The Uncanny Express by Kara LaReau

Author:Kara LaReau [LaReau, Kara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2018-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

“Excuse me, sir?” Mr. Harold said, rushing into the dining car. “You are needed in compartment four. Evidently another crime has been committed.”

“Sacrebleu!” exclaimed Hugo Fromage. He leaped to his feet and followed the conductor, the Bland Sisters trailing behind him.

It turned out compartment four belonged to the countess and Vera Dreary. Vera was wringing her hat again, and the countess was looking particularly annoyed.

“Someone has stolen my garnet ring!” the countess exclaimed.

“And when do you believe this theft took place?” asked the great detective.

“When I was with you people, being questioned about this ridiculous magician,” the countess said. Then she glared at Vera. “And you left the compartment unattended!”

“I had to—use the facilities,” Vera explained sheepishly. “I was only gone for a few moments, I swear it!”

“You were not wearing the ring, then?” Hugo Fromage asked.

“It is a large ring, so I can only wear it for so long before it fatigues my delicate fingers,” the countess explained.

Jaundice gave Kale a nudge. Countess Goudenoff had gnarled fingers tipped with long, dark red nails. They seemed more talon-like than “delicate.”

“Eventually, I took it off, and I gave it to Vera to put in my train case,” the countess continued, glaring at her maid again.

“I put in in the train case, just as you asked, m’lady,” Vera insisted. “I di’n’t do nuffin’!”

“You said she seemed anxious,” Jaundice whispered to her sister. “I wonder if she stole the ring.”

“You think so?” said Kale.

“How else is she going to afford a better life for herself?” Jaundice noted.

Kale nodded. Jaundice was almost always right.

The countess turned to Hugo Fromage. “I purchased that ring right before my husband’s tragic passing, so it is priceless to me in every way,” she explained.

The great detective looked around the room then picked up the train case and inspected it. He set it back on the seat next to Countess Goudenoff and bowed his head.

“Madame Countess,” he said. “One way or another, I promise we will get to the bottom of this.”

“‘We?’” said Jaundice.

“As my assistants, I expect you to help me with whatever investigations I am conducting,” Hugo Fromage explained. “And now, we return to the dining car, tout de suite.”

“But now you have two crimes to solve,” Kale said. She considered her notes, which already seemed overwhelming.

“And you only have one brain,” noted Jaundice.

“Ah, yes, mademoiselles, but there are three of us,” said the great detective, waddling ahead of them to the dining car. “So the crimes, they are woefully outnumbered.”

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