In a lonely castle, a parrot repeated the cries of the mummy, as the ghost sought treasure on the island of the eye.
Meanwhile, the spider watched a clock tick away in a cave; as next to a skull, the shadow of a cat passed before the dragon.
Outside, the footprints of the lion led past the serpent to the house beside the lake. And, on the mountain, a mirror posed the riddle of the dog, which tells the location of the mine of the devil.
A horse followed the circle, and the double of the scarecrow above the reef pointed out the beggar on the cliffs.
On the shores below, a pirate and a caveman hunted a whale, while the mermaid and the pigeon held the glass.
The trail then led to the reunion of the crooks on the rock. There, a collector sought additional goods.
NOTE - "Mystery" was originally written in August 1997 as a writing exercise. Rick, a professional writer since 1989, writes, "I wanted to see if I could create a "story" using the titles of the 43 original Three Investigators books. The end result is somewhat stream of consciousness, but it makes a sort of surreal sense."
