Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Aunt Freda walked over to their booth. "My, you did a good job on those fries," she said. "Anything else?" "No, thank—" Dink started to say.

弗蕾达姨妈向他们的摊位走去。 “天哪，你的薯条做得真不错，”她说。 “还有别的事吗?”“不，谢谢——”丁克刚想说。

"Yes!" Ruth Rose interrupted. "Could you show us how you make your fabulous fries? Donald here is really interested in cooking." I am? thought Dink. Aunt Freda beamed at Dink. "Of course, dearie. Come on back to the kitchen," she said. Ruth Rose nudged Dink, and they all followed Aunt Freda. On the other side of the swinging door, the smell of frying potatoes hung heavy in the air. A row of wall shelves held pots and pans, cooking spices, cookbooks, and a bunch of bottles and jars. Against one wall stood a pile of crates bulging with raw potatoes. The woman with short dark hair was standing at a counter, slicing potatoes. She was wearing earphones and didn't seem to notice the kids. Dink stared at the woman. As she stooped over a pile of potatoes, Dink imagined her stooped over a case of Egyptian gold. Aunt Freda interrupted his thoughts. "Come over here," she said, leading the kids to a deep-fry machine. She lowered her voice. "Here's my secret. I put a little garlic and vinegar right in the olive oil,"

“是的!”露丝·罗斯打断了他的话。 “你能给我们展示一下你是怎么做美味的薯条的吗?” 唐纳德对烹饪真的很感兴趣。” 我是谁?认为丁克。弗雷达姨妈对丁克笑了笑。 “当然，亲爱的。快回厨房来，”她说。 露丝·罗斯推了推丁克，他们都跟着弗雷达姨妈。 在旋转门的另一边，空气中弥漫着浓重的炸土豆的味道。 墙上的一排架子上放着锅碗瓢盆、香料、烹饪书和一堆瓶子和罐子。 靠墙放着一堆装满生土豆的板条箱。 那个留着黑色短发的女人正站在柜台前切土豆。 她戴着耳机，似乎没有注意到孩子们。 丁克盯着那个女人。当她弯腰看一堆土豆时，丁克想象她弯腰看一箱埃及黄金。 弗雷达姨妈打断了他的思绪。 “过来，”她说着，把孩子们领到一台油炸机器前。 她放低了声音。“这是我的秘密。 我在橄榄油里放了一点大蒜和醋。”

she said, then winked. "Promise you won't tell?" Dink nodded. "Promise," he said. "Boy, cooking potatoes is really interesting!" From the corner of his eye, Dink saw Josh scoop something off the kitchen floor and shove it in his pocket. Then Ruth Rose poked Dink. She pointed her chin at a coatrack by the back door. A black jacket hung from one of the pegs. On the floor sat a black gym bag. "Anything else you want to know?" Aunt Freda asked. "No, thanks," Ruth Rose said, smiling. "We've seen everything we need." The kids left the kitchen, with Aunt Freda following them. They paid for their food and started for the door. Suddenly, Aunt Freda put her hand on Dink's arm. "Wait!" she said, digging into the pocket of her apron. "Put out your hands!" The kids obeyed, and she dropped a candy into each palm. "Have a nice day," Aunt Freda said, then opened the door for them. The kids popped the candies into their mouths as they hurried back to their bus stop.

她说，然后眨了眨眼睛。“你保证不会说出去?”丁克点点头。 “我保证，”他说。“孩子，煮土豆真的很有趣!”丁克从眼角看到乔希从厨房地板上捡起什么东西塞进了口袋。 露丝·罗斯戳了戳丁克。 她用下巴指着后门的衣架。 一件黑夹克挂在其中一根钉子上。 地板上放着一个黑色的运动包。 “你还想知道什么吗?”弗雷达姨妈问。 “不，谢谢，”露丝·罗斯微笑着说。 “我们已经看到了需要的一切。” 孩子们离开了厨房，弗雷达姨妈跟在后面。 他们付了饭钱，向门口走去。 突然，弗蕾达姨妈把手放在丁克的胳膊上。 “等等!”她说着，把手伸进围裙的口袋里。 “把手伸出来!”孩子们照做了，她在每个手掌里丢了一颗糖。 “祝你今天愉快。”弗蕾达姨妈说，然后为他们打开了门。 孩子们匆匆回到公共汽车站，把糖果塞进嘴里。

"Did you see that jacket?" Ruth Rose said. "If that woman put it on over her apron, the white edge would show. Is that what you saw last night, Dink?" "It could be," Dink said. "And that gym bag looked like the ones the robbers were carrying." Josh shook his head. "You guys are such amateurs," he said. "The jacket could belong to anyone, and there are a million black gym bags in Hartford." He reached into his pocket. "But I found a real clue!" He held out a smooth pebble the size of an M&M. "What's that?" Dink asked. "Come on, I'll show you." Josh headed for the museum steps. Dink and Ruth Rose followed Josh through the lobby. In front of the tomb, they found a sign announcing that the mummy exhibit was closed. Behind the sign, the sliding door was shut. Josh walked over to the wall and pressed the stone. With a rumble, the wall slid open. Josh leaned inside and scooped a handful of the gravel off the floor. Then he closed the door again.

“你看到那件夹克了吗?”露丝·罗斯说。 “如果那个女人把它套在围裙上，白边就会露出来。 这就是你昨晚看到的吗，丁克?”“有可能，”丁克说。 “那个运动包看起来和劫匪拿的一样。” 乔希摇了摇头。“你们真是太业余了，”他说。 “这件夹克可能属于任何人，哈特福德有一百万个黑色运动包。” 他把手伸进口袋。 “但我找到了一条真正的线索!”他拿出一块M&M巧克力豆大小的光滑鹅卵石。 “那是什么?”丁克问道。 “来吧，我带你去。”乔希朝博物馆的台阶走去。 丁克和露丝·罗斯跟着乔希穿过大厅。 在坟墓前，他们发现了一个告示，宣布木乃伊展览已经关闭。 在招牌后面，滑动门是关着的。 乔希走到墙边，按了按石头。 随着一声轰隆，墙滑开了。 乔希探出身子，从地板上抓起一把沙砾。 然后他又关上了门。

"See, they're the same," Josh said, holding up the gravel and the pebble he'd found at Aunt Freda's. "I don't get it," Dink said. "I found this pebble on the floor in Aunt Freda's kitchen," Josh explained. "It matches the pebbles in the tomb. The only way it could have gotten from the tomb floor to Aunt Freda's floor was on the bottom of one of the crook's shoes!" "Okay" Ruth Rose said. "But that still doesn't tell us where the gold is." "Or who the second crook is," Dink added. "Maybe not," Josh said, "but something in that restaurant smells!"

“看，它们是一样的。”乔希说着，举起了他在弗雷达姨妈家找到的砾石和鹅卵石。 “我不明白，”丁克说。 “我在弗雷达姨妈厨房的地板上发现了这块鹅卵石，”乔希解释说。 “它和坟墓里的鹅卵石很相配。 它从坟墓的地板到弗雷达姨妈的地板上的唯一途径就是爬到一个骗子的鞋底上!”“好吧，”露丝·罗斯说。 “但这仍然不能告诉我们黄金在哪里。” “或者第二个骗子是谁，”丁克补充道。 “也许没有，”乔希说，“但那家餐馆里有什么东西有味道!”