儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Purple Pool CHAPTER 10 The Letter

The next morning after breakfast, the children sat in the lobby 1. They hoped they’d see Lucille and Malcolm and maybe find out what was going on.



While they waited, they enjoyed themselves just watching the people going in and out.



“I’ll never get over all the different kinds of people in this hotel,” Violet 2 said.



“Me, too,” Benny agreed. “Look, there’s Mr. Parker. He’s sure in a big hurry.” Benny pointed 3 to Don Parker, who was rushing toward 4 the elevators carrying a pile of papers.



Just then some pieces of paper fell from the pile in Don Parker’s hands and drifted 5 to the floor.



The Aldens ran after him. “Mr. Parker, wait!” Jessie called out.



Benny bent 6 down and picked up the papers. “Wait, Mr. Parker,” he shouted, too. But Don Parker was already in the elevator and didn’t hear them. As Violet ran toward him, the doors closed and the elevator started its trip up.



“What should we do with these papers?” Benny asked.



“We don’t know what floor Mr. Parker is going to, and there were a lot of people in the elevator, so I guess we should take the papers to his office,” Henry said.



As usual, Benny practiced his reading. He looked down at the papers in his hand and read slowly, out loud, “Our plan is work … working. Soon I’ll be … running the hotel …”



At the same time, Violet, Jessie, and Henry all said, “What?”



“Did I read it wrong?” Benny asked with concern.



Violet said firmly. “We really shouldn’t be reading Mr. Parker’s papers. It isn’t right.”



Jessie said, “Let’s go sit in that corner and talk about this.”



The children went to a quiet part of the lobby and sat down on some leather chairs. Henry said slowly, “I think what Benny read is very suspicious 7.”



“I agree,” Jessie said, “and I think, since so many strange things have been happening here, we have a right to read the rest of what’s on that paper.”



“We do?” Benny asked.



Jessie took the papers from Benny’s hands and looked at them. “Benny was reading from a letter,” she said. “It’s written on the hotel letterhead. And this is what it says:



     Dear Nancy:

     Things are going very well. Our plan is working. Soon I’ll be running the hotel. Then we can get married as we have wanted. Just as we decided 8, I have done many things to make Joan Ames look as if she can’t manage a big hotel like The Plymouth. I’ve messed up guests’ rooms; switched the sugar and salt; pulled a switch to stop the elevators; and many other things. My favorite was dyeing 9 the pool purple — my favorite color! All in all, it makes Ms. Ames look like she isn’t doing her job. You know what that means. The owners will fire her, and I’ll get her job.



“There’s more,” Jessie said, “but I’ve read the most important part.”



“I can’t believe it!” Violet said. “Mr. Parker was doing all that deliberately 10, to get Ms. Ames fired.”



“He really is a mean man,” Benny said.



“What should we do?” Violet asked.



Henry said, “Well, Grandfather is probably still in the coffee shop having his second cup of coffee. I think we should take the letter to him. He’ll know what to do.”



The Aldens all walked to the coffee shop and looked around. When they saw Grandfather, they hurried to his table. He looked surprised to see them. “I thought you were going to sit in the lobby.”



“We were, Grandfather, but we found something you should see,” Violet said.



Jessie handed him Don Parker’s letter. Mr. Alden looked at it. “But this is something Mr. Parker wrote. How did you children get it?”



“He dropped it in the lobby,” Benny said. “We ran after him but he went up in the elevator before we could stop him. Then I started reading it, just to practice and …” Benny stopped, out of breath.



“Grandfather, please read the letter,” Henry said. “It’s important.”



Mr. Alden read silently and then looked at his grandchildren. “I can’t believe it,” he said.



“Neither could we,” Jessie said, “but Mr. Parker did write it.”



Mr. Alden sighed. “I think we have to take this to Ms. Ames right away.”



In her office, Joan Ames read the letter carefully. Then she put it down and shook her head. “It’s Don’s handwriting. No doubt about it. I have to admit, I suspected that he was up to something, but I didn’t want to believe it. He always seemed so pleased when it looked as if I had made a mistake.”



Just then Mr. Parker walked into his own office, which was right next to Joan’s. As he went by, she called out, “Don, would you come in here for a minute?”



“Yes?” he asked, coming in.



Joan stood up and said sadly, “Of course, you know that a lot of things have been going wrong here.”



“That’s been quite obvious,” Mr. Parker answered.



“Well,” Joan Ames said, “there are going to have to be some changes in management.”



A smile appeared on Don Parker’s face and he quickly erased 11 it. “Yes?” he said again.



In a strong voice Joan Ames said, “Don, you’re fired.”



“Me?” he shouted. “Me? Why me?”



“Because of this,” Ms. Ames said, showing him the letter.



Don Parker’s face paled. “I … I … didn’t write that,” he stuttered.



“Don,” Joan Ames said, “It’s your handwriting. It’s written in the purple pen that you always use. And earlier this morning I went into your office to get some envelopes, and I saw the phone that belonged in room 501. I wondered about it then. Why would you have a guest’s phone in your office?”



“That’s the Grants’ phone!” said Benny.



Don Parker saw that he had been beaten. “All right, I did do all those things. I wanted your job. I can do it better than you do it. I know it. I deserve 12 it.”



At that moment, Lucille walked into the office, looking nervous but determined 13. “I have to talk to you and Mr. Parker,” she said to Ms. Ames.



“What’s she doing here?” Benny whispered.



“Can it wait?” Joan Ames asked gently.



“No … please … it’s about my brother, Malcolm,” Lucille began. “He worked very closely 14 with Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker fired him last week for no reason at all. Malcolm was wonderful at his job, and there had never been any complaints about him. I think you should rehire him.”



Ms. Ames turned to Mr. Parker. “Why did you fire him, Don? You told me he wasn’t efficient.”



“I might as well tell you the truth, since I’m leaving anyway,” Mr. Parker said. “Malcolm was good at his job — too good — and too smart. I was afraid that he would figure out what I was doing. So I fired him.”



Don Parker looked around the room. Then he looked at the Aldens. “You kids are too smart for your own good. Well, I guess there’s nothing else to say. So long, Joan,” he said, and left.



Ms. Ames smiled at Lucille. “Of course, I’ll hire your brother back. In fact, I happen to have an opening for an assistant manager.”



Lucille smiled happily. “Oh, thank you, Ms. Ames, so much.”



Violet said shyly. “Can I ask you a question, Lucille?”



“Of course,” Lucille answered.



“The other day we were walking in front of you and your brother on the street, and we heard you talking. We weren’t eavesdropping 15. We couldn’t help overhearing 16. You both were talking about ‘taking care of’ something and ‘going to do something about it myself.’ It sounded so mysterious.”



“And then yesterday we heard you saying you had a plan that made you nervous,” Benny piped up.



Lucille laughed. “The plan was to come in to see Ms. Ames and discuss Malcolm’s problem with her. I was nervous because I didn’t know what she’d say.”



The children laughed, and so did Joan Ames and Grandfather. “That certainly explains everything,” said Mr. Alden.



“Well,” Ms. Ames said, “you Aldens have been such a big help to me. I hope you will enjoy the rest of your stay. And everything will be on the house. No bill for anything, James.”



“Wow!” Benny said.



“Joan, thank you very much,” Mr. Alden said.



In the lobby they collided 17 with Karen Walsh. Once again she was writing in a notebook.



“Why are you always writing in that?” Benny asked.



“Well,” Karen said, “I’m checking out, so I can let you in on my secret. I write travel books. I don’t like anyone to know what I’m doing, so that I can see a hotel at its best and worst. Well, this one is the worst. I would never recommend it.”



“That’s why we saw you snooping around!” Benny said.



“You saw what?” Karen asked.



Jessie sheepishly explained that they had followed her the afternoon before because they thought she was behind the pranks 18.



Mr. Alden raised his eyebrows 19, a bit disturbed that his grandchildren had been following people around. But before he could say anything, Karen Walsh did something unexpected 20. She laughed. “Yes, I guess you could call me a snoop,” she said. “That’s my job. I was just checking out some of the rooms, seeing how well they keep their supplies, that sort of thing.”



The Aldens explained to her everything that had been going on at The Plymouth. “I think you have to give The Plymouth another chance,” Grandfather said.



“Well,” Ms. Walsh said, “I guess I’ll have to. I’ll come back in a couple of weeks and stay here again. I hope things will be better.”



“I know they will be,” Jessie said.