Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (24 page)

"
A diamond!
"
exclaimed Sheila.
"
So,
y
ou think Calvin ran into Mr. Sloane
'
s cabin, picked up the diamond
,
and then ran out to give it to someone?
"

"
Yes
,
I do.
"

"
This is preposterous,
"
said Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
You
’
re suggesting my dog is a jewel thief? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?
"

"
No, Mrs. Bronwyn,
"
I
said.
"
I
’
m not suggesting Calvin is the jewel thief, I
’
m suggesting
you
are.
"

She
let out an uncomfortable laugh before looking at
Dabruzzi
.
"
Inspector
,
c
an you please tell this girl she is being foolish?
"

"
Cora,
"
said the
i
nspector
, ignoring Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s request.
"
How does that explain the wet spot on the carpet?
"

"
Last night, when I went to sleep, I noticed Mrs. Bronwyn and Calvin were not in their seats. I guessed they were in the washroom, but now I think they were in that
empty
compartment, practicing the theft with the cup of ice cubes Willy had given her earlier.
"

"
And that left the wet spot on the carpet?
"
asked Ted.

"
I think so,
"
I
said.

"
This is very interesting,
"
said the
officer
.
"
Very, very interesting.
"

"
I think this is all getting a bit out of hand,
"
Mrs. Bronwyn said.
"
I am an old
lady
on my way to visit my sister in the mountains. All of this diamond nonsense has nothing to do with me. I am the one who told you I suspected the diamond was on the train in the first place! Why would I do that if I planned to steal it?
"

"
Because,
"
said Ted.
"
Then you would be certain everyone on the train knew about the diamond, to confuse things and provide more suspects on the case.
"

"
Inspector, please,
"
she pleaded, turning to him
.
"
I am getting terribly upset over this. Can you please put an end to
it
?
"

"
I think I know how we can settle this,
"
I
said.

To prove my theory,
I reached into the glass of ice water Willy had placed on my table moments before.
I pulled out an ice cube and held it in my hand.

"
If I
'
m right,
"
I
said.
"
T
his should prove it.
"

I
tossed the
slippery ice cube
to the back of the car
.
E
veryone watched in great confusion.

"
Ruff!
"
barked Calvin, jumping from Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s lap. He tore to the back of the
room
, quickly
catching
the stray ice cube in his mouth
as it slid
along the floor
.
He bounded back on all fours to where Mrs. Bronwyn was sitting, but instead of chewing it as everyone thought he would, he deposited it into Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s lap, looking quite pleased with himself.

"
Well I
'
ll be
...
,
"
said Mr. Sloan
e
.

"
I think I
'
ve had enough of this,
"
declared
Mrs. Bronwyn
as s
he reached into her bag and produced a gun
.
"
Everyone needs to stay where they are
o
r I
’
ll shoot
!
"

A collective gasp erupted from the
d
ining
car as everyone was suddenly faced with
the weapon
.

"
Mrs. Bronwyn,
"
said
Dabruzzi
,
"
p
lease
put that away.
"

"
Be quiet, Inspector!
"
she yelled.
"
I think everyone needs to move over there!
"

She motioned for everyone in the car to move to one side of the room so she could see
us all
at the same time. Calvin, completely unaware of the excitement at hand, stayed by her side.

"
Let
'
s make sure you don
'
t get into any more trouble,
"
she said, reattaching Calvin
'
s leash to his collar.

"
Mrs. Bronwyn,
"
said Sheila
,
"
t
his
must be a mistake. You could not possibly be responsible for this.
"

"
I
'
m afraid she was right, Mrs.
Houseman
. I have been training Calvin for several weeks to carry out this theft for me. It worked perfectly in every detail.
No one suspected anything, but I knew she was starting to figure it out.
"
Mrs. Bronwyn
glared
at
me
.

"
That is why I locked you in that room,
"
she continued
.
"
I wanted to keep you out of the way before you figured it out and found your
self i
n
trouble. But it looks like trouble found you.
"

Mr. Sloane could not help but ask what was on everyone
'
s mind.
"
But where is the diamond?
"

Mrs. Bronwyn let out a laugh.
"
It
’
s not on the train
;
that much is certain.
"

"
Oh, goodness, no,
"
said Mr.
Sloane
.
"
You threw it off the train.
"

"
No, I certainly did not. I wouldn
'
t be so foolish as to throw a priceless diamond off a train! No one would ever see it again! No, I made certain it was safely taken off the train.
"

"
But how?
"
asked the
i
nspector
.
"
You never had a chance to give it to anyone. You could not have deposited the diamond anywhere!
"

"
No, you are correct, Inspector
.
I did not deposit the diamond anywhere, but
you
did.
"

"
What?
"
cried
Dabruzzi
, shocked at being connected to the crime.

"
Inspector!
"
said Mr. MacEvoy.
"
You were involved?
"

"
Certainly not!
I had nothing to do with this.
"

"
But she just said,
"
cried Mr. Sloane
,
"
y
ou
removed the diamond from the train!
"

"
But I
...
I
...
could not,
"
he
was stumbling, trying to figure out what to say to the crowd of suspicious passengers.