The Mystery of the Chimeric Cornucopia

The Three Investigators head to Jackson, California, for a Fourth of July celebration at the vineyard of their new friend Branko Petrovic. Jupiter hopes the visit will bring him closer to solving the mystery of his long-dead mother, but his only clue is that she was Serbian - and her name, Amanda Morris, doesn't seem to fit.

After receiving a finder's fee from their summer's first case, the boys use part of their earnings to buy a used car, and Worthington drives them north. On the way, Bob shares a story about André Laurent, a French-Canadian counterfeiter and murderer who had been arrested in Jackson twenty-five years earlier, only to skip bail and vanish.

The investigation takes an unexpected turn when the boys stumble upon Laurent's old counterfeiting operation - an offset press and engraved plates for printing one-hundred-dollar bills - hidden deep in a cavern on Branko's family’s property, and guarded by a colony of nesting bats. But their interest and amazement soon turn to trepidation when they realize Laurent has returned to reclaim the stolen plates, and that they’re holding the evidence he'll stop at nothing to get back.

Where has André Laurent been for the past twenty-five years and why has he burned off his own fingerprints ? How does he find out where The Three Investigators are staying ? And how is all of this connected to Jupiter's mysterious family tree ? As fireworks light up the sky at Dragutin Wines, Jupiter uncovers part of the truth about his mother, but a dangerous confrontation with Laurent leaves him and his friends facing life-threatening peril.

1. A Sticky Beginning
2. Three Heads Are Better Than One
3. A Very Unusual Galaxy
4. A Timely Invitation
5. California, Cornucopia Of The World
6. A Secret Lair
7. Further Discoveries
8. Penny And Zoey Make An Important Find
9. An Unexpected Visitor
10. No Fingerprints
11. A Red Letter Fourth Of July
12. A Knife In The Dark
13. In Hot Pursuit
14. A Good Place For Nessie
15. A Chimeric Cornucopia