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

Back at the Civic 1 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 briefcase 2 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 ransacked 3 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 decided 4 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 spoke 5 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 stammered 6. His eyes darted 7 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!