Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Amy and Dan scoured the store, hunting for trapdoors under tables, behind shelves, and at the back of closets. Dan threw aside a curtain to reveal a small office. There was a cluttered desk, a sink with a hot plate and ancient espresso pot, and a tiny bathroom. No way out. He tried to open the window. It was sealed shut with countless coats of paint. "Dan," called Amy. "Look at this." She was in the listening booth, a tiny enclosure behind soundproof glass. There was a compact stereo system. Two sets of headphones lay on the bench. Dan tapped on the walls. Everything was solid. "No secret passages." Amy frowned at the stack of CDs on the

第十二章艾米和丹搜遍了商店，寻找桌子下面、架子后面和壁橱后面的活板门。 丹掀开窗帘，露出一间小办公室。 房间里有一张凌乱的桌子，一个水槽里有一个电热板和一个古老的浓缩咖啡壶，还有一间很小的浴室。 没有出路。他试图打开窗户。 它被涂了无数层漆封住了。 “丹，”艾米叫道。“看看这个。” 她在隔音玻璃后面的试听室里。 有一个紧凑的立体声系统。 长凳上放着两副耳机。 丹敲了敲墙壁。一切都是实实在在的。 “没有秘密通道。”艾米对着桌子上的那堆cd皱了皱眉

counter. "Don't you think the musical choices are a little odd?" Dan crouched to read the cases. Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and, what was this? Twilight of Genius: The Later Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He removed the disc and handed it to Amy, who loaded it into the machine. They set the headphones over their ears. Dan was expecting some kind of secret message, so he was disappointed when a string quartet began to play. He made a sour face at Amy — he'd had enough Mozart to last a lifetime. He examined the CD case. The usual dumb classical music words — cantata, adagio, cadenza. Amy probably knew what they meant. Or she'd pretend to, just to annoy him. His eyes moved to the bottom of the list: Adagio KV 617 (1791). There it was again. He pressed the forward button, skipping ahead to the final track. The floor disappeared beneath their feet, and

计数器。“你不觉得音乐的选择有点奇怪吗？”丹蹲下来读案件。 Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers，还有，这是什么？ 天才的黄昏：沃尔夫冈·阿玛迪斯·莫扎特的后期作品。 他取下光盘递给艾米，艾米把它装进了机器。 他们把耳机套在耳朵上。 丹期待着某种秘密信息，所以当弦乐四重奏开始演奏时，他很失望。 他对艾米做了个鬼脸——他已经听够了一辈子的莫扎特了。 他检查了CD盒。经典音乐中常见的哑巴词——康塔塔、慢板、华彩。 艾米可能知道他们的意思。 或者她会假装知道，只是为了惹恼他。 他的目光移到了名单的最后：柔板KV 617（1791）。 它又出现了。他按下前进键，跳到最后一段。 他们脚下的地板消失了，而且

they were falling, sliding down a metal chute. The sides were mirrored, reflecting their own shock back at them. Amy pressed both hands against the ramp in a desperate attempt to slow her descent. There was zero traction, even when she tried to dig in with the rubber soles of her sneakers. The surface was flawlessly smooth and slick. What—? Even in her mind, she was unable to form a complete sentence. She squinted, but only darkness loomed below. Suddenly, a pair of electronic doors separated before them, and Amy saw the bottom rushing up. There was no avoiding it. She braced for impact—It didn't come. At the last minute, the slide leveled off and deposited them delicately on a soft cushion made of beanbag material. They hopped to the floor in bewilderment. A hallway stretched before them. Stark white walls were covered with paintings. Muted classical music played in the background. "Another Mozart house?" whispered Dan.

他们从一个金属滑道上滑下来。 两边都是镜子，反射出他们自己的震惊。 艾米双手紧紧地压在斜坡上，不顾一切地试图减缓她的下降速度。 即使她试图用运动鞋的橡胶底挖洞，也没有任何牵引力。 表面光滑得无可挑剔。 ——什么?即使在她心里，她也不能形成一个完整的句子。 她眯起眼睛，但下面只有黑暗。 突然，两扇电子门在他们面前分开了，艾米看到底部冲了上来。 这是无法避免的。她做好了迎接冲击的准备——但冲击并没有到来。 在最后一分钟，滑梯稳定下来，把他们小心翼翼地放在一个由豆袋材料制成的软垫上。 他们困惑地跳到地板上。 一条走廊在他们面前展开。 洁白的墙壁上挂满了油画。 柔和的古典音乐作为背景音乐。 “另一座莫扎特的故居？”丹低声说。

"Can't be," Amy told him. "Some of these paintings are modern. It looks more like an art museum." Dan was mystified. "An underground museum where you have to slide down from a CD shop?" Amy stared at a portrait in an elaborate old frame — a man with part of his face in shadow, a stiff white ruff around his neck. "Dan — I'm pretty sure that's a Rembrandt." Her brother made a face. "You made me mail back the recipe to those monks. Like you're going to let me collect a million-dollar painting." "If it's real, try fifty million." "Ka-ching!" Dan gawked at the artwork that decorated both walls of the corridor. "All this must be worth—" He gulped. "There isn't enough money in the world to buy half this stuff!" Amy nodded. "But here's the thing. Grace was a Rembrandt fanatic. She had tons of books of his paintings. I've never seen this one before." "Fake?" Dan suggested. "I don't think so. The style is perfect. And look —" She led him further down the corridor. "That's

“不可能，”艾米告诉他。“其中一些画是现代的。 它看起来更像一个艺术博物馆。” 丹很困惑。“一个你必须从CD店滑下来的地下博物馆？”艾米凝视着一幅精美的旧画框里的肖像——一个男人的半边脸被阴影遮住了，脖子上围着一条僵硬的白色皱领。 “丹——我很确定这是伦勃朗的画。” 她哥哥做了个鬼脸。“你让我把配方寄回给那些修道士。 就像你会让我收集一幅价值百万美元的画一样。” “如果是真的，试试5000万。” “咔!”丹呆呆地看着装饰着走廊两边墙壁的艺术品。 “这一切一定值得——”他咽了口气。 “世界上的钱连买一半的东西都不够！”艾米点点头。 “但问题是。格蕾丝是伦勃朗的狂热爱好者。 她有很多他的画册。 我以前从来没见过这个。” “假的?”丹建议。“我不这么认为。 这个款式很完美。瞧——”她领着他沿着走廊往前走。 “这是

definitely a Picasso. But it isn't famous, either. I think this might be a secret gallery of undiscovered masterpieces." "What would that have to do with Jonah Wizard?" Dan wondered. The classical music ended, and a well- modulated voice announced, "That was the final movement of the Unfinished Symphony by our own Franz Schubert. You're listening to Radio Janus — all Janus, all the time. Next we have a one-of-a-kind recording of Scott Joplin performing at Harry Houdini's birthday party." As the bouncy ragtime piano rang out, light dawned on Amy. "Janus! That's one of the four branches of the Cahill family! The Janus, the Tomas, the Ekaterina, and the Lucian!" "I hate Lucians," Dan hissed. "That's the Cobras' branch. Irina, too — remember when she lured us into that weird command center in Paris?" "I think," said Amy in a hushed whisper, "that this might be the same kind of place. Only this one's for Janus." Dan was confused. "Who puts a command

绝对是毕加索的。但它也不出名。 我认为这可能是一个未被发现的杰作的秘密画廊。” “这和魔法师约拿有什么关系？”丹奇怪。 古典音乐结束了，一个调音很好的声音宣布：“这是我们的弗朗茨·舒伯特《未完成交响曲》的最后乐章。 你正在收听的是双面人电台，一直都是双面人电台。 接下来是斯科特·乔普林在哈利·胡迪尼生日派对上表演的独一无二的录音。” 随着轻快的拉格泰姆钢琴声响起，艾米恍然大悟。 “两面神!那是卡荷尔家族的四个分支之一！雅努斯、托马斯、叶卡捷琳娜和卢西恩！”“我讨厌卢西亚人，”丹嘶嘶地说。 “那是眼镜蛇的分支。 还有艾琳娜——还记得她把我们引诱到巴黎那个奇怪的指挥中心吗？”“我想，”艾美悄声说，“这里可能是同一种地方。 只有这个是给雅努斯的。” 丹很困惑。“谁下命令

center in an art gallery?" And suddenly, Amy just knew. It was as if a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle had miraculously assembled itself in a fraction of a second. One moment there was nothing but confusion; the next, a complete picture was spread out before her. "What if each branch of the family has a special skill?" she exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Remember, the famous Lucians were mostly world leaders, great generals, secret agents, and spies. What do those careers have in common? Strategy, plotting — maybe that's the Lucian talent!" "Okay, but that still doesn't help us here—" All at once, Dan clued in. "So you're saying the Janus are artists?" She nodded ardently. "People like Mozart, a great musician. And Rembrandt and Picasso—" "And Jonah Wizard!" Dan added excitedly. "I mean, I think he stinks, but he's a big star." "This is huge! Jonah came here for a reason. We have to figure out what he's after and get to it

艺术画廊的中心？”突然间，艾米明白了。 就好像一个千块的拼图奇迹般地在一瞬间拼好了。 刚才一片混乱；下一秒，一幅完整的画面展现在她面前。 “如果这个家族的每一个分支都有一种特殊的技能呢？”她低声叫道。 “记住，著名的卢西亚人大多是世界领导人、伟大的将军、特工和间谍。 这些职业有什么共同点？ 谋略、阴谋——也许这就是卢西安人的才能！”“好吧，但这对我们还是没有帮助——”丹突然插话了。 “所以你是说两面神是艺术家？”她热烈地点了点头。 “人们喜欢莫扎特，一个伟大的音乐家。 还有伦勃朗和毕加索——”“还有巫师约拿！”丹兴奋地补充道。 “我的意思是，我觉得他很臭，但他是个大明星。” “这是巨大的！”乔纳来这里是有原因的。 我们得搞清楚他在找什么，然后下手