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“Ah, Letitia! There you are, dear,” she said. Her dark, sparkling eyes rested on the boys. “And who are these young men?” she inquired.

“These boys are called The Three

Investigators, Mrs. Chumley,” said

Letitia Radford. She looked at the card

Jupe had given her. Then she glanced at

Jupe. “I assume that you’re Jupiter

Jones, First Investigator,” she said.

“That’s right,” said Jupe.

“And I suppose the boy with the

muscles is Pete Crenshaw,” she went

on, “because I think the boy with the

glasses must be Bob Andrews, who does

all the research.”

Bob grinned. “You have it right.”

“I found these boys investigating the

scarecrow that that nut Woolley put up

by his cornfield,” said Letitia Radford,

“and guess what!”

“What, dear?” said the woman in

the wheelchair.

“The boys were curious because a

man they met in town saw the

scarecrow running around here!”

Letitia’s tone was triumphant, but

Mrs. Chumley seemed only politely interested.

“Perhaps the boys will stay to tea and tell us about it,” she said. “Burroughs, will you set three more places?”

“Certainly,” said the man in the white jacket. He and Mrs. Burroughs went into the house, and Mrs. Chumley wheeled herself to the tea table.

“So you met a man who saw a scarecrow running about,” she said to the boys.

“How very remarkable. Do sit down and tell us everything.”

Jupiter took a seat next to Mrs. Chumley. “It is remarkable,” he agreed.

He had no time to say more, for Charles Woolley was coming up the steps from the lawn. His eyes, behind his thick glasses, were fixed on the boys in an accusing way.

“What is going on here?” demanded the bald scientist.

“We are about to have tea, Dr. Woolley,” said Letitia Radford coldly.

“Did you want something?” Woolley stamped forward. “You and your broken-down truck!” he said to the boys. “You were lying! You just wanted an excuse to get into my laboratory and … and …”

The scientist stopped, unsure what to say next.

“To get into your laboratory and do what?” asked Jupe. “We made a telephone call and that’s all. Then, oddly enough, we met a man who saw a scarecrow walking around up here. We understand that Miss Radford sees it, too. She says she’s the only one here who does see it. Is that true, Dr. Woolley?”

Charles Woolley didn’t answer, but his face flushed.

“You’ve seen it!” cried Letitia Radford. She jumped up. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you!”

“Well, actually, I did see something,” admitted Charles Woolley, uncomfortably.

“The night that I called the police — the night someone broke into my lab. I caught a glimpse of something that looked like a scarecrow.”

“But you said it was just a prowler!” said Letitia.

“I didn’t want to upset

you,” said Woolley. “Besides,

I’d had enough trouble with the

police already. I mean, Chief

Reynolds came from Rocky

Beach with the officer who

answered my call, and you

should have seen his expression

when I told him that a

scarecrow had gotten into my

lab, hit me on the head, and

stolen a jar filled with ants.”

Letitia Radford laughed.

“How marvelous!” she cried.

“He thought you were crazy!

But why didn’t you say anything to me? Everyone in this house has been thinking I’m crazy. Why didn’t you tell me? How could you be so cruel?”

Woolley replied angrily, “I have my reputation as a scientist to consider, you know.

I can’t afford to be involved with freaky things. I’m engaged in important research!”

“O-ooh!” cried Letitia Radford. “You disgust me!” She turned and ran into the house. Mrs. Chumley looked after her with concern.

Woolley sighed. “Protect me from hysterical women!” he said. He turned to the boys. “You still haven’t explained what you’re doing here.”

“We were examining the scarecrow,” Jupe told him. “After you mistook me for a scarecrow this morning, we thought we’d better investigate.”

“This morning you were trespassing,” accused Woolley. “Now you’re snooping.”

“If you suspect us of something bad, why don’t you call Chief Reynolds?” Bob suggested.