Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (14 page)

"
And were you successful?
"

"
Oh
,
yes
.
There was no one else in the room, not even Willy. I was the first on
e
there and I had my pick of tables.
"

"
Did you leave the room at any time?
"

"
Not until I tried to get back to my compartment, when you stopped me,
"
he
muttered
with some irritation.

"
Who was the next person into the room?
"

"
It was that girl. Abigail? Is that it? Yes, her. She came in and sat down at the next table. Didn
'
t even say good morning to me, can you imagine? Absolutely no
manners
.
"

"
And who came in next?
"

"
Oh, it
'
s all beginning to blur now, but I think it was the young girl
.
Yes, the little girl came in next. And after that, I wasn
'
t paying much attention.
"

"
That
'
s fine. That helps me to establish a timeline. That is very helpful
,
Mr. MacEvo
y
.
"

"
Then I can go?
"
he asked as he started to rise.

"
No
.
Not quite yet.
"

"
Oh
.
"
He sa
nk
back down.

"
What do you know of the Diamond of Madagascar?
"

"
Not much, I
'
m afraid. I don
'
t follow gemology. They
'
re just a bunch of rocks; I don
'
t see the importance. What makes a
d
iamond more important than a ruby or sapphire, I
'
ll never know.
"

"
Did you know it was traveling on this train?
"

"
Most certainly not. How could I have known? That could only be possible if I knew someone who worked in the auction house or the train company. You can call every single person I know and you would be wasting your time
,
Inspector. I have no interest in that silly rock
.
"

"
Thank you, Mr. MacEvoy
,
"
concluded Inspector Dabruzzi.
"
You may go now.
"

"
We woke up about seven or so,
"
said Sheila Houseman.
"
I usually wake up first, but this morning Ted was up before me.
"

I
listened intently from
my
concealed position on
the food cart
as the interviews continued
.
I
had not thought of Sheila and Ted being suspects, but did not want
my
friendship with them, however brief, to colour
my
judgment.

"
That
'
s right, Inspector,
"
interjected Ted.
"
I woke up around six
thirty. I was reading a particularly interesting financial journal last night before I fell asleep, so I decided to pick up where I left off.
"

"
And did you stay where you were the whole time?
"
asked
Dabruzzi
.

"
Yes
.
I did. I didn
'
t want to disturb Sheila, so I didn
'
t even get up to retrieve my contact lenses.
Normally I wear glasses to read, but I broke them just before the honeymoon
,
so I brought along my contacts instead.
"

"
But decided to read without them?
"

"
Yes, which was probably not very smart. I had an awful time reading the journal. I used to have good vision, but as I get older, I find it isn
'
t quite as sharp as it used to be.
"
Ted turned to Sheila and added,
"
I
'
m afraid you
'
ve married an old man.
"

"
Ted!
"
she teased.
"
You are not old. We
'
re the same age!
"

"
Tell me please what happened next,
"
said Inspector Dabruzzi, attempting to get the discussion back on track.

"
Sheila woke up, probably only ten or fifteen minutes later. We decided to get ready for breakfast.
We got up and made our way to the washroom car. Luckily, both bathrooms were free so we were each able to go into one of the compartments to get ready at the same time.
"

"
That was lucky,
"
she agreed
.
"
We were able to get ready in half the time it would have taken.
"

"
When we were finished getting ready
, w
e walked straight back to the
d
ining
car.
A few others were there ahead of us, but Cora had a table already,
and she asked if
we
w
ould join her.
"

Dabruzzi
penciled something in his notepad.
"
And you were together the whole time?
"

"
Yes, of course,
"
replied Ted.

"
No
, w
ait. Remember, you still hadn
'
t put in your contact lenses when we were finished showering. You had left them in your bag.
"

"
That
'
s right,
"
confirmed Ted.

The
i
nspector
got up and headed toward the food cart to collect his lunch
, the floor creaking under his weight as he walked
.
I
could feel him standing just inches away from
me
as he picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

"
So what d
id you do
next
?
"
he asked
with a mouth full of roast turkey and rye bread.

"
I went to get them,
"
he answered.
"
I told Sheila I would meet her in the
d
ining
car.
"

"
And so you were left alone?
"

"
Yes, I was. Ted went to get his lenses and I waited in the hallway of the sleeper compartment.
"

"
Interesting
.
You were left alone in the vicinity of the compartment where the diamond was stolen.
"

The
room fell silent when
he
finished speaking.

"
What are you getting at
,
Inspector?
"
demanded Ted in a slightly raised tone.

Dabruzzi
, who was still standing beside the food cart, opened the sparkling water and took a
long
drink straight from the bottle, foregoing the glass altogether.

"
Nothing at all, Mr.
Houseman
,
"
he said after he had quenched his thirst.
"
I am merely laying out the facts.
"

"
I think you were trying to insinuate my wife had something to do with the missing diamond.
"

"
Ted
, c
alm down, sweetie.
"

"
Please do not misunderstand me
,
Mr.
Houseman
.
I am merely in the beginning stages of the investigation. I am collecting data
and
getting the whereabouts of all those who were in the vicinity of the crime.
Once I have gathered all of the facts, and only then, I will analyze them and attempt to determine who is responsible for this crime. I am not accusing anyone at this stage.
"

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
said Ted.
"
I just don
'
t like the suggestion that my wife could be involved in a crime.
"