Mr. Pin: The Chocolate Files (2 page)

“Shhh!” sniffed a lady nearby, not moving her eyes from the stage.

The penguin detective pushed lightly against the wall. A door swung open.

“Amazing,” gasped Maggie. “A secret door!” Fortunately, Berta started singing so loudly that the two detectives were able to slip through it unnoticed. Mr. Pin carefully closed the door behind them. Then, down a long, angled hallway, the two raced toward the stage.

“This hallway is called Peacock Alley. Not too many people know about it,” said Mr. Pin.

“Just penguins,” said Maggie.

Alter hurrying down Peacock Alley, the two found themselves backstage. Berta had just finished her solo. The curtain closed as the blue fog lifted.

“He's gone!” sobbed Berta as she spotted Maggie and Mr. Pin. “The conductor has been kidnapped.”

Mr. Pin offered her a handkerchief from his black bag and asked, “Did you actually see someone take the conductor away?”

“No. But it was just awful,” said Berta, blowing her nose. “A part of the stage moved when it wasn't supposed to. Sometimes we move it to make different scenes. Anyway, the stage moved up and a trapdoor opened. After that, the fog came pouring out. The orchestra members couldn't see their music, so they stopped playing. Then no one could see the conductor. That's when he must have been kidnapped. Of course, I kept singing. But they had to close the curtain when I was done. You can't have an opera without a conductor. Now everyone is out there eating candy and stamping their feet.”

“Of course the show must go on,” said Mr. Pin. He turned to Maggie. “But first we need to look under the stage … for clues.”

“Right,” said Maggie. “Under the stage.”

4

Maggie, Berta, and Mr. Pin walked around the back of the stage and down a few stairs. They entered a dark basement room, directly beneath the stage, filled with hundreds of floor-to-ceiling metal cylinders.

“What are these?” Maggie asked Mr. Pin.

“Hydraulic lifts,” said Mr. Pin. “They move the stage up and down.” Mr. Pin walked over to one of the cylinders. Nearby was an odd-shaped box. He peered inside.

“Fog machine,” said Mr. Pin. “And it's still warm.” The detective searched his black bag and took out a small jar of gray powder. Carefully, he dusted the fog machine with a soft brush dipped in powder.

“The thief who took the conductor put the fog machine here. He left fingerprints, but they aren't clear,” he added. “There might be more clues in the orchestra pit.”

Mr. Pin folded up the fog machine box and tried to lift it. Berta picked up the box and followed the two detectives as they headed for the orchestra pit. They didn't get very far before they met a man with an oboe.

“The conductor is missing!” shouted the man.

“Of course,” said Mr. Pin calmly. “He's been kidnapped. I'm on the case.”

“I won't sing,” said Berta, “without a conductor.”

“I understand,” said Mr. Pin. Then pointing to the fog machine box, he explained to Maggie, “The police will want to send this to their laboratory.”

“Right,” said Maggie.

“But no one else can conduct this opera!” insisted the oboe player.

Mr. Pin turned to him and said softly, “Nonsense. I can.”

“Miss Largamente to the stage immediately, please,” called the stage manager.

Berta looked directly at Mr. Pin and said, “If you conduct, I'll sing.”

“If you would,” said Mr. Pin to the oboe player. “Direct me to the pit.”

“All right,” said the oboe player. “But someone needs to make an announcement. Don't you need a tuxedo?”

“Not necessary,” was all Mr. Pin said. He picked up his black bag and strode off, conducting himself to the orchestra pit.

It was a little curious for the musicians when Mr. Pin climbed onto the conductor's platform. He needed to have an extra box stacked on top. But strangely enough, no one in the audience seemed to notice that the short black-and-white figure was a penguin about to conduct.

Mr. Pin tapped his music stand and pushed a small button to signal the stage manager. He raised his baton. The orchestra thundered. The yellow plumes on the side of his head shook. The curtain went up, and, inspired by Mr. Pin, Berta and the chorus sang as they had never sung before.

5

“Bravo! Bravo!” The audience demanded another curtain call. But Mr. Pin, penguin conductor, slipped backstage, his black bag tucked under his wing. Maggie rushed toward him.

“Sally just called. We'll have to take a cab home. She tried using my CB to tell Luigi to pick us up in his truck, but he doesn't answer. And he's not in his pasta shop.”

“Hmmmm.” said Mr. Pin. “First Mac and then Luigi disappears.”

“Do you think they are both kidnapped?” asked Maggie, her eyes growing larger.

“I don't know,” said Mr. Pin. “But I do know that chocolate has to be the connection.”

“What connection?” asked Maggie.

“Luigi and Mac both like the same chocolate,” said Mr. Pin. “Mac was in Smiling Sally's pouring chocolate syrup on his eggs. He was talking to Luigi.”

“Do you think Luigi has anything to do with the conductor disappearing?” asked Maggie.

“Maybe,” said Mr. Pin. “But I did find something interesting.”

“What's that?” asked Maggie.

Mr. Pin opened his black bag and took out a glass bottle of chocolate syrup. “I found this under Mac's music stand,” he said. “It's the same chocolate that Smiling Sally uses in her diner. And it is the same syrup that Luigi sells to Sally.”

“But how do you know it's from Luigi's pasta shop?” asked Maggie.

“Luigi,” explained Mr. Pin, “is the only one I know who sells chocolate in a glass bottle. I think he uses glass so it can be recycled.”

“Luigi doesn't sound like much of a kidnapper, does he?” said Maggie.

“No,” said Mr. Pin. “But maybe
he
is kidnapped.”

“But why,” asked Maggie, “would anyone want to kidnap a pasta man who recycles chocolate bottles?”

“I don't know,” said Mr. Pin. “But I'm going to find out.”

6

It was late when Maggie and Mr. Pin finished talking to the police at the opera house. The officers wrapped a long yellow police tape around the orchestra pit and told the two detectives to go home.

Snow was falling lightly on North Wacker when Mr. Pin and Maggie finally left through the stage door. Mr. Pin stood on the curb and hailed a cab.

“We might have one more clue,” said Mr. Pin, as snow covered his checked cap. He searched through his bag as a cab pulled up. He and Maggie stepped inside. The two rode in silence for several blocks until all of a sudden, Mr. Pin held a piece of paper up to his beak and said, “That's it! There's no chocolate!”

“What do you mean there's no chocolate?” asked Maggie. “I thought we were following Luigi's chocolate connection.”

“We are,” explained Mr. Pin. “But there is no chocolate on this note. And this is the note Berta Largamente found that said ‘Danger ahead. Watch your step.'”

Chocolate had been important in most cases, thought Maggie. Not finding chocolate was something new. She wanted to ask Mr. Pin what it meant, but just as they pulled up in front of Smiling Sally's diner, the penguin detective shouted, “Don't stop. Follow that pasta truck.”

“Glad to,” said the cabdriver, nodding his head. “Been a slow night.”

“It's Luigi!” said Mr. Pin to Maggie.

The cab skidded onto Monroe while Luigi's truck raced toward Wabash. The truck squealed around wet corners. But Mr. Pin kept it in sight as it turned west and headed for Greek Town.

“Hurry,” said Maggie. “We're after a kidnapper.”

“Sure thing, lady,” said the cabdriver. His wipers were on full speed as the car crossed the river. But Luigi's truck had disappeared.

“Wait,” said Mr. Pin. “Isn't Luigi's pasta shop near here?”

“Just around the corner,” said Maggie.

“Turn right,” said Mr. Pin to the cabdriver.

Just ahead was Luigi's truck, parked, lights off, in an alley.

“Wait here,” said Mr. Pin to the driver. “And keep the change.” Mr. Pin handed him a large bill.

“Thanks,” said the cabdriver.

“I think we should call the police,” said Maggie. But Mr. Pin was already on his way to Luigi's back door. The penguin detective tested the door with his wing. It was unlocked. There were loud voices inside. Mr. Pin motioned for Maggie to follow him as he slowly opened the door.

But once inside, it wasn't loud talking Mr. Pin heard. It was loud singing. Luigi was singing tenor arias while Mac, the missing conductor, was playing an old upright piano in Luigi's kitchen. Mac stopped abruptly. Luigi looked nervous.

“You're not kidnapped!” shouted Maggie. “But if you're not kidnapped,” Maggie asked Mac, “what are you?”

“Missing,” said Mac. “On vacation. Not available. Very tired. Not to mention that I always wanted to drive a truck. When Luigi offered to let me deliver pasta, I had to jump for it. The chance might never come again. But it was the middle of the opera season. No one would have let me go. So I had to stage my own disappearance. I called Luigi from the opera house and asked him to pick me up at intermission.”

“But the note,” said Maggie. “You must have written the note saying you were in danger.”

“What note?” asked Mac.

“The note Berta found on your music stand,” said Maggie.

“Mac didn't write that note,” explained Mr. Pin. “He didn't even see it. Mac had a bottle of chocolate syrup by his music stand. Anyone who likes chocolate that much would have left chocolate stains on a note he had handled. There was no trace of chocolate on the note.”

“Then who wrote the note?” asked Maggie.

“Berta Largamente,” said Mr. Pin. “My guess is she was really worried about the conductor, his strange behavior, and probably her career. She jumped to the conclusion that Mac might be in trouble or could even be kidnapped. Berta wrote the note to make sure I'd take the case. She never told us why she didn't just call the police.”

“How did you know about Luigi?” asked Mac.

“That was simple,” Mr. Pin said to Mac. “You had his chocolate nearby when you disappeared and you were seen talking to him in the diner. That's probably when you asked Luigi to help stage your kidnapping. Luigi was probably waiting just outside the opera house in his truck.”

“Amazing detective work,” said Mac. “I guess I should let people know I'm all right. And I'll need to find someone to take my place while I drive a truck for a little while.”

“I think we can work something out,” said Mr. Pin, then added, “Just one more thing. I'll bet your name isn't Mac.”

“No,” said the conductor. “It's not. But Mac sounded more like a truck driver's name. My real name is Alberto Dente.”