Chapter 26

Joy had forgotten her lunch at home. It was lunchtime. She was hungry.

She didn't have a meal ticket. If she had had a meal ticket, she could have had a lunch from Miss Mush, the lunch teacher. She'd have to be terribly hungry to eat a lunch made by Miss Mush. Even an empty brown paper sack¹ would taste better. But that's how hungry Joy was.

Dameon hadn't forgotten his lunch. He had brought a lovely turkey sandwich, a big piece of chocolate cake, and a crisp², red apple. All he needed was a glass ofmilk.
104He could get that from Miss Mush. Miss Mush didn't know how to ruin milk.
Dameon left his lunch on his desk and went to the end of the milk line.

Joy didn't waste any time. She reached into Dameon's sack and took out the apple. But then she spotted³ the turkey sandwich. She put back the apple, took the sandwich, and noticed the chocolate cake. She put back the sandwich and took out the cake.

But then Joy had second thoughts. She put back the cake. Then she grabbed⁴ Dameon's whole lunch.

First she ate the sandwich. It was in a Baggie. When she finished the sandwich, she placed the Baggie on Jason's desk.

Next she ate the chocolate cake. It was wrapped in wax⁵ paper. She put the wax paper on Allison's desk.

She ate the apple last. She placed the apple core⁶ on Deedee's desk.

Then she put the empty sack on Calvin's desk.

Dameon returned with his glass of milk. "Mrs. Jewls, my lunch is gone!" he called.

"I wonder where it could be," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Calvin took it," said Joy. "There's the empty sack on his desk."

"Good work, Joy," said Mrs. Jewls. "Calvin, I'm ashamed of you." She wrote Calvin's name on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE.

"Look, the Baggie from Dameon's turkey sandwich is on Jason's desk!" Joy called.

"Very good, Joy," said Mrs. Jewls. "But how did you know that Dameon had a turkey sanawich?"

"I'm just smart," said Joy.
105Mrs. Jewls wrote Jason's name on the blackboard under Calvin's.
"And there's the wax paper from the delicious chocolate cake on Allison's desk," Joy announced. Joy had chocolate all around her lips.

Allison stood firm. She looked into Mrs. Jewls's eyes. "I didn't eat his cake," she said.

"The evidence is there on your desk," said Mrs. Jewls. "Joy spotted it." She wrote Allison's name under Jason's.

"Dameon's apple core is on Deedee's desk," said Joy.

"Very good, Joy," said Mrs. Jewls. She wrote Deedee's name under Allison's.

"Dameon, I think you ought to thank Joy," said Mrs. Jewls. "She solved the mystery."

"Thank you, Joy," said Dameon.

Just then, Louis, the yard teacher, walked in. "I have your lunch, Joy," he said. "Your mother brought it. You left it at home."

"You mean you didn't have a lunch?" asked Mrs. Jewls. "You must be very hungry."

"No," said Joy, "not really. Since Dameon didn't get to eat, he can have it."

"Thanks a lot!" said Dameon. "You are the greatest!"

He ate Joy's lunch, an old bologna sandwich and a dried-up carrot.

"Joy, for being such a good detective, and for being so generous with your lunch, you may help yourself to a Tootsie Roll pop," said Mrs. Jewls. "They are in the coffee can on top of my desk."
106Joy took one. Then, when Mrs. Jewls wasn't looking, she took another.
Calvin, Jason, Allison, and Deedee had their names on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE. But they were good the rest of the day, so at two o'clock Mrs. Jewls erased⁷ them.

They forgot all about the whole thing.

Dameon had a lousy lunch instead of a great lunch. But five minutes later it didn't make any difference. He couldn't taste it anymore, and he was full. He went outside to play basketball and forgot about me whole thing.

Joy had a great lunch and two Tootsie Roll pops. But five minutes later it didn't make any difference. She couldn't taste it anymore, and she was full. And at dinnertime she was hungry, just the same.

But a horrible thing happened. Joy couldn't forget about filching⁸ Dameon's lunch. And for the rest of the year, every turkey sandwich, piece of chocolate cake, apple, and Tootsie Roll pop tasted like Miss Mush's porridge.

1 sack   

n.袋子，劫掠；vt.解雇，劫掠，把...装入袋子

参考例句：

• They made him pay for his offence by giving him the sack.他们解雇了他，从而使他因自己的过错而受到了惩罚。
• If you're late again tomorrow,you'll get the sack!如果你明天再迟到，那就卷铺盖走吧！

2 crisp   

adj.脆的；清新的；扼要的；n.[pl.]油炸土豆片

参考例句：

• What a crisp voice she has!听她的嗓音多脆！
• These pears are sweet and crisp.这种梨又甜又脆。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

5 wax   

n.蜡，蜡状物，震怒；vi.变大，增大，月亮满；vt.用蜡涂

参考例句：

• I wax my boots chiefly to waterproof them.我给靴子打蜡主要是为了防水。
• I wax the floor once a month.我每月给地板打一次蜡。

6 core   

n.中心；核心；(苹果、梨等果实的)果心

参考例句：

• We didn't get to the core of the subject.我们没触及问题的核心。
• The pear is rotten to the core.这梨全烂了。

7 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 filching   

v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boys were in the habit of filching fruit from the peddler's carts. 那些男孩们有偷小贩车上水果的习惯。 来自互联网