帽子之謎

By+Bonnie+Katz

“What are you staring at， pipsqueak？”Tanner yelled from across the classroom， crammed into a desk too small for his large frame. I hadnt really staring at Tanner. I was just looking at his hat—the same hat hed worn every day since he moved here three weeks ago. It reminded me of Sherlock Holmess detective cap.

After school， Tanner was waiting for me in the hallway.“I asked what you were looking at， runt，”he said gruffly， staring downatme.

“Well， I was looking at your hat，”I said. I pointed at the checkered hat with front and back brims and side flaps tied to the top.“ItsaSherlockHolmeshat，”Isaid.

“A what？”Tanner demanded， pushing me up. I gulped.“Sherlock Holmes， the great detective. He wears a hat just like that. Have you ever read any Sherlock Holmes mysteries？”Tannerletgoofmyshoulders.Justthenthebellrang.

Later that day， I was at home making a peanut butter sandwich when the phone rang.“Sanchez residence， Josh speaking，”Isaid.

“Hey，shrimp，”agruffvoiceresponded.

“Uh， hi， Tanner，”I stammered， my heart racing. There was a long pause. Then finally he said，“Tell me more about that detective.”

“Uh， sure，”I said.“Well， Sherlock Holmes solves mysteries that no one else can solve by using his intellectual abilities and astuteskillsofobservation.”“Huh？”wasTannersreply.

“I mean， hes smart， and he can tell things about people just by looking at them，”I added. I took a deep breath.“So， uh， where did you get that hat？”“None of your business！”he roared， and hunguponme.

I couldnt sleep that night. Was Tanner going to pick on me tomorrow？Whydidhewearthathateveryday？

“Why do you think some kids act tough at school？”I asked mymomthenextmorningatbreakfast.

“Well， maybe they feel awkward and insecure about something， so they try to act tough to make up for it.”she said as sheslidtwofriedeggsontomyplate.

“Like being the biggest kid in class？”“Possibly，”she said， sippinghercoffee.“Beingdifferentcanbehardforpeople.”

That morning， Tanner was waiting for me outside the classroom with his arms crossed， wearing his hat.“Give me your lunch money，”he hissed， and held out his hand. I spotted his openbackpackonthefloor.

“Why do you need lunch money when you brought a tuna sandwichforlunch？”Iasked，thensteppedbackandlooked up at Tanner nervously.“Hey， how did you know that？”He demanded.“Well， I can smell the tuna， so I deduced that you have a tuna sandwich in your backpack.”

Tanner scowled.“Big deal， you can smell. Now give me your money， runt.”Heleanedovermemenacingly.

“Uh... I can also tell that you had powdered doughnuts for breakfast， and that you took the shortcut to school this morning，”I stammered.“How could you know all that？”he asked in disbelief.“Well， for starters， you have white powder on your lips.”Tanner wiped his face with the back ofhishand.

“Theres redclayonyour shoes，”I explained.“The only place around here with red clay is the path that cuts through the park.”I thought back to what my mom had said at breakfast.“You know， Sherlock Holmes was over six feet tall，”I said.“He was？”Tanner replied， standing up straight.“Yeah.”I paused.“So，Ireallylikeyourhat.”

He took it off.“It was my grandfathers，”he said.“When he died I got to pick out something to remember him by. He used to wearthishatallthetime.”

Inodded.Ididntknowwhattosay.

Tanner put his grandfathers hat on my head. He smiled for thefirsttimesinceIdmethim.“You can borrow thehat， ifI can borrowoneofyourdetectivebooks，”Tannersaid.

“Deal，”Irepliedwithagrin.

“你在盯著看什么，小東西？”坦納從教室那頭沖我大喊，然后擠進了座位，那座位對他這大塊頭來說太小了。我并沒有真的在盯著坦納看。我只是在看他的帽子———自從三周前他轉學到這兒，他每天都戴著這頂帽子。它讓我想起夏洛克·福爾摩斯的那頂偵探帽。

放學后，坦納在走廊里等著我。“我剛才問你在看什么呢，小矮子。”他粗聲說道，低頭瞪著我。

“呃，我當時在看你的帽子。”我說。我指著坦納那頂前后都有帽檐、兩側的護耳系在帽頂的方格帽子說：“那是一頂夏洛克·福爾摩斯式的帽子。”

“一頂什么？”坦納逼問道，邊問還邊上前推搡我。我喘不過氣來。“夏洛克·福爾摩斯，那個大偵探。他就戴著一頂那樣的帽子。你讀過任何關于夏洛克·福爾摩斯的探案故事嗎？”坦納松開了我的肩膀。就在這時，鈴聲響了。

那天晚些時候，我正在家做花生醬三明治，電話鈴響了。“這是桑切斯家，我是喬希。”我說道。

“嗨，小東西。”一個粗啞的嗓音回答道。

“啊，嗨，坦納。”我結結巴巴地說，心狂跳不已。很長時間的停頓之后，他說道：“多跟我說說那個偵探的事兒吧。”

“嗯，當然，”我說道，“呃，夏洛克·福爾摩斯能破解其他人無法解開的謎團，他用的是他的聰明才智和敏銳的觀察力。”“啊哈？”坦納這樣回答。

“我是說，他很聰明，僅僅通過觀察別人，就能知道跟他們有關的事情。”我深深地吸了一口氣，“那么，嗯，你是從哪兒得到那頂帽子的呢？”“關你什么事！”他大吼一聲就掛了我的電話。

那天晚上我睡不著。坦納明天會找我的碴兒嗎？他為什么每天都戴著那頂帽子？

“你覺得為什么有些孩子在學校會舉止粗暴呢？”第二天吃早飯時我問媽媽。

她一邊把兩個煎雞蛋放進我的盤子里，一邊說道：“可能是他們對什么事情感到尷尬或者缺乏安全感，因此想表現得粗暴一點來彌補。”

“比如成了班里塊頭最大的人？”“有可能，”她呷著咖啡，繼續說道，“一個人跟別人不一樣會很艱難。”

那天早上，坦納戴著帽子在教室外等著我，雙臂抱在胸前。“把你的午飯錢給我。”他尖聲說道，并把手伸了過來。我發現他的背包打開著放在地上。

“你午飯帶了金槍魚肉三明治，為什么還需要午飯錢？”我問道，然后退后，抬頭緊張地看著坦納。“嘿，你是怎么知道的？”他逼問我。“哦，我聞到了金槍魚肉味，所以我推斷你的背包里有一個金槍魚肉三明治。”

坦納沉下臉：“了不得啊，你還能聞出來呢。現在把你的錢給我，小矮子。”他惡狠狠地向我壓過來。

“嗯……我還知道，你早飯吃了撒了糖粉的甜甜圈，而且你早上來學校抄了近道。”我結結巴巴地說。“你是怎么知道這些的？”他懷疑地問道。“哦，首先，你的嘴唇上有白色糖粉。”坦納用手背擦了一下臉。

“你的鞋子上有紅色泥巴，”我解釋說，“這附近唯一有紅色泥巴的地方就是橫穿公園的那條路。”我回想起早飯時媽媽說的話。“你知道，夏洛克·福爾摩斯身高超過一米八二了。”我說。“是嗎？”坦納站直了身體問道。“是的，”我停頓了一下，“所以，我是真的喜歡你的帽子。”

他摘下帽子。“這是我爺爺的，”他說，“他去世時，我得選個什么東西來紀念他。他過去整天戴著這頂帽子。”

我點點頭，不知道說什么好。

坦納把帽子扣在了我頭上。我見到他以來，他第一次露出了笑容。“你可以借用這頂帽子，如果我可以借一本你的偵探書的話。”坦納說。

“成交。”我咧嘴一笑，回答道。