Mystery At The Bed And Breakfast 224ay

MYSTERY AT THE BED AND BREAKFAST

M. Butler Davis

Copyright © 2012 by M. Butler Davis.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012922705 ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4797-5924-8 Softcover 978-1-4797-5923-1 Ebook 978-1-4797-5925-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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CONTENTS

Welcome

The Guests Arrive

A Scream Filled The Room

We Go To The Basement

The Mysterious Lawyer

The Body Is Warm

Sparkly Blood On The Face

The Body Was Missing

I Check For Clues

Chi And Bobby Think Hard

Case Closed

WELCOME

After a ten hour drive, we had finally arrived!!! I could not believe that after all of that driving, I had actually survived the car trip! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love to travel, but, I can get a bit impatient. Well, truth be told, I have ABSOLUTELY no patience at all. I’m just like my mommy. I just want to pick out a travel destination, get there quickly and start having fun! I love to do all sorts of things. But, I really love it when we go to a different place and my mommy and I find a mystery to solve! It really makes our vacations a lot more fun and exciting!! By the way, please forgive my rushing and rudeness! My name is Chi pronounced like Ki (long “I” sound). My name means energy and boy do I have lots of it! I am eight years old and going into the third grade. I am also home schooled, so much of my travelling works itself into my studies. I travel with my homeschool teacher, my mommy, whom I affectionately call “Bobby.” We have travelled to some great, and not so great, places. This trip we are in Canada to visit one of the wonders of the world, Niagara Falls. We are staying at a bed and breakfast this time. It is our first time doing this, so we have no idea what to expect. Bobby and I always try to have a back-up plan for just in case. We agreed that we will leave our bags in the car until we decide whether we both like this place, and we feel that it is clean enough to meet our standards. We are a bit picky that way, I’m sure that you can understand. As we begin to slow down, I notice an old historic looking house. It is a red, brick house with large, white pillars in the front. In the grass is what looks like a plaque of some sort, with writing on it. Also, there is a metal yard decoration of a person with a knapsack over his shoulders. This image reminded me a bit of how Santa is shown holding his bag. The weird thing about this metal decoration is that I can see no rust on it, which is interesting because of its proximity to the river. We park our car and walk up to the door. Before we could knock, a caramel complexioned lady opens the door with a beautiful and welcoming smile.

“Bienvenue, welcome!” she says. She is very tall and of medium build. Her jet black hair is stylishly pinned into a pony tail. Her long eyelashes accent her deerlike greenish-brown eyes. She has on a sparkly red dress with flat, black dress shoes. “Come on in! You are the first of six guests I am expecting this weekend.” As we enter, we see doll houses intricately furnished with miniature tables, tablecloths, embroidered curtains, tiny place settings, and dolls dressed according to their time period or native country. Doll houses were everywhere. As we went further into the Bed and Breakfast, I noticed the walls had white and blue wall paper. In the dining room there was a wooden table with six chairs around it and again in the background there were more doll houses. The stairs leading upstairs, wound in an “L “shape and seemed narrow and steep. The place was very clean and appeared as if we had stepped back in time. The décor of each doll house transported us into another place or historical time period. As we ired the doll houses, the doorbell rang. Our hostess said that we could tour the property while the other guests arrived, if we chose. She went to answer the door.

THE GUESTS ARRIVE

The next guest was a woman named Harriet Cross. She was an older lady in her forties, with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing black heels, black pants, and a gray shirt. She wore very little make-up except for some really shiny pink lipstick. Harriet also had a matching gray bag which looked large enough to fit a person inside of it. It seemed quite awkward for her to carry. She was quite pleasant, and informed us that she was a massage therapist, who taught energy work and massage therapy at a college in Indiana. She said that by using positive energies within the body along with massage techniques, the body would begin to heal itself. Mrs. Harriet Cross jokingly added that she taught her students everything she could, except how to do the Dr. Spock vulcan touch from the sci—fi show, Star Trek. She said that she did not feel that her students needed to know how to make a person become unconscious. The 3rd guest was a man named Sam Freud. He was of medium build, with a long torso and strong, short legs. He looked a bit worn with cloudy glasses, which covered his gray eyes. His hair was curly and fiery red. He had on a white shirt with a black and gray striped tie. His shirt was neatly tucked into a pair of grayish brown pants that were neatly ironed. His ensemble was made complete by a grayish-brown coat. Mr. Freud said that he was a criminal defense lawyer on vacation to clear his mind from all of the bad things he has to hear, see, and defend with his clients. In his line of work, he gets to see up close how the police work at the scenes of crimes as he defends the people who commit these crimes. Sometimes, they even confess. The 4th guest was a young man of college age. He was from China. He had moved to the USA, when he was quite young, and had been staying with his aunt, until he was accepted into college. He was a strong looking young man with short black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing white sneakers and dark, green pants. He had on a white and red t-shirt with South Beach, Florida written on the front of it. His shirt seemed to fit a bit snug, showing his muscles. He looked as if he were freshly tanned. His name was Mem Lee.

There was another guest who had not yet arrived to the Bed and Breakfast. Our hostess, Crystal, said that her name was Tina Mustafa. The hostess said that Tina had visited the Bed and Breakfast a couple of times in the past and seemed rather charming, but a little on the quiet side. Crystal went on to say that Tina’s family was from India and that they were poor. Tina was working hard trying to find money for them. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what we look like. My mommy aka Bobby is somewhat tall with long legs. She has dark brown hair with red streaks and eyes that change with her mood from dark brown to a hazel color. She was wearing a burgundy shirt, beige crop pants, and earrings. Lastly, would be me. I have long, reddish brown hair and fat cheeks. I must have gotten my cheeks from my mommy and my red hair from my daddy. Because I am so tall, many people think I am at least ten years old instead of eight. I am wearing a purple dress with a gold belt. Both Bobby and I are wearing matching sandals with pink bottoms and black soles that we picked out at a department store just for our trip. We were pretending to be twins. As the guests were being greeted, Bobby and I went to check out our room. It was very cozy looking. The walls were freshly painted a soft tan color. There was a rather large bed that looked as if someone had draped see-through curtains on its posts. There were four big, fluffy pillows and folded neatly at the foot of the bed, was a quilt with really neat designs on it. The designs looked as if they were very detailed and had taken a lot of thought to create. On the walls were pictures of a little girl and an older man and lady. Each picture showed them with different doll houses or holding miniature dolls. After checking out the bathroom, we decided that we would stay and went out to get our suitcases. On our way out to the car, we overheard Mem Lee speaking to someone in a harsh voice about why Tina had come up here this weekend at the same time that he had come! He did not sound too happy at all. After getting settled in, our hostess, Crystal told us that dinner would be served promptly at 6:30pm and would be informal. We were relieved because after all of that driving, we just wanted to shower and be comfortable, not have to dress up to eat.

A SCREAM FILLED THE ROOM

At 6:20, we all were preparing to gather at the dining table, when our hostess began to speak. “Everyone, I thank you all for coming to my Bed and Breakfast. I have put your names and photos on the chairs where you are to sit.” “For dinner we have tuna casserole, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, devilled eggs, garlic bread, honey-glazed carrots, green beans and almonds with mustard sauce, barbecued chicken, tortilla meat loaf, and nachos with melted cheese, salsa and freshly made guacamole. For drinks we have wild berry punch, ice tea, root beer, ginger ale, and water. And lastly, for dessert, we have lemon cake with fresh blueberries, vanilla custard and apple pie.” The smell of lemon cake, freshly baked apples with cinnamon, garlic, melted cheese, barbecue! My senses were overloaded and I was very hungry! Everyone’s mouths were watering from smelling all of the food!! As we were trying to find our names and photos on the chairs, we almost tripped over one another trying to find our seats so that we could sit down to eat! We all looked through all of the pictures trying to find ourselves. “Bobby, this must be a picture of Tina!” I exclaimed. In the photo, Tina looked like a young lady in her late teens or very early twenties. She was wearing a short purple dress with black heels. She had reddish, brown hair. She had on sparkly, red lipstick, pink blush on her cheeks and lavender eye shadow on her eyes. Her toe nails and finger nails were polished, and in her ears were dangling, silver earrings. Tina’s eyes were dark and looked the color of chocolate, candy kisses. When Bobby and I finally found our pictures, we looked at one another in wonder. It seemed everyone had the same questioning look, except our hostess,

who had an air of contentment on her face. I touched my mommy’s hand and asked, “When was this photo taken of us, and how did she get it?” It was a picture of my mommy and me playing outside of our home with our new pretty, black and brown German Shepherd puppy. The only problem was, that our puppy was now six months old! Bobby shrugged and looked a bit uncomfortable, as well as concerned. Her face had a look that I know means business, but to others it is a blank, pleasant sort of smile. But, whenever she gets very angry, her eyes change colors. Right now, her eyes seemed not to know if they wanted to turn hazel or remain dark brown. It’s the look she gets when someone has intruded upon an area which is definitely OFF LIMITS! I held my breath and wondered if we would indeed remain at the Bed and Breakfast tonight. She leaned over to me and said “I would like to find out who took that picture of us and why?” That question seemed to override the great smelling food for all but Sam Freud who seemed preoccupied with loading up his plate. As we sat down, we asked our hostess, Crystal, about our picture that was in the chair. The others who had been mumbling amongst themselves got quiet and looked as if they too were expecting an explanation as well. It was as if each of us had had our privacy invaded, and we all felt a bit uncomfortable with the intrusion! “Crystal,” my mother asked, “How did our picture get here? “I have never seen nor do I recall taking this one before.” “Oh, I forgot to tell you, that we take pictures of all of our reserved guests for security reasons to prevent those with bad intentions from coming.” Crystal continued.” We have had people in the past who have given false information about themselves, not pay, and try to destroy the property. My insurance company suggested I do this in order to keep my rates low as well as to protect myself.” We sat in our chairs enjoying the food and trying to start conversation with the other guests. Crystal, our host sat down at the head of the table and ed us.

She said that she would start off with the introductions and that each guest could follow her lead by telling the others something about themselves. It was then we noticed a photo on the edge of the table. Everyone had a chair. Sam Freud sat at the other end of the table. Bobby and I sat next to one another, Mem Lee and Harriet Cross sat across from us on the other side. Crystal, our host, introduced us and told us a little background information about the bed and breakfast along with a bit about each guest. Crystal’s family had owned the Bed and Breakfast for years. To keep the house from being torn down by someone, who may not have seen its hidden value, the previous owner, Mr. Forsythe, in his will, had left the property to Crystal’s greatgreat grandmother as a symbol of their friendship. Two of her children, Crystal’s great-grandmother and her great aunt, loved to travel. Her Aunt Mildred was fascinated with dolls and doll houses. She started a collection of doll houses that showed places where she had either stayed on her travels or homes that she had visited. Over time, she had amassed about 140 doll houses. It was considered to be the largest dolls’ house collection in the world. The house had remained in her family and was rumored to have been a part of the Underground Railroad but, there was no actual proof. To try and preserve the home, Crystal decided to turn it into a Bed and Breakfast so that she could share her fond memories with travelers worldwide. She also loved to cook and create new and interesting foods to keep her guests coming back for more. She believed good food, and accommodations would create good friends and great memories. After finishing about herself, she turned her attention to Harriet Cross. She flattered Mrs. Cross by letting her know that her reputation with the medical field had preceded her. She informed us that Mrs. Harriet Cross was so good at what she did, that even doctors came to seek her advice, especially after she had revived some of their patients out of comas by using massage techniques along with energy work. Sam Freud was a very shrewd lawyer, who was also on the Board of Directors at the local college. He had a ion for helping children learn how to keep from becoming one of his future clients. He tried to steer many of them into the local college and gave much of his time and funds for programs to help guide and assist those who were trying to help themselves. Mem Lee was continuing his studies at college in the Fall. He was interested in alternative medicine and needed a scholarship to help pay for his tuition. He was an honor student but he did not always agree with the way medicine was taught in Western society. He believed that just treating the symptoms of any problem

would not cure, but cause more problems. Mem Lee thought that he could use traditional healing methods taught in older societies like China, India and Egypt, along with his interest in energy work to help cure the whole person. But, his immediate goal was to finish up his education so that he could live his dream. He knew there were lots of people who would pay big money to be cured of illnesses, and he was quite interested in their means of payment to fulfill all of his dreams. Tina Mustafa had just received her degree in Science and was looking to attend Graduate school to get a degree in Forensic Pathology. Tina loved helping solve crime mysteries. She had worked as an intern for a medical examiner in a CSI unit and had learned a great deal. She had seen situations where the bodies had been exposed to certain things that lowered the heart rate or caused deep sleep, as well as how the body reacted upon its demise. Because her family was depending upon her success, she knew that she needed to get a job where her success would benefit them as well. As we sat around the table, each guest began to talk with one another about their interests and things they may have in common. Unfortunately, by the time Bobby and I got in the conversation, it seemed as if a couple of people had gotten a bit agitated. Bobby tried to speak to Mem Lee. “Mem Lee how was your trip here today?” said Bobby. “Fine!” he replied curtly. “What is wrong?” Bobby asked. “Nothing!” he snapped, then, he sighed. I said hello to Harriet Cross. “Hello, how was your da… .” “Fine!” She snorted “Uh, are you oka… .” “Yes!” she replied rather quickly. It seemed as if her conversation with Mem Lee had gone sour when he had expressed his studies in energy work and how he had planned to make loads of

money from it. Mrs. Harriet’s biggest pet peeve was students who were only interested in making money and not in the health of the client. Mem Lee jumped up from the table and walked out angrily! Bobby and I looked at Sam Freud. We tried to talk to him but he said, “Sorry, I have to make a business call!” And like that, he left for the kitchen. As he returned, we all heard a loud, shrilly, high pitched scream that filled the room.

WE GO TO THE BASEMENT

We heard the scream and ran in the direction of it. Crystal told us that it had come from the basement and guided us to where the basement staircase was. We went down and saw the SPOOKIEST, the SCARIEST THING!!!!! It was a body lying there. It was still, not moving, not even blinking!!!!!! I was shocked. I could not believe what I was seeing! After all that driving to have a calm vacation this could not be what it looked like! I thought it looked as if somebody had gotten hurt really badly! Sam Freud shouted that he needed the telephone number so that the police and an ambulance could be called. Who was this person laying here, and why did it happen? I thought. Just then, a thought came to my mind. This could be a mystery for us to solve! I like mysteries, but I had never solved one like this before when someone got hurt. I pulled my mommy’s arm to the side. “Chi,” she whispered, “This is a serious matter. I really wish you had not seen this at all!” “But Bobby,” I protested. “It’s a mystery! Can we try to solve it?” “Let’s first stay calm and see what is going on. I am certain the police will be able to handle it without any interference from us.” she replied. After a few minutes, the police called. They had run into some inclement weather and high winds along with heavy rain that had blocked and flooded some roads. We were warned that the storm was headed our way and that we should remain at the Bed and Breakfast until they could arrive, figure out what happened, and why. They also said that we needed to remain on the property and that we could not tour until everything was wrapped up. At this point, my mommy turned to me and said, “Chi, they are trying to keep us confined in this house for an undetermined amount of time! We’ve got to help solve this so that we can enjoy some of our vacation and get back home!” “Ok.” I smiled to myself.

I knew we could do it! This would be one of my biggest cases yet! I watched as my mommy used her telephone camera to take photos of everything at the scene. She motioned for me to go upstairs with her and get my notebook from my detective Supplies kit that I always carry with me for emergencies just like this one. Bobby and I went upstairs. As we went, she asked me had I noticed anything strange about this whole weekend. She said that we could talk more later, but, to write everything that I found to be strange down in my notebook. When we got into our room, I looked in my suitcase and got out my detective kit. It was a little gray kit. It almost looked like a tiny suitcase. Inside, it had one magnifying glass, toothpicks, tweezers, a digital camera, a notepad, pencils, plastic gloves, plastic baggies, an L—shaped ruler, a fingerprinting brush & powders, a mini UV light and a mini flashlight. I got out my notebook and pencil, grabbed my detective kit, and I went downstairs with Bobby. It was fun being with Bobby and all at the same time I was solving a mystery!!! As we returned downstairs, I slipped on a step. That’s weird, I thought. I bent down to find what looked like some type of powder on the sole of my shoe. My night was getting good with this mystery. I just wish somebody did not have to get hurt!! When we got downstairs, it seemed like everyone was present. I quickly snapped pictures to hopefully give to the police when they arrived. All the while, I wondered what they would look like. I asked my mommy would they be in their red uniforms with the Yogi Bear ranger hats. She responded and said that they were not the RCMP or Mounties as they were called and that the RCMP do not service the province of Ontario, where we were. The provincial police of Ontario were the officers that would be coming to help us. Everyone was looking at the body and the room and asking lots of questions. I made notes on everything that I could see and hear. As I looked at the body on the floor, I heard a man, who was leaning over it, say that the crime must have just happened. I guessed that he was a helper at the Bed and Breakfast. I looked at the body. It was a figure of a girl who had on orange hiking boots, gray pants and a pink shirt. It seemed to me that the girl’s arm had been broken! Her right arm was twisted up and her face was turning to the left. Her left arm was down by her side. She had reddish brown hair and dark brown eyes like chocolate, candy kisses. I just knew that I recognized her. I ed her

face. She was lying on her back and had something red on her face. It looked like a red streak in a long line on her right cheek, and another similar line on the right side of her neck. As I took a closer look, the red marks looked weird. I ed cutting my leg before, and my mark did not look like that! It did not sparkle! But, these red marks on this girl were full of sparkles.

I continued to look for clues. I looked and looked some more. When the others were not looking, I took a photo of the body. There was something hanging out of her pocket. I took a picture of it. Near the body was something white on the floor. It looked like powder and had one set of footprints going away from the body towards the staircase. I found a purple piece of paper with what looked like a drawing of a window with short curtains. I quickly snapped a picture. I walked back over towards the body just as the gentleman who worked for the Bed and Breakfast asked everyone to go upstairs to their rooms for the evening. Hmm, some vacation, I thought, being sent to bed early to wait for police officers! I had better solve this mystery fast so that we could enjoy our vacation! As we slinked out, upset at being ordered to bed, I said “Bobby, I think I found a clue.” “Great job, Chi! We will solve this mystery for sure! After we get to our room, let’s compare notes.” Bobby said. “Ok.” I said excitedly, looking for any reason NOT to have to go to bed and to sleep early. As I went the kitchen, I saw Harriet Cross on her phone. I overheard her saying, “Yes, I am in the house now, and I know where it goes! You are aware that I’ve done this before!!” She whispered. I gasped, “Did she hurt Tina?” I felt so sorry for Tina. But, I needed more evidence. As we continued toward our room, Mem Lee suddenly appeared out of nowhere and almost knocked me down. I held on to my camera and quickly put it behind my back as my mother looked quite annoyed with his recklessness. “Stay out of my way kid!” Mem Lee snorted. “And what are you staring at?” “Nothing.” I replied quietly. Bobby gave him a once over and asked matter—of—factly. “Where are you going in such a hurry that you cannot be more mindful of where you are going? And, why are you all sweaty and out of breath?” “If you must know, I have just come from the weight room and I am late for a phone call!” Mem Lee retorted.

Just then Sam Freud walked in. He glanced at Mem Lee then at us. “What are you doing with that camera?” he asked me. “Trying to solve a mystery.” I replied. “Oh you like puzzles, eh? Well, here is one for you. What did the leaf say to the caterpillar?” “Leaf me alone.” I replied. “Good answer. Let’s go Mem.” He said. Then, they left abruptly. I looked over at my mommy. “They seem strange!” She nodded her head in agreement.

THE MYSTERIOUS LAWYER

After Bobby and I got to our room, we began to ask each other questions and write down the interesting things we had seen since we had arrived. We looked over the photos we each had secretly taken of the crime scene. We had noticed that there were video cameras on all of the entrances and exits from the house, so no one could enter or leave the property without being captured on the video security camera. That meant the person who had committed the crime was still here! Bobby and I made notes on each guest.

1) Harriet Cross was a college instructor of Massage Therapy who was on vacation. She had brought a really big bag with her that could have been her table or held something else that was heavy. 2) Mem Lee seemed to be a smart but a temperamental college student and sounded as if he knew more than what he was saying. He also needed money to finish college, and it seemed that he did not want Tina there with him! 3) Tina Mustafa had never shown up until now, and I do not believe that she intended to show up in quite this manner to be this type of guest! She supposedly had a lot of training with crime scenes and she needed money, like Mem Lee, for graduate school and for her family. 4) Crystal, our host, was worried about protecting her Bed and Breakfast. She had secretly taken pictures of the guests before their arrival to be able to match names and faces and other information about each one. 5) Sam Freud said that he was on vacation also and had no desire to do any work; however, he disappeared to take a business call and returned around the time of the scream. In addition to being a lawyer, he taught and served as a member of the Board of Directors for two different colleges. He also appeared to be quite chummy with Mem Lee.

Bobby looked at me then asked, “Chi, what do all of the guests seem to have in common?”

Do you know what the four guests have in common?

“They all deal with colleges in some way!” I said excitedly. Then, Bobby asked about the seating arrangements. I ed that Crystal had place settings for a total of six people. If you count all of the people who were to be eating that evening, how many place settings should have been set? Bobby and I decided to sleep on it and start again the next day. I went in to change into my pajamas and saw the powder on my shoes. I ed about the same powdery looking stuff by the body and on the stairs that almost made me slip and fall. I ran out to tell Bobby when we both stopped in fear. We had seen a shadow of something moving outside of our window. We turned out the lights and then cautiously opened the side of the curtain to look out. There was a person with a grayish, brown coat and red hair using a flashlight to scan the grounds. This person looked to be searching for something. “Chi,” my mother whispered. “Do you which guest had red hair and a grayish brown coat?” “Yes.” I said “Good, make a note of it in your notebook!” Bobby said. “Let’s go back to the basement and look for more clues!” I whispered with a shaky voice somewhat afraid and excited at the same time. “No, not yet. Come over here and let’s look through my phone pictures first while everyone goes to sleep. Then we can go when no one will see us.” Bobby said.

I agreed and we looked through quite a few pictures. Some were of the guests arriving, the dinner, the doll houses, and the scene in the basement. As we looked, we began to hear thunder and see lightning. It had started to rain, and rain hard. All of a sudden with one big boom all of the power went out. The clock in our room went blank and we had to get out my flashlight just to see how to move about. “It’s getting quite spooky around here! I am ready to go home!” I said. “Me too, but we aren’t going to be able to leave until the police arrive and find out what happened.” said Bobby.

As we finished looking at the pictures, we noticed that the pictures of the basement scene seemed to have everyone there except for two people, Mem Lee and the one with red hair and the grayish brown coat. The lawyer was missing!!!

THE BODY IS WARM

When everyone was asleep, Bobby and I went down to the basement. As we opened the door we heard a creak from beneath us and what sounded like a tapping. We froze, barely breathing and turned off our flashlights. After what had seemed like hours, we took our flashlights and very quietly walked through the door to the basement. As we moved our flashlights to help guide us around the basement, we took more notice of the walls and the steps in the house. A mouse scurried past, almost causing another set of high pitched screams. After regaining our composure, we kept on. We were determined to solve this mystery and get out of here! In the basement, we moved our flashlights across the floor trying to find the body. Our lights shined on the walls too. Some of the basement walls were made of old stone. Another wall looked to be made of old brick and had a tool cabinet of sorts standing in front of it. There looked to be an outline of newer bricks to the left of the tool cabinet with three more tools hanging from a bar that was attached to the wall and behind the tool cabinet. Finally, we saw what we were looking for when we had come downstairs. We went over and looked at the body. I felt Tina’s head. The area had now been taped off to keep everyone out. Earlier, I had noticed a piece of purple paper hanging out of the girl’s coat pocket and asked Bobby to take a picture of it once again. She snapped a couple of pictures before crying out. “Chi, look at her arms” Bobby whispered in French. She speaks to me in another language to keep me on my toes and when she does not want everyone to know easily what we may be saying. Both of Tina’s arms were bent up beside her head and something from her pocket was missing.

“Bobby, her head is warm! It is like she is alive!” I said in almost a shout.” “You’re right, Chi. I think we are getting close to finding more evidence to help solve this mystery.” Bobby said softly and in deep thought. “Let’s go back to our room now. We should not be caught down here, ok?!” Bobby seemed a bit concerned. Something was obviously wrong with what she saw.

Do you know what is wrong with this scene?

Bobby and I headed back upstairs in the dark to our room, using our flashlights to guide us. It was still raining cats and dogs and the power was still out. We were getting closer to solving this mystery and it was much weirder that I had imagined. We could be out of here soon and I was glad. I was missing our home. “Can we go to bed now, Bobby? I am sleepy.” I said with a big yawn. “Okay, I am a little tired too.” Bobby put her arm around me in a loving hug. We went to bed. I dreamed about the warm body. To tell you the truth, I did not want to sleep here. It was creepy. But, I had to get some rest, so that we could try and get an early start.

SPARKLY BLOOD ON THE FACE

When I awoke, I could smell breakfast! I looked over at my mother, who was sitting up looking through the pictures. The electricity had come back on. I sat up smiling to say good morning when this look of horror crossed my mother’s face and she rushed over to me with a tissue in hand. “What’s wrong Bobby?” I asked. Then, I noticed my hand had a deep red smear upon it. My mommy was wiping something red off of my forehead. We both thought it looked like blood except there were no cuts at all on me. We both looked at one another and thought the same thing. I must have gotten it on myself when I touched Tina last night and felt that she was still warm. My stomach was getting weak when I again noticed sparkles. It looked like some kind of lipstick. We looked at the tissue. It was some kind of lipstick! Whatever it was, it was definitely not blood! Although, it looked so real that it did have us fooled for a while. I went to wash my hands and face and the sparkly blood smeared. It had to be taken off with makeup remover. Another clue!

THE BODY WAS MISSING

After we got washed and dressed, we were ready to get back on track. I began to think something really weird was going on here. We went down to the dining area for a breakfast of banana pancakes with fresh fruit and real maple syrup. Everyone ate quietly looking at one another as if searching the eyes for guilt. Crystal had brewed some fresh tea and was offering it to everyone. For some reason, neither Bobby nor I wanted tea. We chose the fresh pineapple juice instead with ginger ale. There was a small commotion and we saw the police. They had finally arrived late last night and had done a tape outline of the body. This morning however, their new announcement was that the body was no longer there! Sometime in the course of the night, the body had disappeared. They looked suspiciously at all of us guests! We all ran downstairs in disbelief. I took pictures with my camera and Bobby snapped some with her phone camera. There was a fresh set of muddy footprints near where the outline of the body was. But these prints were leading in another direction and disappeared by the tool cabinet at the brick wall. On the floor by the brick wall was a piece of purple paper. Quickly both Bobby and I snapped a picture of it to look at more closely later. “What is this?” Harriet Cross said stooping over to look. “Looks like something written in Chinese. It looks like the Chinese character for the number four!” said Sam Freud.

Mem Lee looked as if he had just seen a ghost. He turned and ran upstairs. “What’s wrong with him?” Harriet said. “The Chinese superstition believes that the number four is an unlucky number.” Sam replied. I just thought it looked like a piece of purple paper with a picture of a window with funny curtains. For some reason, my instincts had told me that it may have been important so I had snapped a few photos of it previously. A few seconds later, Crystal let out a wail. “Some of my beautiful dolls pieces are gone!” First a guest gets hurt, the body is missing, now this!!!” She slumped to the floor in a puddle of tears! As the policemen went over to talk to Crystal about the missing items, Bobby and I looked at one another in disbelief, then in relief. The real mystery was coming to light!

I CHECK FOR CLUES

The police again ushered everyone upstairs to the sitting area. As the police went back downstairs, everyone sat down in front of the warm, cozy fire that had been prepared in the fireplace. It seemed like hours before the policemen returned upstairs, and, by this time, nearly everyone but Crystal, Bobby and I had fallen asleep. It was almost as if some sort of spell had come over them all. Just then I had a sneeze attack. I went into the kitchen to throw away my tissue when I saw the tea bags for Sleepytime tea. Why would anyone make Sleepytime tea for everyone along with a cozy fire? I wondered. Then on the counter I saw a note left inside of a magazine. It was written in code. I quickly got my detective pad and pencil out of my pocket and jotted down the letters “miteyeslep eat yam leph axler eth doby.” I put away my notepad and pencil and returned to the sitting room. The others were fast asleep. Mem Lee was even snoring, and Harriet Cross’ mouth was wide open showing all of the fillings in her back teeth. My mother was listening intently as the police were asking Crystal questions about her missing items. The body is missing as well as the dolls! There may be a connection with the person who took the dolls. I thought. “Crystal, how much were the dolls worth?” one of the officers asked. “They were worth well over $500,000.00 when they were last appraised 5 years ago!” Crystal sobbed. “Why would someone do this to me?” Bobby leaned over and whispered in my ear, “If they cost that much, someone might have taken the dolls to sell.” “Right! Good hypothesis, Bobby.” I added. I had learned in my science class that A hypothesis is a guess. “I think I might know who took the dolls but we need more clues.” “Hey! “Where is Mem Lee?” I exclaimed looking around.

“I am right here!” He said suddenly jumping out of his sleep and waking the others. “I bet you took the dolls! All little girls cannot resist playing with dolls! You were probably hiding it behind your back when I bumped into you yesterday! “I agree.” said Harriet Cross as all eyes turned to look at me with suspicion. “It is not me! I am trying to solve the mystery!” “That was a camera she had behind her last night.” Sam Freud piped up. “She is pretending to be some sort of detective and thinks she can solve our little mystery!” he chuckled. As everyone’s eyes refocused on Crystal, who was still sobbing, I leaned towards my mommy and said. “Hmm, I might know who the guilty person is, Bobby.” I whispered. “I think I do, too.” Bobby answered. Bobby and I slipped away to the basement while the others were still groggy and bickering. “Bobby, look at this wall!” I said excitedly while I took pictures. “Hmm, that’s very peculiar, huh? Three of the walls are made entirely of stone and the other is a brick wall. Look, there is a row of newer clean bricks. It is like someone recently cleaned them off. And the tools over here have no dust on them.”

“One of the tools is missing!” We both shrieked at the same time. “Bobby, look at the police outline of Tina’s arms. It looks nothing like the final photo we had of her!” We quickly got out our digital cameras and scanned back to the first and last photos we had taken on the body. The photos also were different. Her body was in a different position. “Yes, you are right, Chi. It is like Tina moved again before the police traced her.” I got my notebook and wrote down this new information and a question for myself. Why would anyone move a dead body, and, how could a dead body have changed positions? But, Bobby and I did not stop there. The mystery was unraveling itself before our eyes. It was fun filling in the blanks in my notebook. “We will have to put all the clues together, Chi.” Bobby warned me. “Yes, we do Bobby, and it will be fun.

CHI AND BOBBY THINK HARD

Bobby and I went back to our room. We thought hard about everything. “Bobby, do you the powder that was on the floor? I asked. “Yes I do?” Bobby replied. “Bobby, do you how Mem Lee ran upstairs like he saw a ghost and how Sam Freud did not want to do any work but took a business call when it all started?” I was on a roll with questions. “How does he know Chinese, Chi?” Bobby questioned then continued. “I don’t even know if he was the one outside our window that night!” “Yes, I agree. I don’t think it was him.” I shook my head in agreement. “Nor do I think it might be Mem Lee.” Bobby said. “Harriet Cross’s BIG bag could hide doll houses! She could have fit the body in there, or, her table.” I thought aloud. Then there was Crystal setting out six chairs when there were seven (7) people total, counting Crystal. She was insistent about trying to serve Sleepytime tea to everyone. And there was that scrambled message. I had decoded it earlier and found it to read ‘Sleepytime Tea helps relax the body?’” Why would Crystal need for everyone to relax when she herself was a nervous and crying wreck but drank none of the tea herself? Do you know who may be guilty?

Bobby and I were really thinking and brainstorming about this situation. We

thought about the makeup that had gotten on me that we mistook for blood? It was the same as the makeup that was on Tina. Crystal had said that Tina had recently come to the Bed and Breakfast a few times to stay, so she was familiar with the grounds and perhaps the video cameras. She would know what the police would look for having worked for a forensic pathologist and could imitate what she had seen to probably fool anyone. We then turned our attention to the details of the Bed and Breakfast, Starting outside with the little man garden statue I thought reminded me of Santa Claus. Might he be pointing that direction for a reason? Bobby and I had talked about how the Underground Railroad had come all the way up to Canada and was used to help slaves escape to free lands. Perhaps that was one of the signs, and this house was a point on the Underground Railroad! “Oh, my gosh, Bobby! We may have more than one solved mystery on our hands!” I exclaimed excitedly. “Do you the clean line of bricks in the basement and how one set looked newer and different from the other parts of the walls?” We looked at the photos we had taken of the foot prints stopping at the wall. “Bobby, I was looking at the footprints and Tina’s feet. Either someone used her shoes or something here is worse than we thought!” I said. We thought how the body had changed its appearance; how it was still warm. How the “blood” had gotten on me, and how Crystal’s dolls were now gone. We discussed how the videos showed that no one had left. “Chi, whoever did it did not leave the house. Chi, when the body was missing?” “Bobby,” I said. “I have a feeling that I know what happened here, and, who the guilty party is!” Then I whispered my hypothesis into her ear. “I think you are right my dear Watson!” My mommy chuckled. But what about the purple paper with what looked like a curtain drawn upon it, and what did it mean? Exhausted, I tossed my camera onto the bed. I had just

looked at the photo I had taken of the purple paper, when it finally dawned on me why it had looked so familiar. “Bobby, look at the quilt!” I exclaimed. The purple paper first found in Tina’s pocket looked like a portion of the quilt. As we looked more closely at the quilt we realized that it was indeed more than a mere covering. It was a map of sorts that seemed to show a trail ending at a home by the water. I had read in school about how the designs in quilts were used by the slaves as maps to freedom. Here on our bed was one! That was no Chinese symbol! It was a symbol of a tunnel behind a wall! “I bet that we were right about this house! It is an historic landmark! And I bet I know where Tina and the doll houses are hiding!” Can you guess?

We heard a loud shout followed by some grumbling. We ran downstairs to find an officer about to put Mem Lee in handcuffs. “What’s happening?” Bobby asked. “The police believe that Lee did it.” Crystal said. Then, another officer grabbed Mem Lee and said, “You’re right, we have our guy. Let’s get him to the jail!” But, before the officer could place the handcuffs, Sam Freud said, “Let him go, he did not harm anyone! What evidence do you have that he has done anything wrong?” “The photos indicate that he was the only one not in the basement nor ed for by the other guests shortly after the scream. One of the guests said they overheard him say he was quite angry about Tina being up here the same time he was here!” The taller officer responded in a rather intimidating manner. “Officer, as a lawyer, I know that you do not have enough to make an arrest, at least not where I am from. But I do know that he is not guilty!” Sam Freud spoke sternly. “How do you know?” asked the officer. “He is my nephew. I am married to his mother’s sister. I had arranged for him to speak with someone regarding a possible scholarship that he and Tina were competing for through an essay competition. I had found out that he had won it. I was waiting for him because I was going to talk to him about it and congratulate him on his success.” “Well, who killed Tina then?” That is when I and asked the officer “May I speak officer?” I said quietly. “There is no murderer here!” Everyone looked up shocked. Only my mommy was beaming with pride. “He got away? How?” the officer asked.

“No, he, or should I say she, is still here!” I replied. “What are you talking about?” said Harriet Cross. Everyone stopped and looked at Bobby and me. “What I mean is that there has been no murder. Tina is not dead!” I said in a bit louder voice.

CASE CLOSED

“What do you mean?” asked the Officer, “How could she not be dead? We saw the body!” “Let us tell you. Bobby, would you like to go first?” “No Chi. You do the honors.” Bobby smiled. “Okay, (1) Tina’s family constantly begged her to send them money, but she did not want to give them her money. She thought that she would come here and take some of Crystal’s doll collection to sell to get money. (2) Tina acted like she was dead and put her arm in her shirt as well as putting a glove on the other side making it look like her arm was broken the first night.” I said. (3) “Our photos show that Tina also moved a little bit before the officers had outlined her body. She must have heard us coming and quickly lay back down to pretend that she was dead.” (4) “Tina had watched the guests arriving so that she could use that information to help her with the security video.” Bobby continued. “I am certain, that if we watch the tapes, we will see that she is the only guest that got into this house without being caught on camera. There should have been no way for her to have been found in the basement if she had not ed through a security camera.” “I thought she was just kidding, when she said that she’d make a grand appearance after dinner, because she was running late! I had no idea there was some truth to her words!” exclaimed Crystal. Chi continued “Tina had been coming here enough to learn of Crystal’s routine with the guests so she could plan the perfect theft. She knew that Crystal gave her guests a chamomile blend tea, to help relieve their stress, make them relax and go to sleep. This way she could insure a relaxing visit and hopefully get rave reviews to keep guests coming, so that she could maintain the Bed and Breakfast. Tina had planned to use this as her opportunity to move the dolls’ houses.”

“She went to get the dolls that night which is why we found that she and the dolls were missing.” Bobby continued “She knew that she could not come in or leave without being seen, so she disguised herself as one of the guests and entered the property.” When Bobby and I went back down to the basement, we shone our flashlights on the walls as we were looking around. That is when Bobby and I thought that we might have two mysteries on our hands to be solved. “Chi and I noticed that the basement had stone walls on three sides and an old brick wall on the other; but, some of this brick was newer than the other. “Bobby and I also saw that there seemed to be a line of bricks on the wall that had no dust covering it like the other parts of the wall. “Chi and I saw that a tool was missing from the tool rack that had been positioned across this part of the brick wall. Tina had taken the tool, and moved it to reveal a hidden ageway. She had heard rumors about the house being a part of the Underground Railroad, but did not have time to make certain that a pathway would be clear for her escape. Unfortunately for her, the weather had covered up and blocked the other way out so she was/is stuck inside waiting for this to be over so that she could hopefully sneak out in disguise. She did not count on leaving clues like the limestone powder and the mud from the rain that stuck to the bottoms of her shoes and tracked into the basement with no light source for her to see and to remove any evidence. “So where is Tina and this Underground Railroad now?” everyone exclaimed. “The outside garden sign points to the outside entrance of the railroad she wanted to use. But as for Tina, she is in the basement!” I said. “What!” shouted Mem Lee. “Are you sure it is not you who stole the dolls and are making this whole story up? “Yes, come on and I will show you” I said. As the officers asked for other policemen to secure the area by the outside sign that looked like a Santa Claus, we went to the basement. Bobby took a tool and moved the brick wall. Behind it was Tina, and next to her was a red curly wig, glasses, a grayish brown coat and a large bag. Right then someone’s cell phone

rang. It was Harriet’s. She picked up and then hung up after reassuring the caller of an appointment. “The drama never ends! You would think that I could go on vacation without clients making sure I have my table so they can meet me for a massage!” she scolded. “This is his third call to me since I have arrived!” “There had always been rumors about this Bed and Breakfast being part of the Underground Railroad, but there had been no proof until now.” Crystal said in a surprised tone. The police officer called to the other officers and they got Tina. They took her to their patrol car. She was fuming with ANGER. “Why did you have to stop me? I wasn’t hurting anyone!” She screamed. “Because when you do something bad you must be stopped! Why could you not just give your family some of your money?” I asked out of curiosity. “Because, I didn’t want to! I worked hard for my money! I deserved to keep it! They had a chance to move here, but they didn’t!” Tina wailed. The officers put her in the back of the patrol car and took her to jail informing Crystal that they would send someone over to get statements from us. Crystal looked relieved and extremely excited. I had not seen her this happy the entire weekend at the Bed and Breakfast. “Thank you, thank you!” Crystal said. “You do not know how much my dolls mean to me. Now I won’t have to worry about being closed down because I have an historical landmark under me. I can show people that! “How can I thank you?” I looked a bit bewildered because I thought she had done so, many times already! “Well, we were happy to help!” Bobby said hugging me gently. It was fun! But, then I frowned “Bobby, it is too bad the mystery had to end!” I said sadly. “Yes, it is. But now, we can go home and sleep in our own beds.”

“I have to say Bobby, it is cool that now when we read mystery books we can say we have solved two mysteries ourselves!” “Yes, we can!” Bobby replied. Then, we went upstairs and packed. We hugged Crystal, Harriet Cross, Sam Freud and Mem Lee. “Chi,” Mem Lee said, “I am sorry I thought you did it. I mean stole the dolls.” “That’s okay. It was a hard mystery to put together.” I answered. After the police officer had gotten everyone’s information, we said goodbye and we headed home. Crystal had asked us to keep in touch and to please visit anytime we wanted. Our visits would always be free. On my way home, I looked out of the window at the changing tree lines and thought about how big Niagara Falls really was. I thought about how cool the Bed and Breakfast was, and how we solved not one, but two mysteries. I was fortunate, because in my heart, I know that anyone can solve a mystery if they really put their mind to it. All it takes is being able to see everything, and to be able to put it all together.

THE END