The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rich brats out for kicks? Most likely. Yet he dug a little bit and discovered that although they were fantastically wealthy they attended a public school, had not exhibited discipline problems, were not featured in the tabloids, did not give interviews, did not appear in a reality TV program … none of the things he expected.
    Yet suddenly they had dropped out of school and headed for Europe. There was a small item in a Boston paper about a fuel truck and a school bus and a possible attempted kidnapping. It was the lack of detail that bothered him. Small article, then nothing. Schoolchildren had been endangered. Usually, Americans went crazy over things like that.
    And within a few days these two kids had stolen a priceless painting from the Uffizi. A theft so cool and daring it must have been done by professionals.
    But it had been done by children.
    Then there was the strange accusation from an American student that Dan and Amy Cahill had stolen the first edition of Marco Polo’s manuscript … a manuscript that didn’t even
exist.
The accusation had been buried in a file, but Vanek had found it, because he didn’t sleep much and he had a seed in his tooth.
    They’d been on the Zurich train, he was sure of it. That’s why he had the train stopped at the border. Somewhere between there and Lucerne, they had gotten off. But where did they get off? And
how
did they get off?
    Kids could disappear more easily than adults. People didn’t notice kids. And these kids were so …
neutral.
So bland in that American way.
    His partner came out of the ladies’ room. Most women when they exited a bathroom appeared with newly brushed hair, a fresh swipe of lipstick. Not Luna Amato. She went in looking like a slightly rumpled Italian grandmother and came out looking like a slightly rumpled Italian grandmother. Gray hair curling around her face. Black dress, flat shoes, unfashionable jacket with a coffee stain on the sleeve. Sharp brown eyes that could look vacant, kind, or merciless, depending on the situation.
    He’d never worked with her before, but he needed someone who could blend in. Someone who could approach the kids and not scare them. He knew they’d been close to their grandmother, Grace Cahill. He’d been betting that they’d be suckers for someone her age.
    Amato sat down and fished an ice cube out of her water glass. She plopped it in her coffee. He’d worked with her for three days now and the only thing he knew about her was that coffee was always too hot for her taste.
    She took a sip. “Zurich,” she said. “I think they went on to Zurich. They could have taken any number of trains from the station. The city is bigger. More places to fence the artwork. I say we head there.”
    Vanek nodded. She could be right. It was logical, a good deduction. And yet …
    The seed in his tooth. The nagging feeling that they were close.
    “You could be right,” he said. “But first, let’s see what we can find in Lucerne.”

“I can’t do this,” Dan said.
    Amy and Dan stood on an exclusive shopping street in Lucerne. Steps ahead they saw the stone front of the expensive boutique Ian had told them about. One item hung on a skeletal hanger in the window, something black and tiny that appeared to be a dress or a tunic, or maybe a shirt?
    If she couldn’t even identify the clothing, how could she pass herself off as a fashionista?
    “We just stole a painting and smuggled ourselves off a train,” Amy said, trying to sound confident. “And we can’t
shop
?”
    “Don’t make me.” Dan gave her a mute look of appeal. “Can’t you do it?”
    “No.” Amy felt her phone vibrate. She held it up. It was from Ian.

    DON’T ASK THE PRICE OF ANYTHING. DON’T SMILE. DON’T SAY “DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING CHEAPER?” DON’T

    Amy shoved the phone back in her pocket. “Just pretend to be Ian,” she told Dan. “Come on, the auction is in an hour.”
    They pushed open the frosted glass door. There appeared to be about ten