儿童英语读物 The Amazing Mystery Show CHAPTER 4 Cats at Play

When the Aldens finally arrived at the Betsy Ross House, Andy said, “There’s no filming allowed inside the house, kids. I’ll wait in the courtyard.”



Henry gave him the thumbs-up sign. “We’ll meet you out there.”



As the four children stepped inside the house, they breathed in the musty smell of the past. The narrow little house was filled with tourists, so they had to thread their way through the crowds as they went from room to room.



“It’s kind of like walking through a haunted house,” Benny said as they climbed the winding 1 staircase.



“Don’t worry, Benny,” said Violet, who was a step above him. “Ghosts don’t exist.”



They looked for cats in the shadowy kitchen where herbs hung from the ceiling, and in the storage room piled high with boxes of fabrics 2. They looked for cats in the small parlor 4 where portraits covered the walls, and in Betsy’s bedroom with its four-poster bed. They even looked for cats in the workroom filled with the tools of Betsy’s trade—thimbles, spools 5 of thread, and fabric 3.



When the Aldens stepped out into the courtyard, Andy called out to them, “Any luck?” He was sitting at a small table in the shade of a tree.



“Zilch,” Henry said as they pulled up a chair. “No sign of cats anywhere.”



“It doesn’t make sense.” Jessie was shaking her head. “I was so sure we were on the right track this time.”



“Speaking of time.” Henry glanced at his watch. “It’s running out fast.”



“I’ve drawn 6 a blank,” said Jessie.



Just then, Benny caught his breath.



“What is it?” Jessie asked in alarm.



Benny’s eyes were huge. They all looked over in the direction he was staring.



“Is that what I think it is?” Violet asked in disbelief.



Henry nodded his head. “Cats!”



Sure enough, a fountain in the middle of the courtyard was decorated with bronze cats!



As Andy started filming again, Jessie gave her little brother a hug. “What would we do without you, Benny?”



“I’m a pretty good detective, aren’t I?” Benny beamed.



“They look so real,” Violet said, as they hurried over to the fountain. She rubbed a hand over one of the bronze cats. “This one’s dipping his paw into the water.”



Jessie laughed a little. “This one’s scratching his back against the fountain.”



At that very moment, something caught Henry’s eye. The others watched in amazement 7 as their older brother stuck his arm deep into the water. When he pulled it out again, he was holding something in the palm of his hand. As he slowly uncurled his fingers, Jessie, Violet, and Benny gasped 8.



Henry was holding a gold coin!



“We won the first round!” Benny said for about the umpteenth 9 time.



“We still have two more rounds to go,” Henry reminded him. “Don’t get too excited yet.” The four children had gone for a swim later that evening. Now they were sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling 10 their feet in the water.



“I can’t believe somebody tampered 11 with our map!” Violet couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Who would do such a thing?”



Benny had an answer. “Fiona.”



Jessie looked at her little brother. “How can you be so sure?”



“Because she wants to go to Hawaii,” Benny answered. “It’s her dream.”



“That’s true,” said Violet. “And she won’t get there unless the Best kids become five-time champions.”



Jessie nodded. “Fiona didn’t look happy when we showed her the gold coin.”



“She said it was just beginner’s luck,” Benny added.



“Fiona does have a motive,” Henry said after as moment’s thought. “But what about opportunity? I’m not sure she had a chance to tamper 12 with the map.”



“You’re forgetting something, Henry,” Jessie reminded him. “They got to the lobby before we did this morning.”



“That’s true,” Henry said, backing down a little. “She could’ve switched the landmarks 13 on the map while the twins were browsing 14 in the gift shop.”



Violet remembered something else. “Fiona made a point of handing out the maps,” she said. “Maybe she wanted to make sure we got the mixed-up one.”



“It’s a pretty strong case against Fiona,” Henry admitted. “But she isn’t the only suspect.”



The other Aldens looked over at him, puzzled.



“I think we should include Andy on our list.”



“Oh, Henry!” cried Violet. “You don’t really suspect Andy, do you?”



“I don’t want to think he would do something like that, Violet,” Henry said. “But we have to consider everybody.”



“And we heard him on the phone,” Benny said, lowering his voice.



“What are you talking about, Benny?” Violet wanted to know.



“I’m talking about when we were at the zoo.”



Henry nodded. “He said something about making the switch.”



Jessie didn’t like the sound of this. Neither did Violet.



“Are you positive?” Jessie asked. She wanted to be sure.



Benny gave the water a splash with his feet. “We heard it with our own ears.”



“Now that you mention it,” Jessie said after a moment’s thought, “Andy suddenly stopped filming when we were peeling the stickers off the map. Did you notice?”



Henry had thought nothing of it. Neither had Violet and Benny. But now they wondered about it, too.



“I bet he didn’t want anyone to find out he’d tricked us,” guessed Benny.



They had to admit it was possible. After all, the ratings had shot up since the Best kids had taken the nation by storm. And wouldn’t the show be cancelled if the ratings went down? Andy would lose his job if that happened.



“You know,” said Jessie, “there’s somebody else we should consider.”



“Who’s that, Jessie?” Violet asked.



“Hilary.”



“Hilary!” The others were so surprised, all they could do was stare at Jessie with their mouths open.



“But, Jessie,” said Violet, “Hilary seems so nice.”



“We all like her, Violet,” said Jessie. “But she’ll lose her job if the ratings go down.”



“And she likes traveling to different cities,” Benny recalled.



Violet didn’t look convinced. “That’s not much to go on.”



“There’s something else,” said Jessie. “I overheard Hilary talking on the phone, too. She said she didn’t like sneaking 15 around, but she didn’t have any choice.”



“That does sound fishy,” Henry admitted. “I think we should keep a close eye on all of them for now—Fiona, Andy, and Hilary.”



The other Aldens were quick to agree. There was definitely something funny going on!