Free The Mystery of the Hichcocke Inheritance by Mark Zahn Page B

don’t
want to be sick on the plane ride back to the states – that would
be just dreadful.”
    Across the table, Timothy Fitchhorn choked
on his eggs and quickly stood up, spilling his cup of coffee all
over the morning newspaper.
    “Oh drat!” he fumed. “I’ve made an awful
mess here. Winston, be of some use for once and help me clean this
up!”
    “Of course, sir,” the butler said
patiently.
    Pete and Bob watched the fat man and the
butler with amusement, but when Bob turned to look at Jupiter, he
saw him staring intently. Jupe turned to him and quickly darted his
eyes, nodding toward the newspaper. Bob understood immediately and
silently nodded back.
    “I think I’ll go rest in bed,” the smallest
of the boys said, rising from his chair and patting Pete on the
shoulder. “That was very nice of you, Pete, volunteering to keep me
company.”
    “Sure,” Pete replied, somewhat baffled,
“it’s the least I can do, old buddy.”
    The two Investigators excused themselves
from the table and headed upstairs.
    Meanwhile, Jupiter had prepared his flash
camera. He quickly snapped a picture of Winston and Timothy
Fitchhorn, who were too engrossed in cleaning up the mess to
notice. Next he turned to Patricia and snapped a picture of her.
She held her hand up before he face and laughed.
    “Jupiter Jones! I don’t even have my make-up
on yet!”
    “That’s okay,” he smiled, advancing the
film, “I just need to use up the rest of this role so I can have a
fresh one when Ben and I go sightseeing.” He turned and snapped a
picture of Ben, who made a silly face into the camera.
    “Beautiful!” cried Jupiter. He advanced the
film and snapped one of Cousin Jebediah and Stella Fitchhorn. Mrs.
Fitchhorn turned ashen faced and Jebediah glowered at him.
    “I don’t take kindly to me picture being
taken, laddie!” he grumbled.
    “Sorry, sir,” said Jupiter, jumping up from
his seat. “Well, Ben, we better hit the road if we’re going to see
everything on my itinerary. I think we’ll start with Big Ben, then
move on to the Tower of London. I’d also like to see the home of
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle if time permits.” He continued prattling on
down the hall as if he were tremendously excited about the
sightseeing expedition.
    “Remember boys,” called Patricia, “I want
you wearing seatbelts!”
    “We will Aunt Patty,” Ben said as he pulled
on his jacket. He didn’t have time to say more as Jupiter was
already out the front door and jumping into the gleaming silver
automobile.
    “Gee, what’s the hurry?” he asked. “We have
plenty of time to see everything.”
    “We’re not going sightseeing,” explained
Jupiter. “That was just a ploy to get out of the house.” He held up
the camera and snapped another picture of Ben. “This is the real
reason. We’ve got to get this role of film developed – and
fast!”

Front Page News
    WHEN THE BOYS had shut the
bedroom door, Bob turned quickly to Pete. “We’ve got to get a copy
of that newspaper!” he cried. Pete looked at his friend like he had
lost his marbles.
    “What’s the big deal?” he asked. “It’s only
a newspaper. Your dad is a star reporter for one of the biggest in
California. He could probably get you a copy of any newspaper in
the world.”
    “Not for a souvenir,” Bob explained
patiently. “Timothy Fitchhorn saw something on the front page that
upset him. That’s why he spilled his coffee all over it. So he
could destroy it before we saw what it was!”
    “Yikes!” cried Pete. “You
got all that from a spilled cup of coffee? You’re turning into
another Jupiter Jones – and that the world does not need!”
    “Jupe saw it first,” conceded Bob, “but
there is definitely something in that paper, and we have to find
out what it is!”
    Pete sat down on the bed. “But how? You’re
supposed to be up here all day, sick in bed, remember?”
    Bob shook his head and
grinned. “ I’m supposed to be up here all day, sick in bed.