儿童英语读物 The Great Detective Race CHAPTER 7 Through the Looking Glass

“Ice cream would sure hit the spot right now!” Benny called out, as the Aldens wheeled back into Greenfield.



“Sounds good to me,” Henry was quick to agree. Jessie and Violet nodded.



When they stopped outside the Greenfield Ice Cream Parlor 1, Violet decided 2 to take another picture. Henry, Jessie, and Benny smiled into the camera while she snapped a photo, then they went inside.



“This was a great idea, Benny,” Jessie said, as they claimed an empty table by the window.



It only took them a few minutes to decide on what they wanted. Their order included a hot-fudge sundae for Henry, a waffle cone 3 with two scoops 4 of chocolate-mint ice cream for Jessie, a strawberry milkshake for Violet, and a banana split for Benny.



“And four glasses of water, please,” Jessie added.



“Four glasses of H20 coming right up!” The waitress gave them a cheery smile, then hurried away.



Jessie stared after her in amazement 5. Then she turned to the others, her eyes wide. “Did you hear that?”



Benny crinkled his brow. “What’s H2O?”



“That’s what scientists call water,” Henry explained, in an excited whisper.



“Oh,” said Benny, still not sure what all the fuss was about.



Jessie smiled over at her little brother and sister. “What were the letters in the clue?”



“H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O,” said Violet. Then she suddenly gasped 6. “H to O!”



Henry grinned. “I think we just found the missing piece of the puzzle.”



“I don’t get it,” said Benny, pulling a leaf from his hair.



“The puzzle showed the letters H to O,” Jessie explained. “And H20 is another name for water.”



“And if we put ‘water’ and ‘slide’ together,” put in Henry, “we get—”



“Waterslide!” the others cried out in unison 7.



Jessie nodded. “Maybe the clue’s pointing us to the Greenfield Waterslides.”



“That’s a fun place to look for a clue!” Benny exclaimed after gulping 8 down his water.



“So was the bowling 9 alley,” agreed Violet.



“And the ice cream truck,” said Jessie. “Debra said she wanted the race to appeal to kids.”



“Well, it does,” said Benny. “Right, Henry?”



Before Henry had a chance to speak, a familiar voice caught their attention. They looked over to see Debra Belmont sitting at a table nearby. She was sipping 10 an ice-cream soda 11 through a straw and talking on a cell phone.



“I’m telling you, I have no choice but to fix it,” Debra was saying into the phone. “What else can I do?”



Violet frowned. “I wonder why she sounds so upset?”



“I know, I know!” Debra was nodding her head. “If there’s a leak, I’ll have to walk.”



Jessie’s gaze jumped to Henry’s. Neither of them liked what they were hearing.



Just then, Debra pocketed her cell phone, pushed back her chair, and walked out of the ice-cream parlor.



“That was odd,” Henry said, as the door closed behind her. “I wonder if Debra was talking about the race.”



“It sure sounded like it,” said Jessie. “Do you think she’s planning to fix it?”



“Fix the race?” Benny scrunched 12 up his face. “Is it broken?”



“Fixing a race means something else, Benny,” Henry said. “It means making sure a certain person wins.”



“In this case, somebody between the ages of twenty and fifty,” Jessie added. “The age of Mike Devlin’s radio listeners.”



“But what did she mean about a leak?” Benny wondered.



“I’m not sure,” said Jessie. “I guess if word leaks out about the race being fixed 13, Debra would be forced to walk out on her job.”



“Oh, Jessie!” cried Violet. “You don’t really think she’d fix the race, do you?”



“It does sound suspicious, Violet,” said Jessie.



But Violet wasn’t convinced. “We can’t be sure that Debra was talking about the race.” Violet didn’t like to think Debra would do something so dishonest.



“I suppose you’re right,” Jessie said, backing down a little. Violet had a point. It was one thing to suspect somebody. It was another thing to have proof.



As their ice cream arrived, the Aldens ate in silence. They were each thinking the same thing. Nothing was going to stop them from winning the Great Detective Race!



“Did you see how fast I went down that last one?” Benny asked the next afternoon. The Aldens were sitting on the edge of the pool, taking a breather from the waterslides.



Jessie grinned. “I think you broke all the records, Benny,” she said, as she rubbed sunscreen on her shoulders.



Violet looked over at her little brother. “I got a good shot of you coming down, Benny.”



Benny beamed. “Cool!”



“I wonder where the next clue could be,” Henry said thoughtfully. He was craning his neck as he glanced around.



Jessie slapped a hand against her forehead. “I almost forgot why we came.”



Benny noticed a lifeguard wearing a WGFD baseball cap standing 14 nearby. On the spur of the moment, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “We listen to the Big G!”



The lifeguard jerked his head around in surprise. He was all smiles as he walked over. “Are you sure about that, young man?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye.



Benny paused. “We do listen to it sometimes,” he replied. “But just not all the time.”



The lifeguard laughed. “At least you’re honest.” He reached into the backpack slung 15 over his shoulder and pulled out an envelope. “I haven’t given away too many of these yet.” He held the envelope out to Benny. “Good luck!”



“Wow!” Henry shook his head in disbelief. “How easy was that?”



“It was a nice change, that’s for sure,” said Jessie, as Benny pulled the next clue from the envelope.



Violet unfolded the sheet of paper Benny handed her. Then she read the words aloud:



    Through a looking glass



    all will be shown;



    the code word you’re seeking



    is made out of stone.



“It’s the last clue!” Jessie said.



“Got to be,” said Henry. “It leads to the code word.”



Violet couldn’t help noticing that her little brother was unusually quiet. She could tell something was troubling him. “Is anything wrong, Benny?”



“The lifeguard said he gave away some of these clues already,” Benny answered. “Somebody might beat us to the code word.”



“The lifeguard said he hasn’t given away too many,” Henry said. “We still have a chance.”



At that, Jessie read the riddle 16 aloud a second time. After some thought, she said, “If the answer is made out of stone, maybe we should be looking for a statue.”



Henry nodded. “That makes sense.”



“Wait!” Violet snapped her fingers. “How about the Minuteman statue in the town square?”



“That’s a good guess, Violet,” Henry told her. “But the Minuteman statue is bronze—not stone.”



“You’re right, Henry.” Violet nodded. “I forgot about that.”



“What does it mean about a looking glass?” Benny wondered.



“A looking glass is an old-fashioned word for a mirror,” Jessie told him.



“Oh, I get it,” said Benny. “Because you look at yourself in it, right?”



“You catch on fast,” said Henry.



“I read a book about a girl who steps through a looking glass,” Violet said thoughtfully. “She suddenly finds herself in a different world.”



Jessie nodded. “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” she recalled. “It’s about the same girl from Alice in Wonderland.”



Nobody said anything for a while. They were each lost in thought about the riddle.