Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (12 page)

"
I don’t think
you will be allowed to
leave the train,
"
interjected Willy.

"
I strongly disagree, he simply must!
"
Mrs. Bronwyn looked a little panicked at Willy’s suggestion. She
clearly
hadn’t considered that the investigation would interfere with Calvin’s bathroom break.
"
Look at him
.
Who could refuse that face?
"

We
turned to
Calvin, who was cocking his head to one side, desperate to figure out why everyone was giving him so much attention.

"
We’ll ask the
i
nspector
when he comes out,
"
said Willy.
"
I’m sure he will be fine with you going out for a few minutes. We’ll be in Pecan River in about twenty minutes. Do you think he can hold it that long?
"

"
Oh yes,
"
added Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
I’m sure he will be fine.
"

Thirty minutes later, the
i
nspector
returned to
our
car. He did not look particularly pleased, at
least
not to me. One
gla
n
ce at
his face told me he had not found the
d
iamond
, not even close.

"Well?" cried a
n
anxious Mr. Sloane.

"I am afraid I have found no trace of the
d
iamond
," he conceded.

Mr. Sloane whirled on us.
"One of them might have it on them right now!"

"That is a possibility that we must consider," said the
i
nspector
as he walked further into the room. "Gentlemen, turn out your pockets. Ladies, empty your purses."

One at a time, everyone in the room emptied their belongings onto the table
s
in front of them.

First was Mr. MacEvoy, who took out his wallet from his back pocket and deposited it
for everyone to see
. From his pocket, a small pile of spare change made an appearance.
He patted down the pockets of his jacket to show he had nothing else concealed in any other location.

"Thank you, Mr. MacEvoy," said the Inspector.

"I don't have any pockets," said Abigail. She was right. The
pants
she was wearing did not have
any pockets, and neither did her sweater. "All I have is my cell phone."

The inspector tapped his chin.
"And your bag?"

"It's at my seat. I left it there when I came for breakfast
.
I'm sure you have already looked through it."

"Yes, I have," he said, revealing nothing in his tone.

The next sound we heard was the contents of Mrs. Bronwyn's purse pouring onto the table. All sorts of paraphernalia dumped out of her handbag
: 
a hanky, a photograph of Calvin with a
fake squirrel
in his mouth, a change purse
,
and several stray candies with
lint
on them. Nothing, however, looked even remotely similar to a diamond.

"I don't have anything
,
Inspector, except my cell phone," I offered
and showed it to him
.

"Thank you
,
Cora."

Ted and Sheila were next, but Sheila was only carrying her wallet at the time, probably not realizing breakfast was included in the price of the train ticket.

"I can empty it out if you like," she said.

"No, that will not be necessary," said
Dabruzzi
.

Ted took his wallet out and placed it on the table, along with a comb and some loose money he had stuffed in his jeans. "Our bags are both back at our seats
.
"

"Very well," said
Dabruzzi
.
"Mr. Sloane? Would you oblige?"

Mr. Sloane looked like someone had just asked him to put socks on a pig. "Are you joking?
It is my diamond, why on
E
arth
would I have it?"

"You did say the diamond is insured," said Abigail.

Mr. Sloane, admitting defeat, stepped up to the nearest table. "Fine," he huffed, emptying his
belongings
onto the table.
Like the others, he was carrying a variety of
normally useful objects that proved useless to the investigation.

"What about him?" asked Mr. Sloane, pointing to Willy.

"I don't carry anything on me at all," he said. "Even my wallet is in the engine room with the conductor, in a safe."

"There's a safe on this train?" cried Mr. Sloane. "Why didn't anyone tell
me?
"

"You didn't ask, sir," replied Willy.

"Very well," said the
i
nspector
. "
I will
continue the investigation
by interviewing, one at a time, each of you in order to determine who had the opportunity to take the
jewel
.
"

I leaned back into my seat.
"
By the sounds of it
, a
ll
of us had the opportunity.
"

"
But who had a motive?
"
asked Mr. MacEvoy.

"
All of you had a motive!
"
whined
a
n
emotional Mr. Sloane.
"
It was a priceless
gem
. Anyone who has that diamond will be a millionaire.
"

"
Imagine,
"
said Mrs. Bronwyn
wistfully
.
"
I wouldn
'
t know what to do with that much money!
"

Just as Mrs. Bronwyn finished talking,
my
cell phone made a
slight
noise.
It was
a text message from
my
mother
.
"
Good morning! How r u?
"

I
knew how much
my
mother hated using short-form words when sending a text message, so
I
appreciated the effort she had made.
For a brief moment, I
considered telling
her
about the missing diamond, but the thought that
I
was on a train with a criminal
might have been enough to send her over the edge
.
Instead, I
decided
not
to
say anything. At least not
yet
. Instead, I typed
,
"
I
'
m fine. XO
,
"
and clicked
“
send
”
.

"
For the sake of the investigation,
"
said
Dabruzzi
,
"
I ask that you please confine your
sel
ves
to this, the
l
ounge
, and the sleeper and the passenger car
s
. The other porters on the train have been asked to not let any of the passengers from the cars ahead of us to come back, so we will all remain together until we reach
Topaz Mountain
.
"

"
Just the eight of us?
"
asked Abby.

"
Nine
,
including myself and Willy,
"
he
said.

"
Ten including Calvin,
"
I
added.

The others laughed a little as Calvin let out a bird-like trill, a welcome break in the mounting tension filling the room.

The
i
nspector
continued
,
"
I would like to begin the one-on-one interviews now, and I think I will do so in the
l
ounge
.
I will call each person back, one at a time. While you are waiting, please remain
here
. Once you have finished your meeting with me, you are free to go to your compartment or seat.
"

I
was beginning to feel
anxious
.
I
knew the interrogations were about to commence, and
I
was dying to know what each of the passengers had to say.
I was fairly certain
Inspector Dabruzzi would not let
me
listen in on
the interrogations, so there was no point in even asking.
I
had to figure out another way to overhear the conversations.

I
briefly considered sitting by the door of the car, hoping
he
and each of the passengers would speak loudly enough for
me
to
eavesdrop
, but there were two doors that separated the cars and the space between
them
.
O
verhearing the discussions
would be
difficult
.
Somehow,
I concluded, I had
to get into the room.