The Niagara Falls Mystery (5 page)

“No, no,” Angus answered. “Many a time I visited those tunnels in the old days before they were all fixed up. In my day, the tunnels were open to the air and water. And if you didn't watch where you were going, you could wind up in the river for good.”

“I'm glad it's safer now,” Jessie said. “I'm sorry you can't come with us. I guess we'll lock up.”

Angus wasn't quite ready to leave, after all. “If you don't mind, I'd like to take another look at some of these things. They've been packed up so long. I'll go out through the store when I'm done.”

Jessie gestured for Henry to come into the store with her. “Do you think it's okay if he stays, Henry?” she asked him.

“I think so. He seems nice enough,” Henry replied.

Jessie went back into the display room and checked that the back door and all the displays were locked up. “Good-bye. I hope you'll come back tomorrow, Angus.”

The children left through the store, leaving the connecting door open. Angus was too busy looking through a box of old photos to answer Jessie or to say good-bye.

The Aldens took a bus from the shop to Table Rock Plaza, where the tunnels were. Joining a long line of people, they bought tickets to Journey Behind the Falls. They joined another line to get the raincoats and boots everyone needed to enter the tunnels.

While waiting, Henry noticed a nearby table filled with fliers. “I brought along some extra brochures from Lasalle's Curiosity Shop,” he told the other children. “I'll put some on that table while we wait.”

Henry came back empty-handed. “There wasn't a single brochure for the shop. I left all the ones I brought. Either people are picking up an awful lot of brochures or somebody is taking way more than his share. Will told me he left a stack of brochures here just a couple days ago, but they were all gone.”

The line of tourists moved slowly. Finally the Aldens got their raincoats and boots. They could hardly wait to get soaked!

“Maybe we can ask someone to take our pictures in these funny outfits.” Jessie reached into her backpack for her instant camera.

She turned to a couple standing behind the children. “Would you like us to take your picture, then you take ours?” Jessie paused when she realized who the couple was. “Aren't you the people who were in Lasalle's Curiosity Shop yesterday? My family works there.”

“Yes, we're Mr. and Mrs. Lundy. We met you yesterday,” the woman answered. “In fact, we went to the shop about a half hour ago before our tour bus brought us here. We didn't see you children, though, just a young couple. I'm afraid they weren't too helpful about finding the wallet we probably lost in the shop.”

“I found your wallet after you left,” Henry told the Lundys.

“You know about our wallet?” Mr. Lundy asked. “We did go back for it, but the people who work there said they turned it in to the police.”

“Did the police have it?” Henry asked.

“That's just it,” Mr. Lundy answered. “The police went through their lost and found box. My wallet wasn't there. Nobody remembered anyone bringing in a wallet. So we took a taxi back to the shop. Then a strange thing happened. As soon as we got out of our taxi, somebody put the
CLOSED
sign on the door. We've given up on finding it.”

Jessie felt sorry for the couple. “Why don't you come back with us after this tour. We might be able to help you. It's probably just a mix-up.”

Mrs. Lundy shook her head. “We can't. Right after this tour, our group leaves for Montreal. If we're not on the bus, they'll leave without us. We won't be returning to Niagara Falls.”

“There, there, Alice,” the man said to his wife. “It's only some money and a few identification cards. They can be replaced.”

“I know,” the woman said. “It's spoiled our second honeymoon a bit, that's all.”

Henry had a good idea. “Why don't you write down the phone numbers of the places you're staying on the rest of your tour. If we find your wallet, we'll call you and send it to you.”

The couple felt better when they heard this. They smiled at the Aldens.

“Stay just like that,” Jessie said, “and I'll take your picture.” She pressed the camera button. A few minutes later, the instant picture of the smiling couple was ready.

“Your turn,” Mr. Lundy said when the Aldens posed for their picture. “Say cheese.”

While everyone was waiting for the instant picture to be ready, Mr. Lundy gave Henry a list of the places they'd be staying.

“Thanks,” Henry said. “I know we'll find your wallet. Now we'd better all hurry. The line is moving to the elevator that goes down to the tunnels.”

Jessie quickly packed up her camera and the photograph. With the others, she boarded the elevator and listened to the guide explain a few rules to follow in the tunnels. Everyone would have a few minutes to look at the falls before moving along so other groups could see them, too.

“Enjoy yourselves. Remember, stay with your group,” the guide said before the elevator doors opened.

A few minutes later the Aldens couldn't hear a word. Directly in front of them was a roaring wall of water. The children could hardly believe that they were practically
in
the falls!

Soon it was time to move along. The children followed the guide when he waved everyone back to the elevator. The doors were about to close when the guide stopped. “Sir! Sir!” he called out to someone who had slipped away from the group. “You can't go back that way. Please get on the elevator.”

It was no use. The guide's voice was lost in the roar of the nearby falls. Whoever the guide was talking to had joined the next group of tourists already in the tunnels.

After the doors closed, the guide said to the crowd, “Anyone here missing someone? If so, just wait by the elevator when we get back up, so your companion can find you.”

No one on the elevator spoke up.

Jessie tapped Henry on the shoulder. “Did you see who it was?” she asked her brother.

Henry turned around. “It's odd. I had the strangest feeling it was that man we saw at the visitors' center the day we arrived in Canada. But there were so many people in front of me, I couldn't tell. Anyway, whoever it was, he's with the other group down in the tunnel.”

When the elevator doors opened, everyone stepped out. The Aldens turned around.

“No one seems to be waiting for the missing person,” Henry said. “I guess the man came here by himself. I wish we could wait, but I told Will we'd be back soon. We'd better get going.”

Benny wriggled out of his raincoat and boots. “Can Violet and I pick up some brochures for my scrapbook?” he asked Jessie.

“Sure, go ahead,” Jessie said. “We'll catch up.”

When Violet and Benny checked the table with the free brochures, they looked for new ones they didn't have yet.

“Wait a minute,” Violet said. “Where are the brochures Henry just put here? Henry! Henry!” she called out to her brother.

When Henry came over, he noticed all the Lasalle's Curiosity Shop brochures were missing — again. “I don't believe it. They're all gone. Something fishy is going on. Let's get back to the shop. I want to tell Will about this. And we need to find out what happened to the Lundys' wallet.”

CHAPTER 6

Another Disappearance

T
he Aldens walked back quickly to Lasalle's Curiosity Shop. They passed T-shirt shops, ice-cream stands, and souvenir shops, but they didn't look in any of them. All they could think about was Mr. Lundy's wallet and the missing brochures.

“Police cars!” Jessie cried, as soon as they turned onto Waterfall Street.

The four children ran to see what the flashing lights were all about. When they reached Lasalle's Curiosity Shop, they saw a small group of people gathered on the sidewalk. The Aldens overheard bits of conversation.

“It's worth a fortune.”

“I heard the Lasalles inherited it from a relative — someone who owned a hotel a long time ago.”

“I always thought there was something suspicious about Angus Drummond.”

“Angus!” Violet said to her brothers and sister. “I hope he's okay. Look, there's his suitcase on the sidewalk. But he's not sitting in his chair!”

“Would you tell me where Angus Drummond is?” Henry asked a police officer.

“That's what we'd like to know,” Robert McKenzie said before the police officer could answer. “He was working with you children this morning. Then you left him in the display room by himself. Now the Prince of Wales guest book is gone, and so is Angus Drummond.”

Jessie was shocked. “But he left his things here.” She bent down to close the suitcase of old barrel chips. “He'll be back. Angus wouldn't steal anything.”

Even the police didn't want to believe that Angus had the missing guest book. One officer turned to Robert McKenzie. “Angus Drummond is an old-timer around Niagara Falls. He can be a bit of a bother, but he's never caused any trouble, Mr. McKenzie.”

Robert McKenzie didn't want to hear this. “I tell you, he was in the display room alone. After he left, the guest book was gone. It seems to me that he's your suspect.”

The officer spoke to the Aldens next. “Is it true you left Mr. Drummond in the room with the guest book?”

Jessie swallowed hard before she answered. “I did. I'm so sorry. Will Lasalle said Angus was welcome in the shop anytime. Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie were right in the next room. I didn't think there would be a problem.”

“Is Will here?” Henry asked. “He'll tell you that Angus is welcome in the shop all the time. He even helps the Lasalles with their collection. The Lasalles have known him for a long, long time. Just ask Will.”

Sally McKenzie joined her husband. “Will isn't available right now.” She paused. “I'm sorry. He's just not here.”

The police officers didn't know quite what to do. “Mr. Lasalle will have to file a report about the value of the guest book. We can't do anything much until we get that — except keep an eye out for Angus. Maybe you can take this beat-up suitcase and this chair of his inside. If he returns for them, give us a call.”

Henry and Jessie picked up Angus's suitcase and folded his chair.

Robert McKenzie reached for the chair and suitcase. “I'll take those. There have been enough mix-ups already.”

After the police left, the Aldens followed Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie into the shop. Everyone was quiet. The children headed toward the display room.

Robert McKenzie blocked the way. “Sorry. This room stays locked until Will Lasalle gets back. It should have been locked when you left this afternoon.”

Jessie sighed. “It's my fault. I'm sorry I left Angus in there. I thought it was okay since I locked the back door and checked that all the cases were locked, too.”

The children went outside to talk, away from the McKenzies. “We'll get to the bottom of this, Jessie,” Henry told her. “And don't forget, we still have to find out about Mr. Lundy's wallet. We know Angus didn't steal that. Will locked it in the drawer. He and the McKenzies are the only ones with the keys. Let's go back in and ask them about it.”

Henry went over to Robert McKenzie. “We ran into the people who lost that wallet I found, and —”

Before Henry could finish, Robert McKenzie broke in. “Wallet? There's no wallet here.”

What was going on? Henry looked at Sally McKenzie. She fiddled with some papers on the counter.

“The wallet Mr. Lundy left behind in the display room,” Henry explained. “Will said he keeps lost things in that drawer in case people come back. If they don't, he turns them over to the Lost and Found Department at the police station.”

Without looking up from the papers in her hand, Sally McKenzie spoke up next. “The police station. Yes … that's … uh … where we dropped off the wallet.”

Even though Violet was usually quiet, this was too much for her. “The Lundys said there were no wallets turned in at the police station.”