Sleeper Car

Eleven-year-old detective Nadia is aboard the overnight Coastal Comet when a priceless sapphire vanishes at midnight. Can she crack the case before the train reaches the dawn station?

The Coastal Comet slid out of the city station just as the sky turned the color of a bruised plum. Nadia pressed her nose to the cold window of Compartment 7 and watched the lights streak past like falling stars.

'A whole night on a sleeper train,' she whispered to herself, grinning. 'A little rattling room with bunk beds and a fold-down sink. This is the best birthday present ever.'

Across the compartment, Gran was already tucked into the bottom bunk with her reading glasses pushed up on her forehead. 'Wake me at the seaside, love,' Gran mumbled, and within a minute she was snoring softly. Gran could sleep through a thunderstorm, an earthquake, and a brass band, all at once.

Nadia pulled her detective notebook from her bag. It was mostly empty. 'Nothing ever happens to me,' she sighed. 'But you never know. A good detective stays ready.'