Ruined Roses, angielski

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The Three Investigators
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The Case of
the Ruined Roses
Mark Zahn
The Three Investigators
in
The Case of the
Ruined
by Mark Zahn
Based on characters created by Robert Arthur
Illustrations by Martha Schwartz
www.bamcomics.com
Presented by: www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com
Roses
The Case of the Ruined Roses 3
he’s madly in love with you!”
Bob Andrews gave a mischievous laugh and slapped our part-
ner, Pete Crenshaw, on the back.
“Positively enraptured,” I added.
Pete’s face turned as scarlet as the oversized valentine he held
in his hand. He glanced back at the fluffy white teddy-bear and
the bundle of red, pink, and white balloons strapped to the back
of his bicycle and frowned.
“Very funny,” he muttered, peddling faster as if he could out-
run our good-natured teasing.
It was Valentine’s Day and school had just let out. The three
of us: Pete Crenshaw, Bob Andrews, and myself – Jupiter Jones –
were riding over to Pete’s house so he could unload his embar-
rassing cargo.
Earlier in the day a girl at our school by the name of Kelly had
let Pete know in a big way how she felt about him. Pete had
sulked the rest of the day, swearing that he would never let a girl
come between him and The Three Investigators.
Who are The Three Investigators, you ask? Well, to most of
Rocky Beach, California, Pete, Bob, and I are known as that very
junior detective firm. We take on cases of all shapes and sizes –
no matter how peculiar. But on this particular day the last thing
we were looking for was a case. In fact, the case found us!
We had just turned the corner onto Pete’s block when we saw
poor Ms. Landry standing before her ruined rose bushes, sniffling
quietly into a tissue. Ms. Landry is a kind old lady that lives on
the end of Pete’s block. She is a gentle soul who would never hurt
a fly, and she always pays Pete extra whenever he mows her lawn.
“Is everything okay, Ms. Landry?” Pete asked.
As we pulled our bicycles up onto the sidewalk, we could see
that three rose bushes had been uprooted from their spots in front
of her porch. The flower bed had been trampled and clods of dirt
“S
4 THE THREE INVESTIGATORS
scattered about when the bushes had been forcefully yanked from
the ground.
Ms. Landry sniffled again and smiled kindly at Pete. “Oh,
hello, Peter.” She gestured toward the mangled bushes and shook
her head. “I just can’t understand it. Who would do such a thing?”
She looked at Bob and me and dabbed her eyes. “I’m a widow,
you see. I don’t have much – my roses are my pride and joy. I take
such care with them. And to have them treated so...”
Pete had a look on his face that I recognized instantly. He was
ready for action. The Second Investigator smacked a fist into the
palm of his hand and seethed.
“We’ll catch whoever did this, Ms. Landry!”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary, Peter,” Ms. Landry replied.
“You see, I’ve already..”
Before she could finish, a familiar face came marching around
the corner of the house.
“Frankie Bender!” Pete cried, pointing at the ruined flower
bed. “Did you have anything to do with this?”
Bender, a short, barrel-chested boy, was not alone. He held a
smaller, wiry boy by the scruff of the neck. The smaller boy’s
knees were muddy, and I observed his dirty hands were nicked
and cut with minor abrasions – most likely inflicted by the thorns
on the rose bush.
Bender held a slingshot in his free hand. He stuffed the
weapon into his back pocket and pushed the small boy forward,
then stuffed his hands into his pockets and gloated.
“Of course I didn’t have anything to do with it, Crenshaw. I’m
a real detective. I caught this guy trying to get a away. Winged
him in the head with my slingshot as he made a break for it!”
The smaller boy glared at Bender and rubbed the back of his
head, as if remembering the pain.
“A detective?” Bob laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
The Case of the Ruined Roses 5
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Ruined Roses, angielski

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