by Thea Stilton
Paulina.
“You’re right,
Colette,” her friend
agreed. “Her pearls
almost seem fake.”
Colette nodded.
“I’m going in for a
closer look!” She
danced close to
the heiress and then
returned to her
88
friend’s side. “It’s true — they’re faker
than fat-free cheese!”
“
Fake?!
” Paulina replied. “But she’s
supposed to be a millionaire! How weird . . .”
Colette glanced over at Peggy again. “Are
we sure that she’s really a millionaire?
What if it’s all an act to deflect suspicion?”
“I just can’t see Peggy as the Cat Burglar,”
Paulina replied.
“Her, non, but Pablo, oui!” Colette said.
“He’s so full of himself! Playing the part of
the thief would make him feel important.
And they could be working together. Think
back to last night. Maybe Pablo distracted
the inspector and the other passengers by
making that scene with Dimitri while
Peggy went into the compartment to steal
the precious gown!”
“But that can’t be. After all, she was the
one who sounded the ALARM!” Paulina
objected.
“What are you two plotting?” Claude
interrupted. “Don’t tell me you’re already out
of breath!”
Without waiting for a response, he took
Colette and Paulina by the paws and pulled
them out to the middle of the floor to dance
the Charleston!
THE SUSPECT
SHUFFLE
Colette was busy dancing when she
found herself facing Dimitri. Her gaze fell on
the ratlet’s paw. Suddenly, she
stumbled
.
“Time for a break,” Paulina suggested,
offering her a cool drink. “You’re really
letting your fur down tonight.”
Colette took her friend aside. “Look at
Dimitri’s paw,” she whispered. “His burn is
back!”
Paulina
smiled
. “Relax, Colette, I’m sure
he knows you didn’t do it on purpose.”
Colette shook her snout. “No, you
don’t understand. This morning the
BURN
was gone! I was so
happy that it had healed, but now it’s
back. Isn’t that strange?”
Paulina STARED at Dimitri. He realized
he was being watched, and smiled.
“Oops! He saw us!”
cried
Colette.
Paulina tried to act natural. She
HOPPED
back onto the dance floor. Colette followed
her reluctantly, murmuring, “If the burn was
healed
this morning, how could it be there
now . . . ?”
But soon, the rhythm of the music won her
The burn on the back of Dimitri’s paw has reappeared!
How could the same paw be healed in the morning and
injured again in the evening?
C
L
U
E
!
92
over, and she forgot all about Dimitri and his
burned paw. “Shake those tails, mouselets!”
she called to her friends.
The party continued late into the
night, and Zelda Mitoff didn’t sit down for
a single dance. It was as if she were a
young mouselet
again! Violet
watched her with admiration — until a
strange suspicion crossed her mind. Staying
in such good shape would make it easy to do
all kinds of acrobatics, she thought. What if
Zelda is the Cat Burglar?
Violet was shaken by the thought that
the great ballerina could be involved in
something so shady — until she recalled
one of her grandpa Chen’s favorite sayings:
“In the dark, all rats are black.” Now she
could see the wisdom of his words: Without
clear proof, anyone could appear GUILTY!
Late that night, the mouselets returned to
the large bedroom where they’d be sleeping
during their stay in the
castle
.
“The Cat Burglar could strike at any
moment, and we still have so far to go!”
Violet commented.
“Yeah,” Paulina agreed. “The thief could
be anyone, and for all we know, he or she
could have a
henchmouse
! Let’s review
our suspects.”
There’s Peggy, the heiress
who wears fake pearls.
What if she’s actually
broke? One big score as
the Cat Burglar could
make her rich again!
There’s Pablo, the painter,
a conceited rodent who
loves to be the center of
attention. Stealing the Veil of
Light would make him feel
like the star of the show!
There’s Zelda, the legendary
ballet dancer. She trains
every day and keeps to her
cabin . . . but why?
There’s Jack, the golf
star. He loves danger and
adventure, just like the
Cat Burglar!
There’s Raty, the pop
star. She and Jack are
the ultimate power
couple. But is that just
in romance, or also in
crime?
There’s Dimitri, Zelda’s
assistant. One minute his
paw looks burned, and
the next it’s healed. But
how?
h
e
o
i
Th
st
t
he
c
in
c
r
The Cat Burglar could be any one of the
passengers. Who do you think is the thief?
C
L
U
E
!
96
“Whew! Seems like everyone’s a suspect!”
Pam joked. She fell back onto the bed,
exhausted.
“Can’t we rule out Dimitri and Pablo
Picamouse?” Paulina asked. “Those two
were in the corridor arguing during
the attempted robbery.”
“But what if their argument was part of
the plan?” Nicky objected.
Colette sighed as she removed the
shoes from her aching paws. “
OOF!
I’m
too tired to think, mouselets.”
“You’re right, Colette,” Violet agreed.
“What we need now is a good night’s sleep.
Let’s continue our investigation
tomorrow!”
97
The next day, the passengers all returned to
the train, and the mouselings headed straight
for the café car. As soon as they’d boarded,
the conductor announced that they would
skip their planned stop in Bucharest to
make up the time they had lost.
The Thea Sisters deci
ded to review what
they knew about their traveling
companions over breakfast.
They were more determined
than ever to discover the
identity
of the Cat
Burglar.
As Dimitri passed by their
table, Colette shot a worried
THE MISSING
PAINTING
98
look at his paw. It was still red and swollen.
I must have been dreaming yesterday
morning, she thought. She was both annoyed
and reassured to see the familiar burn on
Zelda’s assistant’s paw. I was so sure that it
was healed!
At that moment, the conductor burst into
the café car with some disturbing news:
“Mr. Picamouse’s painting has been stolen!”
“What???” Pablo thundered. He
turned pale as a
slice of mozzarella.
Then he staggered
and fell into Peggy’s
paws.
A moment later,
he had recovered.
He leaped up
and scurried out of
99
the compartment. Almost everyone followed
him. The journalists didn’t want to miss this
chance to hear what the HOT-BLOODED
painter would squeak next!
The passengers
HURRIED
down the
corridor of the train and jammed into the
conductor’s office. The safe was wide open,
but not a single piece of jewelry had been
taken. Only the painting was missing!
“I told you not to let it out of your sight!”
Pablo barked. “This thief knows the value
of great works of art.”
Chief Inspector Ratt was as green as
mold on aged cheddar. This theft was truly a
blow!
“I was so focused on the Veil of Light
that the thief took the opportunity to break
into the safe,” he muttered to himself.
“Well, the painting must still be
on board the train,” Violet guessed. “So
there’s a good chance we can find it.”
Inspector Ratt stared at her, surprised that
someone had heard him. “What did you say,
miss?”
“When we got back on the train this
morning, the painting was in its place,” Violet
observed. “Otherwise the conductor
would have noticed it was missing when he
placed the jewelry in the safe.
The train hasn’t
stopped
since
then, so . . .”
“So the thief
is still on
board, and the
painting is
with him!” Pam
concluded.
101
“Right!” the inspector said. “No one could
get off the moving train without setting
off the security alarm on the doors.”
“There’s a sophisticated security system on
the Orient Express?” Paulina marveled.
“This train is faithful to the original
in almost every single way,” Inspector Ratt
explained. “But it does have modern
security systems built in.”
The inspector invited everyone to gather in
the café car. Each passenger would have to
account for his or her whereabouts from the
time the train departed until the discovery
of the theft. If the painting was still on
board, Inspector Ratt would find it!
“I feel like we’re living in an Agatha Christie
novel,” Violet murmured. “He wants to
collect our alibis!”
102
PEGGY’S ALIBI
Inspector Ratt spent the next half hour
meeting with each passenger, collecting
testimonies. As soon as he’d finished, he
cleared his throat. “It seems,” he began
seriously, “that at the moment of the
theft, everyone was seen in a place
far
from the safe. Everyone, that is, except . . .”
Everyone held his or her breath. All EYES
were on the chief inspector. It was so quiet
you could hear a cheese slice drop.
After a moment of suspense, the inspector
declared, “. . . except you, Miss Rattfeller!”
Everyone turned and looked in disbelief at
the heiress, who seemed to
shrink
into her fur. Peggy stuttered, “I — I stayed in
my cabin to rest. When I left for a moment, I
smacked into Mr. Dimitri! I stepped on his
paw, right, Mr. Dimitri?”
“That is ridiculous!” Zelda cried.
“My assistant was with me the entire time! I
was
dictating
my autobiography.”
Peggy’s whiskers trembled. The heiress
mumbled for a moment and then fell
silent.
Pablo Picamouse’s painting is missing, but whoever stole it didn’t
hide it very well. In fact, it can be found in the very train car
where all the passengers are assembled! Can you spot it?
C
L
U
E
!
Hint: Look in the window, behind Pam and Violet!
106
“Miss Rattfeller,” Inspector Ratt said,
“your alibi doesn’t hold up. I must search
your cabin! Please come with me.”
Peggy nodded and followed him.
“I can’t believe it! Peggy Rattfeller, a thief?”
Pam said in disbelief.
“Yeah! I can’t imagine her sneaking into
the conductor’s office and breaking into
the safe,” Nicky agreed.
“I’m with you, Nicky,” Violet said. “It just
doesn’t make sense! She said that she
bumped into Dimitri outside her cabin.
But he was with Zelda, and he couldn’t have
been in
two
places at the same time!”
Nicky nodded. “THAT’S RIGHT!
Although . . .”
“Although . . . ?” asked Colette, who still
felt a bit nervous whenever Dimitri’s
name came up.
“He was late this morning, remember?”
Nicky continued. “I was going to the café car
when I passed Dimitri going in the opposite
direction. He was in a big hurry, with his
necktie undone and his fur all ruffled — and
he was limping!”
“As if someone
had stepped on
his paw . . . ,” Paulina
said slowly.
“That’s right!”
Nicky nodded seriously.
“And there’s more: I
reached the café a
moment later, and in
came Dimitri, looking
perfectly put
together. He was
wearing a different
108
suit and walking normally!”
“But his cabin is far
from the café car,” Violet
protested. “How could he
change so
QUICKLY
?”
“Now that I think of it,”
Pam interrupted, “I
noticed something strange,
too! At the castle, Dimitri
/>
turned down Chef
Fromage’s dessert. He said
he’s alLergic to chocolate. But during the
first dinner here on the train, I saw
him drink a big chocolate shake!”
“What about the burn on his paw?”
exclaimed Colette. “Today it was
bright
red
again, but yesterday . . .” Her squeak
trailed off. “Nicky, when you ran into him,
did you notice if it was red or not?”
Nicky squinted, trying to remember,
then responded confidently. “His paw was
completely healed!”
The mouselets fell silent. They were
deep in thought.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
How could Dimitri be in two different places at the
same time? Let's review the clues:
On the day the Orient Express departed, Dimitri
counted five trunks in Zeld's luggage, but there were
actually six
The young assistant's paw was burned by a cup
of boiling tea ... but the burn on the paw keeps
disappearing adn then reappearing!
Peggy Rattfeller said she saw Dimitri just before the
painting was stolen, but Madame Zelda claims that he
was in her cabin the whole time.
Dimitri acts very strangely: One moment he
says he's allergic to chocalate, then
later he eats it. One moment his
clothes are disheveled, and a few
minutes later he's put together and
wearing a completely different outfit!
110
The Thea Sisters were stunned into
squeaklessness. What a strange set of
clues!
“There’s only one explanation for a paw
that’s red one moment and not the next,”
Colette concluded solemnly. “There are two
right paws, and therefore two Dimitris!”
“Two Dimitris?” Pam asked. “Do you
mean . . . identical twins?”
Colette nodded. “Maybe! Or at least two
rodents who look similar enough that they
appear to be the same mouse, as long as
they’re seen separately!”
Paulina smacked a paw against her
forehead, surprised that she hadn’t thought
of it sooner. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “So
THE SIXTH TRUNK