The Mystery of Monster Mountain

Alfred Hitchcock

and

The Three Investigators

in

The Mystery Of Monster Mountain

A Word from Alfred Hitchcock

Greetings, mystery lovers!

Once again I have the pleasure of introducing that team of youthful sleuths known as The Three Investigators. “We Investigate Anything” is their slogan, and so they do. Usually they conduct their operations out of their official Headquarters — an abandoned mobile home trailer in The Jones Salvage Yard in Rocky Beach, a small community not far from Hollywood. This time, however, they journey to the high slopes of the Sierra Nevadas for an adventure which begins, simply, with a search for a missing key. Complications are soon piled on complications as the lads learn the strange secret that threatens the woman called A

In the event that any of our readers are meeting The Three Investigators for the first time, I shall only say that Jupiter Jones, the First Investigator and leader of the group, is a stout fellow with an extremely agile mind and a remarkable talent for scenting trouble. Pete Crenshaw is the tallest and most athletic of the trio. Though he is never a coward, he does cherish a sensible desire to keep out of danger. Bob Andrews, quiet and studious, keeps records for the group, and has a flair for research which is invaluable to The Three Investigators.

Now that the introductions are completed, the reader will please turn to Chapter One. Monster Mountain awaits!

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

1

Sky Village

 “Wow!” said Pete Crenshaw when he first saw Sky Village. “This place looks like a stage set. Somebody should make a movie here!”

Bob Andrews was kneeling beside him in the back of the pickup truck, looking over the roof of the cab at the village street. “Well, it won’t be Mr. Hitchcock,” he said. “This town is too darned wholesome for a mystery movie.”

Jupiter Jones pulled himself to his knees beside Bob and planted his chubby arms on the top of the cab. “Mr. Hitchcock knows that mysteries can occur in all sorts of places,” he reminded his friends. “But you’re right. Sky Village is very new and artificial.”

The truck ground up the steep grade of the street and passed a ski shop that resembled a cottage in the Alps. Next to the ski shop was a motel which had a roof of imitation thatch.

Now, in midsummer, the ski shop and the motel were closed. Bright blue shutters covered the windows of a restaurant called The Yodelerhaus. A few pedestrians strolled along the su

The truck turned into the gas station and stopped near the pumps. Hans and Konrad got out of the cab. The two Bavarian brothers had worked for Jupiter’s Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus for years. They helped sort, clean, repair, and sell items which Uncle Titus acquired for The Jones Salvage Yard. The brothers were always neat and tidy when they came to work. Today they surpassed themselves. Hans wore a new sport shirt which had not a wrinkle in it, even after the long drive from Rocky Beach through the Owens Valley and up to the ski resort high in the Sierra Nevada. Konrad’s slacks still held their press, and his shoes gleamed.

“They want to make a good impression on their Cousin A

Jupe smiled and nodded. The three boys watched from the back of the truck as the Bavarian brothers approached the sleeping gas station attendant.

“Excuse me,” said Hans to the man. The man grunted and opened his eyes.

“Please,” said Hans, “where is the home of A

“The Slalom I

Hans thanked him and began to get back into the truck.

“Is A

“Then we wait for her,” said Konrad.

“Could be a long wait,” said the man. “Nearly everything in Sky-Village is closed for the summer, so A

“It has already been a long wait,” said Konrad cheerfully. “We have not seen A

“Well, well!” exclaimed the man. “Friends from home, eh? A

“Not friends,” said Konrad. “Family. We are A

“Hope she likes surprises,” said the man. Then he chuckled. “Hope you do, too. A

“Oh?” said Hans.

“You’ll find out.” The man’s eyes sparkled. He reminded Jupiter of several of Aunt Mathilda’s friends who collected tidbits of gossip about their neighbors in Rocky Beach.

Hans and Konrad got back into the truck.

“I have a feeling that guy doesn’t miss much,” said Pete as they drove off.

“He probably doesn’t have much to do in the summer except keep an eye on everybody who goes up and down this road,” decided Bob. “Once the snow’s gone, how many customers can he have?”

The truck went slowly up the village street. They passed an ice cream shop, which was open, and a drugstore, which was closed. The Sky Village General Market was dark, and so was a gift shop.

“I wonder what’s kept Cousin A

“From what Hans and Konrad have told me,” said Jupe, “their cousin can always find something profitable to do. She came to the United States ten years ago and got a job as a maid in a New York hotel. Hans says that in six months she was in charge of the entire housekeeping staff, and in only six years she’d saved enough money to buy a little i

“She did all that on a housekeeper’s salary?” said Pete.

“Not quite. She had a second job, parttime, and she invested in good stocks. She is a smart businesswoman, and Hans and Konrad are very proud of her. They read all of her letters out loud to anyone who will listen. And their rooms are full of snapshots she’s sent them. When Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus suddenly decided to close the salvage yard for two weeks and take a holiday, they jumped at the chance to come up here.”

“I’m glad they did,” said. Pete. “How else would we have got away for a camping trip? I’ve been wanting to try some rock climbing, and I hear the Sky Village Campground is great — and never crowded.”

“Too far from the superhighways,” said Bob.

“I just hope Cousin A

The truck labored on and up, through the grove of pines which the gas station attendant had pointed out. Once they were beyond the pines, the boys could see a ski slope. It was a barren brown cut on the east side of the mountain, as bare as if some giant had shaved the hill clear of any tree or shrub that might interfere with the downward rush of the skiers. Ru