and rearranging the letters gives Fir. So the unwritten fifth word is Fir, and the jewellery lies under the fir tree.

Example 4: The reasoning about Davenport · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Why did Encyclopedia say that the code was simple, and why would Davenport understand it? Give two reasons from the story. Answer in 60-70 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

It was on a calendar sheet (1.5).
Nolan wrote it for Davenport, who was to inherit the nursery (1.5).
It uses a common pattern (1).

Answer: Encyclopedia said the code was simple because it was on a sheet from a calendar, which points to the days of the week. Nolan had written the message for Davenport, who would soon learn that he had inherited the nursery, so he would know to look for a tree there. The weekday pattern is easy to follow, so Davenport could solve it without help.

Example 5: Create a similar code · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Suppose (an invented example, not in the story) that a similar note used the same rule and contained the word Surat. Which weekday is it? Show your working, then design a three-word code of your own for Sunday, Monday and Friday.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Surat has the letters S, U, R, A, T, which are the letters of Satur (1).
Satur + day = Saturday (1).
Sunday gives SUN; Monday gives MON; Friday gives FRI (1).
Rearranged forms, for example Nus, Nom, Fir (1).
Explain the rule in a sentence (1).

Answer: Surat is made of the letters S, U, R, A and T, which are the letters of Satur, so it stands for Saturday. For my own code I remove day from Sunday, Monday and Friday to get Sun, Mon and Fri, and I rearrange them to make Nus, Nom and Fir. The rule is: remove day from a weekday and rearrange the remaining letters.

Where students lose marks in The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Writing that the words are weekdays without the rule
The rule is the main mark.
Wrong working
Nom is Monday.
Right working
Nom is Mon (Monday without day) with the letters rearranged.
Do this: Say drop day and rearrange.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks.
Mistake: Saying the fifth word was written in the note
It was missing.
Wrong working
The fifth word Fir was in the note.
Right working
Only four words were written; the fifth, Fir, was unwritten and had to be worked out.
Do this: Write "unwritten".
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Calling Encyclopedia a police officer
He was the chief's son, an eighth grader.
Wrong working
Encyclopedia was the police chief.
Right working
Chief Brown was the police chief; Encyclopedia was his son.
Do this: Learn the characters.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Write each decoded word with its weekday: Nom - Monday, and so on.
State the rule in one line before decoding.
Use "unwritten" for the fifth word.
Link the fir tree to the nursery in answers about the hiding place.
For character questions, give a quality and an action.

Practice questions on The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
The fifth, unwritten word of the code is
(a) Sat (b) Fir (c) Sun (d) Wed
Hint
It comes after Thursday.
Answer
(b)
Q2 · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level
Where was the jewellery found? Answer in 25-30 words.
Hint
A tree in the nursery.
Answer
The jewellery was found in a jug of earth in which a young fir tree was growing, on the south side of Nolan's house, just as Encyclopedia had predicted.
Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Encyclopedia solved the case without leaving his dinner table.
Reason (R): He used logical reasoning and general knowledge about the clues given by his father.
(a) Both A and R are true and R explains A
(b) Both are true but R does not explain A
(c) A is true but R is false
(d) A is false but R is true
Hint
He asked only one question about the nursery.
Answer
(a)
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
The title says "case". In how many senses can this word be used in the story and in everyday English? Give two meanings and use each in a sentence. Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
A police matter and a container.
Answer
Case can mean a matter investigated by the police: "The detective solved the case." It can also mean a container: "She kept the glasses in a case." In the title it is used in the first sense, a mystery to be solved, which suits the story about a robbery.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Encyclopedia never tells people that he helps his father. Do you think this is wise? Give your view with two reasons from the story in 80-100 words.
Hint
Humility, his father's reputation, being treated as ordinary.
Answer
I think it is wise. First, the story says that nobody would believe that the best detective alive is an eighth grader, so telling people would only create doubt and attention. Second, Leroy does not want to seem different from other boys, and he is content to let his father keep the reputation. His silence shows humility and good sense: he cares about solving the case, not about praise. It also keeps his friendships ordinary and his school life normal.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Who wrote The Case of the Fifth Word?Show answer
Donald J. Sobol.
2.What is the detective's nickname?Show answer
Encyclopedia.
3.What was stolen?Show answer
Jewellery worth a million dollars.
4.Which day is Hurts?Show answer
Thursday.
5.What was the fifth word?Show answer
Fir (Friday).
6.Where was the jewellery hidden?Show answer
In a jug of earth under a young fir tree in the nursery.

The Case of the Fifth Word: Reasoning and the Code: frequently asked questions

What is the central idea of the story?

Observation, logic and knowledge solve problems that adults miss.

Why is the story called The Case of the Fifth Word?

The solution depends on a fifth word that was never written.

Is the story humorous?

Yes. Chief Brown goes home to dinner when he is stuck and his son solves it before dessert.

What questions can be asked from this story?

Decoding questions, character sketches, short answers on the reasoning and a puzzle-writing task.