Three Investigators - The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler, page 10
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police!
Jupiter shrugged his shoulders and smiled weakly at Hugunay.
“Okay – you’ve won. I hid the book over by the office. I’ll go get it.”
Hugunay gave a narrow smile. “I knew I could count on you to show some good sense.”
Jupiter began walking toward the small cabin that served as the salvage yard’s office. Pete, Bob, and Allie began to follow, but were stopped by Hugunay.
“I would feel much better if you three stayed put. Dealing with young Jones can be tricky enough without adding two more investigators, and a young lady, into the mix.”
Pete and Bob looked at each other. How was Jupe going to get out of this one?
The wind from the storm and the hovering helicopter sent up a cloud of dust and dirt as Hugunay and Jupiter reached the office.
Hugunay barked an order into his small walkie-talkie and then growled at Jupiter to get the book.
With the swirling dust it was very hard to see. Shielding his eyes from the growing cloud, Jupiter turned – and tripped over Chief Reynolds’ foot! The stocky boy went tumbling to the ground, knocking over the box of romance novels that he and Allie had brought home from Thorwald’s shop. The paperback books went scattering every which way as Jupiter grimaced and held his cast.
Hugunay watched warily as Jupiter fumbled about on his hands and knees for a moment, then gave a triumphant smile as the stocky boy reached under the small wooden porch of the office and produced the DaVinci codex.
“Here it is,” Jupiter said in defeat. “You’ve won.”
Hugunay took the book and smiled greedily. But his look of victory was short lived. The art thief’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the salvage yard’s front gate. Jupiter turned to look as
108 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler well. Three police cars had pulled up in the drive – their sirens flashing red and blue! Uncle Titus was in the lead, picking through his large key ring trying to find the key that unlocked the front gate’s large padlock.
“That is my cue to leave,” Hugunay smirked. “As you know I have a deep aversion to sirens.”
Jupiter watched helplessly as the helicopter descended and Hugunay grabbed on to the rope ladder.
Back at the bathtub, Pete, Bob, and Allie watched in excitement as the drama unfolded.
“Uncle Titus called the police!” Pete said, hurrying out from behind the bathtub. “But they’ll be too late! Come on!”
The tall, lanky boy led the charge as the three raced toward Hugunay.
Uncle Titus had just got the gate unlocked and the police began rushing in as Hugunay grabbed hold of the ladder and began rising into the air.
Pete overtook his partners and scrambled on top of Masher and Croaker’s car. The athletic boy took a flying leap from the roof of the vehicle and made a spectacular catch of the rope ladder’s last rung. Jupe could see Hugunay frowning and barking orders into his walkie-talkie.
The helicopter remained hovering above the salvage yard, with Pete swaying dangerously from the bottom rung – his feet dangling ten feet above the ground!
Hugunay climbed down the ladder until his feet were on the last rung. The salvage yard was now a veritable circus of running, shouting people. Hugunay was shouting the loudest, however. He looked at Chief Reynolds and laughed.
“You didn’t really think mere handcuffs could hold the incom-parable Hugunay, did you?”
The thief stepped on Pete’s fingers and the Second Investigator, yelping in pain, dropped to the ground.
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Holding the DaVinci codex close to his chest, Hugunay spoke into his walkie talkie and the helicopter began to ascend into the raging lightning storm. The art thief then looked at Jupiter and winked.
“Until we meet again…”
He began climbing the rope ladder. The boys and Allie watched in dismay as the helicopter disappeared from sight.
“He got away!” Bob groaned.
“All that work for nothing!” Allie fumed. “I never thought I’d see the day when somebody got the upper hand on Jupiter Jones!
Hugunay just escaped free and clear!”
“And with the DaVinci codex!” Pete said in disbelief.
Everyone turned to look at Jupiter. The round-faced boy was still reeling from the shock of Hugunay’s magnificent escape, for he only stood there silently, scratching his cast with a rather dazed look on his face.
“Well say something, Jones!” Allie demanded. “You’re usually full of big words!”
Still in shock, Jupiter looked off into the flickering sky.
Suddenly his face broke into a huge grin.
“What’s so funny?” Pete said hotly. “We just failed our first case and you look like the cat that got the canary!”
Jupiter chuckled, and, before long, was doubled over, howling in fits of uncontrollable laughter.
“Yeah, Jupe,” demanded Bob, “do you want to let us in on the joke?”
The stout First Investigator wiped the tears from his eyes and jerked his thumb in the direction of Hugunay’s escape.
“Oh, nothing really. I guess I was just imagining what Hugunay’s reaction will be when he discovers that he went to all that trouble for a second hand copy of Autumn’s Child! ”
Jupiter Jones reached inside his shirt and pulled out the battered pages of the DaVinci codex.
110 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler Chapter Twenty One
John Crowe Speaking
THERE ARE A FEW points of interest concerning the case of the mysterious traveler that you may be wondering about. As the boys have already moved on to their next mystery, a minor affair they are calling The Adventure of the Rival Poet, I shall do my duty and provide insight into those specific events not detailed in the text.
Jupiter, of course, was not “blinded” at all by the swirling dust and debris that was churned up by the helicopter and the storm’s high winds. With that being said, you should be able to deduce that he did not trip over Chief Reynolds’ foot – at least not on accident. Once confronted by the armed and dangerous Hugunay, Jupiter’s cunning mind developed an ingenious plan that Pete refers to as: the old switcheroo.
As you have probably already guessed, Jupiter’s “trip” was simply a ploy that allowed him to knock over the box of books that he and Allie had brought back from Thorwald’s metal shop.
Once the books were scattered about the ground, Jupe simply retrieved the DaVinci codex from its hiding spot, and, with his body providing cover, pulled the pages from the old book and replaced them with pages from one of the many romantic novels before him.
As for the codex itself, I am pleased to announce that it was returned to its rightful owners, the Gypsy’s, along with their sacred relic – the monkey’s paw. It is now residing within a safe deposit box inside a vault within the walls of Rocky Beach’s most secure bank. Gregorio informed the boys that he is planning on removing one or two “doodles” by DaVinci in order to place them on the auction block. The fortune they are sure to receive from this sale will be used to send family members to college, as well
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as to provide safety and financial security to their band for many years to come.
Needless to say, since Jujab was a phony, there really was no curse. Jupiter’s accident was just that, and any dead ends and bad breaks the boys and Allie encountered on the case were due to mere coincidence rather than bad luck. I was quick to point out to the First Investigator that if he had listened more carefully to Jujab’s “curse,” he would have noticed that the traveler’s words were merely references to an old science fiction movie called The Day The Earth Stood Still. As you can imagine, Jupiter was rather ruffled that he missed this bit of movie trivia.
As for Allie Jamison, she made the boys pay up on their end of the bargain – and they spent a long, uncomfortable afternoon cleaning out Indian Queen’s stall. Once that was completed, Allie returned to her boring life at her Aunt Pat’s and awaited the return of her parents from their travels abroad. Before she left, however, she was sure to endear herself to Aunt Mathilda by pointing out the location of Black Gate Eight. It turns out she did know about the gate’s location after all. There really is no keeping a secret from that girl! The gate has been boarded over and Bob and Pete assure me that Jupe is hard at work drawing up the blue prints for a new and improved secret gate.
The only other loose end that remains is one that I cannot possibly tie up. I am referring, of course, to that impeccable, incom-parable art thief – Hugunay. While it is true that he slipped through the grasp of The Three Investigators yet again, the boys were satisfied that they at least recovered the DaVinci codex and kept Hugunay from making his escape with the book in his possession.
It is a surprise to no one that he remains at large. There is, however, an interesting side note to Mr. Hugunay. I could only laugh and marvel at the audacity of the villain when Jupiter informed me that a week after they had solved the case, he
112 The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler received a parcel in his mailbox addressed to Mathilda Jones.
When she opened the package, she was surprised to find a paperback copy of Autumn’s Child! On the inside page was an inscrip-tion that read:
My Dear Lady – I know how you hate to miss a sale. Therefore I am returning this to you in the condition in which I received it. My regards to your family.
Yours Sincerely,
Hugunay
As you can imagine, Mrs. Jones was rather perplexed by the strange appearance of a rather battered paperback romantic novel.
Jupiter, however, could only shake his head in wonder. Wherever Hugunay went, he didn’t get far – and yet he managed to get far enough away that he eluded the local police and vanished as if into thin air.
Unless I am mistaken, I have covered every aspect of the case that bears further explanation. As I mentioned earlier, the boys are already hard at work on their next case. It sounds promising, although I must admit Jupiter was rather sketchy about the details when I spoke to him on the telephone. Regardless, I’m perfectly confident that a solution will be found, whatever the mystery may be.
And now that I have fulfilled my duty, it seems fitting to end this adventure with a quote from the boys’ greatest rival. So, in the words of Hugunay:
Until we meet again…
THE THREE INVESTIGATORS
Online Mystery Series by Mark Zahn available exclusively at www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com The Secret of the Three Impostors
The Mystery of the Hitchcock Inheritance
The Adventure of the Bronze Claw
The Case of the Restless Gargoyle
The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler
_________
Christmas In Rocky Beach (short story)
The Case of the Fourth Investigator (short story) The Mystery of the Slipped Disk (short story) The Case of the Ruined Roses (short story)
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Mark Zahn (pdf), Three Investigators - The Curse of the Mysterious Traveler
