The Niagara Falls Mystery (8 page)

The children were not disappointed. Niagara Falls was closer, louder, and wetter than they had hoped.

“It's a good thing we have these raincoats!” Benny yelled. Nobody heard him over the roar of the crashing waters.

Finally the sturdy vessel turned away from the falls and headed back to shore.

“It's hard to find that man in this crowd of blue raincoat people,” Henry said. “Let's go inside. Maybe we can find Will.”

The children didn't take long to spot Will Lasalle.

“Will!” Henry shouted when they passed the engine room.

“Look!” Jessie said. “Will is in there with the man we were following.”

Will didn't see or hear the Aldens. Their raincoats made them look like all the other tourists. The loud hum of the boat's engines and the waterfalls churning in the background drowned out everyone's voices. But the Aldens didn't need to hear Will to understand what was going on. They could see that Will and the tall man were arguing. In a few minutes, when the boat engines quieted down, they heard the young men's voices, too.

“I told you not to come here when I'm working,” the children heard Will say. “I've got work to do on this boat. I can't have you coming here or snooping around the shop when I'm so busy. Granddad already made up his mind. You had your chance to run the shop, Michel.”

The children looked at each other. Where had they heard that name?

“Will is so upset,” Violet said. “I wonder why that man is bothering him.”

“I know. Michel is Will's cousin,” Jessie said. “He mentioned his cousin Michel to Grandfather. They're in some of those old photos Grandfather showed us. Remember?”

Henry smiled. “Right! Will was the dark-haired cousin and Michel the light-haired one.”

“But why are they fighting if they're cousins?” Violet asked.

“Let's find out what this is all about,” Jessie whispered when Will's and Michel's voices grew even louder.

“I'm telling you, I didn't take the guest book,” Michel Lasalle said. “Maybe Angus Drummond took it. And what about those people you hired instead of me? Complete strangers. How do you know they didn't steal Granddad's guest book?”

“You had the keys,” Will said. “And you admit you put those fliers on the cars to make everybody think Granddad's shop was closing. And taking away all the brochures we need to advertise the shop. You did all that. Why should I believe you didn't steal the guest book to make me look careless?”

The Aldens heard nothing but the humming engines for a few seconds.

“I'm sorry, Will,” Michel Lasalle said. “I just thought if it looked like you weren't doing a good job, Granddad would hire me back. He doesn't think much of me. But you … he'd rather have you part-time than me full-time. I wanted to make you look bad.”

“Thanks a lot! You did a good job of it,” the Aldens heard Will say before they heard a door slam.

“Hey! What are you kids doing here?” Will asked when he and Michel came out of the engine room. “I didn't know you were on the boat. I wish I could talk or give you a tour, but I'm too —”

“Upset,” Henry said, finishing Will's sentence. “We overheard you and your cousin talking. We've been following him around Niagara Falls today. We've thought he was up to no good since the first day we got here.”

Michel Lasalle interrupted, “Why have you been following me? Why is my business any of your business?” he asked the Aldens.

“Because we believe you took the Prince of Wales guest book, that's why. We heard you ask the man in the antiques store what it was worth,” Jessie said, not at all afraid to speak her mind.

Everyone stared at Michel Lasalle. No one spoke for the longest time.

Will spoke to his cousin in a quiet voice. “Did you try to sell the guest book, Michel? You've got to tell me.”

“No,” Michel answered. “I promise you, Will, I was just trying to learn more about Granddad's collection. I don't have the guest book.”

Will stared at the Aldens, then at Michel. In a low voice, full of hurt, he spoke to his cousin. “Then who does?”

CHAPTER 10

Yours Till Niagara Falls

B
y the time the Aldens left the docks, Will and Michel Lasalle had calmed down. The children decided to head back to the bungalow.

This time there were no flashing lights or police cars when they turned onto Waterfall Street. Crowds of tourists filled the streets. People went in and out of the restaurants and shops. But on this busy weekend, Lasalle's Curiosity Shop was still closed.

There was another note for the children on the door. Henry tore it open. “It's from Grandfather. He came back a couple days early. He says to meet him at the Rainbow Inn as soon as we can get there.”

The children fetched their jackets from the bungalow. The Rainbow Inn was just a few blocks away.

“There's Grandfather's car,” Violet said when they reached the inn.

“There's another familiar car.” Jessie pointed to an old brown car nearby. “Is that the McKenzies' car?”

“It is,” Violet said, looking in the window of the car. “There's confetti on the floor. It's probably from their wedding.” Violet paused. “I sure hope it doesn't turn out that they took the Lundys' wallet.”

“Or the guest book,” Henry added.

The children found their grandfather right away. He was enjoying a cup of coffee and the afternoon newspaper in the lounge area.

“There you are,” he said, getting up to hug his four grandchildren. “You got my note. I figured you were out sightseeing around Niagara Falls. Tell me all about it.”

The children settled themselves on a nearby couch. They told their grandfather everything that had happened while he was gone. It was easy to talk about all the fun things they'd done, like riding on the Aero Car and the Maid of the Mist. But it was harder telling him about the Lasalle cousins.

Mr. Alden looked upset when he heard the news. “I'm sorry to hear that Will and Michel Lasalle are not getting along. I'd heard Michel was careless when he worked at the shop. I hoped by now he'd grown up a little. Still, I don't think he'd steal someone's money. And certainly not his grandfather's valuable Prince of Wales guest book.”

The lounge area was getting busy. The children had to speak louder to be heard.

Jessie was at the far end of the couch. She raised her voice so Mr. Alden could hear her. “We think the McKenzies may have taken the wallet, Grandfather. They knew where it was. Right after it was missing, they seemed to have a lot of money. We saw them at the tower restaurant. They're even staying here.”

Jessie felt Henry tap her arm.

“Shhh,” Henry said. “The McKenzies were sitting right behind us. I think they overheard us talking about them.”

When the children looked up, they saw the McKenzies rush from the lounge. The young couple stopped at the front desk, grabbed two suitcases, and left.

“Can we follow them, Grandfather?” Henry asked. “I have a feeling they know all about the wallet. And maybe about the guest book, too.”

Mr. Alden was out of his chair in no time. The McKenzies' car was just pulling out when the Aldens got into their own car. Mr. Alden followed the brown car down the street and onto the Niagara Parkway. He drove a couple of car lengths behind them.

“They're turning onto Peace Bridge,” Jessie said a few minutes later. “What if they're leaving Canada?”

Mr. Alden pulled over next to a long line of cars waiting to pass at the customs booth on the American side.

“I'm going to get a customs officer,” Henry said. “Then the McKenzies will have to stop.”

After Mr. Alden stopped, Henry went off to the customs booth. The other children got out of the car and walked over to the McKenzies' car.

Jessie knocked on the window. The McKenzies didn't roll it down or even look at the Aldens.

“We need to talk to you,” Jessie said through the glass. “Just to ask a couple of things. Please talk to us.”

Violet tugged on Jessie's sleeve. “Look what's lying on the backseat.”

Jessie took a look. A large brown envelope lay on the backseat. On the front of the envelope, Jessie saw the Lundys' name and address printed in big black letters.

A minute later the customs officer arrived. He waved over the McKenzies' car. Now they had to roll down the car window.

“I understand you might have some stolen property,” the officer said to the McKenzies.

Robert McKenzie looked pale. He picked up the envelope from the backseat and handed it to the customs officer. “The wallet in this envelope was missing but not stolen. Check inside. You'll find all the Lundys' money and identification cards. We were going to mail this to the owners.”

“Sure, sure,” the customs man said. “Well, I can't arrest you, since everything seems to be here. But I'll take this wallet now and get in touch with the owners myself. We want Niagara Falls visitors to know that folks here are honest.”

“We are honest, just not too careful,” Sally McKenzie said. “When the Lundys didn't come back for their wallet right away, I decided to take it to the police station. But I misplaced the wallet on the way. Honest.”

Was Sally McKenzie telling the truth?

“Nobody knew us in Niagara Falls,” she went on. “I was afraid we'd be accused of stealing the wallet and the guest book, too. I tried to keep these children away until I found the wallet, which I did. It had fallen underneath the seat of my car. It's been here the whole time.”

The customs man turned to the children. “Does this sound possible?”

The children wanted to say yes, but they couldn't.

“I don't like to mind your business,” Jessie began, “but where did you get the money for the restaurant, and the horse and buggy, and the Rainbow Inn?”

Robert McKenzie answered that question. “Our old boss back in the States finally sent us our check. Since we were still on our honeymoon, we decided to spend the money on a few more nights in the inn and a nice dinner out.”

The Aldens didn't know what to say next.

“We knew how bad it would look to everyone,” he continued, “so we left Will a note that we were leaving. When we overheard you saying you thought we were thieves, we decided to leave Niagara Falls right away.”

Sally McKenzie looked at the Aldens. “Why are you children smiling all of a sudden?” she asked.

Sure enough, the four children
were
smiling.

Violet was often shy, but not now. “We're just happy you got the money to continue your honeymoon after all.”

Pretty soon the McKenzies were smiling, too — even Robert.

“I guess that means we can go back to the Rainbow Inn — and to the shop,” Robert McKenzie said. “I want to tear up the note I left for Will Lasalle. We've got a job to finish.”

Soon Mr. Aldens' car was on the Niagara River Parkway behind the McKenzies' car again.

“Look,” Violet said. “They put their JUST MARRIED sign on the back of their car again.”

“So they did,” Mr. Alden said.

* * *

Everyone arrived at the shop just in time to see Will and Michel Lasalle pull up in front. The two cousins were smiling.

“I brought Michel along to give us a hand,” Will explained to everyone. “From now on, he's part of the family business, too. Michel, meet Sally McKenzie. The man unlocking the door to the shop is her husband, Robert. This young couple has been a big help managing things around here.”

“Hi, there,” Robert said quickly. “I'll let you inside in just a second.”

By the time the two cousins stepped into the shop, Robert had crumpled up his good-bye note and turned on the lights.

“Sally and I will be glad for your help,” Robert told Michel. “The Aldens here are in charge of the display room, but from now on we all work together. No closed doors around here. I have a hunch if we all put our heads together, we can figure out what happened to the guest book.”

“Look!” Jessie cried when the children entered the display room. “We don't have to figure out what happened to the guest book. It's back in the case!”

Everyone crowded around the glass case. Sure enough, the guest book lay open to the page with the Prince of Wales's signature.

Will and Michel looked over the children's shoulders.

“It's on a wooden stand,” Will said. “A wonderful, carved wooden stand. How on earth did that get here?”

Only one person could answer that question.

Angus Drummond stepped from the shadows in the corner. “That stand is older than anything or anyone in this room,” Angus told everyone. “Older than me, even. My great-grandma worked in the old hotel when the Prince of Wales visited there in 1860. She waited on the Prince and his family the whole time they were in Niagara Falls. When the hotel went out of business years later, my pa bought some hotel souvenirs at the auction. The Lasalles got the guest book, but the Drummonds got the stand the guest book was on.”