16 Stanley

Chapter 16 Stanley I have a question." Peanut was looking at Mrs M. "Why is there nothing written next to the North Draw? Has he not found a portal there yet?" "Well spotted! As I said earlier, he has worked his way around almost the entire city. If there is a twelfth portal in the North Draw, which we suspect there must be, he has yet to travel through it. He has, however, already carried out a recce there. Yesterday, in fact. We are expecting him to take another little trip to its outskirts any day now. Our agents are primed and ready to follow him. Also, what about the Green Valleys portal?" said Little-Bit, "The one we just came through from the National Portrait Gallery? Why hasn't he closed that one yet?"

第16章 斯坦利，我有一个问题。” 花生正看着M夫人。“为什么北浸区旁边什么都没写？ 他还没在那儿找到传送门吗？” “观察力真不错！ 就像我之前说的，他几乎把整座城市都摸遍了。 我们猜测北浸区肯定有第十二个传送门，他还没进去过而已。 不过，他已经去那边侦察过了。 其实就是昨天去的。 我们估计他这几天就会再去一趟传送门所在的郊外。 我们的特工已经准备妥当，就等跟踪他了。 对了，那绿谷传送门怎么办？”小不点说，“就是我们刚从国家肖像馆走出来的那个？ 他为什么还没把那个关上呢？”

"Yeah. I assume he doesn't need to use it any more," said Peanut. "No, he doesn't. We suspect he's keeping it open as a kind of safety net, just in case anything happens to the pencil before his mission to destroy Chroma is complete." "But why keep that particular one open when he's got rid of all the others?" asked Rockwell. "Do you remember Peanut's dad's top-secret spying mission that I mentioned earlier?" said Mrs M. "Dad's mission?" said Peanut. "The one where he had to find out Mr White's identity and where he was travelling to?" "That's the one. If you recall, I said that he had been working with other Resistance operatives. The children nodded. "Well, one of those operatives is still in place and has been working undercover at the National Portrait Gallery for many years now. "Ooooh, really?" said Rockwell, cheering up a bit. "Who is it? Are they in disguise?" Are they dressed as the bust of Queen Victoria?" said a gleeful Little-Bit. "Is it just a person pretending to be a statue, like those people in Covent Garden?" "Ha!" said Mrs M. "I think even the best mime in the world might struggle to keep still for that long. No, our operative works in the gallery as a security guard. It's the perfect cover.

“是啊。 我猜他已经用不着这个传送门了。”花生说。 “没错，他用不着了。 我们怀疑他故意开着它当安全网，免得在完成摧毁克罗玛的任务前，铅笔出什么意外。” “可是他把其他传送门都关了，为什么偏偏留着这个开着？”罗克韦尔问道。 “你还记得我之前提过花生爸爸的绝密侦察任务吗？”M夫人说。“爸爸的任务？”花生说。 “就是那个要找出怀特先生的身份，弄清楚他都去哪里的任务对不对？ 就是那个任务。 你们还记得吧，我说过他当时和其他抵抗组织特工一起行动。 孩子们点了点头。 没错，其中一名特工至今还留在岗位上，已经在国家肖像馆卧底很多年了。 “哇哦，真的吗？”罗克韦尔说着，心情好了一点。 “是谁呀？ 他们是伪装起来的吗？” “他们会不会伪装成维多利亚女王的胸像呀？”开心的小不点问道。 “会不会就像科文特花园那些表演者一样，假装成雕像呀？” “哈！”M夫人笑了。 我觉得就算是全世界最厉害的哑剧演员，也很难一动不动撑那么久呀。 不是哦，我们的特工在美术馆当保安， 这可是最完美的伪装了。

Something stirred in Peanut's memory. "Hang on, his name's not Stanley, is it?" "Why, yes," said Mr M, his eyebrows raised. "Have you met him then?" "Kind of. I, er, had a feeling there might have been more to him than met the eye." Peanut suddenly remembered seeing Stanley talking to her brother earlier that day. So what was that about? she thought. "Well, Stanley has confirmed that White has not been through the Green Valleys portal at all since Pencil Number One came into his possession," said Mrs M. "Which is interesting, given where we think he might be travelling to in London. "In London?" said Peanut, suddenly more upright. "You mean, you know exactly where he goes when he leaves Chroma?" She looked over at Rockwell. "Yes. Your dad and Stanley were doing such a brilliant job of tracking White. They were on the verge of a breakthrough when Gary was imprisoned. Terrible timing.

花生的记忆里忽然闪过什么。 “等等，他该不会叫斯坦利吧？” “哎呀，没错呀。”M先生说着，扬起了眉毛。 “那你见过他了？ “算是见过。 我，呃，我那时候就觉得他这个人，不像看起来那么简单。” 花生突然想起，这天早些时候她看见斯坦利在跟哥哥说话。 他们到底在说什么呢？ 她心想。 “对了，斯坦利确认了，自从一号铅笔落到怀特手里之后，他从来没走过绿谷传送门。”M夫人说，“这点很有意思，我们刚好猜到他可能要去伦敦的某个地方。 “居然在伦敦？”花生说着，一下子坐直了身子。 “你的意思是，你们清楚他离开克罗玛之后去哪里对不对？” 她望向罗克韦尔。 “没错。 你爸爸和斯坦利跟踪怀特的时候做得非常出色。 就在他们快要得到突破的时候，加里被抓进了监狱。 时机真的太糟了。

"What had they discovered?" asked Peanut. "They'd tracked him to his workplace in London. They were almost certain that..." Mrs M paused. SNOW, Peanut, Little-Bit, I don't want to frighten you, but..." Peanut stood. "Where did they track him to?" "To Blood, Stone & Partners," said Mrs M. "Your mother's accountancy firm."

“他们发现了什么？”花生问道。 “他们一路追踪，找到了他在伦敦的工作地点。 几乎可以确定……” M夫人停了下来。 花生、小不点，我不想吓你们，但是……” 花生站了起来。 “他们追踪到哪里了？” “追踪到了布莱德·斯通合伙事务所。”M夫人说。 就是你妈妈开的那家会计师事务所。