"Marcel and the White Star" is a short, engaging story by Stephen Rabley, part of a series designed for English language learners (often published by Penguin Readers or Pearson English Graded Readers). It features the clever detective mouse, Marcel.
Here's a summary of the
plot:
Marcel is a French mouse
who lives a comfortable life on an old boat in Paris. He enjoys a cultured
life, including books, restaurants, old films, and the opera. He also happens
to be a "secret detective."
One evening, after having
dinner with friends at the Louvre metro station, Marcel overhears two
suspicious men talking. They are discussing an opera singer named Zaza
Dupont and her incredibly valuable diamond ring, known as "The White
Star." It becomes clear to Marcel that they plan to steal it.
Marcel, being a
resourceful and brave mouse, decides to follow the thieves. He jumps onto their
car as they speed away from Zaza's house after the robbery. The thieves drive
across Paris to a café where they meet a woman, apparently an accomplice, to
discuss the stolen diamond.
This is Marcel's moment.
While the thieves and their accomplice are distracted, Marcel cleverly manages
to get the "White Star" diamond. He puts the ring around his neck and
makes a quick escape from the café, with the thieves in hot pursuit.
Marcel races back to Zaza
Dupont's house. He manages to get the ring inside her bedroom and leaves it on
her bedside table. However, the ring is stuck around his neck! He eventually
uses some soap to slip it off.
The next morning, Zaza
finds her precious "White Star" ring back in her room and is
overjoyed, though bewildered as to how it returned. The newspapers report the
mysterious return of the diamond. Marcel, back on his boat, reads the newspaper
stories with satisfaction, proud of his secret detective work.
The story highlights
Marcel's intelligence, bravery, and dedication to justice, even from a mouse's
perspective.
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