In the number analogy 9 : 26 :: 14 : ?, which value replaces the question mark?

The number is tripled and 1 is taken away. For 9 that is 27 − 1 = 26; for 14 it is 42 − 1 = 41. The trap 43 adds the 1 instead of subtracting it, but 27 + 1 = 28 for the first pair and not 26. 39 is $3\times 13$, that is tripling the number one below, which on the first pair gives 24, and 28 merely doubles 14, where doubling 9 gives 18.