儿童英语读物 The Soccer Mystery CHAPTER 6 Follow That Van!

“The blue van? You saw the blue van?” Jessie cried.



“No! No, I saw the man who was driving the blue van,” said Violet. She hesitated. “At least, I think it was him. He was wearing dark glasses and a navy blue cap with gold trim pulled down low over his face.”



Henry said, “It could be him. But where did he go?”



“We should look for him,” said Jessie. “But we have to hurry. Grandfather is waiting.”



“We’ll divide up. Violet and I will check inside the building, Benny and Soo Lee can check the parking lot, and Jessie, you go see if he’s at the soccer field. We’ll meet back here in five minutes.”



The Aldens and Soo Lee scattered 1 to look for the mysterious man. Five minutes later they had reunited in front of the locker 2 room doors.



“Not in the parking lot,” said Soo Lee.



“But his blue van is!” added Benny.



“We didn’t see him anywhere inside the building,” Henry said.



“Where’s Jessie?” Violet asked.



“Here I am,” said Jessie, hurrying over. “And I found him!”



“Where?” asked Henry.



“Most of the people watching the games are standing 3 on the sidelines,” Jessie said. “But a few are sitting in the bleachers. He’s sitting up at the very top of the bleachers, in the middle of a group of parents.”



“Do you think he is someone’s father?” asked Benny. “Can someone’s father be a spy?”



Jessie shook her head. “I don’t know, Benny. He wasn’t talking to any of the other parents. And he wasn’t cheering for anyone. He was just watching.”



“I think we should watch him,” said Henry. “Let’s ask Grandfather if we can stay just a little while longer.”



Mr. Alden agreed that they could stay. “But we have to leave at halftime,” he said. “We don’t want to be late for lunch.”



The Aldens and Soo Lee decided 4 to split 5 up again to spy on the man in the navy blue cap. “If we go over there all together,” said Jessie, “it might make him suspicious 6.”



Henry and Soo Lee went to stand behind the bleachers. Violet, Benny, and Jessie took seats at the top, at the end away from the man in the navy hat. They took turns glancing in his direction to see what he was doing.



But he didn’t do anything. He just watched the Bears playing soccer against the Eagles, the Silver City team. And sometimes he didn’t seem to even be watching. Sometimes he stared down at a notebook in his hand and wrote in it.



“Is he studying for something?” asked Violet.



“Maybe he’s writing spy notes in invisible ink,” said Benny. “Then he’s going to leave the book, and another spy will come along and pick it up and get the notes.”



But when halftime came, the man put the notebook into the pocket of his wind-breaker and stood up. He glanced around, and Jessie, Violet, and Benny froze. For a long moment, it seemed as if his gaze rested on them, but it was hard to tell because he was wearing sunglasses.



Then he walked down the bleachers.



Jessie jumped up to follow him. But just then, the man turned and looked back up the bleachers.



Quickly Jessie pretended she was just stretching. She sat down again. “I don’t think we can follow him,” she said. “I think he is suspicious.”



“What are we going to do?” asked Benny.



“Don’t worry,” said Violet. “Henry and Soo Lee will follow him.”



They waited until the man was out of sight, then jumped up and hurried down the bleachers. Sure enough, they could see Henry and Soo Lee walking a short distance behind the man as he headed for the community center.



“Jessie, Benny, Violet,” Grandfather called across the field to them. “It’s time to go.”



The three walked across the field to join their grandfather. “Where are Henry and Soo Lee?” he asked.



“Here they come,” said Violet.



Henry and Soo Lee came up to join the others as they went to the parking lot.



“What happened?” asked Jessie.



Henry made a face. “Nothing,” he said. “The man just got into the van and drove away.”



“I think he was suspicious of us,” said Jessie. “Maybe that’s why he left.”



“At least we know it is the same man with the van,” Violet said.



“Yes,” agreed Henry. “And if he was here this morning, he could have been the one who locked Elena in the locker room.”



“He was at practice when all the air was let out of the soccer balls,” said Violet.



“I think he is our best suspect,” said Soo Lee.



“Right now,” said Jessie, “he is our only suspect. But we can’t prove anything until we find out why he would try to sabotage 7 the Panthers.”



It was after lunch, and the Aldens had gone out to visit their old boxcar in the backyard. Mrs. McGregor had made a very special lunch for them. Benny had had seconds of everything. He’d eaten so much lunch that it had made him sleepy, and now he was lying in the grass next to the boxcar, his eyes half closed. Watch was lying next to Benny with his head on Benny’s chest. He was waiting for Benny to wake up and play. Soo Lee had gone home after lunch. She had been yawning, too, when she left.



“Are you taking a nap, Benny?” asked Violet.



“No,” Benny answered. “I’m just resting my eyes.”



Henry, who was sitting next to Violet in the doorway 8 of the boxcar, grinned down at his younger brother.



“What are you doing, Jessie?” asked Violet, looking over her shoulder at her sister.



Sitting at the table inside the boxcar, Jessie had her chin propped 9 on both fists. She was staring at the wall with narrowed eyes. At first she didn’t answer her sister.



“Jessie?” said Violet. “Jessie?”



Jessie blinked 10 and looked startled 11. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you. I was thinking too hard, I guess.”



“What were you thinking about?” asked Henry.



“Everything that has happened to the Panthers,” said Jessie. “I was trying to figure out who did it and why.”



She got up and came to join her brother and sister in the doorway of the boxcar. Violet moved over to one side to make room for Jessie in the middle.



“Someone let the air out of the soccer balls on the last practice before our game,” said Jessie. “Then someone locked Elena in the locker room at the Silver City Community Center at halftime.”



“Maybe one of the players on the Rockets did that,” suggested Henry. “Elena is one of the best players on the Panthers. Maybe they thought it would help make us lose the game.”



Jessie shook her head and said, “I thought about that. But no one on the Rockets could have let the air out of the soccer balls before practice. They would have had to know when and where we practiced, who our coach was, and come early, all the way from Silver City.”



“That lets the Rockets out,” agreed Henry.



“The best suspect is the stranger in the blue van,” said Violet. “He was at practice and he was at the game. So he could have gotten to the soccer balls and followed Elena and locked her up.”



Henry said, “True. But you know what, I don’t think he’s our only suspect.”



“You mean Robert?” asked Jessie.



“No. I mean Stan,” said Henry. “He would have a reason to make the Panthers lose. He wants to make sure everyone thinks the Bears are the best team and that he is the best coach, so he can get the coaching job at the university.”



Violet said, “Craig and Gillian want that job, too. Maybe Craig did it to make Gillian look bad.”



“But someone let the air out of the soccer balls for Craig’s team, too,” Jessie reminded her.



“Maybe Craig did it so he wouldn’t be suspected,” Henry said.



“Or Gillian could have done the same thing,” Jessie said. She held up her fingers and counted off the suspects. “Stan, Gillian, Craig, and the stranger,” she said. “Four suspects. And not enough clues.”



“Do you think anything else will happen at soccer practice?” Violet asked.



“I do, Violet,” said Henry. “Either at a practice or at a game. We’ll have to be ready. We’ll watch Stan, Craig, and Gillian very closely. Then maybe we can catch whoever is doing this.”