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CHAPTER EIGHT

At the Museum

Bill and Michelle woke up early on Sunday morning. This was a very important day for them and Nick. They left their house at half past nine and met Nick in the park.

“Hi, Nick” said Bill, looking at Rover’s new red leash! “The leash was my mom’s idea,” said Nick, as they walked towards the museum. “You and Michelle go ahead and I’ll wait for you outside the back door.”

That morning a lot of tourists were buying tickets so Bill and Michelle had to wait to get in. They went to the back of the museum and opened the emergency door.

Nick and Rover went in quickly, and no one noticed them. Rover walked to the wax statue of the slave merchant with the black patch over his eye. Rover stopped in front of it and started sniffing and whimpering - and the noise got louder. Some tourists saw him but they didn’t stop.

“I think Rover found something,” said Michelle. She and the boys looked at the seventeenth-century slave merchant. Then Michelle noticed the tattoo on the statue’s arm.

“Hey, look at that tattoo,” whispered Michelle. “Do you remember it? It’s the same tattoo we saw in the photograph at Mr O’Neil’s house!”

“The peace sign” whispered Nick. “But they were popular in the 1970s. A slave merchant of the 1600s didn’t know about peace signs!”

Rover started barking.

“He’s found something” said Bill, as the barking got louder and the dog became more excited.

“Could that be his master?” said Nick, his voice trembling.

“But it’s a wax statue,” said Michelle weakly.

“Yeah, but look at the tattoo” said Bill. “Is that a wax statue or is it someone’s body?” They felt cold and their hearts started beating fast. Suddenly their legs felt weak.

“But how is it possible.” Nick couldn’t finish his sentence.

Rover’s bark got louder and the museum guard came by.

“I’m sorry, dogs aren’t allowed in the museum,” he said. “Please take him out.”

“No, we’re not taking him out,” said Bill angrily.

“You must obey the rules of the museum, or I’ll call the police.”

“No,” said Bill angrily, “we’ll call the police! Michelle, do you still have Sergeant Walters’s card?”

“Of course I do” she said, taking out her phone. “I’ll call him.”

Several visitors stopped to see what was happening. Rover was very excited and barked loudly. Nick pulled on the leash to hold him back.

Michelle called Sergeant Walters and asked him to come immediately. “We have a body for you,” she said with a trembling voice. More visitors stopped near them.

Sergeant Walters, Sergeant Barnes and two other policemen got to the museum in a few minutes.

“Sergeant Walters, we found Mr O’Neil’s body” said Michelle loudly. “His dog led us here and started barking.

We noticed that the tattoo on the statue is the same tattoo we saw in a photograph at Mr O’Neil’s home - a peace sign, popular in the 1970s. And this museum is owned by Mr and Mrs Devereau.”

“O’Neil’s body?” exclaimed Sergeant Walters. “What are you saying? I want to look into this!” He turned to the museum guard and said, “I want to examine this statue carefully. Do you have a back room?”

“Yes, I’ll open it for you,” said the guard.

Sergeant Walters asked his men to take the statue to the back room. “I want to-speak to the owners of the museum immediately,” he said.

“Mr and Mrs Devereau are in their office upstairs. I’ll go and call them.” The guard was worried and confused.

Sergeant Walters’s men carried the statue to the back room, and Rover started following them. Nick pulled him back but it wasn’t easy.

Sergeant Walters called the police station and asked them to send a medical expert. Then he turned to the three young people, who were very excited about their macabre discovery.

“I don’t know what we’ll discover here, but something is wrong, and we’re going to find out more about that wax statue.

Your detective work was excellent and you helped us a lot. But now it’s the responsibility of the police. Call me in a few days and I’ll tell you something more. Thanks for your help!”

The three friends were proud - they were helping the police solve the O’Neil case!

When they left the museum Nick took the leash off Rover but he didn’t run away - he stayed with them.