Лекции по английскому языку

'Oh,' I said sadly, 'and what does your new boyfriend

do?'

'My new boyfriend's a weight lifter.' Suzy replied. 'He lifts big weights in competitions.'

I was about to say goodbye. Then I remembered that I had riot telephoned to speak to, Suzy. I wanted to speak to her boss, Mr Myer.

'Can I speak to Mr Myer please, Suzy?' I asked.

'Right,' Suzy said, 'I'll put you through to Mr Myer. Goodbye.'

There was a pause and then I heard Mr Myer's voice.

'Hello, Myer speaking.'

'Good morning Mr Myer,' I said, in a deep voice. I had put my handkerchief over the telephone, so that Mr Myer would not know my voice.

'This is the police,' I said, 'Sergeant Murphy speaking.'

I pretended to be Sergeant Murphy so that Mr Myer would answer my questions.

'Good morning,' said Mr Myer. 'What do you want to ask me about?'

'It's about a girl who works for you,' I said. 'Her name is Elaine Garfield. She has disappeared and we are trying to find her. Elaine's sister, Helen, came to see you last Tuesday, didn't she?'

'No,' said Mr Myer, 'Elaine's sister didn't come to see me last Tuesday. I didn't know that Elaine had a sister, until a private detective told me. He said that Elaine's sister was called Helen.'

The telephone line was very bad and it was difficult for me to hear what Mr Myer was saying.

'What did you say?' I asked.

'I said that Elaine's sister was called Helen,' replied Mr Myer. 'The names are very similar, aren't they?'

'Thank you very much, Mr Myer,' I said and put the telephone down.

Mr Myer was right. The names Helen and Elaine were very similar. Elaine Garfield had disappeared. And so far, I was the only person who had met Helen Garfield. 

I left the cafe and walked back up to my office. As I climbed the stairs, I could hear my telephone ringing. I didn't hurry. I walked slowly along the corridor into my office, and answered the telephone.

'Is that Samuel?' a voice said. I recognised the voice at once. It was Jo.

'Yes,' I said, 'this is Len Samuel.'

'Listen, Samuel,' Jo said, 'we want Elaine Garfield and we think you know where she is. We are coming to your office to see you. Wait for us. Don't go out.'

'But I . . .' I started, but it was too late. Jo had put the telephone down.

I sat down at my desk sadly.

'Now what's going to happen?' I thought. 'Jo and his friend will come to see me. They'll ask me if I know where Elaine Garfield is. But I don't know where she is. I wonder if they will believe me when I tell them.'

The telephone rang again. I picked it up.

'Hello,' I said.

'Hello, Samuel,' said a familiar voice.

'Hello, Sergeant Murphy,' I replied, trying to sound pleased.

'We've just telephoned New York,' the sergeant said angrily, 'and the New York police were very helpful. The New York police told us that there is no such person as Helen Garfield. Helen Garfield does not exist. There is no one living in New York called Helen Garfield. You were lying when you told me that you were working for Helen Garfield.'

'But. . .' I started.

'Now, listen,' the sergeant interrupted, 'I am sending a police car round to your office. I want to see you. Wait for the police car. Don't go out.'

The sergeant put down the telephone and I sat back in my chair. I was worried. What would happen now? Jo was coming to see me and so was a policeman. I tried to think of what I would say to them both. I hoped that the policeman and Jo would not arrive at the same time. 

J 8

he telephone rang again. I was afraid to answer it. The

I Find Elaine Garfield

telephone continued ringing. Finally, I did answer it.

'Hello,' I said.

'Is that Mr Samuel?' asked a voice. It was Helen Garfield.

'Yes, Miss Garfield,' I replied, 'this is Len Samuel speaking.'

'I must see you,' said Helen Garfield.

'Well, I would like to talk to you, too, Miss Garfield,' I said slowly. 'I think there are a lot of things you and I must talk about.'

'Right,' the girl said, 'meet me at the "Seventh Mann" cafe in five minutes. Do you know where the cafe is? It's about half a mile from your office.'

'I know the "Seventh Man", 'I replied, 'but I can't meet you in five minutes, because I'm expecting visitors.'

'You must come at once, Mr Samuel,' she said.

'But. . .' I began.

It was too late. Helen Garfield had put her telephone down.

I got up from the chair and walked to the door. I decided to go and meet Helen Garfield. Both Jo and Sergeant Murphy had told me not to go out. But I decided I would rather talk to Helen Garfield than to the policeman or to Jo. If Jo and the policeman came when I was out, they could talk to each other.

I left the building and drove the Chrysler down the road. I was very lucky, because I was able to park right outside the "Seventh Mann". I walked into the cafe.

Helen Garfield was sitting at a table in the corner. I walked over and sat down beside her. I asked the waiter for a cup of coffee. I drank the coffee without saying anything. Then I put the cup down and looked at the beautiful, blonde girl sitting beside me. 

'Miss Garfield,' I said, you are a very beautiful girl, but I think you are a liar. I think that everything you've said to me has been lies. I don't think you've ever told me the truth.'

The blonde girl's face slowly became red. She looked straight at me.

'Mr Samuel,' she said, 'I'm paying you a lot of money to work for me. I asked you to find my sister. I didn't ask you to call me a liar.'

'Well, Miss Garfield, I think I have found Elaine Garfield. Would you like me to tell you where she is?'

'Yes,' the blonde girl said, 'where is Elaine?'

'She's here in this cafe,' I said. 'Elaine Garfield is sitting next to me. You are Elaine Garfield. Helen Garfield doesn't exist. You pretended to be Helen Garfield, but there really never was any such person.

'The police in New York say that Helen Garfield doesn't exist,' I went on. 'Helen Garfield and Elaine Garfield are the same person. You are Elaine Garfield and you pretended to be Helen.'

The blonde girl stood up angrily.

'How much money do you want, Mr Samuel? You are no longer working for me,' she shouted.

'Sit down,' I said quietly.

The blonde girl did not sit down, so I pulled her down beside me.

'Now listen, Miss Garfield,' I said firmly. 'You are going to tell me all about yourself and why you came to see me. I want to know all about Benny Greep and Las Cabanas. I want to know why you disappeared.'

'I won't tell you anything,' she said.

'Oh, yes, you will tell me everything,' I replied, 'you'll tell me everything or else I'll take you straight to the police. You see, the police are looking for me at this moment. 

'The police think that I may have killed Benny Greep,' I continued. 'The police know that I had a fight at Las Cabanas last night. A red haired man and his tall friend are also chasing me. They are the two men who started the fight at Las Cabanas. They will try to kill me if I don't tell them where you are. So you see, Miss Garfield, I think you had better tell me everything. I'm the only person who can help you.'

The blonde girl sat in silence for a minute. Then she began to cry.

'All right,' she said, 'I'll tell you everything. I am Elaine Garfield.'

19

Everything Is Explained

_I

looked at the blonde girl.

'So you agree that you're really Elaine Garfield and not Helen,' I said quietly. 'Now tell me about Benny Greep.'

The girl took a deep breath.

'Suzy Graham and I used to go out dancing together a lot,' said Elaine. 'We often went to Las Cabanas. One night when we were there, I met a wonderful man called Benny. Benny was the drummer in the band. 1 liked him very much and went to the nightclub very often, to see Benny. We became very good friends.'

The girl stopped again and took out her handkerchief.

'Go on,' 1 said quietly.

'I used to go to Las Cabanas to see Benny nearly every night, but it was difficult for us to talk to each other,' the girl continued.

'Why was it difficult for you and Benny to talk to each other?' I asked.

'Because Benny was the drummer in the band, of course,'

Elaine Garfield replied. 'We couldn't talk to each other very much, because he was playing with the band most of the evening.'

'I understand,' I said and ordered two more coffees.

'So I spent a lot of time in Las Cabanas, watching Benny play the drums,' the girl said. 'And I also watched everything else which happened in the nightclub.'

'What did you see?' I asked.

'I didn't notice anything unusual at first,' the girl replied. 'But, after a few nights, I noticed that the same people always came to the club, at the same time.'

'Which people?' I asked.

'There was a red-haired man, a tall man who never took off his hat, and one or two others,' said Elaine Garfield.

'Yes,' I said, 'I think I have met two of them. They were the men who hit me on the head in the Manson Building.'

'Anyway,' the girl continued, 'one night, I asked Benny why these men came to the club every night. Benny told me not to ask questions. So I watched the men more carefully afterwards and noticed that they always arrived with bags. But when the men left, they weren't carrying bags.'

'What did you do then?' I asked.

'I asked Benny about the men again,' she said. 'Benny said that there were a lot of strange things happening at Las Cabanas, and that it was dangerous to ask questions.'

The waiter brought the coffees and Elaine waited until he had gone.

'One night,' she continued, 'one of the men was sitting at the table next to me. He was talking to some other men and he opened the bag that he was carrying. I was sitting quite close and I could see into the bag. The bag was full of diamonds and jewellery.'

'Really?' I said and drank my coffee.

'I told Benny about the bag of jewellery, later on in the evening,' continued Elaine. 'Benny was very excited at the news. 

 

'The bag was full of diamonds and jewellery.

He told me that he had known for a long time that criminals used Las Cabanas. They used the club as a place to buy and sell stolen things. Benny and I talked all evening about the bag of jewellery. Benny said that the jewellery was stolen. The men who were selling it were criminals and they had stolen the jewellery.

'Well,' Elaine continued, 'Benny wanted to steal one of the bags. He said that the jewellery was stolen, so it didn't matter if we stole it from the criminals. I agreed to help him. We hoped to sell the bag and to use the money to go away together.'

'I see,' I said, 'and did you help Benny to steal the bag of jewellery?'

'Yes, we waited for nearly a week,' Elaine replied. 'Then, last Sunday, I had a chance to steal the bag. It was at the end of the evening, and nearly everyone had left the club. I had found out where they hid the bag and I was able to take it and give it to Benny. Benny had big bags in which he carried his drums. It was easy for him to hide the bag of jewellery in the drum bag. We left the club together, with the bag of jewellery. We decided to hide the jewellery in my apartment and then sell it later.

'The next day was Monday,' Elaine continued, 'and I went to work. In the afternoon, I had a telephone call from Benny. Benny said that the red-haired man knew that the bag of jewellery had been stolen. He was very angry. Benny told me to stop work and go home. He told me to stay at home, to make sure that no one came to take the jewels. Benny was going to continue working at Las Cabanas. Then no one would think that he had stolen the jewels.'

'And did you stay at home?' I asked.

'Yes, I stayed at home for three days,' Elaine replied. 'But I was afraid that the red-haired man would find out where I was living. Then he would come to get the bag of jewellery.'

'So what did you do?' I asked.

'That was easy,' she said, with a smile. 'I moved into a hotel in the centre of the town and then came to see you.' 

'But why did you come to see me?' I asked. 'To make sure that I was safe,' said Elaine. 'I pretended to be my sister and said that I had disappeared. I asked you to find me. Then I knew that I was safe.'

'Why?' I asked.

'Because you were looking for me,' Elaine continued. 'If the men from Las Cabanas found me or took me away, you would find out and chase them.'

'Thank you very much for thinking that I am such a good detective,' I said. 'But why didn't you tell me the truth?'

о on with your story,' I said.

'That's easy,' said Elaine. 'I didn't want to tell you about the jewels.'

20

I'm Sorry, Mr Samuel

'The evening I came to see you at your office,' said Elaine, 'I telephoned Benny at Las Cabanas. I told Benny what I had done. Benny told me that the red-haired man knew that we had stolen the jewellery. Benny told me that there would be no trouble if I brought the jewels back to Las Cabanas the next night.'

'You were stupid to trust the red-haired man,' I said.

'I know,' the girl said. 'I was afraid. So I asked you to meet me at Las Cabanas at half past eleven.'

'So you didn't know that Benny was dead until I told you at Las Cabanas,' I said.

'No,' Elaine said. 'That is why I ran away before midnight. I decided not to give them the jewellery, because they had killed Benny.' 
 

'You've still got the jewels, then?' I asked, in surprise. 'Where are they?'

'Here,' Elaine said, and pointed to a small bag under the table.

I reached under the table, picked up the bag and opened it. The bag was full of diamonds and jewellery. Just then I heard a voice and, at the same time, Elaine screamed.

'Give it to me!' said the voice.

I looked up quickly and saw Jo standing beside me. His tall friend was right behind him.

'Give me the bag!' said Jo, once again.

'How did you know I was here?' I asked.

'You parked your car right outside,' said Jo, with a laugh. 'Now, give me the bag.'

I passed him the bag. As I gave him the bag, I jumped to my feet and hit Jo hard in the face. He tripped and fell heavily onto the floor. I moved towards the tall man, who was still standing a few feet away. I was about to run at him, but then I stopped. The tall man had taken a gun from his pocket and the gun was pointing straight at me.

'Right,' said the tall man. 'Don't move or else I'll shoot you.'

Jo got up from the floor. He still had the bag of jewellery in his hand. Together, Jo and his friend with the gun walked towards the door. They walked backwards, to make sure that Elaine and I did not try to get the bag back.

As the two men reached the door, I started to laugh.

'What are you laughing at?' shouted the man with the gun.

'Look behind you,' I said.

Both men turned around and looked. In the doorway of the cafe stood Sergeant Murphy, with two other policemen. Sergeant Murphy jumped on the tall man with the gun and Jo ran back into the cafe. I stepped forward to stop Jo and he ran straight into me. We both fell on the floor and the two policemen ran up. One of the policemen held Jo. The other policeman held me.

 

I looked up quickly and saw Jo standing beside me. His tall friend was right behind him.

'They are the criminals,' I shouted, pointing at Jo and his friend, 'not me.'

'You are all coming down to the police station,' Sergeant Murphy said and looked over to Elaine Garfield. 'You must come, too.'

It took a long time to tell Sergeant Murphy the whole story. In the end, he believed what Elaine and I told him. The sergeant warned me not to tell him lies again, and agreed to let me go free. Elaine told Sergeant Murphy all she knew about Las Cabanas. The sergeant was very pleased to catch Jo and his friend with the jewels. Sergeant Murphy agreed to let Elaine go free, because she helped catch the criminals.

As we were leaving the police station, I asked Sergeant Murphy how he had found us in the "Seventh Man" cafe.

'It was very lucky, really,' said the sergeant. 'We went to your office to see you, but you weren't there. As we were leaving, we saw the red-haired man and his friend entering. We waited and when they left, we followed them to the cafe.'

'Thank you very much, Sergeant,' said Elaine. 'And thank you very much, Mr Samuel.'

'That's all right,' I said, 'you are paying me fifty dollars a day.'

'I'm sorry, Mr Samuel,' Elaine said, 'I'm afraid I can't pay you. Now that I've given the jewels to the police, I don't have any money.'

I smiled and got into the old grey Chrysler and drove back to the office. I didn't say goodbye. When I got back to the office, I sat down in my chair. It's not much fun being a private eye. You get hit on the head, nearly killed, and chased by the police. And you don't always get paid. 
 

Exercises

People in the Story

Answer the questions YES or NO.

1. Did anyone else work in Lenny's office?
2. Was Lenny a policeman?
3. Did people pay Lenny to solve crimes and find missing persons?
4. Did Lenny have regular work?
5. When he was busy, did he sleep in the office?
6. Did Lenny drive a new car?
7. Did Lenny usually have breakfast in a cafe?
8. Did Lenny earn a lot of money as a private detective?

Write YES/NO questions.

NO

Helen Garfield said she came from New York. Did Helen Garfield say she came from New York.

2. She didn't say where she was staying.

3 She gave Lenny her sister's address.

4 She said she was worried about her sister.

5 She didn't tell the police about her sister.

6 She didn't give Lenny her address. 

Multiple Choice 1

Tick the best answer.

1. When did Elaine Garfield disappear? a EH Helen didn't know.

b □ The day before Helen went to see Lenny,

с О The morning Helen went to see Lenny, d И A week before Helen went to see Lenny.

2. Why did Helen Garfield fly from New York to Los Angeles? a D To attend a business meeting.

b G To meet her sister,

с EH To visit Lenny Samuel,

d Q To see her boyfriend.

3. What did Helen say she did when Elaine failed to come to her hotel? а EH She called the police.

b EH She went to Elaine's apartment and then to her office,

с EH She went to Elaine's office and then to her apartment,

d П She went to visit Lenny Samuel.

4. Why did Helen wait so long before telling anyone about her sister? a □ She said it was none of Lenny's business.

b EH She was ill for a few days and couldn't do anything,

с EH She expected Elaine to come back,

d EH She thought Elaine had had an accident.

5. What did Lenny notice in Elaine's apartment? a EH The ashtrays were full of cigarette butts.

b EH There was blood on the bathroom floor,

с □ The wardrobe was almost empty,

d EH Her driver's licence was in the toilet.

6. How would Lenny have recognised Elaine Garfield? a EH Helen gave her a photo.

b EH Mr Myer described her.

с EH Suzy Graham described her.

d EH She was Helen's twin sister.

Words From the Story

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