Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Dr. Pitts stepped into the dark office. The kids watched him creep toward Uncle Warren's desk. Suddenly, he switched on his flashlight. Turning slowly, Dr. Pitts played the beam around the room. In James's office, Dink shrank back against the wall. He held his breath. Next to him, he could feel Josh and Ruth Rose trembling.

皮茨医生走进黑暗的办公室。 孩子们看着他蹑手蹑脚地走向沃伦叔叔的桌子。 突然，他打开了手电筒。 皮茨博士慢慢转过身来，在房间里播放着光束。 在詹姆斯的办公室里，丁克缩到墙边。 他屏住了呼吸。在他身边，他能感觉到乔希和露丝·罗斯在颤抖。

Dink dared to peek out again. The flashlight was now lying on the desk. Its beam made a yellow circle on the fish tank. Dr. Pitts was crouched down, staring into the tank. Suddenly he swore. Dink watched Dr. Pitts grab his flashlight and shine it wildly around the room. Dink froze and held his breath. When he peeked out again, Dr. Pitts was shining the flashlight beam at the floor, near his feet. He bent over and touched something on the floor. Dink thought about the water Ruth Rose had dripped there. Dr. Pitts once more shone the flashlight's beam around the dark office. The light fell on James's door. "Who's in there?" Dr. Pitts said. Dink closed his eyes. He felt his whole body grow cold. Ruth Rose let out a soft gasp. Then Dink heard footsteps. Dr. Pitts was coming toward their hiding spot! We have to get out of here! Dink thought. He pressed himself against the wall—but suddenly the wall wasn't there!

丁克又敢往外偷看。 手电筒现在放在桌子上。 它的光束在鱼缸上形成了一个黄色的圆圈。 皮茨医生蹲下来，盯着水箱。 他突然咒骂起来。丁克看着医生。 皮茨抓起手电筒，疯狂地在房间里照来照去。 丁克僵住了，屏住了呼吸。 当他再次向外窥视时。 皮茨正把手电筒的光束照在他脚边的地板上。 他弯下腰，碰了碰地板上的什么东西。 丁克想起了露丝·罗斯滴在那里的水。 皮茨医生再次用手电筒的光束照亮了黑暗的办公室。 灯光照在詹姆斯的门上。 “谁在里面?”皮茨博士说。 丁克闭上了眼睛。他感到全身发冷。 露丝·罗斯轻轻地喘了口气。 然后丁克听到了脚步声。 皮茨医生正朝他们的藏身处走来!我们得离开这里!丁克的想法。 他把自己压在墙上——但突然墙不见了!

Dink felt a strong hand grab his arm. Another hand went over his mouth. Struggling, Dink felt himself being dragged backward. "Don't speak!" a hoarse voice whispered in his ear. "Come with me!" Too frightened to resist, Dink let himself be led. He reached out for Josh and Ruth Rose but felt nothing. Where were they? "Down here, quickly!" the voice said. Dink felt stairs under his feet. As he stumbled down, he smelled something familiar. At the bottom of the stairs, a door opened. Dink saw light. He smelled onions. He was in Yvonne's kitchen! Then Josh and Ruth Rose piled into him. Yvonne released his arm and slammed the door shut. This was the same narrow door Dink had seen her close before. "Come," Yvonne said, putting a finger to her lips. Yvonne rushed them toward the front of the restaurant. "The thief is still up there," she said. "I must lock the outside door. He will be trapped, no?"

丁克感到一只有力的手抓住了他的胳膊。 另一只手捂住了他的嘴。 丁克挣扎着，觉得自己被拖了回去。 “别说话!”一个沙哑的声音在他耳边低语。 “跟我来!”丁克太害怕了，不敢反抗，只好听任他的摆布。 他伸手去找乔什和露丝·罗斯，但什么也感觉不到。 他们在哪里?“下去，快!”那声音说。 丁克感到脚下有楼梯。 当他跌跌撞撞地走下来时，他闻到了一些熟悉的味道。 楼梯底下，一扇门开了。 丁克看到了光明。他闻到了洋葱的味道。 他在伊冯的厨房里!然后乔希和露丝·罗斯挤到他身上。 伊冯松开他的手臂，砰地一声把门关上。 这就是丁克以前看见她关上的那扇窄门。 “来吧，”伊冯娜说，把一个手指放在嘴唇上。 伊冯娜把他们赶到餐厅前面。 “小偷还在上面，”她说。 “我得把外面的门锁上。 他会被困住的，不是吗?”

She hurried toward the exit, but Dr. Pitts was already racing past the restaurant's window. "He is gone!" Yvonne wailed. "Now we will never catch him!" "It's okay," Dink said, grinning. "I have a feeling we caught him on video." "Video?" Yvonne asked. "I do not understand." "My uncle has a hidden camera in the office," Dink explained. He looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. "I hit the 'rewind' button before we had to hide, remember? I'll bet the tape rewound to the beginning and started recording again before Dr. Pitts came in." "Not only that," Josh said. "His fingerprints should be on the letter opener!" "Letter opener?" Yvonne asked, looking at the three kids. "I think I've figured that out," Ruth Rose said. "When the lights were turned off, he must have used the letter opener to pry the jewel out of the jaguar's paws. Then he quickly switched in the fake and slipped the real jewel into the fish tank." "But what does it matter, this camera and these fingerprints," Yvonne said, "if he has the jewel?"

她急忙向出口走去。 皮茨已经跑过餐厅的窗口。 “他走了!”伊冯恸哭。 “现在我们再也抓不到他了!”“没关系，”丁克笑着说。 “我觉得我们拍到了他。” “视频?”伊冯问道。“我不明白。” “我叔叔在办公室里装了一个隐藏摄像头，”丁克解释道。 他看着乔希和露丝·罗斯。 “在我们不得不隐藏之前，我按了‘倒带’键，记得吗? 我敢打赌，磁带倒到了最开始，然后又开始录音了。 皮茨进来了。”“不仅如此，”乔希说。 “开信刀上应该有他的指纹!”“开信刀?”伊冯看着三个孩子问道。 “我想我明白了，”露丝·罗斯说。 关灯后，他一定是用开信刀从美洲虎的爪子里撬出了珠宝。 然后他迅速把假珠宝换了进去，把真珠宝塞进了鱼缸。” “但是，”伊冯说，“如果珠宝在他手里，这台相机和这些指纹又有什么关系呢?”

"But he doesn't!" Ruth Rose said. She opened her fist and showed the emerald to Yvonne. "It was in the fish tank, and I got it out before he did!" "How lovely!" Yvonne said, giving Ruth Rose a hug. "Now what?" Josh asked. Yvonne went for the wall phone. "Now we call the police!" she said.

“但他没有!”露丝·罗斯说。 她张开拳头，把翡翠拿给伊冯看。 “它在鱼缸里，我在他之前把它捞出来了!”“多可爱啊!”伊冯说着，给了露丝一个拥抱。 “现在什么?”杰克问。伊冯拿起了墙上的电话。 “现在我们要报警了!”她说。