Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Dink had to think fast. "Tom Steele doesn't know we're doing a story," he said. "We just decided to write it a little while ago. We're hoping he'll publish it." "Does he work on Sundays?" Ruth Rose asked. "I wouldn't be surprised," Irene said. "Especially after what happened to Winnie."

第五章丁克必须快速思考。 “汤姆·斯蒂尔不知道我们在做一个故事，”他说。 “我们不久前才决定写这篇文章。 我们希望他能发表。” “他星期天工作吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 “我不会感到惊讶，”艾琳说。 “尤其是在温妮出事之后。”

The kids thanked Irene and headed out of the petting zoo. Pal trotted behind Josh with his long ears nearly touching the ground. "Think she's the kidnapper?" Dink asked. "I do!" said Josh. "Did you see the size of her hands? She could kidnap a crocodile!" "It could be her," Ruth Rose said. "She's the only one with a key." "I don't know," Dink said. "She really seems to like animals." "Maybe she likes money better," Josh said, wiggling his eyebrows. They entered the senior community center through a rear door. Dink spotted a sign saying THE PANDA PAPER and an arrow pointing down a hallway. "Um, what do we ask this guy?" Josh whispered. Pal sniffed the floors as they walked. "For one thing," Dink said, "I'll ask him if he'll put my story in his paper."

孩子们谢过艾琳，走出了宠物动物园。 帕尔在乔希身后小跑，他的长耳朵几乎碰到了地面。 “你认为她是绑架者?”丁克问道。 “我喜欢!”乔希说。“你看到她的手有多大了吗?” 她可以绑架鳄鱼!”“可能是她，”露丝·罗斯说。 “她是唯一有钥匙的人。” “我不知道，”丁克说。 “她似乎真的很喜欢动物。” “也许她更喜欢钱。”乔希说着，扭动着眉毛。 他们从后门进入老年社区中心。 丁克发现了一个写着“熊猫纸”的牌子和一个指向走廊的箭头。 “嗯，我们该问这个人什么?”杰克小声说。 帕尔一边走一边嗅着地板。 “首先，”丁克说，“我会问他是否愿意把我的故事登在他的报纸上。”

"The one you haven't written yet?" Josh asked with a grin. "Yeah, that one," said Dink. Soft guitar music greeted them at an open door. Tom Steele was sitting at a computer with his back to the kids. A small radio sat on the desk. Dink knocked on the doorjamb. The editor went on typing. He was humming along with the tune. "Come on," Ruth Rose said, and she walked into the room. Tom Steele whirled around in his chair. "You scared me!" he said. He stood up and stared at the kids. He was probably only a little taller than Dink, but his spiky hair and cowboy boots added another three inches. He wore round glasses under thick eyebrows that met in the middle. One of his hands had a Band-Aid across the palm. "Sorry," Dink said. "I'm Dink Duncan and, um, I'm writing a story about Winnie. This morning,

“你还没写的那篇?”乔希咧嘴笑着问。 “对，就是那个，”丁克说。 柔和的吉他音乐在敞开的门口迎接着他们。 汤姆·斯蒂尔背对着孩子们坐在电脑前。 桌子上放着一台小收音机。 丁克敲了敲门框。 编辑继续打字。 他随着曲调哼着歌。 “来吧，”露丝·罗斯说着走进了房间。 汤姆·斯蒂尔在椅子上转过身来。 “你吓到我了!”他说。他站起来，盯着孩子们。 他可能只比丁克高一点，但他的尖头发和牛仔靴又增加了三英寸。 他戴着一副圆眼镜，浓眉在中间交汇。 他的一只手的手掌上有一块创可贴。 “对不起，”丁克说。“我是丁克·邓肯，我正在写一篇关于温妮的故事。 今天早上,

you said you wanted stories, so I—" Tom raised one hairy eyebrow at Dink. "You're a writer?" "Not yet, but I want to be when I grow up," Dink said. Tom glanced down at Pal. "Who's this?" "His name's Pal," Josh said. "He used to belong to crooks!" "Hmph," Tom said, sitting back down. He removed his glasses, leaned back, and plunked his boots on the top of his desk. The desk was littered with papers, scissors, a bottle of glue, pencils, and an oily pizza box. Tom held up an issue of The Panda Paper. There were holes in the paper where sections had been cut out. "Have you been reading any of these?" he asked.

你说你想听故事，所以我——”汤姆扬起一条毛茸茸的眉毛对丁克说。 “你是个作家?”丁克说:“还没有，但长大后我想成为一名医生。” 汤姆低头看了看帕尔。“这是谁?”“他叫帕尔，”乔希说。 “他以前是骗子的!”“嗯，”汤姆说着又坐了下来。 他摘下眼镜，靠在椅背上，把靴子重重地放在书桌上。 桌子上散落着纸、剪刀、一瓶胶水、铅笔和一个油腻的披萨盒。 汤姆举起了一期《熊猫报》。 纸上有一些被剪掉的洞。 “你读过这些书吗?”他问。

"We read them all," Ruth Rose said. She showed Tom her own copy. "We like pandas," Josh said. Tom squinted his eyes. He stared at the tips of his boots. The only noise in the room was the ticking of a clock. "I like pandas, too," he said finally. "If I get my hands on whoever kidnapped Winnie …"

“我们都读了，”露丝·罗斯说。 她把自己的那本拿给汤姆看。 “我们喜欢熊猫，”乔希说。 汤姆眯起眼睛。他盯着自己的靴子尖。 房间里唯一的声音是时钟的嘀嗒声。 “我也喜欢熊猫，”他最后说。 “如果我抓到绑架温妮的人……”

He rubbed his face. "Okay, write your story. If it's good, I'll print it." "Could we ask a few questions?" Dink pulled his notebook from a pocket. Tom sighed and glanced at his watch. "I guess I can spare a few more minutes," he said. "Do you know anyone who has a key to the panda enclosure?" Dink asked. "Yeah, Irene Napper does," he said. "I think she's the only one." Dink nodded. "Have you ever noticed anyone weird hanging around Panda Park?" Josh asked. Tom shook his head slowly. "Just normallooking people like you and me," he said, grinning. "Were you surprised when Ping got upset this morning?" Ruth Rose asked. "Sure, we all were," Tom said. "Flip told me he'd never seen her so angry." "Does Flip Frances visit the pandas a lot?" Josh asked. Tom stood up. "I have no idea," he said, "and I have to get back to work." He stuck out his left

他揉了揉脸。“好吧，写你的故事。 如果写得好，我就把它印出来。” “我们能问几个问题吗?”丁克从口袋里掏出笔记本。 汤姆叹了口气，看了看表。 “我想我可以多抽出几分钟，”他说。 “你知道谁有熊猫馆的钥匙吗?”丁克问道。 “是的，艾琳·纳珀知道，”他说。 “我想她是唯一一个。” 丁克点点头。“你有没有注意到熊猫公园周围有奇怪的人?”杰克问。 汤姆慢慢地摇了摇头。 “就是像你我这样的普通人，”他笑着说。 “今天早上平生气的时候，你感到惊讶吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 “当然，我们都是。”汤姆说。 “菲普告诉我，他从没见过她这么生气。” “弗朗西丝经常去看熊猫吗?”杰克问。 汤姆站了起来。“我不知道，”他说，“我得回去工作了。” 他伸出左手