Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (5 page)

"
Sloane? Is that his name?
"
asked Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
Very strange, if you ask me. Very strange
,
indeed. I wonder
—
no, that couldn
'
t be him.
"

"
What?
"
asked Sheila.
"
What were you going to say?
"

"
Well
, t
his
is almost too much to believe, but I was just reading in the paper last week of a spectacular diamond that was sold at an auction for an unbelievable sum of money. It was called the Diamond of Madagascar, and it
’
s said to be worth millions of dollars.
The person who bought it has remained anonymous, but is believed to live somewhere in the mountains.
Since it was only sold a few days ago, it would make sense
if
that man, Mr. Sloane
,
as you called him, is transporting the diamond from the city to the mountains.
"

"
You mean he
’
s delivering the diamond to its new owner?
"
asked Ted.

"
Precisely, yes,
"
she said.
"
Of course, I
’
m only speculating. I don
'
t know anything about the man, but it does seem to be at least possible
,
doesn
'
t it?
"

"
It certainly sounds like it,
"
I
said.
"
Could he really be carrying the Diamond of Madagascar on this train?
"

"
Why not?
"
she asked
.
"
The train is the most direct route to
Topaz Mountain
.
"

"
My goodness,
"
Sheila said.
"
To think that such an expensive diamond is right here with us on this train. It
'
s almost too much to believe.
"

"
Well
,
now,
"
Ted said.
"
Let
'
s not get out of hand. We
'
re just guessing. We don
'
t know anything about that man or what
’
s in his case. For all we know, that case is empty.
"

"
Yes
.
"
Mrs. Bronwyn laughed
.
"
I suppose you
'
re right, we mustn
'
t get carried away.
"

"
Still,
"
I
said
.
"
It sure is fun to think about!
"

Just at that moment, Mr. Sloane came into the car
,
followed a few seconds later by the large man with dark glasses.

"
Oh,
"
Mrs. Bronwyn
murmured
.
"
We
shan
'
t
speak of this any longer.
"

The man with dark glasses came close to
us
and sat down
on
a chair next to the window. He picked up a small paperback book that had been resting on the table beside the chair and thumb
ed
through it.
Mr. Sloane, on the other hand, stayed near the door of the car, still clutching his silver briefcase.

"
So much responsibility he has, transporting that diamond to
Topaz Mountain
. I don
'
t know how he does it
.
I would be a nervous wreck!
"
said Sheila.

"
I have to agree with you there,
"
added Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
I can
'
t say I would like to take on that responsibility. If it
w
ere
ever lost on the trip, I don
'
t know what I would do.
"

"
Big companies like that have insurance
.
T
hey
would cover
anything that might happen
,
"
advised
Ted.
"
He
wouldn
'
t be responsible for the loss.
"

"
But his company would still hold him responsible,
"
I
pointed out
.
"
I don
'
t think his bosses would be very please
d
with him.
"

"
No
.
"
Mrs. Bronwyn
reached over and scratched Calvin behind the ears
.
"
They certainly wouldn
'
t.
"

I sat with my new companions
and watched the sun set as
we
sped to
ward
our destination
.
I couldn
'
t believe how quickly t
he first day had ended
. I
t wouldn
'
t be long before
I
joined
my
u
ncle
in the mountains.

"
Well,
"
said Mrs. Bronwyn
,
"
I
'
m afraid it
'
s time for me to go to sleep. It is past Calvin
'
s bedtime!
"

Everyone looked down at Calvin, who was comfortably nestled in
my
lap, content and sound asleep.

"
Oh, please, don
'
t disturb him,
"
I
pleaded.

She
smiled at
me
.
"
I
'
m afraid I must, Cora, darling. I can
'
t fall asleep without my little Calvin next to me. It just wouldn
'
t be the same without him.
"

Mrs. Bronwyn bent down
and
gently scoop
ed
up her slumbering dog and cradled him in her arms. Her tender motion did not disturb Calvin one bit.

"
Well, goodnight
,
everyone,
"
she said
. And with that, she t
urned and walked out of the
l
ounge
car, slamming the door just as loudly as she
had
when she came in.

The crash of the door was loud enough to wake the man with dark glasses, who had fallen asleep reading.
"
What the
…?
"
H
e looked around, startled.
"
Oh,
"
he said, realizing he had dozed off.
"
Pardon me.
"

Although he had only spoken a few words,
I
thought
I
heard a trace of an accent in his voice. He sounded Italian, much like
my
grade five teacher, Mr. Giordano.
The man with dark glasses put his book down and rose from
the
chair
before
turning to address the group.

"
Excuse
me;
I will be retiring for the night. Pleasant dreams,
"
he said.

"
Good night,
"
I
said.

"
Good evening,
"
added Sheila.

After the man left, Ted couldn
'
t help but make an observation.
"
It
was nice of him to say goodnight to people who haven
'
t even said a word to him all evening.
"

"
Yes, it was,
"
I
agreed
.