- Title: The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints
- wiki: link
Wayback Wednesday takes us back to a mystery involving the Three Investigators whose mantra of “We Investigate Everything” leads them to investigate the sudden disappearance of a local eccentric. After The Potter disappears from the Jones Salvage Yard, a daughter and grandson turn up looking for him. Things get even stranger when flaming footprints appear within the Potter’s home and foreigners rent the house next door to keep an eye on the Potter’s home, also interested in his whereabouts.
“The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints” stands out in that the title is never completely explained. The odd occurrences, and The Potter’s love of eagles, allow Jupiter Jones to make some deductions about his true identity, and ultimately what the other visitors are after, are proven to be caused by a thief looking for the treasure The Potter has hidden. However, the exact method used for creating them is never disclosed.
Family members the eccentric reclusive has never mentioned, the odd fisherman, the foreigners in the house next door provide plenty of questions and suspects to The Potter’s disappearance. The Investigators lay a trap which accidentally snares them as well, although it does cause The Potter to finally come out of hiding, confirming Jupiter’s suspicions about his identity and ties to the royal family of Lapathia, revealing the treasure everyone is looking for, and reuniting with his family he went into hiding to protect. Another case solved by Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews.