A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 10 - The Missing Witness Mystery

With this tenth book in the Ted Wilford mystery series, I am now two-thirds of the way through the 15-book series.  I still find myself surprised at how much I am enjoying this series, since normally, I am not a fan of series books with male leads.  But Norvin Pallas has offered up a genuinely "real" character with Ted Wilford - an intelligent young man who doesn't jump head-first into danger, he does not take unnecessary chances, and he uses his head to figure things out.  And his best friend, Nelson Morgan, is the perfect compliment to Ted - he's a bit rash, he puts forth some of the most wild theories for Ted to consider, and he's more ready for action than thinking.  

In The Missing Witness Mystery, Ted and Nelson set about to locate a bank teller that has disappeared and is wanted in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the state bank of nearby Stantonville.  At the same time, a college friend, Marty Blaine, pays Ted a visit while passing through Forestdale on his way to stay with his aunt, some forty minutes outside of town.  Just before Marty arrives, however, there is a squealing of brakes outside the newspaper office where Ted works during his summer and winter breaks - a large truck just avoids hitting a small dog crossing the road.  Three separate events, three people who seem completely unrelated, and before you know it, Ted finds himself trying to figure out just how and why these three events are tied together!

This book is definitely one of Pallas's more intricate mysteries.  While it seems pretty clear that the bank teller who disappeared right after the funds went missing from the bank is likely to be the one who took off with the money, Ted can't help but wonder if there is more to the story.  Nelson wants to hunt for the teller, who was last seen heading towards Forestdale, but Ted knows that is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Instead, Ted wants to track down their friend, Marty, who it turns out may unwittingly hold some key information about the bank teller without realizing it!  The only problem is, Marty never told Ted his aunt's name, nor did he give him the address of where his aunt lives - only that it is about a 40-minute drive outside of Forestdale.  Add on the unusually heavy suitcase Marty had with him (that he refused to let anyone see what was inside) and the mysterious phone call Marty makes in the middle of the night while staying overnight at Ted's house - well, you get the picture.

I enjoy how the characters in this series work through their clues in deciphering what the mean and how to figure out where to look next.  I give Pallas credit for coming up with some very creative, yet very realistic, ways of finding solutions.  Such as how to locate a person without a name or an address!  Yet, Ted and Nelson manage to do just that, ultimately locating Marty, who, even when confronted about the boys' suspicions, still fails to come clean with them.  It's only when Marty's aunt comes home from the hospital do the boys learn the full story (well, almost the full story - the mystery regarding the suitcase does not get resolved until literally the end of the book!) - and discover that they have not one, but two mysteries on their hands!

I also loved the clue of the adding machine tape (which appears front and center on the cover of the book).  It turns out this little piece of paper holds a very big clue, and Ted's quick thinking ultimately reveals the importance of those numbers - which leads him, and the police, to catch the embezzler and solve that mystery.  And it's also nice to see Ted get the recognition he deserves for blowing this story wide open with a front page article in the Town Crier.  

One odd thing I noticed about this story is when Ted joins his rival reporter, Ken Kutler, to interview a number of witnesses regarding the incident with the little dog.  They spend an entire chapter interviewing witnesses - eight of them total - going from house to house and spending time talking with them.  Ken finally drives Ted back to the newspaper office so he can return to his own paper. Ted ends up helping the editor and his secretary with several jobs that need to be done - at which point, on page 32, it says that "Noon came...."  NOON?! Seriously?  What time in the morning did Ken and Ted go out and start interviewing these witnesses?  Because Ted met up with Ken at the police station (p. 22), and they chat for a bit before heading out to speak with the witnesses.  The first two witnesses are sisters and live together (p. 24); but the remaining witnesses are all individuals, requiring the boys to travel from house to house to speak with each of them.  Then, there is the drive back to the Town Crier, at which point Ted ends up running articles to the printer, typing up items, and answering phone calls.  I know in series books, the authors sometime play loose with time, but this seems a bit much for Ted to have accomplished all before noon!

An interesting thing I learned from this book was what a "sugar house" is (p. 84).  Ted and Nelson come upon a "sugar house" at the farm where Marty is staying with his aunt.  It is described as a building "where they boil the maple sap into sugar in the spring" (p. 84).  A quick online search reveals this to be the case (it is also called a sugar shack, sugar shanty, sap house, or sugar cabin).  Always great to learn something new when reading!

Thus far, this series has kept my interest with the stories and the characters, so I've got pretty high hopes as I head into the final five books.

RATING:  8 dented fenders out of 10 for giving readers a story that requires them to really use their brain to figure out the mystery!