Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (26 page)

One of the other officers who had come in with Chief Moore came over and untied her and immediately put her in handcuffs.

"
Oh,
"
she cried.
"
Please be careful! I
'
m still an old woman, you know.
"

"
By the way,
"
Chief Moore said
,
"
y
ou'll
be happy to know the diamond has been recovered.
"

"
What?
"
cried Mr. Sloane.
"
You found it?
"

"
Yes
,
sir,
"
said the
c
hief
.
"
We were able to send the local police to the train station in
Pecan River
. They arrived just as Ms. Montclair
'
s accomplice was digging through the trash for the diamond. They were able to identify him as Albert
Baxter;
he is a known criminal and had previously been arrested for jewel theft.
He had been working at the auction house under a different name for the last few months. T
he federal police think he might be able to lead us to many more people involved in
a very large
theft
ring
.
"

"
That
'
s how
s
he knew the diamond was on this train!
"
I
said.

"
When can I have it back?
"
asked Mr.
Sloane
anxiously.

"
Was the diamond in your possession, sir?
"
asked the chief.

"
Yes, it certainly was.
"

"
Well then
, c
ome
with me and we can sort it all out. The
gem
will require some
...
cleaning
...
first.
"

"
I understand,
"
said Mr. Sloane, looking at Calvin.
"
I understand completely.
"

The officer who handcuffed Katherine Montclair began to lead her to the exit door at the front of the car.
"
Come with me, Ma
'
am
.
"

"
Just a minute,
"
she said.
"
There is something I need to
say first.
"

"
What is it?
"
asked the
c
hief
.

"
Cora,
"
said Katherine Montclair
, turning to me
.
"
Please believe me when I say I never intended to hurt you when I put you in that room. I just wanted to get you out of the way before you got hurt. It was never my intention to bring harm to you.
"

"
I understand,
"
I
said.

"
And there is something I want to ask of you
.
I am no doubt going to be
in
prison for a while, and I cannot bear the thought of poor Calvin being sent to a shelter to live with strangers. He is so fond of you, so I was hoping you would be able to take him for me. I am sure you would give him a good home.
"

I
looked at Calvin, who was now sitting up and watching the room with great interest.

"
Calvin
, w
ould you like to come home with me?
"

His
little tail began to wave frantically,
and he was
excited at the prospect of living with
me
.

"
Well,
"
said Katherine Montclair.
"
It
'
s settled. Calvin can live with you.
"
She looked down at
her dog
and bent over to
get
closer to him.
"
Goodbye
,
my little fellow. I
'
ll miss you.
"

Calvin jumped up on his hind legs and licked her face. It was almost as if he knew he was saying
,
“G
oodbye
,”
to her.

Everyone in the car watched the officer lead Katherine Montclair out of the train, followed by Chief Moore and Mr. Sloane. Calvin turned around and ran over to
me
, taking his place beside his new master.

"
Well
,
I guess this is goodbye,
"
said Sheila.

We had alighted from
the train and
were
standing around in a circle with
our
bags beside
us
.
Mr.
Sloane
and the
i
nspector
were not standing in the group
,
as they had to attend to police business, so that left
just me
, Ted and Sheila, along with Abigail and Mr. MacEvoy.

"
It was really nice to meet you all,
"
added Ted.
"
It certainly was an exciting trip.
"

"
It was a little too exciting for my taste,
"
said Mr. MacEvoy.
"
I was hoping for a relaxing ride, and that is the complete opposite of what I got!
"

I
could not help but let out a little laugh at Mr. MacEvoy
'
s statement. It was completely true, of course.

"
I hope the rest of your honeymoon is a bit more peaceful,
"
said Abigail.

"
Oh, I
'
m sure it will be!
"
Sheila
laughed
.

"
If anyone tries to steal
this
diamond,
"
said Ted, holding up Sheila
'
s hand so everyone could see her engagement ring
,
"
t
hey'll
have to get past me first!
"

We
chuckled
at his joke before saying
our
final goodbyes. Sheila
and I
hugged first as Ted and Abigail gave
each other
a little hug. Despite her earlier cool demeanour, Abigail seemed quite fond of her fellow travellers by the end of the journey. Ted and
I exchanged
hug
s
as Abigail and Sheila said farewell.

Mr. MacEvoy stood watching with reservations
.
H
e
did not seem to be in a
n
affectionate mood. Despite this, Sheila turned to him and threw her arms around him.

"
Goodbye,
"
she said.
"
It was very nice meeting you!
"

"
Oh,
"
he
gasped
after being released by Sheila
'
s grasp.
"
I
'
m
sorry;
I
'
m not much of a hugger. I have a strong attachment to my personal space.
"

"
Uh, Mr. MacEvoy,
"
I
said.

"
Look, Cora,
"
he interrupted,
"
I
'
m sorry, but I
cannot hug you
,
too
. Please understand.
"

I
was not at all interested in a
hug;
I
merely wanted to point out something
I
had
just
noticed.

"
Look,
"
I
said.
"
There.
"
I
motioned
to his suitcase, which sat right next to him on the station platform. Happily perched on top
of the suitcase was a bird that looked remarkably like the
one
on Mr. MacEvoy
'
s book.