Avard Hale Explores The Money Point Mysteries

This is the third in a series of murder mysteries featuring Avard Hale as an eccentric and amateur detective. This book as well as ‘Death On The Lakeshore’ and ‘Avard Hale Goes To London’ are based on my actual life experiences with a murder being introduced as part of the story. ‘Avard Hale Explores the Money Point Mysteries’ begins with the actual death of an old prospector around the turn of the century who was rumoured to be looking for gold. The story covers adventures in New Brunswick locations including Money Point on Magaguadavic Lake, Lake George and Fredericton to name a few. Other adventures take place in London England and Prince Edward Island with emphasis on Anne of Green Gables.

While ‘Avard Hale Explores The Money Point Mysteries’ is in part fictional, the potential for gold being found in the Money Point area is real. I along with some friends who are featured in this book have mining, engineering and geological experience and we were actually interested in the gold prospects there. However, because of the difficulties associated with finding gold, we never did pursue our initial investigation.

My desire to become a writer goes back to my childhood. From the time I was a teenager, I felt the need to explore ideas and to also record them.

After the death of my mother in 1977 in a marked lighted crosswalk by a drunken speeding driver, I felt the need to record what happened and why. As no charges were laid against the driver, my brother and I spent almost 30 years trying to uncover what actually happened. The investigative work we did helped to develop my interest in writing murder mystery books. I finally completed in 2007 the book ‘Truth And Justice Denied’ for the benefit of family and friends so they would know what really happened.

When I first started to write about Mother’s death, I was in my mid 40’s and 73 seemed kind of old to me. Today at almost 73 myself, I find this a very young age and in Mother’s case and also mine, a very young and energetic age.

The computer age has been a real asset to my writing. As I start to type, I often feel like someone is directing my writing and I just plunge in and let my thoughts flow. Knowing that I can easily go back and make changes helps me a great deal.

I hope to go on writing and publishing many more books. To date, I have completed 8 of my own and have also published 3 books by other authors.

I have learned that in writing, it is very important to have good reviewing and editing of your drafts by others. After working on a book for several years, it becomes almost impossible to remain objective.
I have been very fortunate to have my sister-in-law, Hélène Pépin Thomas, as my editor and occasional co-author. She’s a natural editor and writer and has been the main reason why I’ve been able to move forward in bringing my books to completion after struggling with them for so many years.

A tall dark, well built man walked down the gangplank from the Mary Lou. Michael Baird looked to be in his early thirties and as he neared the bottom of the gangplank, he observed his friend John Kenney approaching him. John was much younger than Michael, in his early twenties and strikingly handsome.

The steamboat had just tied up at the pier to unload consumer goods and to take on a load of tall trees to take back to England. As the two friends shook hands and smiled, John said, “Welcome to Canada, Mike, and to the cold weather that comes with this country.”

“Hi Johnny, it’s good to see you and I’ll have you know that I came well prepared for your cold weather! Thanks for coming to meet me at the harbor. I might have had difficulty finding Mack Lake on my own. I’m really looking forward to traveling on the train and catching up on all your latest news.”

“ Are you all set to go, Mike?”

“No, not yet. I have my old army duffel bag here but I’ve also brought along a large trunk that hasn’t been unloaded yet. The trunk contains many items for setting up housekeeping and also for prospecting and other activities that might arise. It’s very heavy, but the two of us shouldn’t have difficulty carrying it. How far is it to the train anyway? Oh look, they’re unloading the trunk now!”

“It’s just a short walk to the train station and from the looks of your trunk, we’ll be able to carry it over to be loaded without too much difficulty. I’d say that we should be on our way to Mack Lake within the hour.”

Within minutes, they were seated in the passenger car of the train with coffee and donuts they picked up at the station.

John was the first to speak as they were enjoying their snack. He said, “I left my car parked at Prince William Station which is about a half hour drive from our home. These donuts and coffee will have to make due for our breakfast but we’ll treat you to a nice hot meal when we get home.”

“How long have you been in Saint John?” asked Mike.

“I only drove down early this morning as I wasn’t too keen on leaving my car at the station overnight. We’ve had so much snow this month that today is the first time I’ve had the car out. It’s been warmer the last couple of weeks so the roads are now almost clear of snow. How was your trip on the Mary Lou, Mike?”

“It was quite extraordinary, really. I worked as a deck hand to pay for my passage. Can you imagine that? The last time I sailed across the ocean was when you and I crossed the Channel to fight in Europe. This trip across had a much better destination.”

John said, “I was sure glad to be with you when we went to Europe. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you, Mike. You dragged me out from under fire when I was wounded at Vimy Ridge. You saved my life and I’ll forever be grateful to you for that. I’m sure that Jean Joseph Duguay is very thankful that you saved his life as well.”

“The only good thing I can say about the war,” said Mike, “is the close friendships we developed when faced with the enemy. You were just eighteen and I felt a real responsibility to look after you. I still feel very close to Jean Joseph also, and I wonder if some day we’ll see each other again.”

“Well, you certainly did a good job of looking after the both of us,” said John as the memories of that time flashed through his mind.

“I hope to be as lucky this time,” said Mike. “I would love to be the one to find the gold your father claims is near Money Point. I have lots of experience in prospecting along with having worked in gold mines, so I have a pretty good idea of what to look for. I really can’t stay here too long though as I have a wife and young son back home. I’d like to find enough gold to buy my family a nice home when I return to England. They’d have a better life than what they have now. By the way, Johnny, I named my son after you.”

“You did? That was very thoughtful, Mike. Who are your wife and son staying with while you’re away?”

“They’re staying with her parents in Chelsea. They don’t have much but I worked extra long hours before coming here and I was able to save some money to leave with them. I also had to make extra money to get myself set up here. I’m hoping to be able to send additional money to them soon.”

“Don’t worry too much about your own personal needs while you’re here, Mike. Dad has agreed to grubstake you. Gordon Good owns the land and he has agreed to let you prospect there. He also owns a logging camp at Money Point that he’ll let you use free of charge. The camp is in pretty good shape and with a little work you’ll have it in top shape in no time. The snow should be completely melted in about a month’s time and then you can start prospecting. Right now, your main concern is in setting up the camp. You may need to stay at our place for a bit if necessary. That option is open to you. I’ve stocked the camp with the necessities that I thought you would need.”

* * *
Mike looked over the contract and he agreed that it was more than satisfactory. The contract stated that all gold found would be turned over to Mr. Kenney, who would then provide Mike with the cash amount, based on the best price he would be given for the gold. The gold standard was currently $20 per ounce if sold to the Royal Mint. Gold bought and sold locally usually went for $18 to $22 per ounce. The price could fluctuate. The contract also stated that Mr. Kenney would only sell the gold when the price was at its most favorable and that Mike could not sell any gold for cash to anyone except to him.

“The contract looks good to me,” said Mike. “Your father handling the gold poses one less problem for me and makes me feel more secure. I would not want the cabin to be robbed or to have gold taken from my person by force. This next suggestion may be difficult to carry through, but I would like that my prospecting be kept as quiet as possible. Your dad may prefer to tell people that I’m just another one of his employees. If I do find gold, however, we would then probably have to involve Mr. Good. We would have to tell him to keep this quiet also. He would then control whom he could trust to hire to work on his land.”

“I suspected that you would want to keep it quiet,” said John. “At this point, no one knows that you’re here to look for gold. It’s been many years since anyone looked for gold at Money Point. There was a rumor that a miner had found a couple of gold nuggets and that is how Money Point got its name. This is a great joke in our village. No one believes that gold was actually found there and if it were, no one would even know what it looked like anyway. Dad, however, knows a little about gold and because of his investigation, he’s convinced that there is gold at Money Point.”

* * *
“Is that your car, Johnny?” he asked.

“It’s my dad’s 1915 Bronze Model T Ford. It was handmade, and it sold for $1,000 when it was new. That was a lot of money for Dad to pay for a car but he just had to have it. We just love owning the car. It’s much quicker than a horse and buggy and you can leave it parked almost anywhere. By car, we can be at the train station in a half hour. We park the car and it’s there when we get back. Having our own car is so convenient and we don’t have to depend on someone else to take us back and forth. We find that we travel more often now. You were lucky that the snow was mostly melted off the road today so that we could take the car. Let’s get you home for a nice dinner and then in a few days you’ll be off to your cabin. The sooner you get started the better.”

As they drove along, Johnny continued, “The eastern part of Mack Lake at Money Point is still frozen, so we can easily cross on foot from the Good’s family farm on the north side of the lake to your cabin at Money Point on the opposite side of the lake. We’ll only take what supplies you will need until the ice is gone. At that point we’ll move your additional supplies by steamboat.

I’ve arranged for a retired woodsman, by the name of Jean Paul Rioux, to stay with you for the first couple of weeks. He’s very knowledgeable about the woods and he can help to get you settled in. He’s also very familiar with the area surrounding Money Point. You will find him very helpful should you need to do business in any of the local communities. Dad has already taken care of paying him for your first two weeks stay.

“What a beautiful night, Avard. I really love the sunsets at our lake. I especially like the gold layers of colour surrounding the beautiful oranges and lighter yellows. It’s like a river of gold flowing through a stream of lava.”

“You sure are poetic tonight, Doris,” said Avard.

“Well, it’s such a pleasure to be back at our camp overlooking the water and watching the sunset.

While I love traveling and big cities, there’s nothing that compares to our lake and relaxing alongside its banks.”

“I have to agree with you, Mom,” chimed in Junior who had overheard their conversation. The family had gone out to Lake Henry for the weekend after returning from London.

“You know, Junior, seeing the golden sky reminds me that there’s also gold in the ground in this area, if one could only find it,” said Avard.

“What do you mean, Dad?” he asked.

“When I was in university studying about local geology, our professor told us that there are several yet-to-be-found large gold deposits somewhere in our province.”

“Was he right in saying that, Dad?”

“The geology shows potential for gold deposits in our province and especially in this area. There have been several deposits found in the northern part of the province and placer gold deposits in the southern part. Over the years glaciers picked up gold bearing rocks from several locations and gradually moved the rocks to the southern part of the province. They were ground up during this process causing placer deposits.”

“That’s really interesting, Dad. I guess the reward money you received from solving the Atwood murder in London wasn’t enough. Now you have to find a gold deposit as well,” laughed Junior.

“Actually, it’s not as crazy as it may sound. Doris, do you remember how your father told us about Money Point, and about the gold miner who they believe was killed because of the gold he found in the early part of this century?”

“I remember it all too well, Avard. I also remember how you and Dad went down to Money Point and found the remains of an old camp. I believe you told me there were signs there that someone might have actually been looking for gold.”

“What were the signs, Dad?” asked Junior.

“Well Junior, one of the first things that a prospector does when he’s looking for minerals is to check the bedrock. At Money Point there’s lots of loose rock covering the bedrock. In order to get to the bedrock to check for traces of gold, one has to first expose it. There are significant pits that have been dug all over Money Point. These are an apparent attempt to expose the bedrock. When your grandfather and I went over there many years ago, we didn’t do much more than take a short walk around the cabin site and the immediate area.”

“Why not, Dad? Maybe you and grandfather could have found the gold.”

“Junior, finding gold is not that simple. There’s much geological study involved and lots of work in checking the bedrock, not just in the immediate vicinity but in the surrounding areas as well. I wasn’t ready to get that involved back then. If the miner did find gold, it would not necessarily be where he had his cabin but probably in the surrounding hills.”

“You know, Dad, I would love to have a look at Money Point. Is there any chance you and I could go there before heading back to town?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s a long boat ride from the northern end of the lake where your grandfather and I launched his boat. Also, Mack Lake can become very dangerous if a sudden wind comes up. It is a long narrow lake and a strong wind can create very large waves. We surely wouldn’t want to be on the lake if that happened!”

“You know, Avard,” said Doris, “there are cabins at the southern end of the lake opposite Money Point. I know about these because Dad used to take me there and he pointed them out to me. There has to be a road somewhere that leads to those cabins. It wouldn’t be very far to Money Point from there. If the wind started to pick up, you could get back to shore quickly from that location.”

“That’s a good idea, Doris. I’ll call your brother Dallus to find out if he knows about a road leading to those cabins. As he works in the woods most of the time, I’m sure he would know all the various roads that go through the woods in that area. I’ll call him right away.”

Avard then entered the camp to make the call and he returned to join the others in a few minutes time.

“You’re right, Doris. There are cabins and the road that leads to them is easy to find. Dallus gave me very specific instructions on how to get there. If the weather is good tomorrow, we can go. I can load our boat and motor on the trailer and launch at Mack Lake Siding. If we get an early start, we should get back here before lunchtime. In any case, I’m not up to searching for gold deposits at this time. We still have lots of work to do on the Johnston house first.”

“Well, Avard, looking for gold beats looking for a murderer. Just don’t you fellows do anything stupid while exploring at Money Point,” cautioned Doris.

“If I can solve a thirty year murder mystery in two weeks, maybe I can solve the mystery surrounding the death of the old miner,” laughed Avard.

“My father did say that the miner might have been murdered, but even you, Avard, won’t be able to solve that one. I’m just not going to worry about it,” said Doris.

“Neither am I,” replied Avard. “Wouldn’t it be something though, to discover a real gold deposit? I doubt, however, that we would find one as I’m sure that many people have looked for these over the years.”

They now sat back and relaxed as they enjoyed the final setting of the sun. As it disappeared over the horizon, they headed in to call it a night as Avard and Junior wanted to get an early start the next morning. But before they could enter the camp, Benson, their attack cat, snuck up behind them and playfully grabbed Avard around the legs.