Since she was a small pebble, Agate-A loved writing and hearing about mystery and adventure. Being the smart stone the she is, Agate-A always had her nose to the grindstone and when she heard about mysterious goings-on in Saint Loius she searched for any stories that would feed her hunger for mysterious events. She decides to travel with her family of Abscidian stones to investigate the truth behind bizarre events in the Midwest city, beginning as any good detective would at the St. Louis Police Academy Building. Agate-A gingerly pressed the buzzer inside the main entrance. An officer appeared and unlocked the thick glass door that led to a wide staircase.

As they followed him upstairs, Agate-A’s mother thought, “This is an exceptionally bizarre location for a tourist attraction.”

As they reached the top stair, the reason for their visit came into view hanging on a wall in the lobby. As they admired the large piece of artwork, the officer provided background information.

In 1930, it was the policy of the St. Louis Police Department to allow homeless men to sleep in unoccupied cells at the jail. The men were given bread, bologna and coffee in the morning and sent on their way.

On a December morning, a janitor was cleaning the cells. He saw a man kneeling in prayer in Cell 8. Rather than intrude, the janitor decided to clean that cell last.

He returned within minutes. The man was gone but the back wall of the cell was adorned with an almost life-sized portrait of Christ on the Cross. The drawing was in perfect proportion, but the right arm was not completely finished.

Police officers began searching for the man who had occupied the cell. When he was not located in St. Louis, a nation-wide bulletin was issued, but the artist was never found.

Experts were called in to examine the drawing. Most believed the artist used charcoal or pencil, but scientific tests failed to identify the material. The experts concluded that the man who drew the figure was schooled in either art or anatomy.

In 1967, the section of wall containing the drawing was moved to the lobby of the Police Academy where it is on permanent display. Thousands have visited the extraordinary drawing.

The family’s next stop was Union Station, the number one tourist attraction in St. Louis.

Built in 1894 at an exorbitant cost of $6.5 million, it was once the largest and busiest train depot in the world. Designed after a medieval city in southern France, the interior is graced with vaulted ceilings, stained glass, frescoes, mosaics, gold leaf detailing, and sweeping archways.

One of the archways, located just inside the main entrance, is known as the Arch of Whispers. This was the spot where many soldiers bid a final goodbye to loved ones before boarding trains that would carry them off to war.

According to local legend, on a bitterly cold day in 1918, Nellie Quinn and Thomas McDonald decided to say their goodbyes beneath the Arch of Whispers. Nellie stood at one foot of the arch. Thomas walked forty feet across the entranceway to the other end of the arch. As each whispered, “I love you,” the words slowly floated across the surface of the arch.

They met back in the center where Thomas presented Nellie with a small bouquet of lilacs before leaving to serve in France during World War I. The handsome soldier never returned.

Decades later, Nellie’s body was reportedly discovered lying facedown on the floor under the Arch of Whispers. The police were summoned. Witnesses had nothing unusual to report except for the strong fragrance of lilacs.

When the body was turned over, police discovered some dried stems clutched in her hands.

Agate-A’s family came to investigate reports that the fragrance of lilacs can be detected when someone whispers, “I love you, Nellie,” at one end of the arch. When Nellie obliged Agate-A’s family when they whispered the phrase, Agate-A was left swirling with imagination and wonder! Her family however felt all the little flakes stand up on the back of their necks and got the heck out of there, off to explored the shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues that are housed in Union Station.

The last stop was at City Museum. The building’s bright, funky collection of oddities includes an object that some visitors might consider ghoulish.

Most people have heard of the movie, “The Exorcist.” The Hollywood version was based on an event that allegedly took place in St. Louis in the 1940s. The copper cross, used by a St. Louis University priest to exorcise a demon from a 14-year-old Maryland boy, is on display at the Architectural Gallery on the museum’s third floor. The cross receives scores of visitors who are intrigued by its amazing story.

Agate-A learned that the museum is also popular with ghost enthusiasts. Located in an old shoe factory, the building is reportedly frequented by the spirits of some former workers.

In 1939, a powerful tornado tore through St. Louis. A businessman working on the fourth floor of the shoe factory was sucked out of the building and died. Museum employees have encountered a man dressed in a pin-striped three-piece suit. He appears from nowhere and often touches them on the arm before vanishing.

Employees also see a spirit of a young lady, believed to have been an employee from the 1920’s. The engineer of the museum’s indoor miniature train reports passing through a cold spot where passengers can see their breath whenever the lady appears on the tracks.

Agate-A found the stories of ghost sightings to be interesting but they paled in comparison to the tale of the exorcist’s cross.

The mysteries she investigated in St. Louis made Agate-A eager to learn the location of the next family vacation.