儿童英语读物 The Cereal Box Mystery CHAPTER 4 Party Plans and a Mystery
时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:65 The Cereal Box Mystery
“We should go to the police station and ask them where they caught Mr. Map,” Henry said as they cleared the dishes from the breakfast table.
“While we are in Greenfield, we could get supplies to make decorations for Grandfather’s party,” Violet suggested.
“Good idea, Violet,” Jessie said.
“What’s this about a party?” asked Mrs. McGregor, coming into the kitchen. The Aldens told her about their plans to give their grandfather a surprise birthday party. Mrs. McGregor thought it was a wonderful idea. She told them that she could make a cake that was even prettier than the one at the bakery. “And it will be your grandfather’s favorite flavor, too,” she assured them. “Chocolate with butter-cream frosting.”
“And pink and lavender sugar roses?” Violet asked.
“With green sugar leaves,” Mrs. McGregor added, nodding.
“We have to call Alice and Joe and Soo Lee to invite them,” said Jessie. Soo Lee was the Aldens’ adopted cousin from Korea. Like the Aldens, she had been an orphan 1, until the Aldens’ cousins, Alice and Joe, had adopted her.
The Alden children had not been living in Korea when they were orphans 2. They had been living in an old boxcar in the woods. After their parents had died, they had run away because they had heard that their grandfather was a mean man.
But it wasn’t true. He had searched and searched for them and finally found them and brought them all to live with him in his big white house in Greenfield. He had even brought the old boxcar and put it in the backyard so that they could visit it whenever they wanted.
Jessie called Soo Lee and told her about the plans for Grandfather’s party. “Come over this afternoon and help us make decorations and plan it,” she said.
Soo Lee agreed to ride her bike over right after lunch.
“We’d better hurry,” Violet said. “We have a lot to do before Soo Lee gets here.”
Leaving Watch with Mrs. McGregor, the Aldens rode their bikes into Greenfield. First they went to the police station.
Sitting at the front desk was Officer Weatherspoon, the same police officer who had come to the Aldens’ house when it had been broken into.
“Marvin Map?” she repeated, when Henry asked about him. The officer shook her head. “We had to let him go for lack of evidence. He’s a slippery character.”
“What do you mean?” Violet asked.
Officer Weatherspoon said, “We caught him at the intersection 3 of Fox Lane and Windmill Road. He was breathing heavily as if he had been running, although he pretended he was just walking along. He was wearing a raincoat. We’re pretty sure he was the man who grabbed the jewelry 4. But no one could make a positive identification and we didn’t find any of the jewelry on him.”
“Thank you, Officer Weatherspoon,” Jessie said.
“Why did you want to know?” asked the policewoman.
“We’re going to find the rubies 5,” Benny blurted 6 out.
Officer Weatherspoon raised her eyebrows 7, but she didn’t laugh. Instead she said, “Good luck.”
The Aldens got on their bicycles and pedaled as fast as they could to the intersection of Fox Lane and Windmill Road. A small gift shop stood on one corner. A vacant lot was on another. Houses were on the other two corners.
As the Aldens got off their bikes, a huge dog behind a fence began to bark ferociously 8. Benny jumped back.
Henry said, “I don’t think Mr. Map hid the jewelry there!”
Pointing, Violet said, “Maybe he went into the store and hid it in there.”
But when they asked the owner of the gift shop, she shook her head. “I saw the guy run by across the street,” she told them. “He didn’t come anywhere near my store.”
“Did you see him hide anything? Or throw anything away before the police caught him?” Jessie asked.
Again the store owner shook her head. “Nope. He ran partway up the street, then stopped suddenly, put his hands in his pockets, and began to whistle as if he didn’t have a care in the world. It was almost as if he wanted the police to catch him.”
“Thank you,” Henry said.
When they went back outside, Violet sighed. “I don’t think he hid the jewels near here,” she said.
“No,” Jessie agreed. “But maybe we should look around, just in case.”
The Aldens checked the empty lot, but all they found were tin cans, old newspapers, and one flat tire. “People sure are litterbugs,” Benny said as he gathered up the garbage and put it into a trash can on the corner.
Henry bent 9 and peered into the trash can.
“What are you doing, Henry?” Jessie asked.
“Checking to make sure he didn’t hide the jewels in here. It would be a good place to hide them. Who would ever think of looking for jewels in a trash can?”
But no necklace, ring, or bracelet 10 glittered amid the cans and bottles and papers in the garbage can.
They went to one of the corner houses and knocked on the door. When an old man answered, Violet said politely, “We’re looking for something we lost. Could we check around your front yard?”
“Help yourself,” the man said. “I just cut the grass two days ago, so whatever you lost should show up easily — if it’s there.”
“Thank you,” Violet said.
They carefully searched the yard, even looking under bushes and rocks. But they didn’t find the stolen jewelry. And when they knocked on the front door of the other house, no one answered.
“Let’s retrace 11 Mr. Map’s steps,” Henry suggested. “We saw the officer turn where the thief did. We can figure out where he went.”
But although the Aldens retraced 12 Mr. Map’s escape route all the way back to Main Street, they didn’t find any jewels. Nor did they find a single clue.
“Maybe he’s really not the thief after all,” Jessie said in a discouraged voice.
“Maybe not,” Henry said.
Violet said, “Let’s go talk to Mr. Bellows 13. We could ask him how to find Ms. Smitts and Mr. Darden, too. Maybe they could remember something that would help us.”
“Good idea,” said Benny.
Mr. Bellows was sitting at the counter in his store, his chin in his hands. He did not look happy.
“Hi, Mr. Bellows,” Benny said.
“What? Oh, hello,” said Mr. Bellows. He didn’t move.
Bending over to look at the rings sparkling on the blue velvet 14 in the glass case, Jessie asked, “Has Mr. Darden been back to buy a ring?”
“No,” said Mr. Bellows. He made a face. “My last customer was the thief. And he wasn’t exactly a paying customer.”
“Have you remembered anything else about the robbery?” Henry asked. “Something else that might help catch the thief?”
“Not a thing,” said Mr. Bellows. “I just bought those rubies recently. How could the thief have known about them?”
“Maybe he had been in your shop before. Maybe he saw them then,” Violet said.
Mr. Bellows shook his head. “No. I put them out the day before yesterday. The only one who could have seen them was Mr. Darden. He was in right before I closed up for the evening that day. But I don’t think he even noticed them. He was looking for a ring.”
“Did anyone else know you had the rubies?” asked Jessie.
“Just me. And the woman who sold them to me, of course. Dr. Anne Marie Kroll,” Mr. Bellows told them.
“Do you think Mr. Darden or Ms. Smitts might remember more about what happened?” Violet asked.
Straightening up, Mr. Bellows said, “I don’t know. Ask them yourself if you’d like.” He reached into his pocket and brought out his notebook. He flipped 15 it open and tore out the piece of paper where they had written their names and addresses.
“Thanks!” Jessie said.
Outside the store, Henry said, “I think we should visit Mr. Darden first.”
“Me, too,” Jessie agreed. “I think it is suspicious that he hasn’t come back to shop for a ring.”
“And he didn’t want the police to have his name and address, either,” Violet reminded them. “That sounds suspicious, too.”
“It sure does,” Henry said. He looked at his watch. “I think we just have time to get supplies and pay a visit to Mr. Darden before lunch. He might be the key to the whole mystery!”
- He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大,并且把自己的医术传给了他。
- The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。
- The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
- Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。
- There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
- Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。
- The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
- Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
- a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
- The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。
- She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止,她已脱口而出。
- He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相,说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
- His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
- The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
- At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。
- He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
- We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
- The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
- She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。
- He retraced his steps to the spot where he'd left the case.他折回到他丢下箱子的地方。
- You must retrace your steps.你必须折回原来走过的路。
- We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返,想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
- You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想,你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句