Mandie Collection, The: 4 (13 page)

In a few minutes Mrs. Taft came back alone. Hurrying into the parlor, she thanked Jonathan for staying with the girls and sat down
near the door. “Senator Morton has gone to engage the services of a private detective for the rest of our stay here in Italy,” she told the young people.

“A private detective!” Mandie exclaimed.

“A real one?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes, a real private detective,” Mrs. Taft replied. “The manager recommended one who speaks English, and the senator has gone to talk with him. Of course, the manager apologized for what happened last night. He’ll have that outside door to your room sealed up today after we go out.”

“Did you report it to the police, Grandmother?” Mandie asked.

“No, dear,” Mrs. Taft replied. “The senator and I talked it over, and since we want to leave Italy by tomorrow, we thought it best not to become involved in legal technicalities, which might delay us.”

“Where are we going today, Mrs. Taft?” Jonathan asked.

“Well, I thought we could get a carriage and just ride around the city to no place in particular,” she said.

“And just stop whenever we like?” Mandie added.

“Sounds great to me,” Jonathan said.

“I think that would be very relaxing after such a terrible night,” Celia agreed. “I just don’t have much energy or enthusiasm today.”

When Senator Morton came in a few minutes later, a huge man was with him. The senator introduced him. “Mrs. Taft, this is Mr. John Swaggingham.”

The detective bowed slightly and greeted Mandie’s grandmother warmly. He was not only big around but awfully tall. He was a friendly, middle-aged man with curly brown hair and a darker mustache. When he spoke, Mandie decided he was British.

Hearing the man’s name, Mandie turned her head to hide her smile. He did swagger slightly when he walked. And he was so big! As they all sat down in the parlor, Mandie noticed that the detective was bigger than the chair.

The young people were introduced, and Mandie liked the detective immediately. Jonathan and Celia seemed to like him, too.

“Mr. Swaggingham has agreed to accompany us for the rest of our stay here in Italy,” Senator Morton explained. “Of course I told him about last night, and he will sleep on the sofa here in the parlor tonight. We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

“We appreciate your help, Mr. Swaggingham,” Mrs. Taft told him. “We’re all going to feel safer with you around.”

“Thank you, madam,” the detective replied. “It will be my pleasure to be in the company of such lovely ladies.” He glanced over to include Mandie and Celia.

Mandie suddenly had an idea. “Can you catch people who try to get away?” she asked. “I mean, suppose I kept seeing someone, and every time I tried to catch the person, they disappeared? Just supposing, of course.”

Celia and Jonathan quickly glanced at Mandie.

“Yes, Miss, I probably could,” the man assured her. “I know I look big and clumsy, but I get about rather quickly when necessary. I lose very few indeed.”

Mrs. Taft stood up. “I think we’d better get going if we want some time to sightsee before the noon meal,” she said.

As they all prepared to leave the suite, Mr. Swaggingham instructed them to stay together and near him since he couldn’t very well keep track of them in five different directions.

Mandie and Celia trailed behind to whisper. “I guess we’ll have to go to restrooms to talk, if we don’t want him to overhear everything we say,” Mandie told Celia.

They walked toward the hired carriage in front of the hotel.

“But that means we can’t talk to Jonathan without the detective hearing,” Celia whispered back.

Jonathan looked at the girls curiously and smiled his mischievous smile. “I know what you’re talking about,” he teased in a whisper.

“No, you don’t,” Mandie replied.

“You were trying to figure out how we’re going to talk privately with him around,” Jonathan said softly.

The girls smiled at him and climbed into the carriage. But it didn’t turn out to be much of a problem after all. As the carriage driver took them up one street and down the next so they could see most of the city, Mr. Swaggingham carried on a conversation with Senator Morton and Mrs. Taft most of the time. He didn’t seem to notice what the young people did or said. Now and then they all stopped to look at some historical landmark, and at noon they ate at a sidewalk cafe.

At one of the last sites they stopped to visit, Senator Morton spoke to Jonathan, “I suppose I’d better go by the telegraph office and wire
your father,” he said. “I need to give him the address where we’ll be staying in Switzerland so he’ll know where you are.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jonathan said. “I appreciate your going to so much trouble for me.”

“No trouble,” the senator replied. “We’re lucky to have you along to help entertain these two young ladies.” He winked at Mandie and Celia.

“Yes, Jonathan, we really appreciate your being with us,” Mandie told him.

“We trust you can stay with us the rest of the time we’re in Europe,” Mrs. Taft said, finishing her cup of tea.

“I’m so glad we met up with you, Jonathan,” Celia added.

“Well, you all flatter me,” Jonathan said, blushing slightly.

“I’ll also check while I’m there to see if any message has been received from your aunt and uncle in Paris,” Senator Morton added.

“I do wish I could hear from them,” Jonathan replied. “I hope I can stay with them when you people go back home.”

“It would be nice if we could meet them before we leave Europe,” Mrs. Taft said.

Senator Morton explained the situation to Mr. Swaggingham, “Jonathan’s aunt and uncle are newspaper people in Paris, and they’ve been away on an assignment ever since we got to Europe.”

“They are French?” the detective asked.

“Oh, no, they’re from the United States,” the senator told him. “They are with a branch of a New York newspaper in Paris.”

“I see,” the man answered. “Would you like me to locate them for you?”

“That won’t be necessary,” the senator replied. “You see, we stay in touch with his father in New York. He has asked us to keep Jonathan with us until his relatives do return to Paris or Mr. Guyer comes over here himself.”

The detective turned to Jonathan. “You are the son of Jonathan Lindall Guyer, Jr., is that right?” he asked. “I saw the newspaper articles when you ran away from home.”

“Yes, sir,” Jonathan confirmed.

“I have done work for your father right here in Italy,” the detective told him.

“You have?” Jonathan asked in surprise. “What kind of work?”

“Oh, I’ve checked out a few references on people he does business with and that sort of thing,” Mr. Swaggingham said. “Nothing of great importance.”

“Any money my father spends is important to him,” Jonathan said.

“I know,” the detective agreed.

“Well, if you’ll sit here with the ladies, I’ll get the carriage, and we’ll cover a couple more sights before we go back to the hotel,” the senator told him.

As soon as Senator Morton returned with the carriage that had been waiting, they went to the telegraph office. He sent Jonathan’s father a message and found that the boy’s relatives had not been in contact with him yet, so he relayed another message to the Paris office of the newspaper they worked for, giving the address where they would be staying in Switzerland.

“Now, that’s done,” the senator said as he returned to the carriage. “Why don’t we drive along the Tiber River?”

The others were agreeable, and the driver took them along the river that flows through the city of Rome. Now and then they saw a small boat. And one of them quickly drew Mandie’s attention.

“Look! That boat over there!” she said, pointing. “See that woman on it? She’s the woman from the ship!”

They all turned to look. The woman didn’t seem to be aware of their gaze. The boat was traveling in the same direction they were.

Mrs. Taft shielded her eyes to look across the water. “I do believe it is the same woman,” she said.

“Can we ride along the river’s edge until her boat docks, and then we could stop, too?” Mandie asked.

“My, no, dear, we can’t go chasing that woman,” her grandmother said sternly. “There’s no telling where she is headed. I wonder if the others in the boat with her are her companions, or just traveling on the same boat.”

Mr. Swaggingham listened with interest to the conversation. “That’s a public boat,” he said, “a ferry that people take for a small fee. It stops at various places along the river.”

“It’s stopping on the other side, and she’s getting off!” Mandie exclaimed as their carriage crept along at a sightseeing pace.

“And we can’t drive the carriage across the river, so that’s the end of her for now,” Jonathan reminded Mandie.

“One of these days!” Mandie muttered, mostly to herself.

Later that afternoon, Mrs. Taft decided they should return to their hotel so the young people could have an early dinner in the dining room. She and the senator were dining at the home of her friend, but she told them they would at least sit with the young people while they had their meal.

“But, madam, that won’t be necessary,” Mr. Swaggingham told her. “You are paying me to look after the young people. I will be glad to sit with them in the dining room. I can have my dinner at the same time.”

“Of course, Mr. Swaggingham,” Mrs. Taft said as the carriage drew up in front of the hotel. “I’d forgotten. That will give me time to rest a little before I have to dress for the evening.”

As they entered the lobby, the desk clerk stopped Senator Morton. “The door has been sealed in the young ladies’ room,” he said. “The window on that side, also. They should be safe now.”

They all thanked him and went up to their rooms. Mr. Swaggingham checked out the door and the window that had been closed up. Everything seemed to be all right, so the young people freshened up for dinner, and Mrs. Taft lay down to rest.

When Jonathan joined them in the parlor, Mandie called through the door to her grandmother’s bedroom. “We’re going to eat now, Grandmother,” she said, picking up Snowball.

“All right, dear. We’ll see you before we go, either down there or up here if you get back before we leave,” Mrs. Taft answered through the closed door.

In the dining room a few minutes later, the waiter showed them to a table. Mandie fastened Snowball’s leash to the table leg, and they ordered their food. Without the adults to talk with, Mr. Swaggingham was quiet and listened to the young people’s conversation as they discussed the extraordinary sights they had seen in Rome.

After they began eating, Mandie asked the detective about the stolen gem at the catacombs. “Do you know if they’ve found the stone or caught anyone yet?” she asked.

“I don’t believe they have,” Mr. Swaggingham replied. “It usually takes a long time to solve something like that.”

Mandie looked up and saw her grandmother rushing toward them. As Mrs. Taft came up to the table, Mr. Swaggingham and Jonathan stood up.

“Oh, dear, Amanda,” Mrs. Taft began. “I can’t find my ruby necklace anywhere.”

“Your ruby necklace has disappeared?” Mandie was shocked.

Mrs. Taft sat down to talk to her granddaughter. “Do you remember fastening it for me when I wore it the other day, dear?” she asked. “The hook was difficult to work, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Grandmother, I had trouble getting it to fasten,” Mandie agreed. “Do you think you might have lost the necklace while you wore it?”

“I just don’t know,” her grandmother said. “I either lost it or someone has stolen it. I just don’t remember taking it off when I undressed.”

“Would you like me to search your suite for you?” Mr. Swaggingham offered.

“Would you, please?” Mrs. Taft was frantic. “I’ve looked everywhere I can think of, but you, being a detective, might have better success than I did.”

The young people hurriedly swallowed the last bites of their meal and rose to follow the adults back to the suite. Mandie snatched a piece of meat off the table, quickly covered it with her handkerchief, and picked Snowball up from under the table.

She knew the kitten had not finished what she had given him earlier. Holding him up against her face, she whispered, “Don’t worry. I have a piece of chicken for you.” He rolled out his rough red tongue and licked her cheek.

As she rode with the others back up in the elevator, she wondered what would happen next. She was sure the ruby necklace was extremely valuable because she remembered asking her grandmother if it were real.

Well, maybe this detective can find it
, Mandie thought.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A MYSTERY SOLVED

Everyone stood by, watching while Mr. Swaggingham thoroughly searched Mrs. Taft’s room and her belongings. Then he searched the parlor and moved on into the room Mandie and Celia shared. The ruby necklace was not to be found.

Mrs. Taft, nervously overseeing the search, finally sat down on the settee in the parlor and sighed. “I have insurance on it, of course, but that was a family heirloom that I intended passing down to you, Amanda. I can collect the money for it, but that won’t replace its value to me.”

Mandie sat by her grandmother and held her hand as she looked up into Mrs. Taft’s worried face. “Grandmother, please don’t worry about it. I know it was valuable, but you know that small, simple things mean more to me, like the rose I pressed from my mother’s wedding bouquet when she married Uncle John, and the map we found that showed where Aunt Ruby had hidden her treasure.”

Mrs. Taft embraced her granddaughter silently.

“Besides,” Mandie reminded her, “we can’t take material things with us when we die. You have given me your love, and that’s more important than any gift you can ever leave to me, Grandmother.”

Mandie moved back from her grandmother’s embrace, and saw that tears filled Mrs. Taft’s eyes. Mandie squeezed her tight.

Suddenly Snowball jumped into Mandie’s lap, startling them both.

He began meowing and raised his front paws to his mistress’s shoulder.

Mandie gasped. “Snowball!” she scolded.

Mrs. Taft smiled. “Why, I do believe your cat is jealous, Amanda,” she said.