儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Music CHAPTER 14 The Mysterious Package

Back at the Civic¹ Center, they found Bob in the lobby, talking to some of the orchestra members.

“Did you find my glasses?” he asked when he saw Jessie and Benny.

Jessie handed them to him. “The briefcase² fell over,” she said, “so we put everything on your desk.”

Bob nodded, but Jessie was sure he hadn’t heard her.

“Why didn’t you ask him about the plane ticket?” Benny wanted to know.

“He’s too busy now,” Jessie answered. “And there are too many people around.”

Henry came up behind them. “The orchestra took a break,” he said. “Let’s go back to the park.”

“Wait till you hear what we found!” Benny exclaimed.

“Not here, Benny,” Jessie warned him. She didn’t want Bob to hear them discussing the plane ticket.

When the Aldens were all in the park, Benny said, “Bob has a plane ticket to Paris!”

“It’s for tomorrow afternoon,” Jessie added.

“I’ll bet he’s taking the missing music with him,” Benny added.

“Bob Weldon?” Soo Lee asked.

Violet was surprised, too. “He can’t be the thief!”

Until now, they hadn’t even considered him a suspect.

“Let’s think about this,” suggested Henry.

And they did.

After a while, Jessie said. “What about his room? It was ransacked³ just like Victor’s.”

“Are we sure about that?” Henry asked.

“That’s right!” Violet said. “We didn’t see his room.”

“He could have lied about it to throw us off the track,” Henry added.

Benny laughed. “We weren’t even on the track!”

“Bob didn’t know that,” Henry reminded him.

“But what about the notes?” Violet asked. “Janet Muller could have traced Melody’s signature from her autograph book. How would Bob have written it?”

Henry had an explanation. “Bob manages the orchestra; he probably has copies of all the musicians’ signatures in his files.”

This was an important development. They decided⁴ to tell Grandfather Alden about it.

“Let’s go to the hotel and wait for him,” Violet suggested. “He said he’d try to get there early. He wants to have dinner before the dining room gets too crowded.”

On the way to the hotel, they continued their discussion.

“Bob could easily have taken the score from Victor’s room,” Jessie said.

“Anybody could have done that,” Benny argued. “Victor never locks his door.”

“But no one would be alarmed if they saw Bob in the room,” Henry said. “It’s his job to take care of the orchestra members.”

“You know what I don’t get?” Soo Lee said. “If Bob had the music, why did he mess up Victor’s room?”

That was something no one understood.

They weren’t at the hotel long when Victor, Bob, and Melody came in. They stood near the door discussing the next night’s performance.

A desk clerk approached, carrying a large brown envelope. “Excuse me, Mr. Weldon,” he said.

Bob snapped, “Can’t you see I’m busy?” and waved him away.

The clerk backed off.

“Maybe I could help,” Henry offered.

“Thank you,” the man said. “Perhaps you could talk to Mr. Weldon.” He held up the package. “He asked us to send this out, but we can’t read his handwriting. All we can make out is Paris, France.”

“Paris!” Benny repeated.

The Aldens looked at one another. They were all wondering the same thing: What was Bob Weldon sending to Paris?

The clerk handed the envelope to Henry and went behind the desk.

“Why are you sending something to Paris, Bob?” Benny asked, his voice loud with excitement.

Bob grabbed at the envelope. But it was too late. Benny spoke⁵ up again. “Why don’t you just take it with you? You’re going to Paris tomorrow.”

Bob glared at Benny.

Melody’s mouth dropped open.

Victor looked hard at Bob. “What’s this about Paris?”

“I — uh — ” Bob stammered⁶. His eyes darted⁷ around as though he were looking for a place to hide.

“He has a plane ticket to Paris,” Jessie said. She explained what she had found in Bob’s room.

Victor nodded. “I see,” he said. He seemed surprisingly calm. He turned to Bob. “Open that package, Bob. Let’s see what’s in it.”

“It’s nothing,” Bob said. “A letter!”

“Bob,” Victor repeated.

“Oh, all right. Here.” Bob handed the envelope reluctantly to Victor. Then he sank to a nearby chair and put his head in his hands.

Victor turned the brown envelope over. Slowly, he tore the tab on the back. The envelope was open. Victor reached in carefully and pulled out … the missing Mozart score!

1 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

2 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

3 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》