Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (15 page)

"
That
'
s very sweet, Ted
.
But he
'
s just doing his job.
"

"
I guess.
"

Even though Ted seemed to be relieved and was no longer upset with the
i
nspector
, he
fidgeted in his seat in worry. I wondered if he suspected his wife might have actually been involved.

"
Mrs.
Houseman
,
"
continued the Inspector
,
"
d
id
anyone pass you when you were waiting for your husband?
"

Sheila paused, considering the question for a brief moment.
"
No,
"
she finally said.
"
I didn
'
t see anyone else. I was standing in the middle of the hallway, not quite near Mr. Sloane
'
s cabin, and occupied my time by looking out the window.
No one came
by;
I would have noticed them for certain. The hallway is quite narrow, so there
’
s no way anyone could have passed without me seeing them.
"

She was correct
. The hallways were
pretty
narrow, and
even as small as
I
was,
I
had often found it a challenge to walk
through them alone
. There
was
no possible w
ay anyone could have gone by Sheila
without being noticed.
Unless
,
of course,
Sheila
was
lying.

"
So after a few minutes of waiting,
"
she
continued
,
"
Ted entered the car and we went on to the
d
ining
room.
"

"
And
was anyone present when you entered
?
"
             
"
Yes,
"
answered Ted.
"
Cora was there, and so was the other girl, the one who seems upset all the time.
"

"
Abigail,
"
supplied
Sheila.

"
Yes, that
'
s right, Abigail. And that other man was there, the
nervous
-
looking fellow
.
"

"
And you, Inspector
.
You were already seated with Cora when we arrived.
"

"
Yes,
"
Dabruzzi
said.
"
You are correct.
"
He
took a brief break from their questioning,
likely
needing time
to consider what they had told him.
"
Thank you both for sitting with me
.
I cannot think of anything else at the moment. Is there anything you can think of that might help the investigation?
"

"
No,
"
they said in unison, shaking their heads.

"
Very well
.
You may go about your business, but please try to think of anything that seems out of the ordinary.
You may
remember
something that seems quite unimportant, but could be the missing bit of information that will help
me
solve this crime.
"

"
We will
,
Inspector,
"
conceded Ted.
"
We
’
ll let you know if anything comes to mind.
"

"
Can you make this quick?
"
snipped
Abigail.

"
Do you have somewhere to be?
"

"
Obviously not,
since
we
'
re all stuck in this tin can together. I
'
m going the same place as everyone else.
"

"
My point exactly. I will not keep you longer than I have to
.
I
'
m sure there are things you would rather be doing than sitting here talking to me.
"

"
You
'
ve got that right
.
"

"
Tell me about your
self, Abigail.
"

She
stared at
him
.
"
Is this a date?
"

He
laughed a little, even though her question
seemed to make
him slightly uncomfortable.
"
No, I assure you, it is not. I am just curious about where you are going and why you are taking the train. What brings you here today?
"

She rolled her eyes and brushed
the
bangs out of her eyes before answering.
"
I
’
m going to visit my father. My parents are divorced and my father moved back to
Topaz Mountain
after the split. He grew up there, so every year I spend a few weeks with him. It
'
s the only time of year I get to see him.
"

"
And why did you decide to take the train?
"
he asked.

"
My dad works for the
company
. Well, he used to, anyway. He was
a
train
engineer
for almost thirty years. He was injured a few years ago when some idiot drove his truck across the tracks and stalled.
"

"
My goodness,
"
said the
i
nspector
.
"
And what happened?
"

"
The
engine
clipped the back of the truck, and it spun around a few times. The guy in the truck was fine, just a few bruises and the scare of his life. But my dad ended up losing his balance in all the commotion and fell over, busting his right shoulder. He is still in pain and is on disability. He wants to go back to
his old job
, but I don
'
t know if he
'
ll ever be able to. For now, he collects tickets at the station in
Topaz Mountain
.
"

"
And so you get a discounted fare because he works for the train
company
?
"

"
You got it. I can go anywhere I want practically
for
free. And it
'
s a pretty quiet ride, pretty uneventful. Usually.
"

My
leg was beginning to cramp. In order to fit under the cart,
I
had to tuck
my
knees under
me
,
which was no easy feat. And at that particular moment,
one of
my
legs
had
beg
un
to fall asleep.
I
would have to try and stretch it out
at some point
, but was not sure
I
had enough room under the tablecloth to
move
it far enough.

"
Are you in school
,
Abigail?
"

"
Yes. I
'
m studying Physics at Braemar.
"

Braemar University
w
as one of the best schools in the country.
Based on the school's reputation,
Abigail
was
a bright girl. In all likelihood, she
wa
s probably the smartest person on the train.

"
That must be a lot of work for you
.
"

"
It
'
s okay,
"
she said.
"
I
'
m managing.
"

"
You were in the
d
ining
car early this morning, weren
'
t you?
"