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say.”
    â€œThat was magnanimous of them,” Graham said. “They must be wondering what we were doing on Deadman’s Island.”
    â€œThey were kind of curious,” Daniel said. “I figured maybe you were just horsing around – you know, summer holidays, nothing to do and all that – but then Crescent told us about the castle and your aunt that you’re worried about.”
    He must have caught Graham’s look of concern because he held up his hand. “Hey, don’t worry,” Daniel said. “I won’t tell anyone, neither will my grandparents. I think it’s nifty what you’re doing. Sneaking around a spooky castle at night looking for clues – sure beats fishing for excitement.”
    â€œI hope it was worth it,” Crescent said. “What did you find out, Graham?”
    â€œNot much, I’m afraid,” Graham said. “We scoured the whole place, top to bottom. There’s a gazillion rooms.”
    â€œHe did find his aunt’s favorite hat,” Neil added, “which is odd because he says she never goes anywhere without it. Yet there’s no sign of her. We found what we think is her suitcase too – in the attic.”
    â€œI guess you guys searched the underground passage too,
huh
?” Daniel said casually.
    Graham’s head jerked up.

SEVENTEEN
_
    â€œWhat underground passage?” Graham said. “We looked all over for a cellar and couldn’t even find that.”
    â€œOh, well, maybe Gramps is confused,” Daniel said. “I mean, sometimes his memory’s not so hot. But he said there was an underground passage from the castle to the river.”
    â€œBut what would your grandfather know about the castle? He lives in New York.”
    â€œYeah, weird, isn’t it? The guy who built the castle way back? Gramps was a friend of his – they went to Princeton together. The guy was loaded – somethingto do with railways and all. Back then, when they were rich, they were real rich.”
    Daniel gestured across the water to where the castle loomed. “He had to be real rich to build that. Anyway, Gramps says his friend was always talking about this castle he was building in the Thousand Islands. He showed Gramps the plans one day and told him there’d even be a hidden passageway to the river. Maybe he thought he’d have to escape from the law in a hurry one day. I mean, they didn’t called them robber barons for nothing.”
    â€œIt’s an enigma,” Graham said, puzzled. “If your grandfather is right, there’s an underground passage. But we couldn’t find a cellar, so how do you get to this passage? From the river end?”
    â€œCharlie and Mr. Lonsberg were talking about the castle on the way over,” Crescent put in. “Charlie said that back during Prohibition, the island was a drop-off point for smuggled whiskey. There was a rumor that the Canadian smugglers had found an underground tunnel that led to the castle from the river. They would take their boat right into a cave at the back of the island and unload the whiskey into this tunnel-the castle was empty then – and the Americans would pick it up there.”
    â€œShades of Al Capone,” Daniel said.
    â€œMaybe we could find the cave,” Graham said, “and follow the passage from there back to the castle.”
    Crescent shook her head. “Unfortunately not. Charlie said the water level in the river has risen since then and the entrance to the cave would be under water now.”
    â€œSo we have to find the entrance from the castle end,” Graham said. He turned to Neil. “You know what this means?”
    Neil nodded. “Another night in the castle.”
    â€œNeat. Can I come too?” Daniel said.
    Graham and Neil looked at each other. “You really want to?” Graham asked, stalling.
    â€œSure. We can wait here until dark and then row over in