A budding journalist uncovers a ring of saboteurs in his North Carolina town in the early 1940s.Twelve-year-old Henry Hamilton yearns to be a reporter like his hero, Edward R. Murrow, but his attempts to track down real scoops have so far been stymied by Willard Presley, a new reporter for the Asheville Citizen. So when Henry, as a junior helper for the town's teams of air raid wardens, gets wind of something fishy going on involving the nearby Biltmore Mansion and Estate, he sets out on his own to get the story. Hicks ups the stakes nicely by adding a trove of masterpieces transported in secret to the mansion from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (which actually happened), as well as a large bomb-and even trotting in President Franklin Roosevelt himself to preside over an air raid blackout drill. Through a combination of pluck, clever deduction, and some unexpected help from Presley, Henry figures out what's going on in the very nick of time and plays a significant role in narrowly averting a major catastrophe. The author at first expends too much effort capturing the slower pace of life in wartime Asheville, picks up speed after the leisurely first half, and positively races through the climax. The cast reads white, and all major characters are male.A slow start and quaint casting but an exciting finish. (author's note) (Historical mystery. 9-13)