Die drei ??? und der Karpatenhund (2025)

The three detectives are asked for help by art dealer Fenton Prentice. Ever since the death of his life partner, Edward Niedland, a gifted artist, his apartment is said to be haunted. Objects are moved, lamps flicker, and the howling of a dog can regularly be heard. Justus, Peter, and Bob take the case and begin investigating in the apartment complex. Just as Mr. Prentice is about to show the detectives the most valuable artwork in an exhibition announced in Niedland’s honor, at his studio, the crystal sculpture known as the “Carpathian Dog” is stolen. Peter gives chase but loses the suspect in the apartment complex. The police, represented by Inspector Cotta, suspect international art thieves are behind the robbery, but the three detectives are sure that one of the residents must have stolen the Carpathian Dog. They begin investigating Mr. Prentice’s neighbors, including the nosy housekeeper Evelyn Boogle, Niedland’s brother Charles, meditation enthusiast Sonny Elmquist, actress Gwen Chalmers, stockbroker John Murphy, and snake charmer Alexandra Hassell. All the suspects except Mr. Murphy seem to have money as a possible motive, but searches of their apartments turn up nothing. At least the mystery of the supposed haunting in Mr. Prentice’s apartment is quickly solved by the three detectives. Niedland had bequeathed all his artworks to Mr. Prentice, much to his brother’s disappointment. To get revenge, the mechanically skilled Charles gave his unsuspecting neighbor a device that played sound effects to frighten him. The moved objects, on the other hand, were the work of Mrs. Boogle, who had entered Mr. Prentice’s apartment without permission and snooped through his belongings. A note also revealed to the housekeeper where the Carpathian Dog was being kept. In quick succession, Mrs. Boogle is taken out by a pipe bomb, Gwen Chalmers by poisoned chocolates, and finally Mr. Murphy by a fire. Since all of them have to be treated in hospital, the three detectives begin to suspect that the culprit is deliberately trying to get rid of the neighbors in order to reach the hidden Carpathian Dog. When Mr. Prentice finally receives a ransom demand, Justus, Peter, and Bob are sure that the crystal sculpture is still somewhere in the apartment complex. At the planned ransom drop, the three detectives catch the culprit and identify him as Mr. Murphy. The stockbroker did have a motive after all: he was deeply in debt. With the help of Sonny Elmquist, who, as a sleepwalker, has no memory after waking of the things he did, Murphy gained access to the studio and stole the Carpathian Dog out of greed. He then hid the artwork in the apartment complex’s swimming pool, from where Justus retrieves it and returns it to Mr. Prentice. But before the three detectives can go on their well-deserved vacation, a caller with a distorted voice poses the riddle of the Sphinx to them.