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

we couldn’t get any images of the interior,” Dan said.
    The people going inside the heavy brass doors looked so … important. So self-assured.
    I don’t belong here,
Amy thought.
    A voice rose in her head. Nellie’s voice.
C’mon, kiddo. You can do it. You’re rocking the fancy threads. Work it.
    Amy smiled, but she felt her heart constrict. She missed Nellie so much.
    The clothes helped. Even the ridiculously large purse the saleswoman had insisted she needed. She saw similar purses on the arms of the chic women walking through the doors.
    She tried not to wobble in her heels as they walked into the lobby of the auction house. It was a double-height room with ornate moldings and a gleaming floor. Ahead was a grand curving staircase and to their right was a pair of double doors. A petite woman in a black suit and many strands of large pearls welcomed them in German, but when they answered she switched to flawless English. “Welcome. I am Frau Gertler. The auction will begin in ten minutes.” She handed them a catalog. If she wondered what two teenagers were doing at an auction for Old Masters prints and paintings she gave no sign.
    Dan moved closer to the woman. “I wonder if I might have a second catalog,” he said. “Papa will be joining us. By the way, those are fabulous pearls. Mummy has a set just like them, but hers are slightly larger.”
    Amy nudged him. He was taking this Ian Kabra impersonation way too far. They had to blend in, not call attention to themselves.
    “Thank you,” Frau Gertler said, and leaned over to grab another small stack of catalogs.
    The double doors to the auction room opened, and they glimpsed a large room with rows of gilt chairs. An empty easel sat on an elevated platform. People were filing in and sitting down.
    Amy’s eyes moved around the lobby. She saw now that many doors were tucked away in alcoves and underneath the stairs. Too many. Then she noted one that was marked BÜROS . She knew that was German for
offices
. She nudged Dan and pointed to it with her chin.
    A group of people walked in and were greeted by the chic woman in the black suit. While she was occupied, they pretended to stroll and admire the moldings. They backed up against the door marked BÜROS .
    “There’s a slot for a key card,” Amy murmured. “So I don’t think you can work your lock-picking magic.”
    “That’s okay,” Dan said. “I have a key.”
    “How did you get that?”
    “‘Fabulous pearls. Mummy has a set just like them,’”
he mimicked himself as he looked up at the moldings. Dan’s face was set in a look of concentration Amy recognized. “I knew …” She sneaked a look and saw that behind his back Dan was trying to slide the card through the slot. “… if she leaned over … for the rest of the catalogs that I could … slip it out… .”
    Amy leaned back. “About a fraction to the left and up an inch,” she muttered.
    Dan found the slot and slid the card in. The door opened a crack. With one last glance at the activity in the lobby, they quickly slid inside.
    The door clicked shut behind them softly. Amy let out a breath.
    “When did you turn into such a criminal? I didn’t even see you move!”
    “There’s a fine line between criminality and genius,” Dan said. “That’s what Lightfinger Larry used to say.”
    The hallway was carpeted in severe gray. Steel-framed art marched down one wall. The offices on their left all had glass walls. They could hear the murmur of voices from behind a door to the right. Amy put a finger to her lips. They tiptoed down the hallway, slipping past the empty offices. They were lucky that it was a Saturday. The glass walls gave them a sightline into offices that looked like living rooms, with sofas and easy chairs and paintings on the walls. Amy stopped short.
    “I think that’s a Rembrandt,” she whispered, pointing at a small dark painting on the wall of the largest office. “Isn’t it amazing?”
    “Sorry. Only one art