儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Music CHAPTER 11 False Notes

Victor ran his fingers through his hair. “You did not write this note,” he repeated.

“No, I most certainly did not,” Melody answered. “Why would I?”

“I thought perhaps you wanted to meet to talk to me about the orchestra,” Victor said. “About how … unhappy you are.”

Melody looked surprised. “Unhappy? What makes you think I’m … unhappy, Victor?”

“My dear, you have been with the orchestra a long time. I know you well.” Victor put his arm around Melody’s shoulders. “Now, let’s get on with your practice.” He led her off toward the theater.

“What was all that about?” Benny wanted to know.

“Someone wrote Victor a note and signed Melody’s name,” Jessie answered.

Benny shook his head. That was not what he had meant. “About Melody being unhappy. She doesn’t look unhappy.”

“We can talk about that later,” Henry said. “Now, we have to figure out who wrote that note.”

“And why,” Jessie added.

Violin music drifted into the room.

Violet said, “Oh, we’re missing Melody’s practice,” and hurried toward the auditorium¹.

The others followed. Perhaps an idea would come to them as they listened to Melody’s solo performance.

They slipped into front row seats. Down the aisle², Victor’s head was bowed, and his eyes were closed. They thought he might be sleeping. On stage, Melody swayed gently as she played. She moved the bow over the strings³ with a light, sure touch. Under her skillful fingers, the violin seemed to come alive.

“I’ll never be able to play like that,” Violet whispered.

“Sure you will,” Henry said. “It just takes practice.”

Suddenly, Benny blurted⁴, “I know!”

Jessie, who was sitting beside him, said, “Benny, hush⁵!”

“But I know why — !”

Violet leaned around her sister. “Shhh!” she commanded.

Grumbling⁶ to himself, Benny slumped⁷ back in his seat.

After awhile, Melody lifted her bow from the violin. Victor was on his feet before the last notes had died away.

“My dear, that was superb!” he said. “There’s just one passage that still needs work.” He climbed the stage stairs to show Melody which part of the music he wanted her to try again.

Benny looked at the other Aldens. “Can I talk now?”

“What do you want to tell us?” Henry asked.

“I know why someone sent that note to Victor: To get him out of his room!”

“That makes sense,” Jessie said, “but why would anyone want Victor to leave his room?”

“Whoever did it might think the missing score is still there,” Violet suggested.

Benny nodded vigorously. “And they wanted to search for it!”

They decided⁸ to tell Victor and Melody what they suspected.

Victor listened intently. Then he nodded and said, “We must go back to the hotel immediately!” and ran up the aisle.

Melody and the Aldens ran after him.

But they were too late. Back at the hotel, they found Victor’s door standing⁹ open. Inside, the room was a jumble¹⁰. Drawers were overturned, their contents strewn about the floor. Sheets and pillows were pulled off the bed. Clothes lay in piles on the closet floor.

Victor picked up his garment bag and unzipped it. His tuxedo¹¹ was in a heap at the bottom.

Bob Weldon came into the room. Looking at the mess over his glasses, he said, “Not you, too!”

“You mean your room was ransacked¹²?” Melody asked.

“Yes,” Bob answered. “I went down to the dining room to meet you as you asked, Melody, and — ”

“I never asked you to meet me,” Melody interrupted.

Bob looked confused. “But your note — it said you had to see me immediately.”

“I didn’t write you a note,” Melody told him.

Still confused, Bob said, “I don’t have time to argue. There is too much to do.” He started to leave.

“Wait!” Victor called. “This tuxedo needs cleaning before the dress rehearsal¹³. Please see to it.” He handed Bob the garment bag.

Bob narrowed his eyes. “Yes, sir,” he said. Under his breath, he added, “Always waits till the last minute,” just loud enough for the Aldens to hear.

“We had better get back to the Civic¹⁴ Center,” Melody suggested. “The orchestra will be arriving.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Victor responded absently, and drifted out of the room.

Melody hung back.

“You go ahead,” Henry told her. “We’ll stay here and straighten up.”

Saying, “I’m sure Victor would appreciate that,” Melody hurried off.

Benny and Soo Lee began putting things back in drawers. Jessie and Violet remade the bed. Henry put the clothes back on hangers¹⁵.

“Now, we have two false notes,” Jessie said.

“I’ll bet they were both written by the same person,” Benny said.

“But who?” asked Violet.

They thought about that.

Finally, Soo Lee asked, “Could it be Janet Muller?”

They remembered the scene in the hotel earlier that morning. Janet Muller had seemed uneasy. She said she was there collecting autographs. Had she lied?

“Maybe she is the one who wrote the notes,” suggested Jessie.

“What about Melody’s signature?” Violet asked.

“She could have traced it from her autograph book,” Benny answered.

It was possible, they agreed.

“I’ll bet she took the score, too,” Benny said.

That made sense. She had been very interested in the score that first day. And Mozart’s signature would be a valuable addition to her collection.

“But if she has the score, why would she need to search for it?” Henry asked.

“And if she didn’t need to search for the score, why would she write the notes?” Jessie added.

Benny let out a loud breath. “We don’t need more questions,” he said. “We need answers.”

But no one had any.

1 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。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 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。

4 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

6 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

7 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

8 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。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

11 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

12 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》

13 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。

14 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。

15 hangers   

n.衣架( hanger的名词复数 )；挂耳

参考例句：

• The singer was surrounded by the usual crowd of lackeys and hangers on. 那个歌手让那帮总是溜须拍马、前呼後拥的人给围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want to put some of my good hangers in Grandpa's closet. 我想在爷爷的衣橱放几个好的衣架。 来自辞典例句