The Mystery of the Missing Earrings
Have you read “Mystery of the Silver Spider"? No? You must. It is part of the “The Three Investigators” series, a series created by Robert Arden. The main character are three American boys Bob, Jupiter and Pete who solve crime. So, in this story “Mystery of the Silver Spider”, the main characters are involved in political intrigue happening in a small European Kingdom. Somehow this plot of royal kidnapping, usurpation of throne etc. seems to be a popular one with children’s writers. I can name at least four others – Circus of Adventures by Enid Blyton, The Secret of Spiggy Holes again by Enid Blyton, A Princess at Chalet School by Elinor Brent Dyer and Eva Ibbotson’s Dragon Fly Pool. Coming back to the three investigators story, the silver spider is a royal artifact that gives the king the authority to rule. So, the conspirators want to get hold of it while kidnapping the prince and forcing him to sign an abdication. Bob hides it somewhere when the abduction attempt is made but …
