儿童英语读物 The Cereal Box Mystery CHAPTER 7 Too Many Rings!

“I don’t believe this!” Mrs. McGregor said.



“What?” asked Henry, coming into the kitchen the next morning, followed by Benny, Jessie, Violet, and Watch.



“Take a look outside the back door,” Mrs. McGregor said. “Some animal got into the garbage and turned it over last night. Some dog, probably.”



She glanced at Watch. Benny said, “Watch stayed with me last night!”



Mrs. McGregor smiled. “I know Watch would never do such a thing,” she said.



“We’ll clean it up,” Henry said.



The Aldens went outside. As they began to pick up the garbage, Violet said, “That’s strange.”



“What?” Jessie asked.



“There are chicken bones in the garbage,” Violet said. “If a dog or any other animal had turned over the can, wouldn’t the bones have been eaten?”



“Yes,” Henry said. Then he said, “You know, it does look as if a person — not a dog — was going through the garbage.”



It was true. The contents of the can weren’t scattered 1 all over the yard, but spread out neatly 2.



“You’re right, Henry!” Jessie exclaimed. “Someone did go through our garbage last night.”



“Watch growled 3 last night while I was asleep. I woke up, but he stopped growling 4. He must have heard the garbage can being turned over,” Benny said.



“But what was the person looking for?” Violet asked.



“I don’t know, Violet,” Henry answered. “It’s a mystery, that’s for sure.”



Just as they finished cleaning up the mess, Soo Lee rode up on her bicycle. “Hi,” she said. “I got here as early as I could. Are you ready to go follow Mr. Darden?”



“Yes, and we’d better hurry,” Jessie agreed.



The Aldens got on their bicycles and rode to David Darden’s small, tidy house on the edge of town. There they spotted 5 some tall bushes to hide behind.



Soon Mr. Darden came out. He got in his car and drove toward Greenfield. The Aldens pedaled after him as fast as they could.



On Main Street, Mr. Darden got out and parked his car near the town square. He walked briskly down the street. The Aldens walked after him. When he stopped, they stopped and pretended to be looking in store windows.



They followed Mr. Darden to a jewelry 6 store.



Violet gasped 8 and grabbed Jessie’s arm. “You don’t think he’s planning another robbery, do you?”



“I don’t think so, but maybe he is,” Jessie answered. She looked up and down the street, half expecting to see a man with a hat pulled low and wearing a tan raincoat. But she saw no one like that.



“Should we call the police?” Benny asked.



“Let’s just keep an eye on him for now,” Jessie said.



They walked past the window of the jewelry store. They could see Mr. Darden in the back, bent 9 over a glass counter. All around the walls of the jewelry store, rings and necklaces and bracelets 10 glittered and gleamed.



“We should go in and see what he is up to,” Violet whispered, as if she were afraid Mr. Darden could hear her.



“We can’t all go in,” Henry said. “But I think some of us should.”



“You and I could go in, Violet,” Jessie said. “We could pretend we’re looking for a gift for Grandfather’s birthday.”



“Yes, and we’ll wait out here to stop him if something happens,” said Benny.



Violet and Jessie walked into the jewelry store. They stood at a counter near Mr. Darden. “Look at the pocket watches,” Jessie said. “Maybe Grandfather would like one of those.”



“But he already has a pocket watch,” Violet said. Jessie nudged her.



“Oh,” said Violet. “Yes. The pocket watches are nice.”



Watching Mr. Darden and one of the jewelers out of the corner of her eye, Jessie saw the jeweler hand Mr. Darden a small box. Mr. Darden opened it.



What was inside? Jessie couldn’t see.



With a little gasp 7, Violet grabbed Jessie’s arm.



“What? What is it?” Jessie asked.



“I thought I saw someone go by the window,” Violet said.



“Who?” Jessie asked.



“The man in the tan raincoat,” Violet said. “Maybe he’s about to come in and rob the place.”



They waited tensely as Mr. Darden closed the small box and put it in his pocket. He thanked the jeweler and walked out.



Both Violet and Jessie let out a sigh of relief. “I guess he wasn’t going to rob the store after all,” Jessie said, forgetting to lower her voice.



The jeweler heard her and gave her a funny look, but Jessie didn’t notice as she and Violet hurried out the door to join the others.



“There goes Mr. Darden,” Henry said. “Come on.”



They followed Mr. Darden down the street to the town square. He stopped once and peered into a store window, smoothing his hair and adjusting his tie.



“What’s he doing?” Benny asked.



“He’s using the window as a mirror,” Jessie said.



When he’d finished, Mr. Darden patted his pocket. Then he smiled and walked toward a bench by a flower bed.



They saw a young woman stand up and smile at Mr. Darden. Then the couple sat down on the bench and began to talk. Suddenly Mr. Darden took the small box from his pocket. He got down on one knee, opened the box, and handed it to the woman. She put her hands to her cheeks and looked very surprised and happy.



“That must be Mr. Darden’s girlfriend,” Violet said. “It’s so romantic.”



“What if the ring he is giving her is the stolen ring?” Jessie asked.



“Come on,” Henry said, and led the way toward the bench.



The young woman was holding up her hand now, admiring the ring. Mr. Darden had gotten up to sit next to her again.



“Hi,” Benny said.



Mr. Darden looked up, startled. “You again!” he said.



“Is that the ring you were shopping for at Antique Treasures?” Jessie asked bluntly.



“No,” Mr. Darden said. Then he smiled. “I bought the ring at a different store.”



“What kind of ring is it?” Benny asked. “Is it a ruby 11?”



The young woman laughed. “Oh, no,” she said. “It’s an emerald.”



Jessie glanced down at the green ring on her own finger. “Like this?” she said.



The young woman held out her hand. On it was a slender gold band with a small yellow stone in the center.



“That’s not an emerald,” Jessie said. “Emeralds are green.”



But Mr. Darden was shaking his head. “Not all emeralds. They come in different colors. So do rubies 12 and diamonds and many precious gems 13 — you can even find black diamonds.”



The woman said, “I think this is the most beautiful emerald in the world.”



Mr. Darden said, “I wanted to ask you yesterday when I made lunch for you, Janie, but I was too nervous. And this ring wasn’t ready yet.”



“Now I know why you weren’t hungry!” Janie said.



“You were at Mr. Darden’s yesterday?” Violet asked Janie.



She nodded, her gaze still on her engagement ring. “We’re engaged to be married now.”



Mr. Darden said to the Aldens, “I’m sorry if I seemed distracted when you came to visit. But I didn’t want Janie to hear you talking about a ring. I was afraid it would spoil the surprise.”



“Was that why you told Mr. Bellows 14 you didn’t want your name in the newspaper?” Jessie asked.



“Yes. I was afraid Janie might see it and somehow guess what I was planning,” Mr. Darden said.



Janie smiled at Mr. Darden. Mr. Darden smiled back.



“We have to go,” Jessie said. “Congratulations.”



The newly engaged couple didn’t even look at the Aldens as they left. “Good-bye,” said Mr. Darden absently.



As they walked their bikes away, Jessie said, “That explains why Mr. Darden was acting 15 so strangely.”



With a laugh, Henry said, “It sure does.”



“If Mr. Darden didn’t help Mr. Map, then maybe Ms. Smitts did,” Violet said.



Jessie reached in her pocket and took out the piece of paper with the names and addresses of Mr. Darden and Ms. Smitts on them. She said, “Ms. Smitts didn’t leave an address, only a phone number.”



“We can call her from the phone booth on the corner, then,” Henry said.



When they called, a voice said, “Karate 16 Center.” Surprised, Henry said hesitantly, “May I please speak to Ms. Tori Smitts?”



“She’s not available right now,” the voice said. “May I take a message?”



“I’m Henry Alden. We wanted to talk to her for a few minutes.”



“Ms. Smitts should be free in just about fifteen minutes,” the receptionist said.



“Could we have your address?” Henry asked. “We could come by.”



He wrote down the address and hung up the phone. The Aldens pedaled to the Karate Center, which wasn’t far from Main Street.



Inside, a young man behind a battered 17 desk was typing something into a small computer. On a shelf behind him was a row of trophies 18.



“Excuse me,” Jessie said. “We called a few minutes ago. We’d like to speak to Ms. Smitts.”



The young man looked up and pointed 19. “She’s in the studio,” he said. “You can sit on that bench and watch through the glass, if you’d like. She’ll be out soon.”



“Did you win all those trophies?” Benny asked.



“Those?” The young man glanced over his shoulder. “Not yet. I still have a lot to learn. No, those trophies belong to our instructors 20. They’ve all earned their black belts. That means they’re the best.”



“Oh,” said Benny. He sat down next to the others. They watched as Tori Smitts, in loose white pants and a white coat, wearing a black belt, showed students how to kick and punch and block.



Sometimes the students tried to knock her down. No matter how hard they tried, she always won.



“She’s very good,” Jessie said admiringly.



“Oh, yes,” the young man said. “Practically unbeatable.”



A few minutes later, they heard Ms. Smitts say, “Okay that’s it.”



Everyone bowed. Then the students filed out through a door in the back of the studio that had the words LOCKER 21 ROOMS on it.



The young man got up, tapped on the glass, and motioned to Ms. Smitts. She walked toward him, then opened the door and stepped into the reception area.



“You have some visitors,” the receptionist said.



The Aldens stood up. “Hello,” Henry said, and began to introduce everyone.



Ms. Smitts looked surprised. But she held up her hand. “I remember you,” she said. “You don’t need to introduce yourselves. And I bet I can solve a mystery.”



“What?” asked Benny. “What mystery?”



“The mystery of why you’re here,” she said. Her lips curled into a little smile. “You’re playing detective, right? You’re looking for the missing jewelry.”



“And the thief,” said Benny. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Ms. Smitts might be teasing him and the other Aldens. He stared at her hard.



“We just wondered if you could remember anything else about what happened — anything that might be helpful,” Violet said.



“I’ve told the police everything I know,” Ms. Smitts said. “It all happened so fast.”



“So even though you grabbed the thief just outside the front door, you didn’t see his face,” Henry suggested.



“He pushed me away so hard, I nearly fell. I wasn’t able to hold on to him, much less see what he looked like,” Ms. Smitts replied firmly. “Now, if that’s all, I have another class to teach. Good luck to you.”



She turned and walked away.



The Aldens left, feeling discouraged.



“She wasn’t very friendly,” Violet said. “But I guess that doesn’t mean she is hiding anything.”



“Besides, she tried to keep the thief from getting away. That was very brave,” Jessie said. She paused, then added, “Unless she was just pretending, to keep people from being suspicious.”



“But she couldn’t have taken the jewelry after the thief left,” Henry pointed out. “Mr. Darden was still in the shop.”



“Maybe they were all three working together,” Jessie said.



“Maybe,” said Henry. “But I don’t think so.”



“I don’t, either,” said Violet. “I don’t think Mr. Darden had anything to do with it.”



“Maybe the thief dropped the jewelry in some special place and whoever was helping 22 him picked it up afterward,” Jessie said.



“That could have happened,” Henry said.



“But Ms. Smitts walked away in the opposite direction from where the thief had gone,” Violet pointed out. “And Mr. Darden stayed on Main Street, looking in shop windows.”



“We still have two suspects,” Henry said.



“Who?” asked Benny.



“Mr. Bellows,” Henry began.



“But why would Mr. Bellows steal his own jewelry from himself?” Benny cried.



“I don’t know, Benny. But I think we should go talk to him and find out,” Henry said.



“Who’s the other suspect?” Jessie asked.



“Dr. Kroll,” said Henry.



“Of course!” Jessie said. “She knew Mr. Bellows had the necklace. Why, she could have sold the necklace to Mr. Bellows — and then stolen it back.”



“Mr. Bellows could even have helped her,” Henry said. “C’mon, let’s go talk to Mr. Bellows right now.”