Cereal Box Mystery by Charles Tang

Author:Charles Tang [Warner, Gertrude Chandler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-1409-1
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2011-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

“Excuse me,” Jessie said. “We called a few minutes ago. We’d like to speak to Ms. Smitts.”

The young man looked up and pointed. “She’s in the studio,” he said. “You can sit on that bench and watch through the glass, if you’d like. She’ll be out soon.”

“Did you win all those trophies?” Benny asked.

“Those?” The young man glanced over his shoulder. “Not yet. I still have a lot to learn. No, those trophies belong to our instructors. They’ve all earned their black belts. That means they’re the best.”

“Oh,” said Benny. He sat down next to the others. They watched as Tori Smitts, in loose white pants and a white coat, wearing a black belt, showed students how to kick and punch and block.

Sometimes the students tried to knock her down. No matter how hard they tried, she always won.

“She’s very good,” Jessie said admiringly.

“Oh, yes,” the young man said. “Practically unbeatable.”

A few minutes later, they heard Ms. Smitts say, “Okay that’s it.”

Everyone bowed. Then the students filed out through a door in the back of the studio that had the words LOCKER ROOMS on it.

The young man got up, tapped on the glass, and motioned to Ms. Smitts. She walked toward him, then opened the door and stepped into the reception area.

“You have some visitors,” the receptionist said.

The Aldens stood up. “Hello,” Henry said, and began to introduce everyone.

Ms. Smitts looked surprised. But she held up her hand. “I remember you,” she said. “You don’t need to introduce yourselves. And I bet I can solve a mystery.”

“What?” asked Benny. “What mystery?”

“The mystery of why you’re here,” she said. Her lips curled into a little smile. “You’re playing detective, right? You’re looking for the missing jewelry.”

“And the thief,” said Benny. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Ms. Smitts might be teasing him and the other Aldens. He stared at her hard.

“We just wondered if you could remember anything else about what happened — anything that might be helpful,” Violet said.

“I’ve told the police everything I know,” Ms. Smitts said. “It all happened so fast.”

“So even though you grabbed the thief just outside the front door, you didn’t see his face,” Henry suggested.

“He pushed me away so hard, I nearly fell. I wasn’t able to hold on to him, much less see what he looked like,” Ms. Smitts replied firmly. “Now, if that’s all, I have another class to teach. Good luck to you.”

She turned and walked away.

The Aldens left, feeling discouraged.

“She wasn’t very friendly,” Violet said. “But I guess that doesn’t mean she is hiding anything.”

“Besides, she tried to keep the thief from getting away. That was very brave,” Jessie said. She paused, then added, “Unless she was just pretending, to keep people from being suspicious.”

“But she couldn’t have taken the jewelry after the thief left,” Henry pointed out. “Mr. Darden was still in the shop.”

“Maybe they were all three working together,” Jessie said.

“Maybe,” said Henry. “But I don’t think so.”

“I don’t, either,” said Violet. “I don’t think Mr. Darden had anything to do with it.

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