儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Star Ruby CHAPTER 7 The Robbery

Violet rushed over. “Oh, no! Are you sure?”



Jessie turned her backpack upside down. A comb, sunscreen, and a pack of mints tumbled out.



“I put the container in this pocket,” she said. “That was the only thing I kept in it. It’s empty! Someone stole the ruby 1!”



“We left our cabin door open to go look at the lights,” Violet said with a sinking feeling. “Anyone could have walked in and taken it.”



“I should have kept my backpack with me,” Jessie said in dismay.



“We should have locked the door,” Violet said. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the ruby.” I hope, she added to herself.



The next morning, the girls hurried to the boys’ cabin.



Grandfather was there, filling a basket with laundry. He and the boys stopped gathering 2 towels to listen as Jessie related the story of the robbery.



Grandfather frowned with concern.



“This is very serious,” he said. “We must go to Mr. Knight 3 right away. There is a thief here, and we need to call the authorities.”



The children glanced at one another.



“Grandfather,” Henry said. “You know we’re pretty good at solving mysteries.”



James Alden nodded. “Yes, you are. But a valuable gemstone is missing.”



“The police don’t know any of the people here,” Jessie pointed 5 out. “But we do. The robbery may be connected to the contest. It’ll be over tomorrow evening. Please let us try to find the ruby first.”



Grandfather considered a moment. “All right,” he agreed. “I’ll give you until tomorrow evening. But if you can’t find the stone by then, we’ll go to Mr. Knight.”



Jessie and Violet hurried back to their cabin to gather their own laundry. Then the children went with Grandfather to the Laundromat behind the main building.



The Laundromat was made of cement blocks. A bench with extra baskets stored beneath was placed below the single window.



Inside, the Laundromat was empty. Washers and dryers 6 filled two walls of the small, dim building. Grandfather loaded one of the washers and plugged the slots with quarters. Then they all walked over to the dining room.



Donald and Sybil were already at their table, sipping 7 juice.



As soon as the Aldens sat down, a waitress brought over platters of hotcakes and bacon.



“Did Jonathan eat already?” Sybil asked.



“No, ma’am,” the waitress replied. “I haven’t seen him this morning.”



Donald raised an eyebrow 8. “He never misses a meal.”



Violet glanced at the empty chair. Where is Jonathan? she wondered. Did he have anything to do with the missing ruby?



When breakfast was over, Grandfather returned to the Laundromat. The Alden children found a quiet spot in the picnic area to discuss the case.



“It’s not like Jonathan to skip breakfast,” Violet commented.



“Yeah,” agreed Benny. “He always writes down whatever he eats.”



“Maybe he’s gone. Maybe he left Ruby Hollow because he has what he came for,” Henry said. “He wanted a special stone for his fiancée’s ring. A star ruby is very special.”



“I just can’t believe Jonathan took the ruby,” said Jessie. “He’s so nice.”



“Everybody is a suspect,” Violet reminded her. “Sybil Finley really wants a star ruby, too.”



Henry nodded. “That’s right. She told us the first day that a star ruby is the only stone she doesn’t have in her collection.”



“Plus her cabin is next to ours,” Jessie said, ticking each item off on her fingers. “And she seemed interested in Violet’s backpack at lunch the day Violet found her ruby. Sybil saw Violet put her ruby in her backpack in line at the grading window.”



“She could have taken Jessie’s backpack, thinking it was Violet’s,” said Benny. “And she knocked our bucket over at the creek 9.”



“That’s a pretty strong case against Sybil, but don’t forget Donald Hodge,” said Henry.



“He said he’s going to win the contest,” Benny put in. “He found a great big ruby. But Jessie’s is bigger.”



“Donald wants to win so he can buy a sports car,” Henry said. “If he got rid of Jessie’s ruby, he wouldn’t have any competition. He’d still win the contest with his Papa Bear ruby.”



“Any of them could have taken the star ruby,” Jessie concluded with a sigh. “We’ll have to watch them all.”



“We only have today and part of tomorrow,” Violet said. “I hope we can solve this mystery in time.”



A rustling 10 sound made the children look up. A bent-over figure at another table was busy shuffling 11 papers.



“There’s Jonathan!” said Benny. “He didn’t leave after all!”



“Let’s go say hi,” said Jessie. “And ask him why he wasn’t at breakfast.”



The Aldens approached his table. The surface was covered with loose pages from the black notebook Jonathan carried everywhere.



“Hi, Jonathan!” Benny greeted.



“Oh, hi, kids.” Jonathan barely glanced at them. He ran his fingers through his sandy hair, clearly distracted.



“We missed you at breakfast this morning,” said Jessie.



“It was good, too,” Benny said. “Hot-cakes and bacon!”



“I’m sure it was good, but I wasn’t very hungry.” Jonathan hastily pushed his papers into a messy pile, as if he didn’t want anyone to see them.



“I bet you’re hungry now,” Violet said. “We’re going to have a picnic for lunch. Would you like to come with us?”



“No, thanks.” Jonathan stuffed the papers into a folder 12, then left.



Jessie watched him hurry up the trail. “That was weird 13. Usually he’s very friendly. I wonder what’s up?”



“Maybe he feels guilty,” Henry guessed. “Because he stole our ruby.”



“But why would he still be here?” asked Violet. “If he stole the ruby, you’d think he would be long gone.”



“We should check on Sybil and Donald, too,” Jessie said. “They’re probably down at the flume.”



Sybil was in her usual place on the flume line, but there was no sign of Donald. The flume was crowded with people hoping to find a prizewinning stone before the contest closed.



Cecil Knight was helping 14 at the entry booth.



“Going to try your luck today?” he asked the kids, then laughed. “If I found a gem 4 like yours, Jessie, I’d take it easy!”



They didn’t want anyone besides Grandfather to know the ruby was missing, so Jessie hastily changed the subject.



“Mr. Knight, we’d like to have a picnic,” she said. “May we pack a lunch?”



“Sure,” he said. “Just ask the waitress to fix you something.”



The tables in the dining room were set for lunch, but no one was around. One of the big windows overlooked the parking lot.



Henry looked out and saw a man in sunglasses and a large hat get into a car.



“Isn’t that Donald?” he said. “I wonder where he’s going.”



The waitress appeared, carrying a tray of ketchup 15 bottles.



“Maybe he’s going into town for lunch,” the waitress said. “Or shopping.”



“Are there many stores in town?” Benny asked.



“Several nice shops,” the waitress answered. “Even a gem shop. So if you don’t find what you want here, you can go into town and buy it.”



“Has Mr. Hodge gone into town before?” Henry asked.



“I don’t know,” said the waitress. Then she added, “He may have gone in to shop for binoculars 16.”



“Why do you say that?” Jessie asked.



“I found him in Mr. Knight’s office the other day,” the waitress said. “He said he was borrowing Mr. Knight’s binoculars.”



“That’s interesting,” Henry said. He was eager to go to lunch so he and the other children could go back to talking about the mystery. “We were wondering if we could take a picnic lunch.”



“Of course,” the waitress said. “Be back in a jiffy.”



Soon the children were on their way back to the picnic area. Violet carried the cloth-covered basket while Henry carried the thermos 17 of lemonade.



Running ahead to choose the best table, Benny spied a sheet of paper on the path. He picked it up.



“This looks like it came from Jonathan’s notebook,” he said, handing the paper to Jessie.



“It’s a list,” said Jessie. “‘Sapphire, garnet, ruby, emerald, blue calcite.’ Those are all crossed off. Only one item hasn’t been crossed off.”



“Let me guess,” said Henry. “Star ruby”



“Right.” Jessie held out the paper. “Look what’s written next to it.”



Carrie’s ring.



“Jonathan definitely wrote this,” said Jessie. “He’s after a star ruby for his fiancée’s ring. Seems like he’s our number one suspect.”



Henry thought of something. “Jessie, do you have that other note? Let’s compare the handwriting.”



But the handwriting on the warning note did not match the handwriting on the list.



“If Jonathan took the ruby,” Benny asked, “who sent the note?”



“Maybe the person who wants us to leave is not the same person who stole the ruby,” Jessie concluded. “I still think Jonathan took the ruby.”



Henry shook his head. “We don’t have enough evidence to accuse Jonathan. This is a serious crime. We need to be absolutely sure.”



That evening, it was too chilly 18 to go walking after dinner. Instead, the kids worked on a puzzle in Benny and Henry’s cabin.



“Only one more day,” Jessie sighed. “If we haven’t found the ruby by tomorrow evening, we have to tell Mr. Knight.”



“We’ll work even harder tomorrow,” Violet said, fitting a piece into the puzzle border.



Henry looked up. “Do you hear that?”



“Yeah,” Benny said. “Sounds like digging.”



“Grab a jacket,” Henry told the others. “We’re going down to the flume.”



The moon was bright overhead, lighting 19 the trail to the flume. As the kids rounded the empty entry booth, they saw a figure wearing a white shirt.



The figure dropped a shovel 20 and sprinted 21 down the trail. Henry, who was in the lead, ran after the person. But when the figure disappeared into the woods, he gave up the chase.



“Did you see who it was?” Violet asked him.



“No,” he replied, disappointed. “Whoever it was just vanished into thin air!”