Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Everyone crowded into the office. While the sheriff took notes on a pad, Lulu repeated her story. Fiona and Ed broke in to add details. "So the way I understand it's the sheriff said, "some man or woman dressed in black tied each of you up. Then he or she opened the safe and stole a hunk of gold. Is that about it?" "Could it have been some stranger, someone just passing through?" Ma Wheat asked. Lulu shook her head. "You can see a mile in any direction from here, and believe me, I didn't

大家都挤进了办公室。 当警长在便笺簿上记笔记时，露露重复了她的故事。 菲奥娜和埃德插嘴补充了一些细节。 “所以我的理解是，治安官说，“一些穿黑衣服的男人或女人把你们每个人绑了起来。 然后他或她打开保险柜，偷走了一大块金子。 就这些吗?”“会不会是某个陌生人，某个路过的人?”玛麦问。 露露摇了摇头。“从这里往任何方向都能看到一英里，相信我，我看不见

see a soul." "Maybe some passerby was hiding in the trees," Pa said. "It had to be a stranger—the robber sure couldn't be anyone in this room!" Dink quickly glanced around the office. Everyone was doing the same thing, looking at everyone else. "Lulu," Ma said, "did you happen to notice how this character got the safe open?" "I couldn't see what he was doing," Lulu said. "He was crouched down with his back to me, but I

看到一个灵魂。”“也许有路人躲在树里，”爸爸说。 “一定是个陌生人——这个房间里的人肯定不是强盗!”丁克迅速扫视了一下办公室。 每个人都在做同样的事情，看着其他人。 “露露，”妈妈说，“你有没有注意到这个人是怎么打开保险箱的?”“我看不清他在做什么，”露露说。 他蹲下来背对着我，但我

did see that he was wearing gloves." The sheriff walked over to the safe. "So we can't even get fingerprints. I assume the safe was locked. Who knows the combination?" "Well, I do, of course," Pa said. "And Ma— Mrs. Wheat—and our son, Jud. That's it." The sheriff thanked everyone and headed for the door. He handed Ma Wheat a card. "If any of you think of anything, please call my office." The sheriff looked at Josh. "Sorry you lost your gold, son. I'll do my best to get it back for you." Josh mumbled, "Thanks." The kids followed the sheriff out of the main house. He waved good-bye and sped down the drive in his cruiser. Everyone wandered back to their cabins in a daze. The kids sat down on their front porch. "This crook was pretty clever," Ruth Rose said. "What do you mean?" Josh asked. He formed a loop in his rope and aimed for the porch rail post. He missed. "I mean the crook made it look like nobody on the ranch could be the robber," Ruth Rose said. "Seven of us were riding, right? So it couldn't be any of us. Lulu, Ed, and Fiona were tied up, so it

我看到他戴着手套。” 警长走到保险柜前。 “所以我们甚至无法获得指纹。 我想保险箱是锁着的。 谁知道密码?”“嗯，我当然喜欢，”爸爸说。 “还有妈妈——小麦太太——还有我们的儿子，裘德。 就是这样。”警长谢了大家，朝门口走去。 他递给麦妈一张卡片。 “如果你们想到什么，请给我办公室打电话。” 警长看着乔希。 “儿子，很遗憾你丢了金子。 我会尽我最大的努力帮你找回来的。” 乔希咕哝着:“谢谢。”孩子们跟着警长走出了主屋。 他挥手告别，开着他的巡逻车沿着车道疾驰而下。 每个人都迷迷糊糊地回到自己的小屋。 孩子们坐在前廊上。 “这个骗子很聪明，”露丝·罗斯说。 “你是什么意思?”杰克问。 他把绳子绕成一个圈，瞄准门廊的栏杆柱子。 他错过了。露丝·罗斯说:“我的意思是，这个骗子让农场里的人看起来都不可能是强盗。” “我们七个人骑马，对吧?” 所以不可能是我们中的任何一个。 露露，艾德和菲奥娜被绑在一起，所以

couldn't be them, either. Ma and Pa went shopping and got back when we did. That's twelve people with good alibis. So who was the robber? Nobody's left!" Josh sighed and coiled his rope. "You're close, Ruth Rose," he said. "But you forgot one little thing. There were only six of us riding—us three, Seth and Bonnie, and Jud." "What about Thumbs?" Dink asked. "He was with us—" "OH MY GOSH!" Ruth Rose yelled. "Dink, Josh is right! Thumbs was with us at the end of the ride, but not at the beginning!" Josh grinned. "Yep. He could've tied up Fiona and Ed after he unsaddled their horses. Then he did the same to Lulu, grabbed the gold, and hotfooted it up to the meadow." "But Thumbs is practically one of the Wheat family," Dink said. "Why would he rob the ranch?" "For the biggest hunk of gold he's ever seen," Josh said, tossing his loop at Dink's foot. He missed.

也不可能是他们。爸爸妈妈去购物了，我们回来的时候他们也回来了。 12个人都有很好的不在场证明。 那么谁是抢劫犯呢?没有人离开!”乔希叹了口气，把绳子盘绕起来。 “你很接近了，露丝·罗斯，”他说。 “但是你忘了一件小事。 我们只有六个人——我们三个，赛斯和邦妮，还有裘德。” “大拇指呢?”丁克问道。 “他和我们在一起——”“我的天哪!”露丝·罗斯喊道。 “丁克，乔希是对的!”大拇指在旅程结束时和我们在一起，而不是在开始的时候!”杰克笑了。 “是的。他本可以在给菲奥娜和艾德卸下马鞍后把他们绑起来。 然后他也对露露做了同样的事，抓起金子，用热脚把它带到草地上。” “但大拇指实际上是小麦家族的一员，”丁克说。 “他为什么要抢劫农场?”“为了他见过的最大的一块金子。”乔希说着，把他的环扔到丁克的脚边。 他错过了。