A Deadly Exchange

A travelling tourist described a chilling sight while staying at the exchange in the 1970's. He opened the door to the bar and saw rotting corpses sitting on bar stools dressed in clothes from the 1870's. Their lips were curled back revealing hideous grins. It all began in 1873; Jacob McAllister and his wife Donna faced a bleak future after making a bad investment. Poverty was just another direful circumstance they would have to accept after suffering several tragedies. Their youngest son had run away from home many years earlier and two of their sons had died in a tragic accident.

There was only one way to escape bankruptcy. The desperate innkeepers decided to pursue a new venture that would satisfy their debts. Although apprehensive about resorting to crime for survival, they thought it was the only way. So, they began to steal valuables from their guests. It started out with small trinkets, jewellery, and watches- all items that they hoped their guests would suspect that they could have misplaced during their travels.

         The last victim to sign the inns roster was a traveller, carrying an abnormally large suitcase, who looked as if he had come from a very long distance. "Just call me lucky!" said the man. "I've been very successful in my travels through America and am travelling home as a surprise to my family.” The couple had a premonition that there was something in his suitcase that they needed to see. So, they did something that they had never done before: they served him a glass of poisoned whiskey and waited for him to collapse. When he fell dead off his bar stool, they rushed to his suitcase and were thrilled to find that it was full of riches they had never thought imaginable. However, they also found something else. Donna pulled a small picture from the bottom of the case; a picture of a family that she soon recognized was her own. The couple were horrified to find out that they had just killed their son who ran away from home when he was seven.

         He had gone home to surprise his parents with the riches he had acquired through years of hard work but drank the fatal glass before revealing his true identity. The next day a traveler stopping in for an overnight stay discovered three bodies at the bar.