Colin Webster, the town of Loudan’s only 10- year-old genius and detective, was rushing to the lighthouse on the rocky shore along with every other kid in town. Zach Eddy had put signs up two weeks ago for a special gold-seeking diving rod. The reason Colin was so interested was that Zach was always trying to make a couple of bucks on cheap things he made to sell to little kids. When Colin got to the scene, there was a good 20 or so kids already listening to Zach. One of his buddies from the Tiger Shark gang, Chris, was telling all the kids there the greatness of this device, “This rod you see here is not just what it looks like; if you think this is a magnet on the end, think again. This is a secret material that is attracted to gold; just watch.” Zach took the rod, Chris followed behind with a shovel, and all the kids followed. After a couple of minutes, Zach exclaimed, “Chris, get over here; I think I got something!” So Chris went over with the shovel and after hitting something solid, Zach jumped in and picked up a gold piece probably a foot long and six inches high and deep, and held it over his head, “Gold, gold, I got gold!” After he had put it down, he started telling all the kids to get one, “Look how fast I found mine; you can be rich in gold before you know it. They’re only three dollars a piece, one per costumer.” As soon as he was done speaking, all the kids gathered around his pile of rods. Then Colin spoke up and told the kids to hold on to their money. After a quick talk all the kids went home with nothing but a couple of dollars.
Solution
Zach lifted the gold above his head, a foot long, six inches high and deep. A piece of gold of that size would be nearly 300 pounds! Zach must have painted a brick or something. All the kids went home disappointed, including Zach.
