Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Stakeout "We need a map," said Jessie. She and Maxwell were at his house planning their stakeout. "Tonight's New Year's Eve, for crying out loud!" Luckily, it was early afternoon. There was still time, if they worked fast. Maxwell had lots of drawing materials in his room: paper, markers, colored pencils, rulers, protractors. He even had one of those big slanting desks that architects use to draw up their plans. It was perfect. Jessie climbed up on the tall stool and began to draw. There were only four houses within a mile of Grandma's house: the Uptons', Mrs. Lewis's, Maxwell's house, and the old Jansen house, which no one had lived in for years. Last summer Jessie and Evan had looked in the windows, and

“我们需要一张地图，”杰西说。 她和麦克斯韦尔在他家计划监视。 “今晚是除夕，我的天哪！”幸运的是，当时是下午早些时候。 如果他们行动迅速，还有时间。 麦克斯韦的房间里有很多绘画材料：纸、记号笔、彩色铅笔、尺子、量角器。 他甚至有一张建筑师用来起草计划的倾斜的大桌子。 这是完美的。杰西爬上高凳子开始画画。 外婆家一英里以内只有四所房子：厄普顿家、刘易斯太太家、麦克斯韦尔家和杨森家的老房子，那房子已经好几年没人住了。 去年夏天，杰西和埃文从窗户往里看，然后

the house was as empty as a seashell.

这房子空得像个贝壳。

But people moved around. So Jessie asked, "Is anyone living in that old empty house?" Maxwell made a face. "That's where the Sinclairs live," he said. "They moved in right after me. But I was here first!" Jessie wrote "The Sinclairs' House" on her map. Then she called Maxwell over, and together they stared at the piece of paper. Jessie was pretty sure that Mrs. Lewis, who lived alone, hadn't taken the bell. Mrs. Lewis was close to ninety years old. There was no way an old lady like that could lift a hundred-pound bell. The Uptons were good friends of Grandma's. They're the ones who had driven her to the hospital when she fell. The Uptons checked in on Grandma at least once a week, and Jessie's mom talked to them on the phone from time to time. "I don't think the Uptons took Grandma's bell," Jessie said. She pointed to the Sinclair

但是人们总是搬家。杰西问：“有人住在那栋空房子里吗？”麦克斯韦做了个鬼脸。 “辛克莱一家就住在那里，”他说。 “他们在我之后就搬进来了。 可是我先来的！”杰西在地图上写了“辛克莱家” 然后她把麦克斯韦叫过来，两人一起盯着那张纸。 杰西很肯定，一个人住的刘易斯太太没有拿门铃。 刘易斯太太快90岁了。 像那样的老太太不可能举起一百磅重的铃。 厄普顿一家是奶奶的好朋友。 她摔倒时是他们开车送她去医院的。 厄普顿一家每周至少去看望奶奶一次，杰西的妈妈也不时和他们通电话。 “我不认为厄普顿夫妇拿了奶奶的铃铛，”杰西说。 她指着辛克莱号

house on the other side of the bridge. "What are they like? Do they have any kids?" "Mean boys," said Maxwell. He started rocking back and forth, taking that odd half-step with his right foot before shifting his weight back to his left. "Two of 'em. Mean, mean boys." "What makes them mean?" asked Jessie, thinking back to the girls in her last-year class who had played a rotten joke on her. Jessie felt her face go hot, just remembering what they'd done. Maxwell shook his head. "Won't say it. Mean boys. Both of 'em. Mean." Jessie frowned. She needed Maxwell's help. If she was going to be Agent 99, she needed an Agent 86. "Well, how old are they?" "Jeff's in fifth grade and Mike's in fourth." Maxwell's rocking was getting faster, and then he stopped rocking and started walking in circles, snapping the fingers on his right hand like he was

桥那边的房子。 “他们是什么样的人？”他们有孩子吗？”“坏孩子，”麦克斯韦尔说。 他开始前后摇晃，用右脚迈出奇怪的半步，然后把重心移回左脚。 “两个，卑鄙，卑鄙的男孩。” “这是什么意思？”杰西问道，她想起了去年班上那些对她开过低级玩笑的女生。 杰西想起他们所做的事，感到脸发热。 麦克斯韦尔摇了摇头。“我不会说的。 意思是男孩。他们两个都很卑鄙。” 杰西皱起了眉头。她需要麦克斯韦的帮助。 如果她要成为99号特工，她需要86号特工。 “那么，他们多大了？”“杰夫五年级，迈克四年级。” 麦克斯韦的摇摆越来越快，然后他停止了摇摆，开始绕着圈子走，像往常一样打着右手的手指

cracking a whip and making that strange puffing noise. "Huh. They're not so big," said Jessie. But in her mind she imagined boys that towered over her, boys even taller than Evan, and he was one of the tallest boys in his fourth-grade class. "They don't have to be big. They're mean," Maxwell said. "You keep saying that," Jessie pointed out. "Stop repeating yourself. And sit down, for Pete's sake. You're making a lot of noise." Sometimes Maxwell could be very distracting. Maxwell sat down on the edge of the bed, but he kept snapping his fingers and moving his feet back and forth, quietly blowing air through his lips. "Did you ever hear them talk about Grandma's bell?" Jessie asked. "Uh-huh. On the bus. They said they were going to take it." "Really?" said Jessie. "They really said that?

抽着鞭子，发出奇怪的呼哧声。 “嗯。它们不是那么大，”杰西说。 但在她的脑海里，她想象着比她高大的男孩，甚至比埃文还高的男孩，他是四年级班里最高的男孩之一。 “它们不需要很大。 他们很刻薄，”麦克斯韦尔说。 “你一直这么说，”杰西指出。 “不要重复自己。看在上帝的份上，坐下。 你太吵了。” 有时候麦克斯韦很容易让人分心。 麦克斯韦尔在床边坐了下来，但他不停地打着响指，前后挪动着双脚，嘴里轻轻地吹着气。 “你听他们谈论过奶奶的铃铛吗？”杰西问。 “嗯。在公交车上。他们说他们要买下它。” “真的吗？”杰西说。“他们真的这么说吗？”

Why didn't you tell me?" "You never asked." "A person doesn't need to ask a question like that. A person should just know that that's the kind of information you'd tell a secret agent." Honestly, sometimes she just didn't get Maxwell. He was a smart kid, but there were times when he acted like he had rocks in his head. "When did you hear them talking about Grandma's bell?" "Wednesday. December eighth. At 2:23 p.m." Jessie stared at him. "How do you remember that?" Maxwell shrugged. Jessie wasn't sure if Maxwell was going to turn out to be a terrible spy or the best spy who ever lived. Either way, they had their suspects, and that meant it was spying time. Jessie pointed to the map. "That's where we need to go for the stakeout," she said. "We need to watch those boys. See what they do and

你为什么不告诉我？”“你从来没问过。” “一个人不需要问这样的问题。 一个人应该知道，这是你会告诉秘密特工的信息。” 说实话，有时候她就是不懂麦克斯韦。 他是个聪明的孩子，但有时他表现得像脑袋里有石头一样。 “你什么时候听到他们谈论奶奶的铃铛的？”“周三。 12月第八。下午2点23分。” 杰西盯着他。“你是怎么记得的？”麦克斯韦尔耸耸肩。 杰西不确定麦克斯韦会成为一个糟糕的间谍，还是有史以来最好的间谍。 不管怎样，他们找到了嫌疑人，也就是说到了监视时间。 杰西指着地图。 “那是我们需要监视的地方，”她说。 “我们需要注意那些男孩。 看看他们是怎么做的