Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (25 page)

"
In
Pecan River
,
"
said Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
You were so kind to accompany me off the train so Calvin could do his
...
um
...
business. I
'
m sure you remember that.
"

"
Yes, of course
.
But you did not speak or make contact with anyone!
"

"
Quite right,
"
she said.
"
But you were so helpful to
me;
you even took the diamond from my hand and dropped it in a hiding spot.
"

"
Ohhh!
"
exclaimed Mr.
Sloane
.
"
You
are
involved!
"

"
No,
"
I
said.
"
He
’
s not.
"

"
But she just said she handed him the diamond and he hid it!
"
Mr. Sloane replied.

"
That
'
s what she said,
"
I replied
.
"
And that
’
s what he did, but he did not realize he was doing it. We were all watching them outside. The only thing the
i
nspector
did was take the bag of waste Mrs. Bronwyn handed him and threw it in the garbage. That bag, along with Calvin
'
s waste, had the diamond in it.
"

"
Is that true?
"
asked Mr.
Sloane
.
"
Did you throw the diamond away with some dog poop?
"

"
Yes, I
'
m afraid so,
"
Mrs. Bronwyn replied.
"
But don
'
t worry, the diamond
will be
picked up by my accomplice and
after a good, thorough wash, will be safely locked away
.
"

"
It
was already in the bag when you picked up after Calvin?
"
asked
Dabruzzi
.
"
So you handed the bag with the diamond to me and I foolishly threw it in the waste receptacle?
"

"
Yes, that is exactly what happened
.
"

"
Why are
you
telling us this?
"
asked Abigail.
"
You
’
ll be arrested as soon as we arrive in
Topaz Mountain
.
"

"
No, I
'
m afraid not,
"
she said.
"
You see, you
’
re all going to help me tie each other up. Then I
’
ll step off the train in
Topaz Mountain
and no one will discover you
’
re all here until I am long gone.
"

We
looked around in fear. Mrs. Bronwyn had a gun, and if she pointed it at
us
and told
us
to tie each other up so she could make her escape, that is exactly what
we
would have to do
.

"
Now,
"
she
continued
,
"
Willy, please find some rope for me, or something you can all use to help me in my little
task
.
"

"Where were you hiding that gun?" asked Ted. "
We all saw you empty
your bag
.
T
here
was no gun."

"You're right
.
Not then, anyhow.
I had the gun safely stored away at my seat."

"But I thoroughly inspected your belongings!" cried the
officer
.

"Did you?
Did you bother to open the bag of dog food that I had in my suitcase?
Probably not. If you had, you would have found this gun, along with
the diamond. I was able to retrieve both of them after you searched our belongings."

"It was there the whole time," said Mr. Sloane sadly.

I
eyed
the gun in Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s hand.
I
had never seen
one
before, at least not in real life. It was shiny silver, and the handle almost matched Calvin
'
s leash
,
which
was tied around Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s wrist. Then,
I
had a thought.

I
took
a few more
of the
remaining ice
cubes
from my glass
and repeated
my
throw from only moments before
.
The
cubes
rolled across the floor, and Calvin lunged after one of the ice cubes, and this caught Mrs. Bronwyn by surprise. As the leash was in the same hand as the gun, she was unable to keep the weapon facing the passengers. Calvin
'
s leash yanked her hand away and caused her to drop the
weapon.

Dabruzzi
, realizing
he had a perfect
opportunity
to take control of the situation
, scrambled to the floor and picked up the gun before Mrs. Bronwyn could get it.

"
Hold it right there!
"
he yelled.
"
I
'
m afraid the tables have turned!
"

The train sounded its horn when it pulled into the train station at
Topaz Mountain
.
At last
,
we
had arrived!

Several police officers were standing on the platform, waiting for the
machine
to come to a complete stop before boarding and taking Mrs. Bronwyn away.

"
I can
'
t believe it,
"
muttered
Sheila.
"
I simply cannot believe that it was Mrs. Bronwyn who stole the diamond.
"

"
I know,
"
said Ted.
"
She seemed so nice. I wonder why?
"

Inspector
Dabruzzi
came over to
us
and joined the conversation.
"
Mrs. Bronwyn
is
not who she says she is. Her name is actually Katherine Montclair, and she has been suspected of heading a large network of thieves all across the country. Until now, no one had ever suspected she carried out any of the thefts herself, but obviously she is quite skilled.
"

"
Not quite skilled enough, apparently,
"
said Katherine Montclair, otherwise known as Mrs. Bronwyn.

After the
Dabruzzi
picked up the gun
when
Calvin caused Mrs. Bronwyn to drop it, he was able to get the situation under control.
He
turned the gun on
her
and forced her to sit down in a corner of the
d
ining
car.
Willy had retrieved the rope she had asked him to find, and in an ironic twist, tied her up with it to ensure she could not escape. Calvin, not realizing the seriousness of the situation, curled up at her feet and fell right to sleep.

"
Inspector Dabruzzi?
"
called
someone
from the front of the car.

The voice belonged to a police officer, the first of four who had run onto the
train
. Willy had radioed ahead for the officers to meet them as soon as they pulled into the station.

"
I am Inspector Dabruzzi
.
"

"
Very well.
I am Chief Moore from the
Topaz Mountain
police force. I am here to apprehend
the jewel thief.
"

"
Here she is,
"
the
i
nspector
said. He pointed to Katherine Montclair, although it would have been quite apparent that the person who was tied up was the suspect.

"
Katherine Montclair, I
'
m afraid you will have to come with me,
"
Chief Moore said.
"
We have some questions for you.
"