The Niagara Falls Mystery Read Online Free Page B

Everything needed a good vacuuming. Boxes needed to be unpacked. A list needed to be written to keep track of everything.
    â€œIs that too much work?” he asked the children a while later.
    â€œFor us?” Benny asked. “Nothing’s too much work!”
    â€œLet’s get going,” Jessie said.

CHAPTER 4
    A Wallet Disappears
    â€œ A choo !” Violet sneezed for the third time in a row while she was vacuuming. “There’s an awful lot of dust in here.”
    By late morning there was less dust but still quite a few boxes stacked up in the display room.
    â€œTomorrow we can start unpacking,” Jessie said. “When we’re done, this room will be like a little museum.”
    As the children worked, a few customers peeked into the display room.
    â€œToo bad this room is closed,” one man from a tour bus said when he and his wife stepped into the display room by mistake. “We honeymooned in Niagara Falls fifty years ago. We just love looking back on how it was in the old days.”
    Henry smiled at the couple. “If you come back in a couple of days, this room will be open again.”
    After the couple left, the children continued with their work. Henry had just piled some empty boxes near the connecting doorway to the shop when he noticed something. “That man dropped his wallet!” Henry ran through the shop after the couple. He was too late. Their tour bus had just pulled away.
    Henry stood on the sidewalk and checked inside the wallet. “Wow! There’s over three hundred dollars in here. And some identification cards, too.”
    Back inside, Will Lasalle was showing a young couple how to use the cash register. Before Henry had a chance to tell about the lost wallet, Will waved Henry over.
    â€œHenry, bring Benny and your sisters out here,” Will said. “I want everyone to meet my new assistant managers.”
    When the Aldens came into the shop area, Will introducd everyone. “These are the Aldens: Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry. Kids, I’d like you to meet Robert and Sally McKenzie.”
    The children smiled at the McKenzies before glancing at each other.
    â€œYou children look as if you have a little secret,” Will said with a smile. “Come on. Let us in on it.”
    Benny couldn’t hold it in. “We saw you on your honeymoon at the Rainbow Inn. Only we weren’t on a honeymoon — just a regular trip.”
    Will chuckled. He didn’t notice that the McKenzies weren’t smiling at all.
    Jessie poked Benny gently with her elbow. “Sorry. We weren’t snooping on you at the Rainbow Inn. It’s just that we were the only family there that wasn’t on a honeymoon.”
    Robert McKenzie still looked upset, but Sally McKenzie seemed to relax a bit. “It’s okay. I bet it feels strange to be around so many couples when you’re with your whole family.”
    â€œWell, this family is helping me organize the display room next door. We plan to reopen it soon,” Will explained. “It’s gotten pretty dusty and disorganized. I asked the Aldens to straighten things out for us. It’ll be shipshape when my grandfather returns.”
    Robert McKenzie didn’t seem too happy to hear this. “No need for these kids to give up their vacation. Sally and I can fix up the display room in our spare time. I thought that’s why you hired us — so we could take care of everything while you’re working on the Maid of the Mist.”
    â€œOh, I’ll need you in the shop and running errands for me,” Will said. “Picking up my store sign this morning was a big help already. There’s more than enough work for everyone.”
    Mr. McKenzie seemed about to say something until his wife gave him a funny look.
    The Aldens walked back to the display room when Henry remembered something. “Oh! I almost forgot why I came out here in the first place. A