Chapter 1

The Bald Bandit

秃头强盗

Chapter 1 Dink slipped the plastic fangs into his mouth. He made a scary face at his best friend, Josh Pinto. "Do I look like a vampire?" It was hard to talk without spitting, so Dink took the fangs out again. Dink's full name was Donald David Duncan, but nobody called him Donald. Except his mom,

丁克把塑料尖牙塞进嘴里。 他对他最好的朋友乔什·平托做了个鬼脸。 “我看起来像吸血鬼吗?”说话时很难不吐痰，所以丁克又把尖牙拔掉了。 丁克的全名是唐纳德·大卫·邓肯，但没人叫他唐纳德。 除了他妈妈，

when she was upset. Then she called him by all three names. Josh grinned. "No. You look like a skinny thirdgrader wearing false teeth." "Wait till I put on the rest of my costume." Dink said. "Then I'll look like a vampire." "Maybe you will." Josh was tearing a green bedsheet into long strips. "And maybe you won't." Dink's guinea pig, Loretta, crawled among the green strips. Every now and then she let out a curious squeak. "How will you be able to walk if you're wrapped up in all those strips?" Dink asked Josh. Josh kept tearing. "Swamp monsters don't walk," he said in a slithery voice. "They gliiiide." "Okay, so how will you be able to gliiiide wrapped up in all those strips?" The doorbell rang. When Dink opened the door, his next-door neighbor, Ruth Rose, was standing on the steps. "Hi, Ruth Rose. Why are you wearing a wig? Halloween isn't until tomorrow." Ruth Rose was dressed in her usual bright clothes—a pink shirt, pink pants, and pink

她心烦意乱的时候。然后她叫了他三个名字。 杰克笑了。“没有。你看起来就像一个戴着假牙的瘦骨嶙峋的三年级学生。” “等我把剩下的戏服穿上再说。” 丁克说。“那我看起来就像个吸血鬼了。” “也许你会的。”乔希正在把一条绿色的床单撕成长条。 “也许你不会。”丁克的豚鼠洛丽塔在绿茵场上爬行。 她不时发出一声奇怪的吱吱声。 “如果你被这些带子包裹着，你怎么能走路呢?”丁克问乔希。 乔希不停地流泪。“沼泽里的怪物是不会走路的。”他用滑溜溜的声音说。 “他们gliiiide。”“好吧，那你怎么才能把自己裹在这些条里呢?”门铃响了。 当丁克打开门时，他的隔壁邻居露丝·罗斯正站在台阶上。 “你好，露丝·罗斯。你为什么戴假发? 明天才是万圣节。” 露丝·罗斯穿着她平时穿的鲜艳的衣服——粉红色的衬衫、粉红色的裤子和粉红色的衣服

sneakers. But on her head she wore a shiny black wig. She also had on thick fake eyebrows. Ruth Rose wiggled the fake eyebrows up and down. "Guess who I am!" Josh stared at Ruth Rose. "A hairy princess?" "No." "Groucho Marx?" She shook her head. "Tell us, Ruth Rose," Dink said. Ruth Rose pretended to strum a guitar. "I'm Elvis!" she cried. "That was my next guess," Josh said. Ruth Rose looked at his mound of green strips. "What are you supposed to be?" Josh wrapped a strip around his face. He made a swamp monster face at Ruth Rose. "Guess," he said. Ruth Rose smiled sweetly "You're a green sheet torn into strips." The doorbell rang again. This time Dink saw a tall man standing on the doorstep. He was dressed in a suit and tie. nkledc. He had dark curly hair, a droopy mustache, and a dimpled chin.

运动鞋。但她头上戴着一顶闪亮的黑色假发。 她还画了一双厚厚的假眉毛。 露丝·罗斯上下摆动着假眉毛。 “猜猜我是谁!”乔希盯着露丝·罗斯。 “一个毛茸茸的公主?”“没有。”“Groucho Marx ?”她摇了摇头。 “告诉我们，露丝·罗斯，”丁克说。 露丝·罗斯假装在弹吉他。 “我是埃尔维斯!”“这是我的下一个猜测，”乔希说。 露丝·罗斯看着他那堆绿条。 “你应该是什么?”乔什在脸上缠了条带子。 他对露丝·罗斯做了个沼泽怪物的鬼脸。 “猜猜看，”他说。露丝·罗斯甜甜地笑了:“你是一张被撕成条的绿纸。” 门铃又响了。这次丁克看见一个高个子男人站在门阶上。 他穿西装打领带。 他有一头黑色的卷发，下垂的小胡子，下巴上有个酒窝。

"Hi, there. My name is Detective Reddy. I was hired by the Green Lawn Savings Bank to find someone. Did you hear about the robbery?" Josh and Ruth Rose came to the door and stood behind Dink.

“嗨,那里。我是雷迪警探。 绿草坪储蓄银行雇我来找人。 你听说抢劫的事了吗?”乔希和露丝·罗斯来到门口，站在丁克身后。

Dink nodded. "I heard about it on TV." "Are you looking for the robber?" Josh asked. Detective Reddy shook his head. "Right now I'm looking for someone who saw him. When the thief ran out of the bank, he took off his mask. Some kid was walking by with a video camera. He got the thief on tape. The bank hired me to find the kid so I can get the video." "What does the kid look like?" Ruth Rose asked. Detective Reddy stared at her Elvis wig. "Someone in the bank said he has red hair and he's tall and skinny." "Sounds like you, Josh," said Dink. He laughed and pointed at Josh's red hair. "It wasn't me, honest!" Josh said. "I don't even have a video camera." "No, the kid was a lot older than you," said the detective. "Probably in high school." He patted his mustache. "Do you guys know anyone like that?" "No," Dink said. "But we do know Green Lawn pretty well. Maybe we can help you find him." The detective looked at the three friends. "Tell you what," he said. "Check the high school tomorrow. If you find the kid who filmed

丁克点点头。“我是在电视上听说的。” “你在找那个强盗吗?”杰克问。 雷迪侦探摇了摇头。 “现在我正在找一个见过他的人。 当小偷跑出银行时，他摘下了面具。 有个小孩拿着摄像机经过。 他把小偷拍了下来。银行雇我来找那个孩子，这样我就能拿到录像了。” “那孩子长什么样?”露丝·罗斯问。 雷迪警探盯着她的猫王假发。 “银行里有人说他长着红头发，又高又瘦。” “听起来像你，乔希。”丁克说。 他笑着指着乔希的红头发。 “那不是我，真的!”杰克说。 “我连摄像机都没有。” “不，那孩子比你大得多，”侦探说。 “大概在高中的时候。” 他拍拍胡子。“你们认识这样的人吗?”“不，”丁克说。 “但我们确实很了解绿草坪。 也许我们能帮你找到他。” 侦探看着这三个朋友。 “告诉你吧，”他说。“明天去高中看看。 如果你找到那个拍视频的孩子