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 Jewelry¹ 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 mint²-flavored tea,” he mumbled³.

“Is that suspicious⁴?” asked Henry.

Jessie smiled because she knew what Benny meant. When she and Benny were putting things into the correct bins⁶ the first day, Benny found a mint Doo-Dah Tea bottle inside the glass recycling bin⁵. 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 tossed⁷ 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 spoke⁸ 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 shrugged⁹. “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 sparkling¹⁰ 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 bull¹¹ 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.

1 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

2 mint   

n.薄荷，铸币厂；vt.铸造（硬币），创造（词）等

参考例句：

• The mint makes coins.铸币厂制造硬币。
• This candy tastes of mint.这糖果有薄荷味。

3 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

4 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

7 tossed   

v.（轻轻或漫不经心地）扔( toss的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）摇荡；摇匀；（为…）掷硬币决定

参考例句：

• I tossed the book aside and got up. 我把书丢在一边，站了起来。
• He angrily tossed his tools and would work no longer. 他怒气冲冲地扔下工具不肯再干了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sparkling   

adj.发火花的，闪亮的；灿烂的，活泼的；闪闪发光的，闪烁的；起泡沫的v.闪光，闪耀(sparkle的现在分词)

参考例句：

• the calm and sparkling waters of the lake 平静的波光粼粼的湖水
• Other sparkling wines are often considered the poor relations of champagne. 其他起泡的葡萄酒通常被认为较香槟酒为次。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。