書蟲入門級 綠眼女子

The Girl with Green Eyes

Greg is a porter at the Shepton Hotel in New York. After work, he always goes for a coffee across the street. A girl is sitting in the coffee shop, near the window.

It's her again!' thinks Greg. 'She's here every afternoon. I'm going to say hello.'

Greg goes into the coffee shop and gets a coffee. Then he goes across to the girl's table.

Hi!' he says. 'I'm Greg. Can I sit with you?'

OK,' she says. 'I'm Cassie.'

I come here for a coffee every day after work,' says Greg. 'I'm a porter at the Shepton Hotel.' He smiles. 'You have beautiful green eyes.'

Have I?' she says. She doesn't smile.

Is something wrong, Cassie?' he asks. 'You don't look very happy.'

It – it's nothing,' she says.

Tell me,' says Greg. 'Maybe I can help?'

Well...' she begins.

Go on,' says Greg.

My stepfather is staying at the Shepton Hotel,' she says. 'He has my sketch books. I'm an artist. When I ask him to give them to me he says, "No. I want you to come back home to Boston." But I don't want to go back to Boston. He's not nice.'

How long is he going to be at the hotel?' asks Greg.

Two more days,' says Cassie. 'He's in room 724.'

Maybe I can get the sketch books for you,' says Greg. 'Maybe I can get into his room.'

Can you?' she says.

Meet me here tomorrow afternoon at 4.30,' says Greg.

OK, thank you!' says Cassie. 'Thank you very much.' She looks at her watch. 'I've got to go now. See you tomorrow.'

When Cassie gets back to her hotel room, she makes a telephone call.

Hello,' she says. 'It's me. It's OK, the boy's going to do it... Yes, I'm going to get them from him tomorrow afternoon... OK, I can meet you there the morning after, at 10 am. Don't forget to bring the money – two thousand dollars.'

Next morning, Greg arrives at work early. He goes to find room 724.

I have to wait for Cassie's stepfather to go out,' he thinks. 'I don't know his name, but it doesn't matter.'

Greg watches the door of room 724. He sees the girl come to clean the rooms.

Some minutes later, a man comes out of room 724.

That must be Cassie's stepfather!' thinks Greg.

He waits for the man to leave, and for the cleaning girl to go into room 724.

I need to look in the room,' he thinks.

Greg waits for the girl to leave the bedroom, then he goes into the room and begins to look for the sketch books.

I must be quick,' he thinks. 'Where are they?'

Suddenly, Greg sees the sketch books by the bed.

Got them!' he thinks. He begins to look at the pictures. 'Wow! Cassie is a great artist! These are good!'

Greg is leaving the room when he hears the cleaning girl call out to him.

Hey!' she says. 'What are you doing? Come back!'

Greg does not stop.

Greg finishes work that afternoon and leaves the hotel through a door in the next street. When he gets near the front of the hotel, he sees the man from room 724.

That's him again!' thinks Greg. 'That's Cassie's stepfather.'

Greg waits for the man to go into the hotel, then he goes to the coffee shop.

Cassie is at the same table in the coffee shop.

Greg gets a coffee and goes to sit with her.

I have them,' he says, and he puts the sketch books on the table.

That's great!' says Cassie. 'How can I thank you, Greg?'

You can meet me later,' he says. 'After I go home and change out of my porter's uniform.'

I'm sorry, Greg,' says Cassie. 'I can't tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.'

OK,' says Greg. 'Tomorrow night. We can get something to eat, first.'

Yes, OK,' says Cassie. 'I have to go now, but meet me here tomorrow evening at six o'clock.'

Cassie gets up, ready to leave.

Don't forget your key,' says Greg.

Oh – er – thanks,' says Cassie. She takes it from him quickly. 'See you tomorrow.'

Greg is finishing his coffee when he sees his friend, Mike.

You're in trouble, Greg,' says Mike. 'Jake Russo's sketch books are not in his room – room 724. And there are CCTV pictures of you coming from that room.'

Wh – who is Jake Russo?' asks Greg. Suddenly he's not feeling very well.

An artist,' says Mike. 'His pictures sell for thousands of dollars. And his sketch books sell for thousands, too.'

Do you have them?' asks Mike.

No – er – a girl has them,' says Greg.

What girl?' asks Mike.

A girl with green eyes,' says Greg. And he tells Mike about Cassie and her stepfather.

But it's not true!' says Mike, when Greg finishes speaking. 'Jake Russo doesn't have a wife or a stepdaughter. You have to find that girl and get the sketch books, Greg. And you have to do it before the police find you!'

Greg walks home to his one-room apartment.

How am I going to find her?' he thinks. 'She has Jake Russo's sketch books now, so she's not going to meet me again. Is she going to sell them for a lot of money?'

There is a police car in the street, next to Greg's apartment.

Oh, no!' he thinks. 'They're waiting for me. I can't get into my apartment now.'

That night, Greg sleeps on a train in the subway. But early the next morning...

Hey, you!' says a man. He's the subway cleaner. 'Get up! You can't sleep here all day!'

Sorry,' says Greg.

People are arriving to get their trains now. One of them stops and looks at a photograph in his newspaper – and then at Greg.

It's him,' thinks the man. 'It's the young man in the newspaper photograph. The police are looking for him.'

Suddenly, Greg sees the man looking at him. And he sees his picture on the front of the man's newspaper.

I have to get out of here quickly!' he thinks.

The man with the newspaper finds a policeman.

It's him!' he tells the policeman. 'The hotel porter!'

Hey, you!' the policeman calls to Greg.

Greg runs.

Stop!' calls the policeman.

Greg doesn't stop.

I have to get out of this uniform,' thinks Greg. 'People know I'm the porter. Maybe Mike can give me something different to wear.'

When he gets to Mike's apartment, Mike opens the door. 'I need something to wear,' Greg tells him. 'I can't go back to my apartment. My picture's in the newspaper, and —'

Yes, I know,' says Mike. 'It's OK. Come in.'

Where's the girl?' asks Mike. 'Do you know?'

No,' says Greg.

What can you remember about her?' says Mike. 'There must be something to help you find her.'

Yes!' Greg says, suddenly. 'Her key! A key to a room in the Dolphin Hotel! It's a small, cheap hotel near 42nd Street. She must be staying there. What's the time?'

Nearly nine o'clock,' says Mike.

Maybe she's there now,' says Greg. 'I have to go! Thanks, Mike.'

Twenty minutes later, Greg is near the Dolphin Hotel.

Am I too late?' he thinks.

Suddenly, Greg sees Cassie come out of the hotel.

Cassie!' he calls. 'Wait! I have to talk to you!'

Cassie sees him, but she doesn't stop. There is a car waiting for her. She says something to the driver and gets into it quickly.

Oh, no!' says Greg.

Pier 83,' says an old man in the street.

Greg looks at him. 'What?'

The girl is going to Pier 83, West 42nd Street, for the Circle Line boat,' says the old man.

Greg smiles. 'Thanks!' he says. And he begins to run.

Greg runs all the way to Pier 83. People are getting on to the boat, and he gets a ticket.

On the boat, Greg looks for Cassie. But a woman with a newspaper is looking at him.

It's the young man in the picture!' she tells the man with her. 'Call the police, Eddie.'

The man gets his phone and calls the police.

Some time later, Greg sees Cassie. She is talking to a man. But Greg does not see two policemen get on the boat.

They quickly find Greg. 'Where are Jake Russo's sketch books?' the first policeman asks him.

I don't have them!' says Greg. 'You don't want me! You want her! She has the sketch books.'

Hey, look! He's right,' says the second policeman.

The two policemen move quickly to Cassie and the man.

I don't understand,' says Cassie. 'How...?'

The two of you are coming with us,' says one of the policemen. 'You're in trouble.'

Later, Greg and a policeman take the sketch books back to the hotel. Jake Russo is very happy to see them again.

I'm sorry, Mr Russo,' says Greg, and tells him everything.

It's OK,' says the artist, smiling. 'But stay away from girls with beautiful green eyes!'