One False Note - 39 Clues 02 Read Online Free PDF Page A

depths of the pile as Nellie rolled them back toward the elevator.
    "The royal suite, of course," Nellie murmured. "Would anything less be good enough for that stuck-up nitwit? And keep it down. Laundry doesn't talk." The elevator took them to the top floor, the seventeenth. Nellie pushed the cart down the hall, stopping in front of suite 1700, the one with the gilt crown prominently displayed over the door. Knowing that the Wizards were on their way to their party, she boldly plucked the key card out of its tray and inserted it into the reader. A beep, a green light, and they were inside.
    "Wow," the au pair breathed. "So this is Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." The room was palatial, with museum-quality furniture and decorative pieces -- sofas and lounges in the nineteenth-century style, soft and overstuffed and upholstered in plush velvet; delicate china lamps and vases; everything oozing opulent taste. She reached down and was in the process of pulling the Cahills out of their hiding place, when a heavily accented voice inquired, "Does a maid not k nock at His Highness's door?"
    CHAPTER 5
    Shocked, Nellie pushed her charges back down among the linen. "Uh -- I'm sorry," she managed. "I thought the suite was empty. I'm supposed to bring fresh towels to the Wizards' room."
    "My dear young lady, this is the suite of his Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg." The man's lip curled slightly. "The American television actor is in the suite below -- and a great fuss he made about that, I might add."
    Nellie began backing the cart toward the door. "Sorry, sir. I'll get out of your way." "A moment, if you please. Now that you are here, His Highness's bedchamber requires refreshing."
    Nellie continued backing away. "Well, I really should get down to the Wizards' ... " "Nonsense. It will take but a moment. And there are several other matters that require your attention. If you'll follow me to the bathroom ... "
    "Coming," she called after him. She leaned down into the linen bin, thrust the key card into the nearest hand, and whispered, "When you hear my voice in the next room, get out of here!"
    "What about you?" Amy squeaked.
    "I can handle myself. You get the diary. I'll meet you back at our hotel. Be careful!" And she was gone. A moment later, they could hear her announcing loudly, "This bathroom is bigger than my whole apartment!"
    The sheets began flying, and Amy and Dan scrambled from the cart and slipped through the door into the hallway. "Jonah's one floor down," Dan rasped. They ran for the stairs.
    The door of suite 1600 was identical to its upstairs counterpart, except there was no crown.
    "Poor Jonah," Amy said sarcastically as they let themselves in with the key card. "He's really slumming it."
    If the rooms were any less opulent than the Grand Duke's accomodations, Amy and Dan couldn't tell where corners had been cut. The suite was massive and elegantly decorated. The marble floor gleamed; the rich carpets were hand-woven and luxurious. Every vase and ashtray on every end table looked like it had been placed there by an artist.
    "Kind of makes our place in Boston seem like an outhouse," Dan observed.
    Amy sighed. "I don't care about the high life. But sometimes it bugs me just how rich
    the competition is."
    "Grace was rich." Dan's brow clouded as he remembered the fire that had destroyed their grandmother's mansion on the day of her funeral. "Anyway, I'd rather be poor and normal than a rich idiot like Jonah or the Cobras."
    "Yeah, but money is a big advantage in a contest like this," his sister argued bleakly. "It can open a lot of doors that we'll have to find another way around. We're really outclassed, Dan."
    "That's what cheating is for." He surveyed the expansive parlor. "Now, if I was a stuck-up idiot with my head on a Pez dispenser, where would I hide the diary I jacked?" Amy smiled in spite of herself. "We'd better search the whole place." They began to comb the huge suite, looking under sofa cushions, in