Free The Niagara Falls Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

on the Niagara River Parkway behind the McKenzies’ car again.
    â€œLook,” Violet said. “They put their JUST MARRIED sign on the back of their car again.”
    â€œSo 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.
    â€œI 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.”
    â€œHi, 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.
    â€œSally 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.”
    â€œLook!” 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.
    â€œIt’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.”

    Will couldn’t believe it. “That’s fantastic, Angus. I knew both our families were connected to the hotel. But I can’t let you give this stand away. It belongs to your family.”
    Angus took a Navy Island cane and rapped it on the floor. “Who said anything about giving it away, young man? Not me. No, sir. You can borrow the stand for as long as this place stays open. Just make sure everybody knows it came from the Drummonds, that’s all.”
    The Aldens were curious.
    â€œWhy did you take the guest book? And when?” Henry asked.
    Angus tapped the floor with the cane again. “I didn’t take the guest book. I borrowed it to see how it would look on this stand. Will’s grandpa gave me a key to the display room a long time ago. He said I could go in anytime, so I did. But then you kids showed up before I could borrow the guest book. When I saw you, I went right out the front door and to my spot across the street, cool as you please.”
    â€œSo it was you that first day,” Jessie said. “You were quick.”
    â€œWell, I’ve been climbing the hills around Niagara Falls for a lot of years,” Angus said. “I finally got hold of the guest book the day the McKenzies started work. All I wanted to do was look up some names from the olden days. I couldn’t do that with everybody snooping on me, now, could I? So I borrowed the book. Pretty soon everybody’s gone off their heads about it. The book was safe and sound the whole time.”
    The Aldens just had to know something else.
    â€œWe saw you on a hill near Whirlpool Rapids this morning,” Henry began. “At least we think it was you. What were you doing