Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Ruth Rose stomped up to Fred Little and glared at him. "Where's my Tiger?" she demanded. Fred Little backed away. "What tiger?" "Tiger is my cat. Did you steal her? Where is she?" "I didn't take any cat," he muttered. "I'm allergic to cats." "What're you kids doing here?" Officer Fallon asked with a frown. "We thought someone might try to break in tonight," Ruth Rose said, pointing at the prisoner.

露丝·罗斯大步走到弗雷德·利特尔跟前，怒视着他。 “我的老虎呢?”她问道。 弗雷德·利特尔往后退。“老虎什么?”“老虎是我的猫。 你偷了她吗?她在哪儿?”“我没有带猫，”他喃喃地说。 “我对猫过敏。”“你们这些孩子在这儿干什么?”法伦警官皱着眉头问道。 “我们认为今晚可能会有人试图破门而入，”露丝·罗斯指着囚犯说。

"We wanted to get proof so you could arrest him." "This is Fred Little," Josh said. "The guy who returned Mrs. Davis's canary. He's also a clown in the circus." "And he's probably the one who robbed Dr. Pardue's house and the Gwynns', too," Dink added. "It certainly looks that way," Officer Fallon said. He gave instructions to Officer Keene, who locked Fred Little in the cruiser and drove away. Officer Fallon looked sternly at Dink. "We'll talk tomorrow," he said. "You kids better skedaddle home and get some sleep." "Fiddlesticks!" Mrs. Davis said. "These children won't perish if they stay up a little longer. And I won't sleep a wink! Come inside for cookies and cocoa, all of you." Officer Fallon just smiled and shook his head as they followed Mrs. Davis into her kitchen. Dink noticed Mozart's cage sitting on the counter. Mrs. Davis put water on to boil and took mugs from a cupboard. Then she pulled the cover off the birdcage. Mozart twittered and blinked his tiny black eyes.

“我们想要得到证据，这样你们就可以逮捕他。” “这是弗雷德·利特尔，”乔希说。 “那个把戴维斯夫人的金丝雀还给她的家伙。 他也是马戏团里的小丑。” “而且他很可能就是抢劫医生的人。 还有帕杜家和格温家。”丁克补充道。 “看起来确实是这样，”法伦说。 他向基恩警官下达了指令，基恩警官把弗雷德·利特尔锁在巡逻车里，然后开车离开了。 法伦警官严厉地看着丁克。 “我们明天再谈，”他说。 “你们这些孩子最好赶紧回家睡一觉。” “胡说!”戴维斯夫人说。 “这些孩子再多睡一会儿就不会死。 我一刻也睡不着!你们都进来吃饼干和可可吧。” 当他们跟着戴维斯夫人走进厨房时，法伦警官只是微笑着摇了摇头。 丁克注意到柜台上放着莫扎特的笼子。 戴维斯夫人把水烧开，从橱柜里拿出杯子。 然后她拉开了鸟笼的盖子。 莫扎特叽叽喳喳地叫着，眨着他那小小的黑眼睛。

"You've certainly put everyone through a lot of trouble," she told her canary. "Actually, Leona, your canary helped us to solve a string of burglaries," Officer Fallon said. "I did some snooping and found out a lot about Fred Little and his girlfriend. They've been traveling with the circus, and robbing houses in the towns they visit, for quite some time. And they always do it the same way. First they steal pets. Then they return the pets to get a peek inside the houses. Later, they rob the same houses." Mrs. Davis shook her head. "You should have seen that creepy man's face when I turned on the light. But how did he know I left my upstairs bathroom window open?" "He probably saw that it was open when he took your canary," Officer Fallon said. "Or maybe he left it open," Dink said. "He might have snuck upstairs when he used the bathroom." "You could be right, Dink," Officer Fallon said. "On stilts, he could get into upstairs windows that most people leave unlocked. In the robbery business, he's known as a second-story man."

“你确实给大家添了不少麻烦，”她对金丝雀说。 “事实上，利昂娜，你的金丝雀帮助我们解决了一系列盗窃案，”法伦警官说。 “我窥探了一下，发现了很多关于弗雷德·利特尔和他女朋友的事情。 他们和马戏团一起旅行，在他们访问的城镇抢劫房屋，已经有一段时间了。 他们总是用同样的方法。 首先他们偷宠物。然后他们把宠物放回去，看一看房子里的情况。 后来，他们抢劫了同样的房子。” 戴维斯夫人摇了摇头。 “你真该看看我开灯时那个怪人的脸。 但他怎么知道我没关楼上浴室的窗户呢?”“他拿走你的金丝雀时可能看到门是开着的，”法伦说。 丁克说:“也许他没把门关上。” “他可能是在上厕所的时候偷偷溜上楼的。” “你可能是对的，丁克，”法伦警官说。 他可以踩着高跷进入楼上大多数人都不锁的窗户。 在抢劫行当里，他是出了名的老实人。”

"After tonight," Mrs. Davis said, "that window will be locked!" "How did you know that Fred Little would try to break in tonight?" Dink asked. "We were parked right around the corner," Officer Fallon continued. "We figured the burglary had to be tonight or never, since the circus leaves town tomorrow." Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Officer Fallon stood up and stretched. "That'll be Officer Keene back with the car. We'll drive you kids home now. I hope we didn't wreck your yard, Leona." "Oh, pooh. You saved my jewelry and caught a pair of criminals," she said. "Besides, I know three children who might like to earn some money raking and planting grass seed." Officer Fallon laughed. "You could have caught Fred Little all by yourself. Where'd that sword come from, Leona?" "My husband brought it back from one of our trips," she said, smiling. "It's been under my bed for years, in case I ever needed it." "Did you see that guy's face?" Josh asked. "I think he was glad to go to jail!"

“过了今晚，”戴维斯夫人说，“那扇窗户就会被锁上!”“你怎么知道弗雷德·利特尔今晚会闯进来?”丁克问道。 “我们就停在拐角处，”法伦警官继续说道。 “我们认为盗窃要么在今晚，要么永远不会发生，因为马戏团明天就要离开小镇了。” 突然有人敲门。 法伦警官站起来伸伸懒腰。 “是基恩警官开着车回来了。 我们现在送你们回家。 我希望我们没有破坏你的院子，利昂娜。” “哦,呸。你救了我的珠宝，还抓住了两个罪犯。” “此外，我认识三个孩子，他们可能想挣些钱来耙草和种草。” 法伦警官笑了。“你一个人就能抓住弗雷德·利特尔。 那把剑是从哪儿来的，莉安娜?”“这是我丈夫在一次旅行中带回的，”她微笑着说。 “它已经在我床底下很多年了，以防我需要它。” “你看到那个人的脸了吗?”杰克问。 “我想他很高兴进监狱!”

Officer Fallon and Officer Keene dropped the kids off at Dink's house. "Good night, kids," Officer Fallon said. "No more sneaking around, okay?" The kids promised they'd go right to bed and watched the cruiser drive away. "I wonder if Fred Little was telling the truth about Tiger," Ruth Rose said. "All the pets got returned except mine." "Tomorrow we'll help you search, right, Josh?" Dink said. "Right," Josh said. "We'll ring every doorbell in Green Lawn if we have to." Ruth Rose nodded, looking sad. "Thanks, guys." The boys said good night to Ruth Rose, then walked around back and crawled into their tent. Josh giggled in the dark. "Did you see Mrs. Davis come flying out her door with all that goop on her face? I thought she was a ghost!" Dink grinned. "Yeah, and old Fred Little came shooting out the window like a rocket. I bet he burned his hands sliding down that rope." Dink rolled over and closed his eyes.

法伦警官和基恩警官把孩子们送到丁克家。 “晚安，孩子们，”法伦警官说。 “别再偷偷摸摸了，好吗?”孩子们答应马上上床睡觉，然后看着巡逻车开走。 “我想知道弗雷德·利特尔说的关于老虎的事是不是真的，”露丝·罗斯说。 “除了我的宠物，所有的宠物都被送回了。” “明天我们会帮你找，对吧，乔希?”丁克说。 “好吧，”乔希说。“如果有必要，我们会按绿草坪的每一个门铃。” 露丝·罗斯点点头，显得很难过。 “谢谢,伙计们。”男孩们向露丝·罗斯道了晚安，然后绕到后面，爬进了帐篷。 乔希在黑暗中咯咯地笑。“你看见戴维斯太太满脸黏糊糊地跑出门了吗?” 我还以为她是鬼呢!”丁克咧嘴一笑。 “是啊，老弗雷德·利特尔像火箭一样从窗口蹿了出来。 我敢打赌，他从绳子上滑下来，手一定烧伤了。” 丁克翻过身，闭上了眼睛。

Thirty seconds later, Ruth Rose burst through the tent flap. She shined a flashlight into Dink's face. "GUYS, WAKE UP!" she yelled. Josh bolted straight up. "Geez, Ruth Rose, my heart can't take any more surprises tonight." "What's wrong?" Dink asked, blinking. "TIGER CAME HOME!" Ruth Rose said, flopping down next to Dink's feet. "She was on my bed when I snuck upstairs. When I went to pick her up, she hopped down and crawled under the bed." Ruth Rose grinned. "And guess what I found under there with her?" "A sword?" Dink guessed. "Nope!" "A burglar?" Josh asked, blinking into the flashlight. "No! I found three kittens. I'M A GRANDMOTHER!"

三十秒后，露丝·罗斯从帐篷门缝里冲了出来。 她用手电筒照着丁克的脸。 “伙计们，醒醒!”她喊道。 乔希径直跑了起来。“天啊，露丝·罗斯，今晚我的心再也承受不了任何惊喜了。” “怎么了?”丁克眨着眼睛问。 “老虎回家了!”露丝·罗斯说着，扑通一声坐在丁克的脚旁。 “我溜上楼的时候，她就在我床上。 当我去把她抱起来时，她跳了下来，爬到了床底下。” 露丝·罗斯咧嘴一笑。“猜猜我在她下面发现了什么?”“剑?”丁克猜。 “不!”“贼?”乔希问，对着手电筒眨着眼睛。 “不!我发现了三只小猫。 我当奶奶了!”