How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Two students?" Mr. Curtain was saying. "By students you mean children, do you not?"
"Um, yes, sir," cam S.Q.'s uncertain reply.
"Do you mean to tell me you can't prevent two children from breaking in?" (36.9-11)
We have to wonder: If Mr. C had taken the threat of two students trying to break in seriously, if he hadn't dismissed Kate and Constance as inconsequential because they're kids, might things have turned out differently?
Quote #8
It was a tense moment. And a curious one, too—for every person in the car, adult and child alike, realized just then that they trusted this eleven-year-old boy quite without reservation. If Reynie Muldoon asked them to do something, if he promised them something, they would do what he asked and believe every word. (38.28)
Unlike Mr. Curtain, who dismisses students because they're, well, students, Number Two, Rhonda, and Milligan all trust Reynie's instincts because he's Reynie, student or not.
Quote #9
These days a steady stream of agents and officers flowed through Mr. Benedict's doors. […] They wanted to catch Mr. Curtain, though for this Mr. Benedict held out little hope. Mr. Curtain, he said, was too smart to be outfoxed by adults. Only children could have accomplished it. (39.3)
What do you think? Does this comment pass the straight-face test? Is Mr. B right? Or could a group of adults—the right adults—have foiled Mr. Curtain's evil scheme? Sure it would be a vastly different story, but it's a possibility… isn't it? Think about it, and let us know how it could have gone down, if, in fact, it could have.