Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Dink and Ruth Rose sat on Dink's front porch. They'd just finished dinner and were waiting for Josh. Ruth Rose sighed. "Tiger hasn't come home yet?" Dink asked. She shook her head. "Cats can be pretty mysterious sometimes," Dink said. He wanted Ruth Rose to feel better. "Maybe she's visiting a cat buddy somewhere." Ruth Rose looked down. "She's never stayed away like this."

丁克和露丝·罗斯坐在丁克家的前廊上。 他们刚吃完晚饭，正在等乔希。 露丝·罗斯叹了口气。“老虎还没回家?”丁克问道。 她摇了摇头。丁克说:“猫有时很神秘。 他想让露丝·罗斯感觉好点。 “也许她去某个地方看猫友了。” 露丝·罗斯低下头。“她从来没有像这样离开过。”

Suddenly Dink noticed that Ruth Rose had forgotten her headband. Her curly hair was hanging in her eyes. Just then Josh came running down Woody Street, carrying his sketch pad. He jogged across Dink's lawn. "Did Tiger come back yet?" he asked. "No," Ruth Rose said, standing up. "Come on, let's go see who brings Mozart back." A few minutes later, they were ringing Mrs. Davis's doorbell. Ruth Rose had a determined look in her eye. "If this guy has cat scratches on his hands, I'm calling Officer Fallon." Mrs. Davis opened her door dressed for the occasion. The green gem in her necklace sparkled in the evening sunlight. "I hope you've brought your appetites," she said. "To help us celebrate Mozart's return, I've made some shortcake." Josh grinned. "I might be able to eat a small helping." Mrs. Davis laughed. "Oh, pooh, Joshua Pinto. I've seen what you can do to a batch of my cookies."

突然丁克注意到露丝·罗斯忘了带发带。 她的卷发遮住了眼睛。 就在这时，乔希拿着他的速写本从伍迪街跑了过来。 他慢跑着穿过丁克家的草坪。 “老虎回来了吗?”他问。 “不，”露丝·罗斯说着站了起来。 “来吧，我们去看看谁能把莫扎特带回来。” 几分钟后，他们按了戴维斯夫人的门铃。 露丝·罗斯眼中流露出坚定的神情。 “如果这家伙手上有猫抓痕，我就打电话给法伦警官。” 戴维斯夫人穿着得体地打开了门。 她项链上的绿色宝石在傍晚的阳光下闪闪发光。 “我希望你把你的胃口带来了，”她说。 “为了庆祝莫扎特的归来，我做了些酥饼。” 杰克笑了。“我也许能吃一小份。” 戴维斯夫人笑了。“哦，呸，约书亚·平托。 我已经看到你对我的一批饼干做了什么。”

They walked into the living room. Mozart's empty cage sat on the piano. "It will be so good to hear Mozart sing again," Mrs. Davis said. The doorbell chimed. "He's here!" Mrs. Davis hurried to the door. A thin young man stood smiling on the front porch. He was dressed neatly in a white shirt, dark pants, and blue suspenders. The man held a small box with holes poked in the sides. "I'm Fred Little," he said. "Here's your canary." Dink looked at the man's hands as he passed the box to Mrs. Davis. Not a single claw mark. He shot a look at Ruth Rose.

他们走进客厅。 莫扎特的空笼子放在钢琴上。 “能再听到莫扎特唱歌真是太好了，”戴维斯夫人说。 门铃响了。“他在这里!”戴维斯夫人急忙走到门口。 一个瘦削的年轻人站在门廊上微笑着。 他穿着整洁的白衬衫、黑裤子和蓝色背带裤。 那人拿着一个边上扎满了洞的小盒子。 “我是弗雷德·利特尔，”他说。 “这是你的金丝雀。”丁克看了看那个人把盒子递给戴维斯夫人的手。 没有一个爪印。他瞥了露丝·罗斯一眼。

"Thank you, Mr. Little," said Mrs. Davis. "Won't you step inside?" Mrs. Davis introduced him to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. Then she opened the box and lifted out her canary. "Well, Mozart, how was your vacation?" She gave the canary a quick kiss and placed him in his cage. Everyone paused to watch Mozart hop around, then settle down to preen his feathers. "Mr. Little, I can't tell you how grateful I am," Mrs. Davis said. "But how did you know where to bring him?" Ruth Rose kicked Dink in the ankle. Fred Little smiled. "I had to do some detective work," he said. "I called the pet shop today and asked who in town owned a canary. A nice woman told me your name, so I looked you up in the phone book." "That must have been Mrs. Wong," Dink said. "We talked to her today, too. About Ruth Rose's missing cat. When did you call her?" The man stared at Dink. "I don't remember exactly," he said. "It was right after I caught the canary."

“谢谢你，利特尔先生，”戴维斯夫人说。 “你不进来吗?”戴维斯太太把他介绍给丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯。 然后她打开盒子，拿出她的金丝雀。 “莫扎特，你的假期过得怎么样?”她迅速地吻了金丝雀一下，把它放进笼子里。 每个人都停下来看莫扎特跳来跳去，然后坐下来梳理他的羽毛。 “利特尔先生，我无法表达我对你的感激之情，”戴维斯夫人说。 “可是你怎么知道把他带到哪儿去呢?”露丝·罗斯踢了丁克的脚踝。 弗雷德·利特尔笑了。“我不得不做一些侦查工作，”他说。 “我今天打电话给宠物店，问镇上谁养了一只金丝雀。 一位好心的女士告诉了我你的名字，所以我在电话簿上查了你的名字。” “那一定是王太太，”丁克说。 “我们今天也和她谈过了。 关于露丝·罗斯失踪的猫。 你什么时候给她打电话的?”那人盯着丁克。 “我记不清了，”他说。 “就在我抓住金丝雀之后。”

Mrs. Davis clapped her hands. "How thoughtful of you to go to so much trouble! Will you accept a reward?" Ruth Rose glanced at Dink with a smirk on her face. The man smiled at Mrs. Davis. "You're very kind," he said. "But no thanks. It's reward enough seeing your little bird back home again." Dink snuck a quick look at Ruth Rose. She looked confused, and Dink could understand why. If he won't take a reward, then he didn't steal Mozart. And if Mozart didn't get kidnapped, maybe Tiger didn't either, Dink thought. "Then will you at least have a cup of tea and a cookie?" Mrs. Davis asked. "That'll be fine," he said. "May I use your bathroom?" "Down the hall on the right," Mrs. Davis said. "Kids, will you help me in the kitchen?" While Mrs. Davis boiled water and arranged her silver tea service, the kids put cookies on a tray. "He didn't take the reward," Ruth Rose whispered, frowning. "I can't believe I was wrong!"

戴维斯夫人拍了拍手。 “你费了这么大的劲，想得真周到!”你愿意接受赏金吗?”露丝·罗斯带着傻笑瞥了丁克一眼。 那人对戴维斯夫人笑了笑。 “你真好，”他说。 “但是不用了，谢谢。看到你的小鸟又回家了，这就够了。” 丁克偷偷瞥了露丝·罗斯一眼。 她看起来很困惑，丁克能理解为什么。 如果他不接受赏金，那他就没有偷莫扎特。 如果莫扎特没有被绑架，也许老虎也没有，丁克想。 “那你至少要喝杯茶，吃块饼干吧?”戴维斯夫人问。 “那很好，”他说。 “我可以用一下你的卫生间吗?”“走到大厅的右边，”戴维斯太太说。 “孩子们，你们能到厨房帮我一下吗?”当戴维斯太太烧开水，摆好她的银质茶具时，孩子们把饼干放在托盘上。 “他没有拿报酬，”露丝·罗斯皱着眉头低声说。 “我不敢相信我错了!”

"I don't know, Ruth Rose," Dink said. "There's something fishy about this guy. Why didn't Mrs. Wong tell us he called her?" "We saw Mrs. Wong in the morning," Josh reminded them. "Fred Little must have called her later." "Yeah, I suppose," Dink said. "But I have this weird feeling I've seen Fred Little somewhere before," Josh said. "Around here?" Ruth Rose asked. Josh shrugged. "I'm not sure. I can't remember." "What are you three whispering about?" Mrs. Davis called. "I'll need some helping hands in a minute." When they were all seated around the card table, Mrs. Davis poured five cups of tea. "Are you just passing through, Mr. Little? I haven't seen you in town before." "I'm here looking for a job," Fred Little said. "So you might settle in Green Lawn? Wouldn't that be wonderful!" Fred Little smiled. "It's a nice town." He glanced around the living room. "You sure have a lovely home, Mrs. Davis."

“我不知道，露丝·罗斯，”丁克说。 “这家伙有点可疑。 黄太太为什么不告诉我们他打电话给她?”“我们早上看到黄太太了，”乔希提醒他们。 “弗雷德·利特尔后来一定给她打过电话。” “是的，我想，”丁克说。 “但我有一种奇怪的感觉，我以前在什么地方见过弗雷德·利特尔，”乔希说。 “在这里?”露丝·罗斯问。 杰克耸耸肩。“我不确定。 我不记得了。”“你们三个在嘀咕什么?”戴维斯太太打来电话。 “我马上就需要帮手。” 大家围着牌桌坐下后，戴维斯夫人倒了五杯茶。 “你只是路过吗，利特尔先生?” 我以前没在城里见过你。” “我是来找工作的，”弗雷德·利特尔说。 “那么你可能会住在绿草坪?” 那不是很好吗?”弗雷德·利特尔笑了。 “这是个不错的小镇。”他环视了一下客厅。 “你的家真漂亮，戴维斯夫人。”