The Mystery of the Hichcocke Inheritance (5 page)

“That’s it!” Ben said excitedly. “That’s the
paddy wagon from the riddle.”

Eagerly, Jupiter grasped the small picture
frame and tried to pull it off the wall. As he did so, there was a
loud ‘snick’ and a three foot high by two foot wide portion of the
decorative mahogany trim opened like a small door.

“The picture was a catch to unlock the
secret door,” Jupe said with wonder. “Marvelous! Come on – let’s
see where it leads to!”

The hidden passageway was small and narrow
at first, but then widened after a few feet so that the boys could
nearly stand upright. There were no lights, so they groped along by
the light shining in from the little doorway.

“There’s steps here,” Jupiter reported.
“This passageway must lead up to the second floor somewhere.”

Just then there was a loud bang from behind
them, and the boys were enveloped in complete darkness.

“Someone has shut the door!” Ben cried out
in alarm.

“Quick, back the way we came!” Pete
ordered.

They scrambled back to the tiny door, but
soon found it was locked tight from the outside.

“Something’s been wedged in the door – it
won’t budge,” said Bob. “We’re trapped!”

Trapped!

HEY! LET US out!” Pete Crenshaw yelled.

“Shhh! Quiet!” hissed Jupe. “Listen...I can
hear footsteps in the office.”

The boys held their breath. Faintly, they
picked up the sound of footsteps slowly receding down the long
hallway.

“Did you hear how those footsteps sounded?”
asked Jupiter, thinking out loud.

“What do you mean?” whispered Pete in the
inky darkness. “They just sounded like ordinary footsteps to
me.”

“No,” Jupiter insisted, “there was something
strange about them. It almost sounded like one was louder than the
other.”

Bob and Pete knew better than to argue with
Jupiter Jones when it came to matters of memory – Jupiter’s mind
was nearly photographic, and he seldom forgot even the slightest of
details.

“That’s right,” said Ben. “It almost sounded
like someone was walking with a limp.”

“Or a cane!” said Bob.

“Jehosaphat!” exclaimed Pete. “It was
Jebediah that locked us in!”

“Or someone wanting us to think it was
Jebediah,” corrected Jupiter. In the darkness, the First
Investigator’s mind raced. “Ben, how exactly did Jebediah get that
limp?”

Ben thought for a moment. “I believe Aunt
Patty said he got it in an automobile accident many years ago. I
guess his leg was pretty cracked up. Why do you ask, Jupiter?”

“Because even though Jebediah uses a cane,
he still walks fairly quickly. Whoever locked us in here walked
away very slowly – almost so we were sure to hear. I’m not entirely
convinced that was Jebediah at all!”

“But why would someone pretend to be Cousin
Jeb?” asked Ben.

“Most likely to throw suspicion on him,”
Jupiter explained, “as well as to misdirect our investigation.”

“I vote we discuss this later,” said Pete
impatiently. “I’ll feel much better when I can see my hand in front
of my face.”

“I agree with Pete,” said Bob. “The sooner
we get out of here the better.”

“Okay,” Jupiter relented. “There’s probably
some kind of mechanism that opens the door from this side, let’s
try that first.”

Bob ran his hands over the smooth surface of
the door. “I don’t feel anything but the door handle,” he said in a
jittery voice. “There might be a mechanism, but we’ll never find it
in the dark. Let’s head up the stairs and try the door on that
end.”

“All right,” said the First Investigator.
“Hold on to each other’s belt-loops – just in case.”

“Just in case of what?” Pete asked
nervously.

With Jupiter in the lead, the boys carefully
ascended the steep staircase. After about twenty steps, the floor
leveled out and the ceiling once again became low. Crouching, the
four boys approached the secret door at the other end.

“The door’s jammed on this end, too,”
Jupiter said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. “But I can
see light through the cracks in the frame. Perhaps two of us
pushing together can force it open.”

“I’ll help,” said Ben. “Let’s give it a
shove on the count of three.”

“On three,” Jupiter repeated. “Ready – one,
two, three!”

Together the boys heaved their shoulders
into the small door. There was the sound of splintering wood on the
other side and then a rush of fresh air as light filled the
passageway. Jupiter and Ben went tumbling to the floor.

“You did it!” Pete and Bob yelled
together.

The boys crawled out of the small secret
passageway and gazed around them.

The room they were in looked like it was
part movie theater, part museum. Props from several of Alphred
Hichcocke’s most famous movies filled the room, while at the far
end an enormous movie screen covered an entire wall. Row after row
of plush theater seats filled the center of the grand room. Velvet
ropes hung on brass poles, just like in a real movie theater.

“This is my grandfather’s projection room!”
exclaimed Ben. “Aunt Patty had told me about it, but I’ve never
actually been inside. The door has always been locked.”

Jupe, who prided himself
with his deep knowledge of movies and the theater, gaped at all the
props and memorabilia that lined the room. “Look at this!” he said.
“It’s a scale model of Mount Rushmore used in
East By Northeast!
And over here is
a mechanical crow used in
The
Crows!
And this jukebox is from
Diabolical
”

“What’s this?” asked Pete, holding up a wine
bottle filled with some sort of sand.

“That’s a prop from the
movie
The Notorious
, said Ben with awe. “In the movie the black sand is supposed
to be Uranium. It’s a keen picture!”

Bob had gone to the far side of the room to
investigate a shower curtain and a set of knives when something on
the floor caught his eye.

“Uh, Ben...” he said.

“Yes, Bob, what did you find over
there?”

“Did you say this room was always
locked?”

“Always,” declared Ben. “Why do you
ask?”

Bob gulped and pointed at what had caught
his attention. Several shards of splintered wood lay at his feet on
the floor. “Someone has beaten us again,” he said.

Jupiter ran over and examined the door. It
was shut, but not locked. “The door has been pried open – most
likely with a crowbar,” the stocky boy reported. “Someone needed to
gain access to this room in a hurry. Probably after they locked us
in that secret passage!”

“That means they could have already found
the treasure by now!” cried Ben.

“Not unless they’ve solved the last part of
the riddle,” declared Jupiter. “Bob, let’s see your notebook
again.”

Once more the boys read the message.

***

“
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.”

***

“Creighton Duke pointed to the picture of
your Aunt Patricia,” said Jupiter, thinking out loud. “And that
photograph led us up here to Mr. Hichcocke’s private screening
room. Now the puzzle says to ‘follow the clues and pay your dues
and the second of fifty-five will reward you.’”

“Well, we’ve certainly followed the clues,”
said Pete. “But what could ‘pay your dues’ mean?”

“Maybe like some kind of membership fee,”
thought Ben. “Like you have to pay your dues to stay in the club.
What of it, Jupiter?”

Jupiter was standing quietly, pulling at his
bottom lip in deep concentration. His eyes darted about the room,
trying to make the connection between the riddle and the movie
props. But it was Bob that finally hit upon it.

“Good grief!” he cried. “I think I’ve got
it!” The small Investigator moved back to the small secret door in
the wall and crawled inside. He shut the door and opened it again
as the others tried to figure out his method.

“I’m not sure I understand, Records,” said
Jupiter with a frown.

“What’s the first thing I see when I open
the secret door?” he asked them. “The jukebox! What do you do with
a jukebox?”

“You pay it money to make it play!” cried
Ben. “That’s how you ‘pay your dues!’”

Jupiter Jones looked somewhat annoyed that
he hadn’t figured out that part of the puzzle for himself, but he
grudgingly congratulated Bob.

“An excellent deduction, Records,” he
said.

Bob’s face nearly glowed with Jupe’s praise.
It wasn’t very often the First Investigator acknowledged that
someone beat him to a clue.

“The second of fifty-five must have
something to do with the jukebox, then,” said Pete. “Mr. Hichcocke
must have meant that either the second line or second verse of song
number fifty-five is the key to the next clue!”

Jupiter quickly plugged in the machine and
punched in number fifty-five on the display. The boys listened
eagerly for the song to begin.

Nothing happened.

“Something’s not right here,” said Jupiter.
He punched in fifty-five again and waited.

“Why isn’t it playing?” demanded Pete.

Jupiter kneeled down and examined the
machine. His fingers found the small catch that opened up the front
of the jukebox. He undid the metal mechanism and raised the lid,
revealing row after row of antique black records.

“Just what I was afraid of,” said Jupiter
grimly. “Number fifty-five is missing!”

Hidden Treasures

“HOW ARE WE going to find out what the
second of fifty-five is with the record gone?” Pete asked in
dismay.

The four boys stood around the jukebox in
Alphred Hichcocke’s private projection room, looking in disbelief
at the empty record slot.

“It looks like we’ve been beaten, chaps,”
Ben said sadly, lowering the lid of the jukebox. “It was a good
effort, though. You really are top-notch investigators to have
gotten this far. You’re to be commended.”

Any ordinary person might have given up on
the case just then. But Jupiter Jones was far from an ordinary
person. He scowled furiously at the jukebox, sure that there was
something he was overlooking. Something obvious. When it finally
struck him, he couldn’t help but crack a smug grin.

“From the look on Jupe’s face,” said Bob,
noticing Jupiter’s cunning smile, “I’d say that The Three
Investigators aren’t beaten quite yet!”

“You’ve found something, Jupiter?” asked Ben
hopefully.

“The criminal was not as clever as they
thought,” Jupiter declared. “He pilfered the record – but failed to
take into account the manner in which a jukebox is utilized.”

“In English, First,” complained Pete.

The chubby First Investigator ran his hand
along the smooth glass surface of the jukebox, as if the clue
should be as obvious to Pete and Bob as it was to him. When they
only stood there blankly, he sighed. “The thief had to lift the
cover of the jukebox to get at the record,” explained Jupiter
patiently. “When he did so, he forgot that the glass cover also
holds the playlist of every song – and the number it corresponds
to!”

“Sure!” said Bob. Clues
usually seemed fairly obvious once Jupiter pointed them out.
“Without the playlist, you’d be only guessing which song you were
playing. Song number fifty-five is right there on the playlist!”
The slender, bespectacled youth ran his finger down the list until
he found number fifty-five. “Here it is!” he cried.
Hidden Treasures
by a
musical group called ‘Denny Lynds & The Gail Force
Winds.’

“We’ve got to find a copy of that record!”
Jupiter ordered. “And as quickly as possible!”

“Ben, do you know of any record stores
around here where we might find that song?” asked Pete.

The British boy thought for a moment. “The
nearest one is in Piccadilly Circus,” he said finally. “We can take
my car into the city!”

Pete looked excited. “At last we’ll get to
see some of the sights!”

“I’m afraid not,” said Jupiter, shaking his
head. “You and Bob should stay here.”

“Why do you get to have all the fun?” Pete
asked, only half serious.

“Because someone needs to keep an eye on
Jebediah and the Fitchhorns,” Jupiter explained. “Someone has
beaten us to every clue – but we can’t be very far behind or they
wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of locking us in that secret
passage.”

“Jupe’s right,” Bob agreed. “But let’s all
leave together. Then, once we’ve gotten far enough down the lane,
Pete and I can sneak back and watch the house. Maybe the thief will
make a move while he thinks we’re away.”

“A good idea, Records,” said Jupiter. “Let’s
make a production out of the fact that we’re going into town to see
the sights and won’t be back for hours.”

The boys left the projection room and
marched loudly downstairs, where they were met by Ben’s Aunt
Patricia.

“I’ve been looking all over for you boys!”
she said. “Any luck with the puzzle?”

“I’m afraid not,” Jupiter said loudly,
giving Patricia a knowing wink. “We’ve hit a dead end, so we’ve
decided to go into London to see some of the tourist
attractions.”

Alphred Hichcocke’s daughter understood
immediately and returned Jupiter’s wink. “Gosh, that’s too bad,”
she said. “Well, maybe some fresh air will clear your head and
you’ll be able to make some progress on father’s riddle later.”

The boys put on their jackets and headed out
the door. “We’re taking my car, Aunt Patty,” Ben called loudly over
his shoulder. “We’ll try to be back before dinner!”

“Have a good time, boys!” she shouted after
them. “And mind the traffic, Benjamin!”