Chapter 7

Chapter 7 "But we've already looked at everything," Josh said, flopping down on the rug. Ruth Rose walked over to the fish tank and picked up the container of food. "That's weird," she said. "There are already some flakes floating on the water. Did one of you guys feed the fish?"

“可我们什么都看过了。”乔希说着，扑通一声坐在地毯上。 露丝·罗斯走到鱼缸旁，拿起盛着食物的容器。 “这很奇怪，”她说。“已经有一些雪花漂浮在水面上了。 你们有人喂鱼了吗?”

"I didn't," Dink said. "Me neither," said Josh. Ruth Rose looked at the food floating on the top. "Well, someone did." "Maybe it was the fish fairy," Josh said. "OH MY GOSH!" Ruth Rose screamed. "What's the matter?" Dink asked. Josh jumped to his feet, and he and Dink hurried over. "Look what's on the bottom!" Ruth Rose said. She pointed down through the water. Josh put his nose up against the glass. "Looks like a bunch of rocks to me," he said. Ruth Rose frowned. "Somebody go turn out the lights," she said. Josh gave Dink a push. "Go ahead, Dinkus!" Dink hurried over to the wall and flipped down the switches. The music, fan, and lights all went off. Ruth Rose pointed at the bottom of the tank. "See that glowy green rock? I think it's the jewel!" Dink elbowed Josh aside and looked at the stone. "No, it's too big," he said. "The emerald was like a golf ball, remember?" "Things always look bigger underwater," Ruth Rose said. "Your eyes are playing tricks on you

“我没有，”丁克说。“我也是。”乔希说。 露丝·罗斯看着浮在水面上的食物。 “嗯，有人这么做了。”“也许是鱼仙子干的。”乔希说。 “我的天哪!”露丝·罗斯尖叫起来。 “怎么啦?”丁克问道。 乔希跳了起来，他和丁克匆匆走了过去。 “看底下是什么!”露丝·罗斯说。 她指着水面下。 乔希把鼻子贴在玻璃上。 “在我看来就是一堆石头，”他说。 露丝·罗斯皱起了眉头。“谁去把灯关了，”她说。 乔希推了丁克一把。“说吧，丁库斯!”丁克匆匆走到墙边，按下开关。 音乐、电扇和灯都灭了。 露丝·罗斯指着缸底。 “看到那块发光的绿色岩石了吗?” 我想是那颗宝石!”丁克把乔希推到一边，看着那块石头。 “不行，它太大了，”他说。 “翡翠就像一个高尔夫球，记得吗?”“水下的东西总是看起来更大，”露丝·罗斯说。 “你的眼睛在捉弄你

again, Dink!" Ruth Rose reached down and plucked the green rock out of the tank. Water dripped onto the floor as she wiped it on her jeans. Out of the water, the rock didn't look anything like the other rocks in the fish tank. In the tank light, the rock shone a lustrous green. "Wow!" Dink said. "It's beautiful!" "How did it get in there?" Josh asked. "I guess the thief dumped it in," Dink answered. "But why would the thief do that?" Josh asked.

再次,丁克!”露丝·罗斯伸手把那块绿色的石头从水缸里拿了出来。 她在牛仔裤上擦水时，水滴到了地板上。 出了水，这块石头看起来一点也不像鱼缸里的其他石头。 在水箱的灯光下，岩石发出一种有光泽的绿色。 “哇!”丁克说。“很漂亮!”“它是怎么进去的?”杰克问。 “我猜是小偷扔进去的。”丁克回答。 “但是小偷为什么要这样做呢?”杰克问。

Ruth Rose shook her head. "Maybe he needed a quick place to hide it." Dink nodded. "James was here early this morning. Maybe we caught him in the act!" "I'm turning on the lights," Josh said. He headed for the wall switches. "Stop!" Dink said suddenly. "What's that sound?" "What sound?" Josh asked as he turned on the fan, music, and lights. Dink walked over and flipped the switches down again. "Now listen," he whispered in the darkness. "Hear it?" "I think I do," Ruth Rose said. "Like a little buzzing." "Maybe it's the fish tank," Josh said. Ruth Rose clicked off the bubbler. "Nope, I still hear it," she said. "Now I hear it, too," Josh said. "What can it be? Everything's turned off!" "I'm going to turn on just the lights," Dink said. When they could see, the kids began prowling around the office. Dink stopped in front of the bookcase. "Guys, it's louder over here!"

露丝·罗斯摇了摇头。“也许他需要一个快速藏匿的地方。” 丁克点点头。“詹姆斯今天一大早就来了。 也许我们当场抓住了他!”“我在开灯，”乔希说。 他朝墙上的开关走去。 “住手!”丁克突然说。 “那是什么声音?”“什么声音?”乔希一边问一边打开电扇、音乐和灯。 丁克走过去，再次按下开关。 “现在听着，”他在黑暗中低声说。 “听到了吗?”“我想我知道，”露丝·罗斯说。 “有点嗡嗡声。”“也许是鱼缸的问题，”乔希说。 露丝·罗斯关上了起泡器。 “没有，我现在还能听到，”她说。 “现在我也听到了，”乔希说。 “会是什么呢?”一切都关闭了!”“我打算只开灯，”丁克说。 等孩子们看见了，他们就开始在办公室周围转来转去。 丁克在书架前停了下来。 “伙计们，这里声音更大!”

Josh giggled. "The Case of the Buzzing Books!" he said. Dink stood on tiptoe and ran his hands over the shelves. He felt a small button and pushed it. Suddenly, a shelf slid open. "Look!" he cried. "Hey! Those books are fake!" Josh said. "It's a hidden compartment!" The space behind the fake books held a small TV set and VCR. With the compartment open, the buzzing was louder. Then the VCR clicked, and the noise stopped. "It was rewinding," Josh said. "It must have come to the end of the tape. My dad's machine does the same thing." "Yeah, but rewinding what?" Dink asked. Then the VCR clicked again. The kids watched as a red light came on and the numbers on the machine's face started counting up—:01, :02, :03… "Hey!" Josh said. "Now it's recording!" "Maybe your uncle has it for security," Ruth Rose said. "You could be right, Ruth Rose," Dink said. He glanced at the ceiling. "There must be a camera somewhere in the office."

Josh咯咯笑了。“嗡嗡作响的书案!”他说。 丁克踮起脚尖，双手在书架上摸索。 他摸到一个小按钮，按了一下。 突然，一个架子滑开了。 “看!”他叫道。“嘿!那些书是假的!”杰克说。 “这是一个隐藏的隔间!”假书后面的空间放着一台小电视机和录像机。 车厢开着，嗡嗡声更响了。 然后录像机咔哒一声，噪音停止了。 “它在倒带，”乔希说。 “它一定是到了带子的末尾了。 我爸的机器也有同样的功能。” “是的，但是倒带什么呢?”丁克问道。 然后录像机又咔哒一声响了。 孩子们看着红灯亮起，机器脸上的数字开始计数——:01，:02，:03……“嘿!”杰克说。 “现在开始录音了!”“也许你叔叔拿着它是为了安全，”露丝·罗斯说。 “你可能是对的，露丝·罗斯，”丁克说。 他瞥了一眼天花板。 “办公室里一定有摄像头。”

"Do you think we're on a video?" Ruth Rose said. "Let's take a peek!" "Good idea!" said Josh. Dink quickly rewound the tape to the beginning, then turned on the TV and hit "play" on the VCR. An image came on the screen. For a moment, the tape showed them standing in front of the TV and VCR. "Cool!" Josh said. Then the picture jumped and changed. Now the office looked empty and dark. They watched as the office door opened and James Pride walked in. "This must be earlier today," Ruth Rose said. "James got here before us." "Maybe it recorded him stealing the jewel!" Josh said. They watched James walk over and switch on the lights. Then he took off his raincoat and walked into his own office. The kids looked at each other. James hadn't gone anywhere near the crate. "Hit 'fast forward," Josh said. "We can scan ahead."

“你觉得我们是在拍视频吗?”露丝·罗斯说。 “让我们看一看!”“好主意!”乔希说。 丁克迅速把磁带倒回开头，然后打开电视，按录影机上的“播放”键。 屏幕上出现了一个图像。 有那么一会儿，录像显示他们站在电视机和录像机前。 “酷!”杰克说。然后画面跳了起来，变了。 现在，办公室显得空荡荡，一片漆黑。 他们看着办公室的门开了，詹姆斯·普赖德走了进来。 “一定是今天早些时候，”露丝·罗斯说。 “詹姆斯比我们先到。” “也许它记录下了他偷珠宝的过程!”杰克说。 他们看着詹姆斯走了过来，打开了灯。 然后他脱下雨衣，走进自己的办公室。 孩子们面面相觑。 詹姆斯根本没靠近箱子。 “按‘快进’键。”乔希说。 “我们可以提前扫描。”