The Three Investigators

The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur, 1965.

In the original editions of The Three Investigators, their cases were introduced by Alfred Hitchcock. Later editions of the books in the 1990s were rewritten to remove Alfred Hitchcock, but I’m using the version of this book that includes Alfred Hitchcock’s introduction for my review.

This story begins with two letters address to The Three Investigators. One of them is from an elderly woman in a wealthy area of town, who has heard about how The Three Investigators helped a friend of hers find her lost parrot in the previous book in the series. This lady would like their help to find her missing cat. Bob and Pete thinks that sounds like a simple enough case, but their other letter is from Alfred Hitchcock, so they decide to read that before committing themselves.

Alfred Hitchcock’s letter is incredible! He tells The Three Investigators about an old house that has been turned into a private museum by an archaeology professor. His museum has relics from his archaeological digs in Egypt. Recently, a mummy has arrived at his museum from a museum in Egypt. Professor Yarbrough was the one who originally discovered that particular mummy, but since it arrived at his museum, he has noticed a bizarre phenomenon. The mummy seems to whisper! Professor Yarbrough can’t figure out how the mummy can whisper, but it seems like the mummy is trying to tell him something important. Professor Yarbrough has consulted with a friend, Professor Freeman, who is a language expert, but the mummy only seems to talk when Professor Yarbrough is alone. Knowing how crazy this predicament sounds and what his other colleagues would say if he told them, Professor Yarbrough decides to tell his friend Alfred Hitchcock instead. That is why Alfred Hitchcock decides to tell The Three Investigators and see what they make of it.

Bob and Pete think that the mummy mystery sounds exciting but creepy. Since Jupiter is away on an errand, they decide that they would rather try to find the missing cat first. However, when Jupiter returns, he already knows about their prospective cases, and as predicted, he can’t wait to investigate the mummy. At first, Professor Yarbrough doesn’t have much confidence in the boys because they’re younger than he expected, but Jupiter persuades him to let them try. The professor’s butler, Wilkins, is very nervous and tells the boys that there is a curse on the mummy. Strange things are happening that make Wilkins think that the professor is in danger from the curse. The boys are there when a large statue in the professor’s museum suddenly falls over, almost striking the professor. Wilkins would rather send the mummy back to Egypt, but the professor doesn’t believe in curses. In spite of the talking mummy, the professor is sure that there must be a logical, scientific explanation for everything.

Jupiter also believes in scientific solutions, and his first theory about the whispering is that it’s being transmitted electronically, but they can’t find any electronics on or around the mummy. His next idea is to capture some of the mummy’s speech on a recording, which is successful. Professor Freeman says that the mummy seems to be speaking a form of ancient Arabic.

Then, Wilkins sees someone walking around in a jackal costume. Someone steals the mummy, and strangely, comes back a second time to steal the mummy case. Even the missing cat puts in an appearance.

Who wants the professor to think that the mummy is whispering and believe that it’s cursed? Who wants the mummy case, and why is that case even more important to the thief than the mummy itself?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

My Reaction

From the beginning of the book, I had a couple of theories about who could be responsible for the mummy’s whispering and “curse”, but I was only partially correct. There are different people involved, doing different things and for different reasons. The main villain is one of the people I suspected, but I didn’t know this person’s motive until it became clear that the mummy case is what they really want. The missing cat is part of the mystery, but don’t worry, the cat is fine and being cared for!