Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 Hilary sucked in her breath. "Blimey! If this is genuine, it's worth a fortune. Grace, you're a sly one." You have no idea, Amy thought. The only difference was that this statue sat on a beautiful gold pedestal. Amy stared at the goddess. She had been eroded by time, but she was feminine and strong. "She rocks," Nellie said. "If it's a fake, it's a very good fake," Hilary said. She hesitated. "What is it?" Amy asked. "Well. On Grace's very first trip to Cairo— the one we took together in 1949—she asked me for a favor. For a friend, she said. Did I know an expert

希拉里吸了一口气。 “啊呀!如果这是真的，它值一大笔钱。 格蕾丝，你真狡猾。”你根本不知道，艾米想。 唯一不同的是，这座雕像坐落在一个美丽的金色基座上。 艾米凝视着女神。 岁月侵蚀了她的容颜，但她依然柔美而坚强。 “她太棒了，”内莉说。希拉里说：“如果是赝品，那也是非常好的赝品。” 她犹豫了一下。“什么事？”艾米问。 “嗯。格蕾丝第一次去开罗——那是1949年我们一起去的——她请我帮个忙。 她说，是给朋友的。我认识专家吗

forger, someone who could produce a most perfect fake. And, as a matter of fact, I did. Grace knew that my father— he was an antiquities dealer— had fakes made of his most valuable pieces during the war. Just in case the Germans stole them, you see. I gave her the name, and I never heard another thing. So this… well, it could be a very expert fake. Someone added this cheesy pedestal later on, obviously." "Obviously," Amy said, blushing. Oops— she'd thought it was beautiful. Clearly, she had a lot to learn about museum-quality statues. Amy exchanged a glance with Dan. Grace had made a fake. Could it be that Grace had stolen the original Sakhet— the one found by Howard Carter— and replaced it with a copy? Bae had told them that the statues were hidden during the war and it took a few years to retrieve them and build a new Ekat stronghold. In the confusion, could Grace have gotten her hands on one? Could this be the original that Howard Carter found? No wonder that with modern analysis techniques they couldn't find a secret compartment! She looked again at Grace's message to them.

伪造者，能做出最完美的赝品的人。 而事实上，我做到了。 格蕾丝知道我父亲——他是一个古董商——在战争期间把他最珍贵的东西都伪造了。 以防德国人把它们偷走。 我把名字告诉了她，就再也没听到过她的消息。 所以这个…嗯，它可能是一个非常专业的赝品。 显然是后来有人加了这个俗气的底座。” “显然，”艾米红着脸说。 哎呀——她还以为很漂亮呢。 显然，关于博物馆级别的雕像，她还有很多东西要学。 艾米和丹交换了一下眼色。 格蕾丝做了一个假的。会不会是格蕾丝偷了霍华德·卡特发现的原版《萨克特》，然后换上了复制品？ 裴告诉他们，这些雕像在战争期间被藏了起来，花了几年时间才找回来，并建立了一个新的伊卡特据点。 在混乱中，格蕾丝会不会弄到一个？ 这可能是霍华德·卡特找到的原件吗？ 难怪用现代分析技术他们找不到一个秘密隔间！她又看了看格蕾丝写给他们的信。

Egypt is full of wonderful things…. Amy remembered from her research that when Howard Carter found King Tutankhamen's tomb, he was the first to look in, and when he was asked what he saw, he replied, "Wonderful things." Was Grace quoting Carter to let them know that the Sakhet had once been Carter's? There was only one way to find out. If there was a secret compartment in this Sakhet, it was the real one. Amy felt a chill travel up her spine, and she shivered. Katherine Cahill could have held this very object. Could have placed a hint inside with her own hands. "If you need to get it authenticated, I just happen to have an expert in the house," Hilary said. "That would be me," Theo Cotter said, walking into the room. Amy, Dan, and Nellie looked up with guilty expressions. They knew they'd left him in the lurch at Sennari House. "You know him?" Nellie blurted. Hilary smiled. "A bit."

埃及充满了奇妙的东西.... 艾米记得在她的研究中，当霍华德·卡特发现图坦卡蒙国王的坟墓时，他是第一个进去看的，当他被问到他看到了什么时，他回答说：“奇妙的东西。” 格蕾丝引用卡特的话是为了让他们知道萨凯特曾经是卡特的吗？ 只有一个办法能知道。 如果这个沙吉特有一个秘密隔间，那就是真正的那个。 艾美感到一阵寒意袭上她的脊背，她打了个寒颤。 凯瑟琳·卡荷尔可能拿着这件东西。 她可能亲手在里面放了个暗示。 希拉里说：“如果你需要鉴定，我家里正好有专家。” “那就是我，”西奥·科特说着走进了房间。 艾米、丹和内莉带着内疚的表情抬起头来。 他们知道自己把他忘在塞纳里府的午餐上了。 “你认识他？”内莉脱口而出。 希拉里笑了。“有点。”

Theo leaned over and kissed her. "Hello, Grandmother." He turned to Amy, Dan, and Nellie. "Ah, here are the culprits. Let me give you lot a tip. Curators can get touchy when you throw objects around a museum. I had a bit of explaining to do." Just then Theo caught sight of the Sakhet. He gave a long, low whistle. "What's this? So you did find a real dealer after we got separated." "No, Theo," Hilary said. "They came upon this piece in a different way." She spoke to the three. "I must confess something here. Theo came home and told me of his encounter in the Khan. He told me your names." "But our hotel? How did you know where we were staying?" Amy asked. Theo held up a scrap of paper scrawled on a boarding pass. It was a phone number written in Nellie's handwriting. They'd called the hotel reservation number right before they boarded the plane. "Call me Sherlock Holmes. Just don't make me wear that hat." He picked up the statue and ran his fingers over it. His voice was hushed.

西奥俯下身来吻了吻她。 “你好,祖母。”他转向艾米、丹和内莉。 “啊，罪犯来了。 让我给你们一个提示。 当你在博物馆里乱扔东西时，馆长会很生气的。 我得解释一下。” 就在这时，西奥看见了萨盖特。 他吹了一声又长又低的口哨。 “这是什么?所以我们分开后，你确实找到了一个真正的毒贩。” “不，西奥，”希拉里说。“他们以一种不同的方式发现了这件作品。” 她对三个人说。“这里我必须坦白一件事。 西奥回家告诉了我他在大汗的遭遇。 他告诉了我你们的名字。”“但是我们的旅馆呢？” 你怎么知道我们住的地方？”艾米问。 西奥举起一张写着登机牌的小纸片。 那是内莉亲笔写的电话号码。 他们在登机前打了酒店预订电话。 “叫我歇洛克·福尔摩斯吧。别逼我戴那顶帽子。” 他拿起雕像，用手指抚摸着它。 他的声音被压低了。

"Sakhet. The most powerful goddess of them all. Goddess of divine retribution and vengeance. Legend says that Ra once sent her against his enemies and she nearly destroyed the entire human race." "Whoa, that's one Rambo goddess," Dan said. Nellie looked impressed. "You sound like you know what you're talking about." "Theo is an Egyptologist," Hilary said proudly. "He was a curator at the British Museum." "I thought you said you were a tour guide," Nellie said. "During holidays, while I was studying for my degree at Cambridge," Theo answered. "If you want to sell the Sakhet, I can put out some feelers, and—" "No!" Amy and Dan cried together. "I mean, it has sentimental value," Amy said quickly. She glanced at Dan. As usual, they were able to communicate without speaking. They both knew they needed help. They had to trust Grace's best friend. Grace had led them there for a reason. "We think Grace left us a message inside that

“Sakhet。最强大的女神。 神的报应和复仇女神。 传说拉神曾经派她去对抗他的敌人，她几乎毁灭了整个人类。” “哇，那是一个兰博女神，”丹说。 内莉看起来印象深刻。“听起来你好像知道自己在说什么。” “西奥是埃及古物学家，”希拉里自豪地说。 “他是大英博物馆的策展人。” “我记得你说你是个导游，”内莉说。 “在假期里，当我在剑桥攻读学位的时候，”西奥回答。 “如果你想卖掉沙迦，我可以试探一下，然后——”“不！”艾米和丹一起哭了。 “我是说，它有情感价值，”艾米赶紧说。 她瞥了丹一眼。像往常一样，他们不用说话也能交流。 他们都知道自己需要帮助。 他们必须相信格蕾丝最好的朋友。 格蕾丝把他们带到那里是有原因的。 “我们认为格蕾丝在里面给我们留下了一条信息

statue," Amy said. "We're on the trail of… a family heirloom, and we think maybe this is it." "But isn't this the heirloom?" Hilary asked. "If Theo thinks it's real, it could be quite valuable." "Priceless, actually," Theo said. "But of course there are always those who are willing to put a price on the priceless. Usually because they have pots of money." Amy and Dan hesitated again. "You mean you're after something more valuable?" Theo asked. "Well," Nellie said, "value is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to family heirlooms, isn't it? My family has been passing along the most hideous vase shaped like a pineapple for ages." Dan picked up the Sakhet. Amy watched her brother. Something had kicked in behind his eyes. A great Egyptologist like Howard Carter hadn't been able to discern the Sakhet's secret, but she'd still bet on her eleven-year-old mad-hot genius of a brother. "Remember how Ye Olde Fenwick put up that fence just to keep the cat out?" he said. "Only it

雕像，”艾米说。“我们正在寻找……一件传家宝，我们认为也许这就是它。” “但这不是传家宝吗？”希拉里问。 “如果西奥认为这是真的，它可能会很有价值。” “其实是无价的，”西奥说。 当然，总有人愿意为无价之宝标价。 通常是因为他们很有钱。” 艾米和丹又犹豫了。 “你是说你在寻找更有价值的东西？”西奥问道。 “嗯，”内莉说，“当涉及到传家宝时，情人眼里出西施，不是吗？ 我的家人多年来一直在传递一个形状像菠萝的最丑陋的花瓶。” 丹拿起沙吉特。艾米看着她的弟弟。 他眼睛后面有什么东西在动。 像霍华德·卡特这样伟大的埃及古物学家，虽然没能洞见萨基特的秘密，但她还是把宝押在了她11岁的天才弟弟身上。 “还记得老芬威克为了不让猫进来而竖起那道栅栏吗？”他说。 “只有它