The Case of the Phantom Treasure


 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Prologue
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Start of Content
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Prologue
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Copyright
 
 
 
 
 III
 V
 VI
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 Three Unlikely Detectives, One Big Mystery
 The Case of the Phantom Treasure
 Nick Sheridan
 Illustrated by David O’Connell
 
 
 
 
 
 First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
 Copyright © 2023 Nick Sheridan
 Illustrations © 2023 David O’Connell
 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
 No reproduction without permission.
 All rights reserved.
 The right of Nick Sheridan and David O’Connell to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patent Act, 1988.
 Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
 1st Floor, 222 Gray’s Inn Road
 London WC1X 8HB
 www.simonandschuster.co.uk
 www.simonandschuster.com.au
 www.simonandschuster.co.in
 Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney
 Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi
 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
 PB ISBN 978-1-3985-0687-9
 eBook ISBN 978-1-3985-0688-6
 eAudio ISBN 978-1-3985-0689-3
 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
 
 
 For James
 
 
 
 
 1723
 Captain Horatio Huxley hauled himself up to the crow’s nest and wrapped an arm round the ship’s mast, shielding his eyes from the rain and wind that whipped through the sails and threatened to blow him overboard.
 
 Scanning the horizon, which was shrouded by dark clouds and split by streaks of lightning, Huxley pulled a sodden clump of parchment from his overcoat. What had once been a map of the way home now resembled a damp rag that had been used to wipe up an oil spill. He tossed it into the wind with a snarl.
 ‘Make a U-turn!’ came a voice from his shoulder.
 ‘Shut it, Mosey!’ snapped Huxley. The parrot squawked back in indignation. ‘If it weren’t for you,’ he bellowed over the screaming wind, ‘we’d be sitting in front of a roaring fire, bellies full of roast pheasant and hot cocoa!’
 ‘At the roundabout, take the second exit!’ Mosey screeched.
 ‘We’re in the middle of the ocean!’ Huxley roared. ‘There are no roundabouts here!’
 ‘Make a U-turn!’ Mosey cried again. ‘Make a U-turn!’
 The ship suddenly gave a violent lurch, and Huxley hugged the mast even tighter. The Captain’s Revenge was being tossed like a rag doll 
 ‘The ship, Podge!’ roared Huxley. ‘A damage report for the ship, you gilly-livered greasepot!’
 ‘Oh… We’re sinking!’ called back Podge. ‘The hull, bow, keel, galley, bridge, hold, stern and amidships are all underwater!’
 ‘Good grief!’ shouted Huxley. ‘That’s almost the entire ship! What about the poop deck?’
 ‘The poop deck is fine, but it smells awful! Permission to panic, cap’n?’
 ‘Pull yourself together, Podge!’ commanded Huxley. ‘Ready the lifeboats.’
 ‘Oh, I knew I forgot something. They’re underwater too, cap’n!’
 Huxley growled and spat out a mouthful of rain. On his shoulder, Mosey was still giving directions.
 ‘Take the next right, then join the motorway!’
 ‘What’s the satnav saying, cap’n?’ shouted up Podge.
 ‘It’s on the blink!’ Huxley yelled back. ‘It thinks we’re on a motorway.’
 ‘Speed cameras ahead!’ squawked Mosey.
 Huxley pulled up his collar round his face and tried to think of a plan. He wasn’t ready to let the Captain’s Revenge sink to the black depths of the sea, taking him, his crew and their precious cargo with her.
 ‘We’ve come too far to give up now, Podge!’ he yelled down to his first mate. ‘We found the treasure, and we’re going to bring it home!’
 Suddenly, there came a tremendous