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

by TOMMY DAVEY

First was Mr. MacEvoy, who took out his wallet from his back pocket and deposited it for everyone to see. From his pocket, a small pile of spare change made an appearance. He patted down the pockets of his jacket to show he had nothing else concealed in any other location.

  "Thank you, Mr. MacEvoy," said the Inspector.

  "I don't have any pockets," said Abigail. She was right. The pants she was wearing did not have any pockets, and neither did her sweater. "All I have is my cell phone."

  The inspector tapped his chin. "And your bag?"

  "It's at my seat. I left it there when I came for breakfast. I'm sure you have already looked through it."

  "Yes, I have," he said, revealing nothing in his tone.

  The next sound we heard was the contents of Mrs. Bronwyn's purse pouring onto the table. All sorts of paraphernalia dumped out of her handbag: a hanky, a photograph of Calvin with a fake squirrel in his mouth, a change purse, and several stray candies with lint on them. Nothing, however, looked even remotely similar to a diamond.

  "I don't have anything, Inspector, except my cell phone," I offered and showed it to him.

  "Thank you, Cora."

  Ted and Sheila were next, but Sheila was only carrying her wallet at the time, probably not realizing breakfast was included in the price of the train ticket.

  "I can empty it out if you like," she said.

  "No, that will not be necessary," said Dabruzzi.

  Ted took his wallet out and placed it on the table, along with a comb and some loose money he had stuffed in his jeans. "Our bags are both back at our seats."

  "Very well," said Dabruzzi. "Mr. Sloane? Would you oblige?"

  Mr. Sloane looked like someone had just asked him to put socks on a pig. "Are you joking? It is my diamond, why on Earth would I have it?"

  "You did say the diamond is insured," said Abigail.

  Mr. Sloane, admitting defeat, stepped up to the nearest table. "Fine," he huffed, emptying his belongings onto the table. Like the others, he was carrying a variety of normally useful objects that proved useless to the investigation.

  "What about him?" asked Mr. Sloane, pointing to Willy.

  "I don't carry anything on me at all," he said. "Even my wallet is in the engine room with the conductor, in a safe."

  "There's a safe on this train?" cried Mr. Sloane. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

  "You didn't ask, sir," replied Willy.

  "Very well," said the inspector. "I will continue the investigation by interviewing, one at a time, each of you in order to determine who had the opportunity to take the jewel."

  I leaned back into my seat. "By the sounds of it, all of us had the opportunity."

  "But who had a motive?" asked Mr. MacEvoy.

  "All of you had a motive!" whined an emotional Mr. Sloane. "It was a priceless gem. Anyone who has that diamond will be a millionaire."

  "Imagine," said Mrs. Bronwyn wistfully. "I wouldn't know what to do with that much money!"

  Just as Mrs. Bronwyn finished talking, my cell phone made a slight noise. It was a text message from my mother. "Good morning! How r u?"

  I knew how much my mother hated using short-form words when sending a text message, so I appreciated the effort she had made. For a brief moment, I considered telling her about the missing diamond, but the thought that I was on a train with a criminal might have been enough to send her over the edge. Instead, I decided not to say anything. At least not yet. Instead, I typed, "I'm fine. XO," and clicked “send”.

  "For the sake of the investigation," said Dabruzzi, "I ask that you please confine your selves to this, the lounge, and the sleeper and the passenger cars. The other porters on the train have been asked to not let any of the passengers from the cars ahead of us to come back, so we will all remain together until we reach Topaz Mountain."

  "Just the eight of us?" asked Abby.

  "Nine, including myself and Willy," he said.

  "Ten including Calvin," I added.

  The others laughed a little as Calvin let out a bird-like trill, a welcome break in the mounting tension filling the room.

  The inspector continued, "I would like to begin the one-on-one interviews now, and I think I will do so in the lounge. I will call each person back, one at a time. While you are waiting, please remain here. Once you have finished your meeting with me, you are free to go to your compartment or seat."

  I was beginning to feel anxious. I knew the interrogations were about to commence, and I was dying to know what each of the passengers had to say. I was fairly certain Inspector Dabruzzi would not let me listen in on the interrogations, so there was no point in even asking. I had to figure out another way to overhear the conversations.

  I briefly considered sitting by the door of the car, hoping he and each of the passengers would speak loudly enough for me to eavesdrop, but there were two doors that separated the cars and the space between them. Overhearing the discussions would be difficult. Somehow, I concluded, I had to get into the room.

  "Willy," said Dabruzzi, "would you mind giving me a little bit of food and something to drink? This might take a while."

  "Sure thing, Inspector. I'll rustle up something for you right away."

  He retreated to the corner of the dining car to set about preparing the officer’s lunch.

  "Well, I insist on going first," said nervous Mr. MacEvoy. "I want to get this nonsense out of the way."

  Dabruzzi nodded. "That is fine, sir, if no one else objects."

  No one in the room spoke up.

  "Very well then. Please follow me."

  CHAPTER NINE

  Inspector Dabruzzi walked to the other end of the dining car and through the sliding door to the lounge.

  This was my opportunity. I ran over to Willy, who was busy preparing food for the officer.

  "Willy," I said anxiously, "you have to do me a favour."

  "Are you hungry, too?"

  "No, not that. Something else."

  A few minutes later, the door to the lounge compartment opened and Willy entered, pushing a cart covered in a white tablecloth. The cart had a small silver tray on top and a bottle of sparkling water with one drinking glass. I spotted a small hole in the tablecloth, almost too small to notice, but the perfect size for an eleven-year-old girl to peek through!

  Neither the inspector nor Mr. MacEvoy thought it odd for Willy to use a whole food cart to transport one sandwich and a bottle of water, but what they did not know was that it was part of my plan. Willy had agreed to let me be part of his delivery. My idea was to sneak into the room on the bottom shelf of the cart, concealed beneath the tablecloth. Willy agreed, hoping I would share what I learned with him after I came out of the room.

  "Thank you, Willy," said Dabruzzi.

  Willy parked the cart in the corner of the room and smiled as he returned to where the others waited.

  "I do not have my tape recorder with me," began the inspector, "so I will take notes as best I can. To begin, can you tell me your full name?"

  "Charles MacEvoy," he said, with more than a little bit of annoyance.

  "Mr. MacEvoy, what is the reason you are traveling to Topaz Mountain?"

  "I don't think that is relevant to the investigation."

  "Oh." Inspector Dabruzzi laughed. "Of course it is! This is an investigation. Everything is relevant!"

  "Fine. I am going to find a Spotted Pilkington."

  "Pardon? A what?"

  "A Spotted Pilkington." The tone in Mr. MacEvoy's voice suggested he was surprised the inspector did not know what a Spotted Pilkington was. "You’re obviously not well versed in the science of ornithology."

  "Ornithology," the officer repeated slowly. "Ah, birds. Yes, of course."

  "Yes. Of course."

  "And you will see a Spotted Pilkington in Topaz Mountain?"

  "Oh, my goodness." Mr. MacEvoy laughed. "I could only hope so! No one has seen a Spotted Pilkington in over twelve years! And then, just two weeks ago, my good friend, Wilma DeVries, spotted one while she w
as cycling along the waterfront. She could barely get the words out of her mouth when she called to tell me. Oh, this is something people have been waiting years, if not decades, for. It has been the lead story on Fancy Feathers for weeks now!"

  "Fancy Feathers?"

  "My blog. I write a blog called Fancy Feathers. It has one of the highest visits of any bird blog on the Web. I'm very proud of it."

  "I'm sure you are. So, you are taking the train to find the bird?" Inspector Dabruzzi couldn't bring himself to say the name of the animal again. With his accent, it was far too difficult to keep repeating.

  "Yes, I refuse to fly. Only birds should fly."

  "Can you retrace your steps for me? Can you tell me all of your movements from the time you woke up to the time Mr. Sloane reported his diamond missing?"

  "Of course I can, which is more than I can say for the others in the next car. I'm sure they're all formulating their lies right now!"

  "Leave that part to me. I will sort out the truth from the lies."

  "Yes, well. I woke up early. Very early. I think it must have been about five o'clock. I am used to being up that early, as it's part of my routine."

  "Up with the birds, as they say?" The inspector chuckled at his little joke.

  "Yes!" cried Mr. MacEvoy in an excited tone. "That's exactly it. Anyway, I knew the dining car was not open until eight, so I tried to fall back asleep. I knew that would be impossible, but I did make an effort. After about thirty minutes, I just couldn’t do it any longer. I took out a book that I had brought and read for a little while instead."

  I listened from beneath the tablecloth with great interest. "And then what happened?" I whispered to myself, willing Dabruzzi to say it out loud.

  Much to my satisfaction, he asked, "And then what happened?"

  "Well I don't know if it was the motion of the train or reading a less-than-thrilling novel, but sometime between five thirty and six, I fell back asleep."

  "For how long?"

  "Until seven thirty. I was quite shocked, I must say. I have never slept that long before. Absolutely never!"

  "Sometimes a change of routine is all it takes."

  "Well, then I started to get ready. The benefit of having my own compartment is that I have my own private washroom, so I was able to shower and get dressed in complete privacy. How people are able to share a bathroom, on a train no less, is beyond me. I was dressed and ready to go out the door at precisely seven fifty-five. I remember because I had to wind my watch. I wind it every morning; I find battery watches terribly unreliable. I considered waiting another five minutes, but decided to take my chances and get to breakfast early."

  "And were you successful?"

  "Oh, yes. There was no one else in the room, not even Willy. I was the first one there and I had my pick of tables."

  "Did you leave the room at any time?"

  "Not until I tried to get back to my compartment, when you stopped me," he muttered with some irritation.

  "Who was the next person into the room?"

  "It was that girl. Abigail? Is that it? Yes, her. She came in and sat down at the next table. Didn't even say good morning to me, can you imagine? Absolutely no manners."

  "And who came in next?"

  "Oh, it's all beginning to blur now, but I think it was the young girl. Yes, the little girl came in next. And after that, I wasn't paying much attention."

  "That's fine. That helps me to establish a timeline. That is very helpful, Mr. MacEvoy."

  "Then I can go?" he asked as he started to rise.

  "No. Not quite yet."

  "Oh." He sank back down.

  "What do you know of the Diamond of Madagascar?"

  "Not much, I'm afraid. I don't follow gemology. They're just a bunch of rocks; I don't see the importance. What makes a diamond more important than a ruby or sapphire, I'll never know."

  "Did you know it was traveling on this train?"

  "Most certainly not. How could I have known? That could only be possible if I knew someone who worked in the auction house or the train company. You can call every single person I know and you would be wasting your time, Inspector. I have no interest in that silly rock."

  "Thank you, Mr. MacEvoy," concluded Inspector Dabruzzi. "You may go now."

  CHAPTER TEN

  "We woke up about seven or so," said Sheila Houseman. "I usually wake up first, but this morning Ted was up before me."

  I listened intently from my concealed position on the food cart as the interviews continued. I had not thought of Sheila and Ted being suspects, but did not want my friendship with them, however brief, to colour my judgment.

  "That's right, Inspector," interjected Ted. "I woke up around six thirty. I was reading a particularly interesting financial journal last night before I fell asleep, so I decided to pick up where I left off."

  "And did you stay where you were the whole time?" asked Dabruzzi.

  "Yes. I did. I didn't want to disturb Sheila, so I didn't even get up to retrieve my contact lenses. Normally I wear glasses to read, but I broke them just before the honeymoon, so I brought along my contacts instead."

  "But decided to read without them?"

  "Yes, which was probably not very smart. I had an awful time reading the journal. I used to have good vision, but as I get older, I find it isn't quite as sharp as it used to be." Ted turned to Sheila and added, "I'm afraid you've married an old man."

  "Ted!" she teased. "You are not old. We're the same age!"

  "Tell me please what happened next," said Inspector Dabruzzi, attempting to get the discussion back on track.

  "Sheila woke up, probably only ten or fifteen minutes later. We decided to get ready for breakfast. We got up and made our way to the washroom car. Luckily, both bathrooms were free so we were each able to go into one of the compartments to get ready at the same time."

  "That was lucky," she agreed. "We were able to get ready in half the time it would have taken."

  "When we were finished getting ready, we walked straight back to the dining car. A few others were there ahead of us, but Cora had a table already, and she asked if we would join her."

  Dabruzzi penciled something in his notepad. "And you were together the whole time?"

  "Yes, of course," replied Ted.

  "No, wait. Remember, you still hadn't put in your contact lenses when we were finished showering. You had left them in your bag."

  "That's right," confirmed Ted.

  The inspector got up and headed toward the food cart to collect his lunch, the floor creaking under his weight as he walked. I could feel him standing just inches away from me as he picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

  "So what did you do next?" he asked with a mouth full of roast turkey and rye bread.

  "I went to get them," he answered. "I told Sheila I would meet her in the dining car."

  "And so you were left alone?"

  "Yes, I was. Ted went to get his lenses and I waited in the hallway of the sleeper compartment."

  "Interesting. You were left alone in the vicinity of the compartment where the diamond was stolen."

  The room fell silent when he finished speaking.

  "What are you getting at, Inspector?" demanded Ted in a slightly raised tone.

  Dabruzzi, who was still standing beside the food cart, opened the sparkling water and took a long drink straight from the bottle, foregoing the glass altogether.

  "Nothing at all, Mr. Houseman," he said after he had quenched his thirst. "I am merely laying out the facts."

  "I think you were trying to insinuate my wife had something to do with the missing diamond."

  "Ted, calm down, sweetie."

  "Please do not misunderstand me, Mr. Houseman. I am merely in the beginning stages of the investigation. I am collecting data and getting the whereabouts of all those who were in the vicinity of the crime. Once I have gathered all of the facts, and only then, I will analyze them and attempt to determine who is responsible for this crime. I am not accusin
g anyone at this stage."

  "I'm sorry," said Ted. "I just don't like the suggestion that my wife could be involved in a crime."

  "That's very sweet, Ted. But he's just doing his job."

  "I guess."

  Even though Ted seemed to be relieved and was no longer upset with the inspector, he fidgeted in his seat in worry. I wondered if he suspected his wife might have actually been involved.

  "Mrs. Houseman," continued the Inspector, "did anyone pass you when you were waiting for your husband?"

  Sheila paused, considering the question for a brief moment. "No," she finally said. "I didn't see anyone else. I was standing in the middle of the hallway, not quite near Mr. Sloane's cabin, and occupied my time by looking out the window. No one came by; I would have noticed them for certain. The hallway is quite narrow, so there’s no way anyone could have passed without me seeing them."

  She was correct. The hallways were pretty narrow, and even as small as I was, I had often found it a challenge to walk through them alone. There was no possible way anyone could have gone by Sheila without being noticed. Unless, of course, Sheila was lying.

  "So after a few minutes of waiting," she continued, "Ted entered the car and we went on to the dining room."

  "And was anyone present when you entered?"

  "Yes," answered Ted. "Cora was there, and so was the other girl, the one who seems upset all the time."

  "Abigail," supplied Sheila.

  "Yes, that's right, Abigail. And that other man was there, the nervous-looking fellow."

  "And you, Inspector. You were already seated with Cora when we arrived."

  "Yes," Dabruzzi said. "You are correct." He took a brief break from their questioning, likely needing time to consider what they had told him. "Thank you both for sitting with me. I cannot think of anything else at the moment. Is there anything you can think of that might help the investigation?"

  "No," they said in unison, shaking their heads.

  "Very well. You may go about your business, but please try to think of anything that seems out of the ordinary. You may remember something that seems quite unimportant, but could be the missing bit of information that will help me solve this crime."

  "We will, Inspector," conceded Ted. "We’ll let you know if anything comes to mind."