The Mystery of the Hichcocke Inheritance Read Free

with him. “I’ll admit it
isn’t what I had pictured a master of the macabre choosing for a
domicile. I guess away from the studio he lived a normal life just
like anyone else.”
    The Three Investigators climbed out of the
car and were soon ringing the bell of Alphred Hichcocke’s old home.
The door was answered immediately by a middle-aged woman who was
still quite pretty, and, to the boy’s amazement, held an uncanny
resemblance to the great director. She wore a simple flower-print
dress and a string of pearls, and her bright blue eyes were made
even brighter by her carefully styled red hair.
    “Miss Hichcocke, I presume?” said
Jupiter.
    “It’s actually Mrs. O’Connell now,” she
smiled warmly. “But you can call me Patricia. And you must be
Jupiter, Pete and Bob. Father talked of you often – it is so nice
to finally meet you. Won’t you please come in?”
    The boys thanked her and stepped into a
dimly lit foyer so full of pictures they could scarcely see the
walls. There were pictures of Alphred Hichcocke on the set of
movies, pictures of his family, and of himself posing with stars.
There was even a picture of Mr. Hichcocke as a young man shaking
hands with Stephen Terrill, an actor from the silent era the boys
had met when they discovered the secret of Terror Castle! Most of
the framed photographs were signed with warm notes of thanks to the
great director.
    “Father so loved the movies,” Patricia said
fondly. “It was his whole life. He was never more alive than when
he was scaring the wits out of people with one of his films.” She
looked wistfully at the wall of pictures for a moment and then
shook herself. “It’s been very hard on us since he passed. And now
with this puzzle that he put in his will – well, no one has been
able to think too clearly with all of the funeral arrangements.
Frankly, I don’t know what father was trying to say. I do hope you
boys can help.”
    “We’ll certainly try our best, ma’am,”
Jupiter assured her. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to get started
right away.”
    “By all means, boys,” she smiled at them.
“Do you have a copy of the will?”
    Jupiter nodded. “Bob has written down the
section we’ll be dealing with,” he said. “Let’s see what it says,
Records.”
    Bob pulled his notebook out from his back
pocket and flipped the pages to the cryptic message. They all read
it carefully.
    ***
    “ Article 33: Skip the H20
and within my estate you’ll find the Crate that leads you to the
paddy wagon. Follow the clues and pay your dues and the 2nd of 55
will reward you.”
    ***
    “Jumping grasshoppers!” Pete exclaimed. “It
seems crazier every time I read it!”
    “I think we can safely assume that Mr.
Hichcocke was of sound mind at the time of his passing,” said
Jupiter. “If it was the rambling of an insane man he would have
just said it. But to take the trouble to have it drawn up in a
will...Well, he obviously had some kind of game in mind.”
    “That would be just like father,” said
Patricia. She sat down on the sofa and rubbed her forehead as if
she had a headache. “This is exactly the kind of stunt I would have
expected from him. He must be laughing in his grave to see the fuss
we’re going to.”
    “Skip the H20,” Jupiter said to himself.
“H20 is water, but I’m not sure how that fits. However, ‘within my
estate you’ll find the crate’ seems clear enough. He means ‘in my
house you’ll find a box.’ Although we’ll have to wait and see how a
paddy wagon fits into the riddle.”
    “What’s a paddy wagon?” asked Pete.
    A voice with a distinctly British accent
spoke up from the back of the room. “It’s an old slang term for an
automobile with bars that the police used to carry prisoners
in.”
    The boys turned to see a tall, black-haired
boy of about seventeen years of age step into the room. Patricia
rose from her seat and embraced the young man.
    “Benjamin!” she said. “I’m so glad