儿童英语读物 The Clue in the Recycling Bin CHAPTER 7 One Solution

The next morning, the children had a plan. After breakfast they got on their bikes and pedaled to Tío’s Tacos. There they bought six bottles of Doo-Dah Tea: three mint-flavored and three raspberry-flavored.



When they reached the recycling center, they saw Ethan working in the same corner he had worked in before. Once again he was raking up leaves and grass clippings.



When Kayla saw the Aldens, she told them that the recycling center had been broken into again.



“This is so frustrating,” Kayla said. “There was no real damage except that the bags of leaves and grass clippings are all broken open. Thank goodness Ethan showed up to volunteer this morning.”



The children looked at one another and nodded their heads.



“We know who is breaking into the center and crushing the bags of leaves and grass clippings,” Jessie said to Kayla.



“You do?!” Kayla seemed surprised. “Who?”



“We think the person who’s doing it wants to tell you himself. And he will, very soon,” said Henry.



Kayla looked confused. “Well, okay,” she said.



Violet took two bottles of tea out of her bike basket. “Would you like a bottle of tea?” she asked Kayla.



“Oh yes,” said Kayla. “Thank you.”



And then, to the surprise of the children, Kayla chose a mint-flavored Doo-Dah Tea.



Kayla walked into her studio and the children stood by their bikes for a moment.



“Well,” said Jessie at last. “That’s a surprise.”



“Yes,” said Violet. “Yesterday Kayla drank raspberry-flavored tea, but today she chose mint.”



“Let’s offer Ethan the same choice,” said Henry.



The Aldens walked over to where Ethan was raking leaves and grass. They said hello and offered Ethan Doo-Dah Tea.



“No, thanks,” said Ethan.



“Kayla is upset,” Henry told him. “She’s worried about the fact that somebody is getting into the center and opening the bags of leaves and grass.”



Ethan shrugged 1. “She shouldn’t be upset, not really. I’m here to clean everything up.”



“We would like to show you something,” Jessie said to Ethan. “Can you come outside with us for a few minutes?”



Ethan shrugged again, but he put his rake aside. “Sure,” he said.



The five of them walked through the gate of the recycling center. Henry led the way. They turned right, then right again.



“Stop,” said Henry. They had reached the place just outside the fence from where the bags of leaves and grass were stored.



“The ground is wet,” said Jessie. “We’re all leaving footprints.”



“So?” said Ethan.



Jessie pointed 2 to footprints ahead of them. They were very fresh. The left and right prints were far apart from one another. Both the left and right prints pointed toward the fence.



“Somebody was here before us,” she said. “He left footprints, too.”



Ethan didn’t say anything.



“Look at your footprints,” said Henry to Ethan.



Ethan looked down.



“They match those footprints,” said Henry, pointing to the prints ahead of them.



Ethan didn’t say anything.



“We know what you’re doing,” Violet said softly.



Ethan shook his head. “Okay,” he said. “You’re right, those are my footprints. But I’m not really breaking into the recycling center.”



“Why are you jumping over the chain-link fence?” Henry asked.



“For fun,” said Ethan. “And for training. It’s fun and I can keep in shape. I take a running start, jump over the fence, and land on the soft bags of leaves and grass. Nobody knows I can do it except me! And every time I do it, I come in and clean up.”



“But when you land on the bags, they break open,” said Jessie. “Leaves and grass fall out, and the recycling center looks messy.”



“But I come in and clean everything up,” Ethan repeated.



“Your kind of fun upsets people,” said Violet. “It upsets Kayla because she thinks somebody wants the recycling center to fail.”



Ethan looked down at his feet. “Yeah,” he said, “I know it’s not right. But I was trying to make it right by cleaning up after myself.”



The children waited, giving Ethan a chance.



Finally Ethan spoke 3. “I’ll stop doing it,” he said. “I guess I have to tell Kayla.”



“We’ll go with you if you want,” said Jessie.



When they walked into Kayla’s studio, Henry noticed that she was busy with a soldering 4 torch.



Kayla set the soldering torch aside and removed the magnifying lens she wore on a headband.



“I’m sorry,” Ethan said to her. “I won’t do it again.”



Kayla looked confused. “Huh?” she said.



“I’ve been jumping over the fence and landing on the bags of leaves and grass clippings,” said Ethan. “I’m sorry.”



Kayla just stared at him.



“I came in and cleaned up each time I did it,” Ethan explained.



“Yes,” said Kayla at last. “But all those opened trash bags upset me. I thought somebody didn’t like me. I thought they didn’t like the recycling center.”



“I’m sorry,” said Ethan. “I won’t do it again.”



“But what upsets me even more is that you tipped over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” Kayla said. She frowned at Ethan. “You didn’t help clean that up.”



Ethan looked shocked. “But I didn’t do that!” he shouted. “I didn’t turn over the Dumpster!”



“Ethan is telling the truth,” said Jessie. “He didn’t turn over the Dumpster.”



Kayla frowned. “You mean to say that two people have been breaking into the recycling center?”



“Yes,” said Henry. “And the break-ins aren’t the only crime to solve.”



“They aren’t?” asked Kayla. “What else is there?”



Jessie spoke. “Somebody robbed Jonah’s Jewelry 5 Store three weeks ago. They stole a bag of diamonds.”



“Diamonds?” Kayla seemed nervous. “I don’t know anything about diamonds.”



Jessie thought Kayla’s comment was strange. Nobody is accusing her of taking the diamonds, thought Jessie. Why does she act guilty?



“We think that the diamond theft and the second break-in here might be connected,” Jessie explained.



“No,” said Kayla, standing 6 up. “That’s ridiculous. There’s no connection between the robbery and the recycling center.”



The Aldens and Ethan watched as Kayla shoved all her pieces of metal and sparkling glass into a drawer. Then she shut the drawer and locked it.



“You kids might be able to figure out who turned over the Other Stuff Dumpster,” she said. “I hope you do. But you won’t be able to solve who stole the diamonds.”



“We will solve it,” said Henry.



“No,” said Kayla. “If the police haven’t solved it, you won’t, either.”



The children turned to leave, but Kayla stopped them. “Wait,” she said. “This morning I found something in the Other Stuff bin 7: something just for Violet.”



Kayla rummaged 8 around under one of her benches, then pulled out something wrapped in plastic. Kayla removed the plastic and thechildren saw a large piece of beautiful purple cloth.



Kayla handed the cloth to Violet. “Somebody left this brand new cloth in the Other Stuff bin.”



Violet held the cloth, which shimmered 9 with flecks 10 of gold. She saw that there were thin gold-colored threads woven through the cloth. “It’s so pretty,” said Violet. The cloth felt very soft and smooth in her hands.



Violet smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I don’t see how anybody could give away something purple.”