儿童英语读物 The Cereal Box Mystery CHAPTER 2 The Stolen Rubies

A police officer raced past the Aldens, almost crashing into Henry. She didn’t even see him.



The police officer disappeared around the corner.



The Aldens looked back in the direction from which the officer had come. They saw a man and a woman standing 1 outside an antiques store. The woman pointed 2 and the man waved his arms in excitement.



“There must have been a robbery,” Jessie said. “Let’s go find out.”



The Aldens hurried up to the two people outside the store. “What happened?” Jessie asked as they got closer.



The woman turned. She was a short woman, not much taller than Henry, with round blue eyes and long dark brown hair pulled into a French braid. Strands 3 of hair were sticking out from the braid and one sleeve of her shirt was torn. “A robbery!” she gasped 4. “I tried to stop him, but he got away. He tore my shirt!”



“Did the robber wear a mask?” asked Benny.



The man shook his head. He was a small, thin man wearing thick glasses. “I’m Will Bellows 5. I own Antique Treasures.” He pointed to the sign above the shop. “This thief was quite bold. He just grabbed something and ran out when I was helping 6 Ms. Smitts here and another customer. Ms. Smitts was very brave. She ran after the thief and caught him right outside the door, but he pulled free.”



“What did he look like?” asked Henry.



Ms. Smitts said, “I don’t know . . . it all happened so fast. He wasn’t very tall. But he had a hat pulled low over his forehead and a scarf pulled up around the lower part of his face. He might have had a mustache. He pushed me away and ran.”



Mr. Bellows couldn’t remember, either. “He stayed in the darkest part of the shop,” he said. “And he kept his shoulders hunched 7 and his face turned away. He had on a tan raincoat and a brown hat, but that’s all I remember. I only noticed the raincoat because it wasn’t raining outside. I thought that it was odd.”



“What was stolen?” Violet asked.



Mr. Bellows clapped his hand to his forehead. “The rings!” he said. “I left the tray of rings I was showing to a customer right out on the counter.”



Turning, Mr. Bellows rushed back into his shop with the Aldens and Ms. Smitts behind him. Inside, they found a small room filled with all kinds of old furniture, lamps, and books. A glass case displayed jewelry 8. An anxious-looking young man with round wire-rimmed glasses was hovering 9 near one end of the glass case.



“Did you catch the thief?” the man asked.



“Not yet,” Mr. Bellows said.



“Who are you?” Benny asked.



The man peered at Benny through his glasses and said, “I’m David. David Darden. I’m trying to find an engagement ring.” He blushed slightly. Then he said to Benny, “Who are you?”



“I’m Benny Alden,” Benny said.



Meanwhile, Mr. Bellows had hurried over to the blue velvet 10 tray at David’s elbow. “They’re all here,” he said, sounding relieved. “All the rings are still here!”



Now David Darden looked surprised and a little hurt. “Of course they are. I stayed in the shop to make sure nothing would happen to them.”



“Oh,” Mr. Bellows said. He looked slightly embarrassed. “Sorry. Thank you.” Then he glanced toward another corner of the store and his face grew grim. “Oh, no,” he said.



“What’s wrong?” asked Jessie.



“The thief took the most valuable thing in the store — a necklace set — a matching necklace, bracelet 11, and ring.” Mr. Bellows pointed toward a small case. “They were especially valuable because they were made of rubies 12.”



The Aldens went over to the small case. “The lock isn’t broken,” said Henry. “Did it have a key in it?”



“No,” said Mr. Bellows. “I keep the key on my key ring.”



“Could the thief have picked the lock while you were helping other customers?” asked Henry.



“It’s possible,” said Mr. Bellows.



“Or maybe you left it open the last time you unlocked it,” Violet said.



“Oh, no. You locked it,” said Mr. Darden.



“Are you sure?” asked Mr. Bellows.



“Yes,” said Mr. Darden. “Right after you showed the jewels to me.” He smiled and shook his head. “They were beautiful, but much too expensive for me. I just want an engagement ring.”



“It’s true,” Ms. Smitts chimed in. “I was here when you showed the jewelry to Mr. Darden. I saw you lock the case, too.”



“It’s amazing that anybody could pick that lock in that short a time,” said Mr. Bellows. He looked very unhappy. “They were particularly fine rubies. I was delighted when their owner offered to sell them to me.”



“Rubies,” Violet said softly.



“Yes,” said Mr. Bellows. “And these were particularly beautiful and rare, a perfectly 13 matched set.” He sat down heavily in a nearby chair. A puff 14 of dust came up around him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear,” he said. “I hope they catch the thief.”



“Don’t worry,” said Benny. “If they don’t, we will.”



Ms. Smitts laughed. Benny put his hands on his hips 15. “We can,” he said. “We’ve solved lots of mysteries.”



Although she stopped laughing, Ms. Smitts still kept smiling. The Aldens could tell that she didn’t believe Benny.



Mr. Bellows shook his head. “If someone doesn’t catch the thief,” he said, “I’m ruined.”



“We’d better go,” said Henry. “Let us know if we can do anything to help.”



Fumbling 16 in his pocket, Mr. Bellows brought out a small notebook and a pencil. He said to Ms. Smitts and Mr. Darden, “You’d better leave your names in case the police want to talk to you.”



Mr. Darden said, “Are you sure that is necessary? . . . I mean, I don’t want my name to be in the newspaper.”



Ms. Smitts gave Mr. Darden a suspicious look. “Well, I don’t have anything to hide,” she said. She took the notebook and pencil and wrote “Tori Smitts” and her phone number in the notebook. Reluctantly, Mr. Darden wrote in his name, address, and phone number as well.



Then Ms. Smitts and Mr. Darden walked out of the store with the Aldens. When they got outside, Benny raised his hand and pointed. “Oh, no!” he cried. “My bike. Look what happened to my bike!”



Benny’s bike was no longer parked where he had left it. It was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, with groceries spilled out all around it.



Quickly the Aldens hurried toward the bicycles. Mr. Darden and Ms. Smitts went with them. They helped the Aldens pick up the scattered 17 cans and boxes from the grocery bag.



“There,” said Ms. Smitts. She looked inside the basket and shifted the open box of Silver Frosted Stars. “It looks like one of your boxes of cereal got broken open when your bike fell over. You want me to throw it away?”



She held up the box, but Benny shook his head. “No, I’d already opened it. It’s okay.”



He took the box from Ms. Smitts and put it back in the basket.



“Thank you for helping us,” said Henry.



“Of course,” said Mr. Darden. He shook his head and smiled a little. “I guess I wasn’t meant to buy an engagement ring today.”



“We’re just lucky no one got hurt,” Ms. Smitts said. She waved at the Aldens and walked briskly away.



“Maybe I’ll do a little more shopping,” Mr. Darden said. He smiled again and made his way slowly down the sidewalk, stopping to peer into the different windows.



“Wow,” said Benny. “A robbery. With rubies! We’ve found another mystery to solve, haven’t we?”



“Yes,” Jessie said. “Maybe we can help Mr. Bellows.”



Benny grinned. “Hooray,” he said. “Now we have a party and a mystery!”



“Whoever took the jewels must have known they were the most valuable thing in the store,” said Henry. “It had to be somebody who knew about jewelry.”



“But no one even knows what he looks like,” said Violet.



“The police will probably catch the thief,” Henry said. But even though he said that and his brother and sisters agreed, they still talked about the mystery of the stolen rubies all the way home.



They were so busy talking that they didn’t even notice the person who followed them.