儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Music CHAPTER 6 Two Suspects

Victor Perrelli sank to the edge of the bed. “Oh, my,” he said, and ran his hands through his hair. “Do you suppose someone came in here and took the score?”

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Jessie said. “It doesn’t seem to be here.”

“This is terrible, terrible,” Victor said. “But who would do such a thing?”

“The score is very valuable,” Henry said. “Many people might like to have it.”

Victor popped to his feet. “Great music belongs to the world,” he said. “This cannot be! I will not let this happen!” He strode out of the room.

The Aldens followed at his heels, out of the hotel.

As they marched back to the Civic¹ Center, Benny said, “Don’t worry. We’ll help you find the music.”

But now the great Victor Perrelli was humming, and he didn’t seem to hear.

Back at the Civic Center, Melody was talking on the lobby phone. When she saw them, she looked nervous, and abruptly² stopped talking. As they came closer she hung up quickly and hurried over. It seemed as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

“Oh, there you are,” she said. “I was just — ”

“Why is there no music?” Victor demanded. “We must rehearse!”

Melody’s face was nearly as red as her hair. “We took a break,” she explained. “Now that you’re here, Victor, you can take over.” Her voice was sharp.

Without another word, Victor headed into the auditorium³.

Melody started after him.

“Don’t you want to hear what happened?” Benny asked her.

Melody halted. “Yes, of course,” she said. “Did you find the score?”

“We looked everywhere,” Jessie answered. “But we couldn’t find it.”

“Victor doesn’t lock his door,” Henry told her. “Anyone could have walked off with it.”

“I can’t worry about that now,” Melody said. “I have to rehearse!” She stomped⁴ off.

“She’s acting⁵ a bit strange,” Henry said.

“She’s probably worried about the missing music,” Violet defended.

“She can’t be too worried,” Benny said. “She didn’t even ask us about it.”

“You can’t think she took it,” Violet said. “Why would she do that?”

No one had an answer.

“What about the phone call?” Jessie asked. “It looked as though we’d caught her in the middle of something she wanted to keep secret.”

“Melody was probably just calling the hotel looking for us,” Violet suggested.

Soo Lee nodded. “That would mean she is worried about the score.”

“Of course she is,” Violet said. “That’s why she phoned: She wanted to know if we’d found it.”

“Funny she didn’t say something when we got back here,” Jessie said.

“Victor didn’t give her much of a chance to say anything,” Henry reminded her.

Music drifted into the lobby.

“Let’s talk about this later,” Jessie suggested. “I want to hear the rehearsal⁶.”

The Aldens went into the auditorium.

Victor was at the podium. “Let’s try it once more,” he was saying. He took up his baton⁷. “Now, remember, this passage should be sweet, full of heart.” He waited until everyone was ready. Then, with a downward stroke of the baton, he started the music again.

The Aldens sat quietly. Music surrounded them. They felt as though they were being lifted up and carried away to beautiful new places.

Victor tapped his baton against the podium. “No, no!” he said. “The strings⁸ are coming in late. Ms. Carmody, are you with us?”

Melody mumbled⁹ an apology.

“It sounded good to me,” Benny said.

“But Victor has a trained ear,” Violet said. “He hears things we don’t.”

“I don’t know how he can conduct at all with the missing score on his mind,” Jessie put in.

“He’s probably forgotten all about it,” Henry said.

Jessie wasn’t so sure. “He seemed awfully¹⁰ upset about it at the hotel. How could he forget it so soon?”

“He remembers all that music,” Soo Lee said.

“And Mozart’s long name,” Benny added. “But nothing else.”

“Do you suppose … ?” Violet said.

“No,” Henry answered firmly. “Victor didn’t steal the score. We shouldn’t even think it.”

“Nobody would think it,” Jessie said. “Maybe he knows that.”

“Right,” Benny piped up. “Maybe he just pretends to be so forgetful to throw everyone off the trail.”

“I think he really is forgetful,” Henry argued. “Remember what he said: ‘A head full of music has no room for details.’”

“Is valuable missing music just a detail?” Soo Lee wanted to know.

No one, not even Victor Perrelli, could answer yes to that.

They fell silent as the music began again. But their heads buzzed with unanswered questions.

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 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

3 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

4 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

7 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

8 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

9 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。

10 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。