Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 The blond archaeologist, or should she say thief, seemed nervous. Probably because he was double- crossing a couple of kids whose only legacy from their beloved grandmother was a crazy contest they were bound to lose and a priceless statue. And thanks to him, they'd lost the statue. Well, sore luck for them, Irina thought. The guidebook had turned out to be a dead end. No hints, just notes in the margins, stupid things like don't miss this! and good food here. A big fat zero for any Aswan Clues. What a waste of time. She'd already thrown it away. Having Grace's thoughts, no matter how trivial, just made her eye twitch. Irina circled back around to the café where Theo Cotter sat waiting, his fingers drumming on

那个金发的考古学家，或者她应该说小偷，看起来很紧张。 也许是因为他欺骗了一对孩子，而这对孩子从他们深爱的祖母那里得到的唯一遗产就是一场注定要输掉的疯狂比赛和一尊无价的雕像。 多亏了他，他们失去了雕像。 唉，他们真倒霉，伊琳娜想。 那本旅游指南原来是一条死胡同。 没有提示，只是在页边空白处做笔记，比如不要错过这个！这里的食物也很好吃。 任何阿斯旺线索都是零分。 真是浪费时间。她已经把它扔掉了。 有格蕾丝的想法，不管多琐碎，只会让她的眼睛抽搐。 伊琳娜绕回咖啡馆，西奥·科特坐在那里等着，手指不停地敲着鼓

the small tiled table, the bag at his feet. She knew she hadn't been followed. She'd passed by the café three times to make sure. She slid into the chair next to him. "You have the Sakhet?" "You have the money?" She inclined her head. "As we agreed. It will be wired to Swiss account once I authenticate the statue." She had no intention of wiring the money. She didn't need the statue, she needed what was inside it. Lucians had been searching for it over the centuries. She wasn't sure why, but once she had it, she'd know. "First, I will examine in ladies' room." She picked up the small bag, then moved through the tables to the restroom. She locked the door securely. She turned over the statue in her hands. It was a Sakhet, she knew that, with a lion's head. Golden, as had been reported by the great Lucian Napoleon. The eyes were emeralds, she supposed— she didn't know anything about gems. Everything appeared to be as it should be. Irina

铺着瓷砖的小桌子，脚边的包。 她知道自己没有被跟踪。 她经过咖啡馆三次以确定。 她滑到他旁边的椅子上。 “你有沙金吗？”“你有钱吗？”她低下头。 我们说好了的。一旦我对雕像进行鉴定，钱就会汇入瑞士账户。” 她没打算把钱汇过去。 她不需要雕像，她需要的是里面的东西。 几个世纪以来卢西亚人一直在寻找它。 她不知道为什么，但一旦她有了，她就知道了。 “首先，我要去女洗手间检查一下。” 她拿起那个小包，然后穿过桌子走向洗手间。 她把门锁牢了。 她把手里的雕像翻过来。 她知道那是一顶狮头的萨凯特。 正如伟大的卢西安·拿破仑所报告的那样。 她猜想那双眼睛是祖母绿的——她对宝石一无所知。 一切似乎都是应有的样子。 伊丽娜

tapped the statue gently, searching for the trick to open it. She saw a hairline crack along the lion's mane. She slid a narrow stiletto (so useful that knife had been over the years!) into the crack and the head revolved counterclockwise easily. It revealed a small compartment inside. Turning the statue over again, she shook it. A rolled piece of papyrus fell out. It sounded like a load of horseradish. But the hints toward Clues never did make sense, until you got to the place where you were guided. Rabat was a city in Morocco. No doubt everything would be clear once she got there. Carefully, Irina slid the secret compartment closed. She put the paper in her pocket and the statue back into the bag. She threaded her way back through the tables and plunked the bag back down at Cotter's feet. "I'm surprised you would try to cheat me," she

轻轻地敲着雕像，寻找打开它的方法。 她看见狮子的鬃毛上有一道发际裂痕。 她把一根细高跟鞋（这把刀多年来一直很有用！）塞进裂缝里，刀头就很容易地逆时针旋转了。 里面有一个小隔间。 她又把雕像翻过来，摇晃了一下。 一张卷起来的莎草纸掉了出来。 听起来像是一堆辣根。 但是线索的提示从来没有意义，直到你到达你被引导的地方。 拉巴特是摩洛哥的一个城市。 毫无疑问，等她到了那里，一切就都清楚了。 伊琳娜小心翼翼地把秘密隔间关上。 她把纸放进口袋，把雕像放回袋子里。 她穿过桌子往回走，把书包扔到科特脚边。 “我很惊讶你会试图欺骗我，”她说

said. "That is never good idea. This is fake statue." "But I assure you, it's genuine." "Ha! You think for me I was born last Thursday? No money for you." Irina got up and hurried away. She wondered if the airport had direct flights to Morocco. The ancient city of Rabat was her next stop. As she jumped into a taxi, she congratulated herself. She'd gotten over that brief moment of sentiment in Nefertari's tomb. She couldn't allow herself to be weak again. Once she had the 39 Clues, she could maybe afford to be generous. Or maybe not generous, no need to go overboard. Maybe just a little… less strict. Until then, she would allow no more distractions. And she would never step foot in another tomb. Too many ghosts. Too many memories… Irina's eye began to twitch. "Aswan airport. And step on it with foot!"

说。“这绝不是个好主意。 这是个假雕像。”“但我向你保证，这是真的。” “哈!你以为我是上周四出生的吗？ 没有钱给你。”伊琳娜起身匆匆离去。 她想知道机场是否有直飞摩洛哥的航班。 古城拉巴特是她的下一站。 当她跳上一辆出租车时，她暗自庆幸。 她已经克服了在娜菲塔丽墓前那短暂的伤感。 她不能再让自己软弱了。 一旦她有了39条线索，她也许就能慷慨了。 或者不太慷慨，没必要太过分。 也许不那么严格。 在那之前，她不会再让人分心。 她再也不会踏进另一座坟墓了。 鬼太多了。太多的回忆……伊琳娜的眼睛开始抽动。 “阿斯旺机场。用脚踩上去！”