Chapter 8

Chapter 8 The kids carried their skis across Bridge Lane and into the supermarket. The store was almost empty on this snowy Sunday afternoon. "Look," Dink said, pointing to a small sign taped to the lottery machine: CLOSED FOR THE STORM. SEE YOU TOMORROW. Just then a teenager walked by. He was carrying a broom and a dustpan. The name tag on his shirt said ERIC. "Cool pooch," he said, smiling at Pal. "Do you know if Dot is still here?" Ruth Rose asked.

孩子们扛着滑雪板穿过桥巷，进了超市。 在这个下雪的星期天下午，这家商店几乎是空的。 “看，”丁克指着粘在彩票机上的一个小牌子说:“因暴风雨而关闭。” 明天见。就在这时，一个少年走过。 他拿着一把扫帚和一个簸箕。 他衬衫上的名牌上写着埃里克。 “真酷，”他笑着对帕尔说。 “你知道多特还在不在吗?”露丝·罗斯问。

"Nope," the kid said. "She left a while ago, all happy. She goes, like, 'Merry Christmas, Eric!' and slips me twenty bucks. I go, like, 'Wow, thanks, Dot!'" Eric walked behind the counter. "What a mess Dot left back here," he mumbled as he began sweeping. "Um, do you know if Dot's boss is around?" Dink said. "Can we talk to him?" Eric crouched down behind the counter. "It's a her, not a him," he said, standing up. "The boss is Mrs. Milk. She's, like, out sick, though. She's had the flu all week."

“不，”孩子说。“她刚才走了，非常高兴。 她说，‘圣诞快乐，埃里克!然后塞给我20美元。 我说，‘哇，谢谢你，Dot!’”埃里克走到柜台后面。 “多特在这儿留下了一团乱。”他一边打扫一边咕哝着。 "你知道多特的老板在不在吗"丁克说。 “我们能和他谈谈吗?”埃里克蹲在柜台后面。 “是她，不是他，”他说着站了起来。 “老板是米尔克夫人。不过她好像生病了。 她整个星期都在感冒。”

"The flu?" Dink said. "But Dot told me she'd talk to—" Suddenly, Pal let out a howl. He buried his nose in the pile of dust Eric had swept up. "What did you find?" Josh asked. "Let me have it, boy." Josh pried open Pal's mouth and pulled something out. "Look, guys!" Josh held out a small tinfoil bow tie.

“流感?”丁克说。“但是多特告诉我她会跟——”突然，帕尔发出一声嚎叫。 他把鼻子埋在埃里克扫过的一堆灰尘里。 “你发现了什么?”杰克问。 “给我吧，孩子。”乔希撬开帕尔的嘴，掏出了什么东西。 “看,伙计们!”乔希拿出一个小小的锡纸领结。

Ruth Rose took it from Josh, then pulled the other two out of her pocket. The three were exactly the same. The kids leaned over the counter. The floor was littered with tiny tinfoil bow ties. Suddenly, it all made sense. Dink could tell by the looks on their faces that Josh and Ruth Rose had figured it out, too. "Come on," Dink muttered. He grabbed his skis and poles and hurried toward the exit. Josh and Ruth Rose followed with their skis and poles. "Let's go, Pal," Josh told his dog. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Ruth Rose asked once they were outside. "Yeah," Dink muttered. "Boy, have we been dopes! Let's go back to Ellie's." They trudged through the snow and piled into the diner. Ellie looked up. "Twice in one day?" she said. "Three more hot chocolates?" "Thanks, Ellie," Dink said. The kids slid into a booth while Pal flopped down at their feet. "So Dot Calm is the crook, right?" Josh said. "Right," Dink said. "After Dot sold Hector his tickets, she must have kept the paper he wrote the

露丝·罗斯从乔什手里拿过，然后从口袋里掏出另外两支。 这三个是完全一样的。 孩子们靠在柜台上。 地板上散落着细小的锡纸蝴蝶结。 突然间，一切都说得通了。 丁克从他们脸上的表情看出，乔什和露丝·罗斯也猜到了。 “来吧，”丁克喃喃地说。他抓起滑雪板和滑雪杖，匆匆奔向出口。 乔希和露丝·罗斯带着滑雪板和滑雪杖跟在后面。 “走吧，伙计，”乔希对他的狗说。 “你们和我想的一样吗?”露丝·罗斯一出门就问道。 “是啊，”丁克喃喃地说。“天哪，我们真是笨蛋!”我们回到埃莉家去吧。” 他们跋涉着穿过雪地，挤进小餐馆。 埃莉抬起头。“一天两次?”她说。 “再来三杯热巧克力?”“谢谢你，艾莉，”丁克说。 孩子们溜进一个隔间，帕尔扑通一声坐在他们脚边。 “这么说，Dot Calm就是那个骗子，对吗?”杰克说。 “好的，”丁克说。多特把票卖给赫克托后，她一定留着他写的那张纸

kids' birthdays on. That's how she knew Lucky's ticket was the winner." "But she didn't know where Lucky lived," Ruth Rose said, "so she had to go to the Atrium to find out. She wouldn't want to talk to Hector, so she probably asked someone else where his grandkids lived. She must've dropped a bow tie while she was snooping!" "Then she went to Lucky's house and stole the card…," Dink added. "…and dropped another bow tie in the snow," Josh said. "Then she made up that story about Joe to throw us off her trail," Ruth Rose said. Dink looked at Josh. "I bet she described your face because she was looking right at you when you were drawing him." "Yeah, and I was so dumb I didn't even notice it was me," Josh said. "Here we go, kids." Ellie brought their hot chocolates to the table. "These are on me, and a little treat for Pal." Ellie set a bowl of chopped-up hamburger in front of Pal's nose. Pal raised his head, blinked his

孩子们的生日。所以她才知道幸运的彩票是中奖的。” “但她不知道Lucky住在哪里，”露丝·罗斯说，“所以她不得不去中庭找。 她不想和赫克托说话，所以她可能问了别人他的孙子们住在哪里。 她一定是在偷看的时候把领结掉了!”“然后她去了Lucky的家，偷走了卡片……”丁克补充道。 “……在雪地里又掉了一个领结，”乔希说。 “然后她编了一个关于乔的故事来迷惑我们，”露丝·罗斯说。 丁克看着乔希。“我敢打赌她描述你的脸是因为你画他的时候她正看着你。” “是的，我太笨了，甚至没有注意到那是我，”乔希说。 “来吧，孩子们。”埃莉把热巧克力端到桌子上。 “这些我请，给伙计一点小款待。” 艾莉把一碗切碎的汉堡放在帕尔的鼻子前。 伙计抬起头，眨了眨眼睛

big brown eyes at Ellie, and stuck his nose in the bowl. "Thanks a lot, Ellie," Josh said. "Pal says thanks, too." Ruth Rose had been sipping her hot chocolate. "You know, guys," she said, "we can't prove Dot stole the tickets. We know she did it, but Officer Fallon will say, 'Where's the proof?'" Dink nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what he'll say." "Well, unless we find the proof," Josh said, "this sure is going to be a lousy Christmas for Lucky's family. Seven million bucks down the drain." The kids drank their hot chocolate with glum expressions on their faces. From beneath the table came the sound of happy chomping.

棕色的大眼睛看着艾莉，把鼻子伸进碗里。 “非常感谢，艾莉，”乔希说。 “朋友也说谢谢。”露丝·罗斯一直在喝她的热巧克力。 “你们知道，伙计们，”她说，“我们无法证明多特偷了票。 我们知道是她干的，但法伦警官会说，‘证据在哪里?’”丁克点点头。 “是啊，他肯定会这么说。” “好吧，除非我们找到证据，”乔希说，“对幸运仔一家来说，这个圣诞节肯定会很糟糕。 七百万美元打了水漂。” 孩子们喝着热巧克力，脸上带着忧郁的表情。 从桌子下面传来快乐的咀嚼声。