The Mystery of the Hichcocke Inheritance Read Free Page A

you’re
here. Boys, this is my nephew Benjamin Hichcocke. He’s come all the
way over from England to attend his great uncle’s funeral.”
    “How do you do?” he said politely. “You can
call me Ben. Now – what’s all this then?
    Jupiter stood up straight and looked his
most dignified – as he always did when he wanted to be taken
seriously.
    “We’ve been retained by your aunt to unravel
a riddle your great uncle left in his will,” he explained.
    “Retained?” said Ben. “I’m not sure I gather
your meaning.”
    Jupiter whipped out one of the oversized
business cards that he had made on the refurbished printing press
back at the salvage yard. The boys never went anywhere without
them. It read:
    ***
    THE THREE INVESTIGATORS
    “We Investigate Anything”
    ? ? ?
    First
Investigator.......................Jupiter Jones
    Second Investigator...............Peter
Crenshaw
    Records & Research..................Bob
Andrews
    ***
    Ben Hichcocke studied the card gravely,
turning it over in his hands. “Might I inquire what the question
marks represent?” he asked.
    Pete and Bob grinned at each other. Everyone
always asked what the question marks stood for. It was an idea of
Jupe’s to help people remember the name of The Three
Investigators.
    “They stand for mysteries unsolved, enigmas
unanswered, and conundrums of all kinds,” Jupiter Jones said,
“which we attempt to solve. Therefore, the interrogation mark is
our symbol. As you can see, our motto is ‘We Investigate Anything.’
At this moment we are investigating a very strange addendum to your
great uncle’s will. Here it is...” He handed Bob’s notebook to Ben,
who read it with a frown.
    “Great scott! What on earth does that mean?”
he cried. “It looks like pure gibberish!”
    “Perhaps you can help us figure it out,
Ben,” said Jupiter. “As I was saying before, the first line seems
clear enough – other than the ‘Skip the H20’ part. There must be
some kind of box or crate hidden here in the house or on the
grounds. Possibly one that floats.”
    “Gee, Jupe,” said Bob, “that’s not very
specific. How will we know it when we find it?”
    Jupe pinched his bottom lip between his
thumb and index finger – a habit of his that signaled he was
putting his brain into overdrive. “My guess is that it will be a
very distinct box, something that seems out of place with the rest
of the house. Patricia, do you know of any boxes that might fit
this part of the riddle?”
    “I’m sorry, Jupiter,” she said, shaking her
head, “I’m not sure what my father has laying around this house.
Perhaps we’ll know it when we see it.”
    “I guess so,” he agreed. “At any rate, let’s
split up and begin searching. Pete and Ben, you can look on this
level. Bob and Patricia, you look downstairs. I’ll look outside and
in the garage. If you spot anything that might look like the crate
in question, bring it to the living room and put it on the coffee
table. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
    The search party split up. They looked under
pillows, behind pictures, in closets and cupboards. Bob and
Patricia pulled books off of shelves and rummaged through desk
drawers. Pete and Ben searched every inch of the main level, even
looking up the fireplace and in the crawlspace that served as an
attic.
    Finally an hour had passed and the group met
back in the living room. Jupiter came in the sliding glass doors
looking disheveled and dirty, and clearly annoyed that there were
no boxes on the coffee table.
    “I looked all over the yard and in the
garage,” he panted, collapsing on the sofa. “If there’s a box out
there, it’s buried in the ground.” Jupiter wasn’t much for physical
exertion. The pudgy boy preferred exercising his mind, rather than
his body.
    “Creeps!” cried Pete. “You don’t think Mr.
Hichcocke really buried treasure out in the yard, do you,
First?”
    Jupiter held the notebook with the strange
message in front of him and