Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Officer Fallon snapped handcuffs on the thieves' wrists. "I'll take that," he said, plucking the Jenny stamp from Otto's hand. Doris Duncan shot Ruth Rose a nasty look. "You tricked us!" she screamed. The old woman who had been reading a newspaper suddenly stood up. She had white hair and wore a neat dress covered with tiny pink flowers.

法伦警官啪的一声把手铐铐在了小偷的手腕上。 “我要这个，”他说着，从奥托的手上摘下珍妮的邮票。 多丽丝·邓肯恶狠狠地瞪了露丝·罗斯一眼。 “你骗了我们!”她尖叫道。 一直在看报纸的老妇人突然站了起来。 她满头白发，穿着一件整洁的裙子，裙子上缀满了粉红色的小花。

The woman folded the paper and placed it on the table. Then she crossed the room. "No, you tricked me!" the woman said. She turned to Otto Bird. "Remember me—Clementine Painter? You lied to me. You told me you were a stamp expert, but you're nothing but a crook!" When Otto Bird recognized Clementine Painter, his mouth dropped open. Not a word came out. In the office, Dink and Josh danced around Mrs. Mackleroy's desk. "Gotcha!" Dink shouted. The day before, when Ruth Rose had telephoned Officer Fallon, he told her he'd call Clementine Painter. With her there, Officer Fallon had explained, Doris Duncan and Otto Bird wouldn't stand a chance. Clementine had hopped on a bus for Green Lawn to get her stamp back. When Dink and Josh walked out of the office, Doris Duncan's squinty eyes got big. Then they closed, as if she had a bad headache. Otto Bird's face turned as purple as his tie. Dink thought the man would explode. "You can't prove nothin'!" Otto Bird yelled. He raised his cuffed hands and pointed at Doris. "She planned the whole thi—"

那个女人把纸折叠起来放在桌子上。 然后她穿过房间。 “不，你骗我!”女人说。 她转向奥托·伯德。“还记得我吗?克莱门汀? 你骗了我。你告诉我你是邮票专家，可你只不过是个骗子!”当奥托·伯德认出克莱门汀·佩特时，他张大了嘴。 一句话也没说出来。在办公室里，丁克和乔希围着麦克勒罗伊太太的桌子跳舞。 “明白了!”丁克喊道。前一天，露丝·罗斯给法伦警官打电话时，他告诉她他会给克莱门汀·佩因特打电话。 法伦警官解释说，有了她，多丽丝·邓肯和奥托·伯德就没有机会了。 克莱门汀跳上一辆公共汽车去绿草坪拿回她的邮票。 当丁克和乔希走出办公室时，多丽丝·邓肯眯着的眼睛瞪得大大的。 然后他们合上了，好像她头痛得厉害。 奥托·伯德的脸变得像他的领带一样紫。 丁克以为那人要爆发了。 “你什么也证明不了!”奥托·伯德喊道。 他举起戴着手铐的双手，指着多丽丝。 “这一切都是她策划的——”

"Shut up, frog-face!" Doris Duncan snapped at Otto Bird. "If you'd copied down the right zip code, we wouldn't be in this two-bit town to begin with!" Office Fallon chuckled. "Don't worry, you won't be in two-bit Green Lawn for long. I hear New York has a million-dollar jail!" Officer Fallon led the stamp thieves to the door. "I'll meet you folks at Ellie's Diner in an hour," he said over his shoulder. The kids and Clementine hurried to the window. They saw Officer Fallon lead the two thieves across the street and into the police station. "My soul," Clementine said to the kids. "That was so exciting. Better than television!" An hour later, they all met inside Ellie's Diner. Clementine treated the kids to ice cream. "It feels lovely to be able to buy things for people," she said. "I thought I'd lost that stamp forever." "How did it get in your vacuum cleaner?" asked Dink.

“闭嘴，青蛙脸!”多丽丝·邓肯怒斥奥托·伯德。 “如果你抄对了邮政编码，我们一开始就不会在这个小地方了!”法伦办公室笑了。 “别担心，你不会在绿草坪呆太久的。 我听说纽约有一座价值百万美元的监狱!”法伦警官把偷邮票的人带到门口。 “一小时后我在埃莉餐厅见你们，”他回过头说。 孩子们和克莱门汀急忙跑到窗前。 他们看见法伦警官领着两个小偷穿过街道，进了警察局。 “我的天，”克莱门汀对孩子们说。 “这太令人兴奋了。比看电视好!”一小时后，他们在艾莉餐厅见面。 克莱门汀请孩子们吃冰淇淋。 她说:“能给别人买东西感觉很好。” “我以为我永远失去了那张邮票。” “它是怎么跑到你的吸尘器里的?”丁克问。

Clementine smiled, but it was a sad smile. "My mother died recently. She was ninety-six. I was cleaning out her old vacuum cleaner when I found the stamp. She must have vacuumed it up, but who knows when or where?"

克莱门汀笑了，但那是一种悲伤的笑。 “我母亲最近去世了。她享年96岁。 我在清理她的旧吸尘器时发现了邮票。 她一定是用吸尘器把它吸走了，但谁知道是在什么时候、什么地方?”

"How did you know it was valuable?" Ruth Rose asked. "I didn't!" Clementine said. "But I knew it was old, so I looked up a stamp organization in the phone book." She shook her head. "And that's when all the trouble started!" Officer Fallon nodded. "Otto sang like a bird," he said. "Seems he worked for the stamp outfit you called. When you telephoned to ask about your stamp, he answered the phone." "He was ever so polite," Clementine said. "He told me to hide the stamp, and he'd come right over to look at it." Clementine looked angry. "He asked to see the stamp. Like an old fool, I showed him my hiding place." "Where?" Josh asked. Clementine blushed. "In my cookie jar," she said. "I treat myself to one cookie every day with my tea!" Dink laughed. "That stamp has been everywhere!" "I don't understand how it got under those other stamps," Clementine said.

“你怎么知道它有价值?”露丝·罗斯问。 “我没有!”克莱门汀说。 “但我知道它很老了，所以我在电话簿上查了一个邮票组织。” 她摇了摇头。“所有的麻烦就是从那时开始的!”法伦警官点点头。 “奥托唱得像只鸟，”他说。 “看来他在你打电话给的邮票公司工作。 当你打电话问邮票的事时，他接了电话。” “他非常有礼貌，”克莱门汀说。 “他让我把邮票藏起来，然后他就过来看了。” 克莱门汀看起来很生气。他要求看邮票。 我像个老傻瓜一样，把我的藏身之处指给他看。” “在哪里?”杰克问。克莱门泰脸红了。 “在我的饼干罐里，”她说。 “我每天喝茶的时候都会给自己吃一块饼干!”丁克笑了。 “那张邮票到处都是!”克莱门汀说:“我不明白它是怎么在其他邮票下面的。”

"Otto Bird hid it under regular stamps so he could mail it to Doris Duncan's home in Colorado," Officer Fallon explained. "They planned to sell the stamp, then split the fifty thousand dollars." "But why did Otto Bird write those letters?" Dink asked. "They both have records with the police," Officer Fallon said. "In case anyone opened the envelopes, they had to look innocent. That's why he signed them 'Mother.'" "And when Doris Duncan got the notes, she'd know where to find the stamp," Ruth Rose said. "But she didn't get them!" Josh said. Officer Fallon smiled. "Right. Lucky for Miss Painter, Otto broke his glasses and copied down the zip code for Green Lawn, Connecticut, instead of Green Lawn, Colorado." "And then my little brother hid the envelopes in the refrigerator!" Ruth Rose added. "Mercy!" Clementine said. "All this commotion over a tiny piece of paper!" Officer Fallon slid an envelope across the table. "Here's your stamp, Miss Painter." He grinned. "Can you find a safer hiding place?"

“奥托·伯德把它藏在普通邮票下面，这样他就可以把它寄到多丽丝·邓肯在科罗拉多州的家里，”法伦解释说。 “他们打算卖掉邮票，然后平分这五万美元。” “但奥托·伯德为什么要写那些信呢?”丁克问道。 “他们都有警方记录，”法伦说。 “万一有人打开信封，他们必须装出无辜的样子。 这就是为什么他签上“妈妈”的原因。’”“当多丽丝·邓肯收到信的时候，她就知道到哪里去找邮票了，”露丝·罗斯说。 “但是她没有拿到!”杰克说。 法伦警官笑了。“对了。 佩因特小姐很幸运，奥托打破了他的眼镜，抄下了康涅狄格州绿草坪的邮政编码，而不是科罗拉多州的绿草坪。” “然后我弟弟把信封藏在冰箱里!”露丝·罗斯补充道。 “仁慈!”克莱门汀说。“所有这些骚动都是为了一张小小的纸!”法伦警官把一个信封滑过桌子。 “这是你的邮票，画家小姐。” 他咧嘴一笑。“你能找到一个更安全的藏身之地吗?”