The Mystery of the Factitious Falconer

Jupiter receives an unusual birthday present from his Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus: three fencing lessons at the Center for Falconry and Fencing. The gift launches a new case involving the Second World War, the Norwegian Resistance, "degenerate" art, and a purple-shoelaced "artist" when the theft of a painting of a medieval falconer and his falcon from the Center's lobby puts The Three Investigators on the hunt.

Soon they discover that the Salvage Yard's resident carpenters, Leif and Magnus Haldorsson, have a family connection to the artist who painted the stolen canvas—as well as a sister named Freya who seems to have a crush on Bob! At a fundraising event to save priceless frescoes by the Russian-American painter Evgeni Voronin, The Three Investigators and Mallory cross paths with Matthias Mueller, the gallery owner who sold the stolen painting to Per Jorgensen—the famous Danish actor who purchased the painting to give to the Center in the first place.

As the team moves among the Center, the Haldorssons' home, Mueller's gallery, and Jorgensen's oceanside house, they find themselves contemplating a deeper mystery. Why did artist Aksel Olsen paint ten nearly identical paintings of the same falconer and falcon ? Who put the paintings up for sale at a German auction house ? Why is the purple-shoelaced "artist" Günther Böhm so determined to get his hands on every painting ? And what secrets lie within the letters Freya's father inherited from her grandfather, who fought in the Norwegian Resistance during WWII ?

As the answers to these questions slowly materialize, The Three Investigators put into place an ingenious plan to save from destruction a painting by one of the 20th century's great artists. But will the plan work ?

1. A Peculiar Encounter
2. A Haldorsson Family Tale
3. A Fantastically Cool Coincidence
4. A Second Sighting
5. An Auction At Hartung & Hartung
6. Freya Tenders An Invitation
7. An Enlightening Visit
8. Jupiter Jumps To A Few Conclusions
9. Mallory Misses A Clue
10. Bob Sees What Lies Beneath
11. A Family Tale Explained
12. An Urgent Mission
13. A Plea To Dika Horváth
14. A Real-Life Photo Schoot
15. A Factitious Falconer