Chapter 3

Chapter 3 "KIDNAPPED?" Ruth Rose shrieked. Her blue eyes were huge. Josh and Dink covered their ears. "Shh!" said Josh. He handed the letter back to Dink and gave a quick gesture with his head. "Some strange woman is watching us!" Dink had noticed the woman earlier. She'd been sitting in the back of the Book Nook. "She's coming over here!" Ruth Rose said. The woman had brown hair up in a neat bun. Half-glasses perched on her nose. She was wearing a brown dress and brown shoes, and carried a book bag with a picture of a moose on the side. Around her neck she wore a red scarf covered with tiny black letters.

第三章“绑架?”露丝·罗斯尖叫起来。 她的蓝眼睛很大。乔什和丁克捂着耳朵。 “嘘!”乔希说。他把信递给丁克，用头快速地做了个手势。 “有个陌生女人在监视我们!”丁克早就注意到那个女人了。 她一直坐在书柜的后面。 “她过来了!”露丝·罗斯说。 那个女人把棕色的头发梳成一个整齐的发髻。 半副眼镜架在她的鼻子上。 她穿着一件棕色的裙子和棕色的鞋子，背着一个书包，书包的侧面有一只驼鹿的图片。 她脖子上围着一条红围巾，上面有黑色的小字母。

"Excuse me," she said in a soft, trembly voice. "Did you say Wallis Wallace has been kidnapped?" The woman poked her glasses nervously. Dink wasn't sure what to say. He thought Wallis Wallace had been kidnapped, but he couldn't be sure. Finally he said, "Well, he might have been." "My goodness!" gasped the woman. "Who are you?" Josh asked her. "Oh, pardon me!" The woman blushed. "My name is Mavis Green," she mumbled. "I'm a writer, and I came to meet Mr. Wallace." Dink said, "I'm Dink Duncan. These are my friends Ruth Rose and Josh." Mavis shook hands shyly. Then she reached into her book bag and pulled out a folded paper. "Wallis Wallace wrote to me last week. He said something very peculiar in his letter. I didn't think much of it at the time. But when he didn't show up today and then I heard you mention kidnapping…" She handed the letter to Dink. Josh and Ruth Rose read it over his shoulder.

“对不起，”她用一种柔和而颤抖的声音说。 “你是说沃利斯·华莱士被绑架了吗?”那女人紧张地戳着她的眼镜。 丁克不知道该说什么。 他认为沃利斯·华莱士被绑架了，但他不能确定。 最后他说:“嗯，他可能是。” “我的天哪!”女人喘着气说。 “你是谁?”乔希问她。 “哦，请原谅我!”女人脸红了。 “我叫梅维斯·格林，”她喃喃地说。 “我是个作家，我是来见华莱士先生的。” 丁克说:“我是丁克·邓肯。 这是我的朋友露丝·罗斯和乔希。” 梅维斯害羞地握了握手。然后她把手伸进书包，拿出一张折叠的纸。 沃利斯·华莱士上周写信给我。 他在信中说了一些很奇怪的话。 我当时没怎么想。 可是他今天没来，我又听到你提到绑架……”她把信递给丁克。 乔什和露丝·罗斯从他身后读了这封信。

Dear Mavis, Thanks for your note. I'm well, and thank you for asking. But lately my imagination is playing tricks on me. I keep thinking I'm being followed! Maybe that's what happens to mystery writers-we start seeing had guys in the shadows! At any rate, I'm eager to meet you in Green Lawn, and I look forward to our lunch after the signing. Wallis Wallace "Wow!" said Ruth Rose. "First he says he's being followed, and then he winds up missing!" Dink told Mavis about his letter from Wallis Wallace. "He said the only thing that would keep him from coming today was if he was kidnapped!" "Oh, dear!" said Mavis. "I just don't understand. Why would anyone want to kidnap Wallis Wallace?" "If he's the most famous mystery writer in the world, he must be rich, right?" Josh said. "Maybe someone kidnapped him for a ransom!" Suddenly Josh grabbed Dink and spun him around, pointing toward the street. "Look! The

亲爱的梅维斯:谢谢你的来信。 我很好，谢谢你的关心。 但最近我的想象力总是捉弄我。 我总觉得有人跟踪我!也许这就是悬疑小说作家的下场——我们开始在阴影中看到被骗的人!无论如何，我渴望在绿草坪见到你，我期待着签字后我们的午餐。 “哇!”鲁斯·罗斯说。 “他先是说有人跟踪他，然后他就失踪了!”丁克告诉梅维斯他收到沃利斯·华莱士的信。 “他说今天唯一能阻止他来的就是他被绑架了!”“噢，天哪!”梅维斯说。 “我就是不明白。为什么会有人想绑架沃利斯·华莱士?”“如果他是世界上最著名的推理小说作家，他一定很富有，对吧?”杰克说。 “也许有人为了赎金绑架了他!”突然，乔希抓住丁克，把他转了个身，指着街道。 “看!的

cops are coming! They must have heard about the kid-napping!" A police officer was walking toward them. "Josh, that's just Officer Fallon, Jimmy Fallon's grandfather," said Dink. "Jimmy came to get a book signed. I saw him inside the Book Nook." "Maybe we should show Officer Fallon these letters," Ruth Rose suggested. "They could be clues if Wallis Wallace has really been kidnapped!" "Who's been kidnapped?" asked Officer Fallon, who was now standing near them. "Not my grandson, I hope," he added, grinning. Dink showed Officer Fallon the two letters. "We think Wallis Wallace might have been kidnapped," he said. "He promised he'd come to sign books, but he isn't here." Officer Fallon read Mavis's letter first, then Dink's. He scratched his chin, then handed the letters back. "The letters do sound a bit suspicious," he said. "But it's more likely that Mr. Wallace just missed his flight." Jimmy Fallon ran out of the Book Nook, waving a Wallis Wallace book at his grandfather.

警察来了!他们一定听说了绑架的事!”一名警官正朝他们走来。 “乔希，那只是法伦警官，吉米·法伦的祖父，”丁克说。 “吉米是来签收一本书的。 我看见他在书角里。” “也许我们应该让法伦警官看看这些信，”露丝·罗斯建议道。 “如果沃利斯·华莱士真的被绑架了，这些可能是线索!”“谁被绑架了?”站在他们旁边的法伦警官问道。 “我希望不是我的孙子，”他咧嘴笑着补充道。 丁克给法伦警官看了那两封信。 “我们认为沃利斯·华莱士可能被绑架了，”他说。 “他答应要来签售的，但他不在这里。” 法伦警官先读了梅维斯的信，然后是丁克的。 他挠了挠下巴，然后把信递了回去。 “这些信听起来确实有点可疑，”他说。 “但更有可能的是，华莱士先生错过了航班。” 吉米·法伦(Jimmy Fallon)跑出Book Nook，向祖父挥舞着一本沃利斯·华莱士(Wallis Wallace)的书。

"Grampa, he never came! Can we go for ice cream anyway?" Officer Fallon put a big hand on Jimmy's head. "In a minute, son." To Dink he said, "I wouldn't worry. Mr. Wallace will turn up. Call me tomorrow if there's no news, okay?" They watched Jimmy and his grandfather walk away. Dink handed Mavis's letter back to her. He folded his and slid it into his pocket. Crazy thoughts were bouncing around in his head. What if Wallis Wallace really has been kidnapped? It happened because I invited him to Green Lawn. I'm practically an accomplice! "I don't want to wait till tomorrow," he said finally. "I say we start looking for Wallis Wallace now!" "Where do we start?" Ruth Rose asked. Dink jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Right here at the Book Nook." "Excuse me," Mavis Green said shyly. "May I come along, too?" "Sure," Dink said. He marched back inside the Book Nook, with the others following.

“爷爷，他没来!”我们能去吃冰淇淋吗?”法伦警官把一只大手放在吉米的头上。 “等一下，孩子。”他对丁克说:“我不担心。 华莱士先生会来的。如果明天没有消息就给我打电话，好吗?”他们看着吉米和他的祖父走开了。 丁克把梅维斯的信还给了她。 他折好自己的钱包，塞进口袋。 疯狂的想法在他脑子里蹦来蹦去。 如果沃利斯·华莱士真的被绑架了呢? 因为我邀请他去绿草坪。 我简直就是帮凶!“我不想等到明天，”他最后说。 “我说我们现在就开始找沃利斯·华莱士吧!”“我们从哪里开始呢?”露丝·罗斯问。 丁克猛地把大拇指伸过肩膀。 “就在这里的书角。” “对不起，”梅维斯·格林害羞地说。 “我也可以一起去吗?”“当然，”丁克说。 他大步走进书角，其他人跟在后面。

Mr. Paskey was putting the Wallis Wallace books back on a shelf. He looked even more nervous than before. "Excuse me, Mr. Paskey," Dink said. "Have you heard from Wallis Wallace?" Mr. Paskey's hand shot up to his bow tie. "No, Dink, not a word." "We think he was kidnapped!" Josh said. Mr. Paskey swallowed, making his bow tie wiggle. "Now, Joshua, let's not jump to conclusions. I'm sure there's a rational explanation for his absence." Dink told Mr. Paskey about the two letters. "I'm really worried, Mr. Paskey. Where could he be?" Mr. Paskey took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "I have no idea." He removed a paper from his desk and handed it to Dink. "All I have is his itinerary." The others looked over Dink's shoulder as he read:

帕斯基先生正在把沃利斯·华莱士的书放回书架上。 他看起来比以前更紧张了。 “对不起，帕斯基先生，”丁克说。 “你有沃利斯·华莱士的消息吗?”帕斯基先生的手迅速举到他的领结上。 “不，丁克，一个字也不要说。”“我们认为他被绑架了!”杰克说。 帕斯基先生咽了一口唾沫，他的领结扭动了一下。 “好了，约书亚，我们不要妄下结论。 我相信他的缺席一定有一个合理的解释。” 丁克把这两封信告诉了帕斯基先生。 “我真的很担心，帕斯基先生。 他会在哪儿呢?”帕斯基先生拿出一块手帕擦了擦脸。 “我不知道。”他从桌上取下一张纸，递给丁克。 “我只有他的行程。” 当丁克读到: