Chapter 11

Chapter 11 The kids stood looking down at the name tag. "I've seen an apron and name tag like this before," Dink said. "In the supermarket!" "Martin must work there!" Josh said. "Let's go arrest him!" "We can't arrest anybody," Ruth Rose said. "We have to tell Officer Fallon!" Ruth Rose scooped up the apron and wrung out the water. Then the kids raced up the grassy slope and across River Road. Pal loped alongside Josh. On the firehouse driveway, they saw Jake, Lenny, and a couple of other firefighters. The jeep

孩子们站在那里低头看着名牌。 丁克说:“我以前见过这样的围裙和名牌。” “在超市!”“马丁一定在那儿工作!”杰克说。 “我们去逮捕他吧!”“我们不能逮捕任何人，”露丝·罗斯说。 “我们必须告诉法伦警官!”露丝·罗斯抓起围裙，拧干了水。 然后孩子们跑上草坡，穿过河路。 帕尔跟在乔希身边。在消防站的车道上，他们看到了杰克、莱尼和其他几个消防员。 吉普车

was standing in a puddle of river water. "Have you seen Officer Fallon?" Dink asked one of the firefighters. "You just missed him," the man said, pointing to the jeep's open glove compartment. "He grabbed some papers and left." "Do you know if he went to the police station?" Ruth Rose asked. The firefighter shrugged. "He didn't say." Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. "What should we do?" he asked. "If Martin is the crook, we need to let Officer Fallon know," Ruth Rose said. "But it might be too late," Josh said. "If Martin works next door, he might have seen the jeep being dragged over here." Josh quickly glanced toward the supermarket. "He could be watching us right now!" Dink thought for a minute. "We saw Martin in a rowboat a while ago, so maybe he isn't working at the market today," he said. "He might not know we found the jeep." Ruth Rose was still holding the damp apron. She looked across the lawn toward the supermarket. "Come on," she said. "If Martin isn't

站在一滩河水中。 “你见过法伦警官吗?”丁克问一名消防员。 “你刚刚错过了他，”那人指着吉普车上打开的置物箱说。 “他拿了一些文件就走了。” “你知道他去警察局了吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 消防员耸耸肩。“他没说。” 丁克看着乔希和露丝·罗斯。 “我们该怎么办?”他问。 “如果马丁是骗子，我们需要让法伦警官知道，”露丝·罗斯说。 “但可能太迟了。”乔希说。 “如果马丁在隔壁工作，他可能看到吉普车被拖到这里来了。” 乔希迅速朝超市瞥了一眼。 “他现在可能正在看着我们呢!”丁克想了一会儿。 “我们刚才看到马丁在划艇上，所以他今天可能不在市场上工作，”他说。 “他可能不知道我们找到了吉普车。” 露丝·罗斯仍然拿着湿围裙。 她望着草坪对面的超市。 “来吧，”她说。“如果马丁不是

working today, maybe we can find out where he lives. And even if he is working, we'll tell Officer Fallon." They crossed the lawn that separated the fire station from the supermarket. Josh left Pal tied to the bike rack again, and the kids hurried inside. "Keep your eyes peeled for a big guy with mushroom ears," Josh whispered. But the store was packed with Sunday shoppers. Dozens of workers in green aprons scurried around. Many of the male employees were pretty big. "How will we ever find him?" Ruth Rose asked. "Martin could be anywhere!" "I have an idea," Dink said. "When we were here before, I saw a bunch of pictures of employees. Let's check 'em out." Josh and Ruth Rose followed Dink toward the back of the store. They cut through the pet food aisle, took a right at the dairy department, and stopped in front of the wall of photographs. "There he is," Dink said, pointing. The man they'd seen in the rowboat was in the bottom row of pictures. He was the only one with huge ears.

今天工作，也许我们能找到他的住处。 即使他在工作，我们也会告诉法伦警官。” 他们穿过把消防站和超市隔开的草坪。 乔希又把帕尔绑在自行车架上，孩子们急忙跑了进去。 “睁大眼睛找一个长着蘑菇耳朵的大个子。”乔什小声说。 但这家商店挤满了周日的购物者。 几十个穿着绿色围裙的工人在周围跑来跑去。 很多男性员工都很高大。 “我们怎么才能找到他呢?”露丝·罗斯问。 “马丁可能在任何地方!”“我有个主意，”丁克说。 “我们之前来这里的时候，我看到了一堆员工的照片。 我们去看看吧。”乔希和露丝·罗斯跟着丁克向商店后面走去。 他们穿过宠物食品通道，在奶制品部右转，在挂满照片的墙前停了下来。 “他在那儿，”丁克指着说。 他们在划艇上看到的那个人在照片的最后一排。 他是唯一一个有大耳朵的人。

"Martin Fleece," Dink said, reading the name under the picture. "What should we do?" Josh asked. Ruth Rose held up the apron. "We have to find out if he's here," she said. "Let's see if Mr. Robb is in his office." The store manager's office was only a few yards from the wall of pictures. The door was open, and Dink could hear Mr. Robb's voice. "Someone's in there with him," Dink whispered to Josh and Ruth Rose. They stood just outside the door. "Marty, I just don't understand," Mr. Robb was saying. "Yesterday you were happy to work here, and today you want to quit."

“马丁·弗里斯，”丁克读着画下的名字说。 “我们该怎么办?”杰克问。 露丝·罗斯举起围裙。 “我们必须查明他是否在这里，”她说。 “我们去看看罗柏先生在不在办公室。” 商店经理的办公室离挂满图画的墙上只有几码远。 门开着，丁克能听到罗柏先生的声音。 “有人在里面和他在一起。”丁克低声对乔希和露丝·罗斯说。 他们就站在门外。 “马蒂，我就是不明白，”罗伯说。 “昨天你还很高兴在这里工作，今天你就想辞职了。”

"I'm sorry," a deep voice responded. "But I have to go out of town. My … my grandmother is in the hospital, so I have to leave today. And I'll need my paycheck, too." Josh peeked around the corner. When he looked back at Dink and Ruth Rose, his eyes were huge. "Martin Fleece!" he whispered. "What can we do?" Ruth Rose asked. "Let us take it from here," a quiet voice said, this time from behind Ruth Rose. It was Officer Fallon with Officer Keene. "Did this come from the jeep?" Officer Fallon asked, pointing at the wet apron. Ruth Rose nodded. He took the apron and walked into Mr. Robb's office. Officer Keene followed and closed the door. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stepped closer and listened. "Martin Fleece, you are under arrest for theft," they heard Officer Fallon say. One hour later, the kids were sitting in Officer Fallon's office. Martin Fleece was in jail.

“对不起。”一个低沉的声音回应道。 “但是我得出城去。 我…我奶奶住院了所以我今天得走了 我也需要我的薪水。” 乔希从拐角处偷看了一眼。 当他回头看丁克和露丝·罗斯时，他的眼睛很大。 “马丁·弗里斯!” “我们能做什么?”露丝·罗斯问。 “让我们从这里开始吧，”一个平静的声音说，这次是从露丝·罗斯身后传来的。 是法伦警官和基恩警官。 “这是从吉普车上传来的吗?”法伦警官指着湿围裙问道。 露丝·罗斯点点头。他拿起围裙，走进罗柏先生的办公室。 基恩警官跟在后面，关上了门。 丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯走近一些，听着。 “马丁·弗里斯，你因偷窃被捕了，”他们听到法伦警官说。 一小时后，孩子们坐在法伦警官的办公室里。 马丁·弗里斯被关进了监狱。

"How did you know where to find him?" Dink asked Officer Fallon. "The jeep's registration was in the glove compartment," Officer Fallon said. "His name and address were on it. One phone call told me he worked in the supermarket." "How come he didn't get caught in the quicksand like I did?" Josh asked. Officer Fallon shrugged. "Most likely, when the jeep got stuck, he realized he was in some kind of deep mud. He must have leapt clear, or swum till he could walk out of the river." "Did the firefighters open the bank yet?" Ruth Rose asked. Officer Fallon stood up. He opened his drawer and took out the cookie tin and his jar of money. "Why don't we go find out?" he asked. Three weeks later, the duck bridge was completed. The high school kids had done a great job. The bridge was wooden and looked like a regular bridge, only it was much narrower than most. A small sign said DUCKS WELCOME. One end of the bridge was on the riverbank, and it curved gracefully over River Road. Cars would

“你怎么知道在哪儿能找到他?”丁克问法伦警官。 “吉普车的车牌在仪表盘上，”法伦说。 “上面有他的名字和地址。 一个电话告诉我他在超市工作。” “他怎么没有像我一样掉进流沙里呢?”杰克问。 法伦警官耸了耸肩。“最有可能的是，当吉普车被卡住时，他意识到自己陷入了某种深泥中。 他一定是跃出了水面，或者是游到了能从河里走出来的地方。” “消防队员打开银行了吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 法伦警官站了起来。他打开抽屉，拿出饼干罐头和一罐钱。 “我们为什么不去看看呢?”他问。 三周后，鸭子桥完工了。 高中的孩子们做得很好。 这座桥是木制的，看起来和普通的桥一样，只是比大多数桥窄得多。 一个小牌子上写着欢迎鸭子。 桥的一端在河岸上，优美地弯曲在河路上。 汽车将