儿童英语读物 The Clue in the Recycling Bin CHAPTER 9 Notebook Time

That evening, the children were in Jessie’s bedroom for notebook time. Notebook time was when they talked about their clues. Jessie, who loved making lists, wrote everything into her notebook. Talking things out always helped the children think more clearly. Benny lay on the bed. Henry and Violet sat on the floor. Jessie sat at her desk.



“I’ll use one of my brand-new notebooks to list what we know,” said Jessie. “Using a notebook we rescued from the trash pileseems right, doesn’t it?”



Everybody agreed.



Jessie began her list. “Let’s start with Chad,” she said.



“He worked at Jonah’s Jewelry 1 Store,” said Violet. “So he knew where the diamonds were.”



“Yes,” said Henry. “And he quit working at Jonah’s Jewelry Store the day after the robbery. I wonder why?”



Benny’s eyes had started to close, but suddenly he was wide awake. “Chad might eat at Tío’s Tacos,” he said. “If he does, he would know there are pi?atas there!”



“And Chad was looking for something in the recycling center,” said Violet. “He said he was looking for a pocket watch. But I didn’t believe him.”



Benny started to fall asleep again.



“I think Mrs. Wickett didn’t believe him, either,” said Henry. “She said she had never seen him with a pocket watch. Maybe he was looking for the pi?ata.”



“What about footprints?” Jessie asked.



“Hmmm,” said Henry. “We never had a chance to check the bottom of Chad’s boots to see if he’s the person who broke into the recycling center.”



Once again Benny woke up. “Chad drinks mint 2-flavored tea,” he mumbled 3.



“Is that suspicious 4?” asked Henry.



Jessie smiled because she knew what Benny meant. When she and Benny were putting things into the correct bins 6 the first day, Benny found a mint Doo-Dah Tea bottle inside the glass recycling bin 5. Jessie explained this to Henry and Violet, who had been working near the gate at the time.



“So,” asked Henry, “you’re thinking that Chad climbed the fence and drank some tea and then just tossed 7 the bottle in the closest bin?”



Benny didn’t answer because this time, Benny was sound asleep.



“I’m not sure somebody would keep a bottle of tea in his pocket while he climbed a fence,” said Violet.



Henry agreed that this was not likely. “But not likely doesn’t mean impossible,” he reminded his sisters.



“There’s one other thing about Chad,” said Jessie. “He was in the car when Kayla dropped us off on the day it rained. So he knows where we live. And that night, somebody tried to break into the sunporch.”



After they finished discussing Chad, Jessie wrote on one of the pages of her new notebook:



Chad:



—worked at Jonah’s Jewelry



—might eat at Tío’s Tacos



—was looking for something in the recycling center



—knew that the pi?ata was in the sunporch



“There’s somebody else who knows that the pi?ata is in our sunporch,” said Henry.



“Yes,” said Jessie. “Kayla knows because she drove us home.”



“According to Mrs. Wickett, Kayla was angry with Mr. Jonah because he wouldn’t carry her jewelry,” said Henry. “Maybe she stole his diamonds because she was angry.”



Jessie tapped her pencil against her notebook. “We saw Kayla reading the newspaper article about the diamond theft,” she said. “And then she turned the newspaper over.”



“Not only that,” said Henry, “but Kayla locks all her glass stones in a drawer eachnight. Why would you lock up glass stones?”



Jessie was thinking the same thing. “Do we know for sure that they’re glass, not diamonds?” she asked.



“Chad said the stone in my key ring is glass,” said Henry. “He worked in a jewelry store, so he should know.”



Violet spoke 8 up. “Mrs. Wickett works in a jewelry store, too. She looked at the stone in your key ring, but she never said it was glass. She never said it was a diamond, either.”



“That’s right,” said Henry. He looked at his key ring. “If this is a real diamond, then I got a real bargain.”



Henry, Jessie, and Violet laughed.



That woke Benny up. “Who are we making a list about?” he asked.



“Kayla,” said Jessie.



Benny sat up and rubbed his eyes. “But Kayla wouldn’t climb the fence and tip over her own Dumpster. She has a key!”



“That’s true,” said Henry, “but maybe Kayla wants it to look like somebody is breaking in.”



“Why would she do that?” Violet asked. Henry didn’t know, so he just shrugged 9. “Does Kayla eat at Tío’s?” Benny asked. Nobody knew the answer to that question. Jessie wrote:



Kayla:



—is angry at Jonah’s Jewelry



—hides her recycled jewelry and sparkling 10 stones



—knows that the pi?ata is in the sunporch



—might eat at Tío’s Tacos, but we don’t know



“That leaves Mrs. Wickett,” said Benny. “I like her red boots. They’re as red as my bull 11 pi?ata. But,” he added, “she wouldn’t let us see the bottoms.”



“Mrs. Wickett works at Jonah’s Jewelry Store, and she works there at night,” said Jessie.



“Yes,” said Violet. “The robbery took place at night, around midnight. Mrs. Wickett could have taken the jewels straight to Tío’s Tacos.”



“We know she eats at Tío’s Tacos,” said Jessie.



Henry was still looking at the stone in his key ring. Finally he put it away. “It seems like Mrs. Wickett wants the recycling center to fail,” he said. “Could she have stolen the diamonds and planted them in the center to blame Kayla?”



Jessie tapped her pencil. “Maybe,” she said. “But that’s not likely.”



Henry agreed that it wasn’t likely. “She’s friends with Chad,” he said. “Maybe the two of them worked together to steal the diamonds. And,” he added, “Chad was visiting her when we called to invite her to the party.”



Jessie wrote in her new notebook:



Mrs. Wickett:



—works at Jonah’s Jewelry Store



—works at night, when the jewelswere stolen



—eats at Tío’s Tacos



—is friends with Chad, who alsoworked at Jonah’s Jewelry Store



After Jessie read the list, Benny added something. “Mrs. Wickett didn’t know where we live,” he said.



“Maybe Chad told her where we live,” said Jessie.