Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits by Michael D. Beil Page B

the
Susie G
sitting hard on the bottom of the harbor with only her cabin top visible. As he ranted and raved, something on the dock got his attention. A small piece of paper, weighed down by a rock, flapped in the breeze: a Sail On sardines label.

Sam opened his eyes after fifteen minutes of “deep thinking.” He sniffed at the bowl of cream that Clarence had placed next to him, turning up his nose at it.
“All right, let’s start with what we
know.
”
    “Looks like Ellie Strasbourg was kidnapped by a traveling salesman,” said Clarence.
    “You’re half right,”
Sam grumbled.
“Which is about average for you. I’ll grant you that Ellie Strasbourg has been kidnapped. As for the salesman … are you
sure
this is the only cream they have? Maybe there’s some Jersey cream left over from the last trip.”
    Clarence sighed. “Yes, Sam, I’m sure. That’s the only cream on board. Can we please move on? Because somebody certainly wants us to think this salesman’s involved.”
    “That’s not the same as knowing, though,”
argued Sam.
“Weknow that somebody emptied a salesman’s case in the baggage compartment. And left behind a handkerchief that smells like chloroform, or at least what I suppose chloroform smells like. And that there was a salesman, or someone pretending to be a salesman, in another compartment.”
    “Where there was a picture of Ellie and her mother from last fall. And a ransom note,” I added. “Sure looks to me like the salesman did it.”
    Ignoring my contribution to the discussion, Sam scratched under his chin with his back leg and moved on to the next topic.
“Henry, where was Ellie when you saw her last?”
    “In the club car. I left her there while I ran to the observation car to get my sketchbook. When I got back, she was gone.”
    “How long was that?”
Sam asked.
    “Only a minute. I was counting, because she said she would wait for exactly one minute.”
    “And when you returned and saw that she was gone, what did you do?”
    I closed my eyes, remembering. “I talked to a man in the club car for … about ten seconds.”
    “What man? What did he look like? What did he say … exactly?”
    “Um, he was just a man. He was wearing a suit, a gray suit. He was old, like thirty.”
    “Thirty, old! What does that make me? I must be downright ancient,” said Clarence.
    “Prehistoric, basically,”
Sam said wryly.
    “He teased me about looking for my girlfriend,” I added. “Then he said that Ellie went toward the front of the train. On the way past my mother, I stopped to ask her if she’d seen Ellie, but she didn’t even know her. Then I came straight here.”
    “So, in total there were two … maybe three minutes between your last sight of Ellie and when you found me,”
said Sam.
“And when you got here, was the curtain open or closed?”
    “It was closed. No, that’s not right. It was halfway open.” I reached up and pulled the curtain partially shut. “About like this.”
    “That’s right,”
said Sam.
“And then you stayed with me until the train stopped in Albany.”
    “Did anybody go past you into the baggage area?” Clarence asked.
    I shook my head. “No. I’m positive. I would remember.”
    “So, Sam, how about you? What about the two or three minutes right before Henry showed up?” said Clarence. “You say the curtain was half open. Did you see anybody?”
    “Yes,”
said Sam.
“A porter, going in to get baggage ready for the Albany stop. It was Donnie, the one with all the muscles. And that’s it. I never saw—or heard—Ellie or any other passengers.”
    “Sorry, Sam, old boy, but I’m afraid the sworn testimony of a cat doesn’t count for much. Not everyone is as enlightened as Henry and I,” said Clarence. “I suppose I should talk to Donnie, anyway. Maybe he noticed something. At the very least we’ll get a description of the salesman, and we can send it to the police in Albany.”
    My head was spinning as I tried to keep