转学生 V3 - 第21部分 🛸

嗨。

Hi.

我叫艾莉丝。

My name is Elise.

还有尼科。

And Nico.

欢迎收听《安睡故事》。

And welcome to Sleep Tight Stories.

小红心里有个猜测，觉得可能知道浣熊谜案背后是谁，但她决定先不跟大家说。

Red has an idea who might be behind the raccoon mystery but has decided not to share her idea with the group quite yet.

她跟小蓝聊了聊，把自己的想法说了出来，两个人一起讨论了一下。

She talks with Blue and lays out her theory, and they discuss it.

小红和小蓝决定第二天早点去学校，蹲点看看小红的猜测对不对。

Red and Blue decide to go to school early the next day for a stakeout to see if Red is correct in her theory.

如果她猜对了，那要怎么在不惹麻烦的情况下解开这个谜呢？

If she is correct, how do they solve the mystery without anyone getting in trouble?

转学生第三卷，第21部分。

The Transfer Student Volume three, part 21.

在去公交车站的路上，红把她的推测告诉了蓝。

Red told Blue her theory on the walk to the bus.

她还没有告诉所有人，因为红从这么多案子中学到，要先确认推测再分享，而不是先分享再确认。

She didn't tell the whole gang yet because Red had learned from enough cases now that you confirmed a theory before you shared it, not after.

罗德里格斯先生，蓝说。

Mister Rodriguez, Blue said.

罗德里格斯先生，红确认道。

Mister Rodriguez, Red confirmed.

蓝沉默不语，脸上露出那种红称之为“思考脸”的表情。

Blue was quiet and had that look on his face that Red called his processing face.

他可能像解数学题一样，在脑子里反复推演这个推测，检查有没有漏洞。

He was likely running the theory through his head the way he did with math problems checking for errors.

供应订单也要经过维修部门和科学部门，他最后说道。

The supply orders go through maintenance as well as the science department, he said finally.

我以为科学部门指的是老师，但清洁工也能用同一个订购系统。

I assumed science department meant a teacher, but a janitor would have access to the same ordering system.

而且装卸区基本上是他的地盘，红说。

And the loading dock is basically his territory, Red said.

瑞秋在第三个回收箱后面发现的那块磨损的地方，他就在那儿放清洁用品。

That worn patch Rachel found behind the third recycling bin, he stores his cleaning supplies right there.

他每天都在那儿。

He's there every day.

隧道，蓝说。

The tunnels, Blue said.

他对那栋楼里的每条隧道都了如指掌。

He knows every tunnel in that building.

他可能知道那些别人根本不会想到的门缝。

He probably knows gaps in doors that nobody else would think about.

而且我们第一次发现他们的时候他也在场，红说。

And he was there when we found them the first time, Red said.

他有储物柜的钥匙。

He had keys to the storage containers.

他确切知道浣熊一家住在哪里。

He knew exactly where the raccoon family was living.

他帮我们搬它们，布鲁慢慢地说。

He helped us move them, Blue said slowly.

他知道我们要把它们带到哪里去。

He knew where we were taking them.

他们走了一会儿。

They walked for a bit.

好吧，布鲁说。

Okay, Blue said.

但为什么？

But why?

为什么要花十四个月给浣熊买有机饼干？

Why spend fourteen months buying organic crackers for raccoons?

雷德想起她曾经见过罗德里格斯先生的一次经历，

Red thought about the one time she'd seen Mr.

他当时正在画画。

Rodriguez sketching.

那天她本来是去休息室敲他的门，想问一件丢了的外套，结果他飞快地合上了笔记本。

She'd knocked on his breakroom door to ask about a lost jacket, and he'd closed his notebook quickly.

可他还是没来得及，那页内容已经被她看见了。

But not before she'd seen the page.

大多是鸟的精细素描，还有一只松鼠，以及一个可能是狐狸的东西。

Careful drawings of birds, mostly, a squirrel, something that might have been a fox.

我觉得他就是喜欢它们，红说道。

I think he just likes them, Red said.

我想他是在一次寒潮中发现它们的，心生怜悯，然后就继续喂下去了。

I think he found them during a cold snap and felt sorry for them, and then just kept going.

蓝沉思着这番话。

Blue considered this.

这确实很像罗德里格斯先生的做法。

That's very Mr.

确实，罗德里格斯先生就是这样的人。

Rodriguez, actually.

对，红说道。

Yeah, Red said.

是的。

It is.

明天七点？

Seven tomorrow?

蓝说道。

Blue said.

七点。

Seven.

红确认道。

Red confirmed.

Kurt会带两根燕麦棒来。

Kurt's bringing two granola bars.

我已经给她发过短信了。

I already texted her.

Red六点四十就出门了，但她没告诉Blue，因为Blue在六点四十的时候还没清醒呢。

Red left the house at 06:40, which she hadn't told Blue because Blue at 06:40 was not a functioning person.

她坐了早班公交车。

She took the early public bus.

车上基本没人，味道很难闻，她六点五十八到学校，发现前门还锁着。

It was mostly empty and smelled bad, and arrived at school at 06:58 to find the front doors still locked.

她就在侧门等着，直到Mr.

She waited by the side entrance until Mr.

Rodriguez七点整拿着钥匙过来。

Rodriguez came around with his keys at seven exactly.

Blue七点零二到的。

Blue arrived at 07:02.

他的头发弄得挺复杂的，嘴里还嚼着东西，说明他是在公交车上吃的早饭，这要是让他们妈妈知道了，肯定不乐意。

His hair was doing something complicated, and he was still chewing something, which meant he'd eaten breakfast on the bus, which their mother would not have approved of.

他说，你怎么没等我。

You left without me, he said.

你还没准备好。

You weren't ready.

我差不多准备好了。

I was almost ready.

你还在睡觉。

You were asleep.

Blue说，我差不多睡着了，这话听着有点莫名其妙，但Red也没计较。

I was almost asleep, Blue said, which didn't make any sense, but Red let it go.

Blue不知怎么的，跟Kurt说了盯梢的事，Red可没让他这么做。

Blue had, for reasons he didn't fully explain, told Kurt about the stakeout, which Red hadn't asked him to do.

Kurt反正早上有训练，学校也顺路，所以她就跟Blue一起从公交站走过去了。

Kurt had early practice anyway, and the school was on her way, so she'd walked over with Blue from the bus stop.

她没说话，递给布鲁两根燕麦棒。

She handed Blue two granola bars without saying anything.

他们在科学楼门口拐角处找了个位置，既能看清门口，又不会让来人立刻发现他们。

They positioned themselves around the corner from the Science Wing door, close enough to see, far enough that whoever arrived wouldn't spot them immediately.

库尔特靠着墙，吃着自己的燕麦棒。

Kurt leaned against the wall eating her own granola bar.

布鲁拆开了一根。

Blue opened one of his.

雷德盯着空荡荡的走廊。

Red watched the empty corridor.

七点十分。

07:10.

浣熊先到了。

The raccoons arrived first.

它们排成一队从楼的另一角绕过来，浣熊妈妈走在前面，四只小浣熊跟在后面。

They came around the far corner of the building in single file, the mother leading, the four adolescents behind her.

它们不紧不慢的，好像这条路每天都会走，因为显然就是这样，它们在科学楼门口停了下来。

Unhurried, like this was a route they walked every day because, apparently it was, they stopped at the Science Wing door.

七点十五分。

07:15.

还是什么都没有。

Still nothing.

七点十八分。

07:18.

脚步声。

Footsteps.

红伸出手，蓝停止了咀嚼。

Red put her hand out, and Blue stopped chewing.

罗德里格斯先生转过拐角，带着他平时那串钥匙和一个红以前没见过的帆布包。

Mister Rodriguez came around the corner with his usual ring of keys and a canvas bag Red hadn't seen before.

他穿着工作服，但还没开始工作。

He was wearing his work uniform but hadn't started work yet.

没有拖把。

No mop.

没有推车。

No cart.

只有那个包、钥匙，还有那种不紧不慢的步伐，像是做惯了某件事的人。

Just the bag and the keys and the particular unhurried walk of someone doing something they'd done many times.

他在科学楼门口停了下来。

He stopped at the Science Wing door.

伸手从包里掏东西。

Reached into the bag.

罗德里格斯先生开始在地上有条不紊地摆放食物，一边低声平稳地对浣熊说话，就像真的在和它们聊天一样。

Mister Rodriguez began placing food in a careful pattern on the floor, talking to the raccoons in a low, steady voice, like he was having an actual conversation with them.

母浣熊走上前，直接从他的手里拿走了什么东西。

The mother raccoon walked forward and took something directly from his hand.

一时间，谁都没有动。

Nobody moved for a second.

然后瑞德从拐角处走了出来。

Then Red stepped out from around the corner.

罗德里格斯先生

Mr.

猛地抬起头来。

Rodriguez's head came up fast.

他看了看瑞德，又看了看她身后的布鲁，再看看还在吃格兰诺拉棒棒的科特。

He took in Red, then Blue behind her, then Curt still finishing her granola bar.

科特朝他轻轻挥了挥手。

Kurt gave him a small wave.

浣熊们一动不动。

The raccoons didn't move.

浣熊妈妈继续吃着。

The mother kept eating.

你搞明白了，先生。

You figured it out, Mr.

罗德里格斯说。

Rodriguez said.

我们搞清楚了，红说。

We figured it out, Red said.

他慢慢点了点头。

He nodded slowly.

他把帆布袋放在地上，最大的那只小浣熊立刻跑过来查看。

He set the canvas bag down on the ground, and the largest adolescent immediately came over to investigate it.

你们打算上报吗？

Are you going to report it?

他问道。

He asked.

我们还不确定，红老实说。

We don't know yet, Red said honestly.

我们想先跟你谈谈。

We wanted to talk to you first.

先生。

Mr.

罗德里格斯看了她一会儿。

Rodriguez looked at her for a moment.

然后他在科学楼门外的台阶上坐下，浣熊一家也熟练地围着他重新安顿下来，显然已经习惯了。

Then he sat down on the steps outside the Science Wing door, and the raccoon family reorganized itself around him with the ease of long practice.

他说，前年十一月寒流来袭的时候，他在维修棚后面发现了它们。

He'd found them during the cold snap in November the year before last, he said, behind the maintenance shed.

三只小浣熊和一只母浣熊。

Three babies and a mother.

那周天气确实糟透了。

And it had been a genuinely bad week of weather.

他留了些食物，只是食堂的剩饭。

He'd left some food, just scraps from the cafeteria.

第二天他又去了，它们还在那里。

Then he came back the next day, and they were still there.

然后他又留了更多食物。

And he left more.

他说：“我知道我们之前把它们转移走了。”

I know we relocated them, he said.

我当时在场。

I was there.

我还帮忙了。

I helped.

他看着那只浣熊妈妈。

He looked at the mother raccoon.

但我知道它们会回来的。

But I knew they'd come back.

如果有人定期喂它们，它们总会回来。

They always come back if someone's been feeding them regularly.

所以我继续在树林边留食物，每周二和周四早上上班前。

So I kept leaving food at the edge of the woods, Tuesday and Thursday mornings before my shift.

Red说，那些是供应订单。

The supply orders, Red said.

数量不大，都藏在维修申请里。

Small amounts, buried in the maintenance requests.

他对此看起来并不特别内疚。

He didn't look particularly guilty about this.

我觉得没人会注意到十四个月的有机饼干。

I figured nobody would notice fourteen months of organic crackers.

Red说，确实没人注意到，除了Alexa。

Nobody did, Red said, except Alexa.

Rodriguez先生点了点头，好像这很合理。

Mister Rodriguez nodded like this was reasonable.

然后他说，那些画呢。

The drawings, he said then.

Red说，有一次我来问我的夹克时，看到你在画素描。

I saw you sketching once, Red said, when I came to ask about my jacket.

你画了动物。

You drew animals.

他沉默了一会儿。

He was quiet for a moment.

我记录这个家庭的情况已经十八个月了。

I've been keeping notes on this family for eighteen months.

行为观察、进食习惯，还有幼崽的成长过程。

Behavioral observations, feeding patterns, how the young ones developed.

他停顿了一下。

He paused.

我知道这听起来很奇怪。

I know it sounds strange.

布鲁，红说。

Blue, Red said.

这听起来奇怪吗？

Does it sound strange?

布鲁刚才一直从那个最大的青少年肩膀后面看着帆布袋里的东西。

Blue had been looking at the canvas bag's contents over the largest adolescent's shoulder.

他有十八个月的数据？

He has data going back eighteen months?

笔记本，罗德里格斯先生说。

Notebooks, mister Rodriguez said.

布鲁抬起头。

Blue looked up.

我能看看吗？

Can I see them?

食堂里还是老样子，午餐时间一片混乱。

The cafeteria was its usual lunchtime chaos.

盘子叮当作响，有人椅子刮地的声音，还有厨房今天不知道在做什么的那种特别的味道。

Craze clattering, someone's chair scraping, the particular smell of whatever the kitchen was attempting today.

那帮人坐在他们常坐的桌子旁，大家都在吃饭，只有雷德没吃，他等了一上午就为了把这句话说出来。

The gang was at their usual table, everyone eating except Red, who had been waiting all morning to say this out loud.

她简单明了地说了出来：藏在维修申请里的供货订单，装卸码头是他的地盘，那天早上的蹲守，帆布袋，还有那些浣熊像排练过无数次一样围着他转。

She laid it out simply: the supply orders buried in maintenance requests, the loading dock being his territory, the stakeout that morning, the canvas bag, the raccoons reorganizing themselves around him like they'd done it a thousand times.

罗德里格斯先生。

Mister Rodriguez.

十八个月的笔记本、有机饼干，还有他在寒潮里发现的那一家浣熊，从那以后就一直觉得有责任照顾它们。

Eighteen months of notebooks, organic crackers, a raccoon family he'd found during a cold snap and never quite stopped feeling responsible for.

查理吃到一半停了下来。

Charlie had stopped eating partway through.

他看着自己的笔记本——那本写得满满的笔记本，表情就像在做复杂的口算。

He was looking at his notebook now his very full notebook, with the expression of someone doing difficult mental arithmetic.

我本来有17个猜想，他终于开口了。

I had 17 theories, he said finally.

罗德里格斯先生

Mr.

不在其中。

Rodriguez was not one of them.

那17个理论是什么？

What were the 17 theories?

Alexa问道。

Alexa asked.

我现在不太想说。

I'd rather not say right now.

Alexa已经打开了她的电子表格，皱着眉头看着。

Alexa had already pulled up her spreadsheet, frowning at it.

那些供应订单是埋在维修申请里的，不是科学部门的订单，她几乎是自言自语地说。

The supply orders were buried in maintenance requests, not science department orders, she said mostly to herself.

我以为是科学部门的。

I assumed science department.

我本该交叉核对维修记录的。

I should have cross referenced maintenance.

她打字时用的力气比需要的更大。

She typed something with more force than necessary.

我在模板里加一列维护记录。

I'm adding a maintenance column to the template.

瑞秋把书合上，手指夹在书页里。

Rachel closed her book on her finger.

她说：“我从一开始就觉得可能是内部员工干的。”

I thought it was probably a staff member from the beginning, she said.

那个装卸码头看起来像是熟悉这栋楼的人干的，不只是路过的老师。

The loading dock felt like someone who knew the building, not just a teacher passing through.

她又把书打开了。

She opened her book again.

我没说出来，因为我不确定。

I didn't say anything because I wasn't certain.

大家都看向瑞秋。

Everyone looked at Rachel.

亚历克莎说：“瑞秋，我们说过这件事了。”

Rachel, Alexa said, we've talked about this.

我现在确定了，瑞秋说着又继续看书了。

I'm certain now, Rachel said and went back to reading.

库尔特在这整个过程中一直很安静，这很不寻常。

Kurt had been quiet through all of this, which was unusual.

她微微举起了手。

She raised her hand slightly.

她说，是那根能量棒，那天早上在健身房。

The granola bar, she said, that morning at the gym.

他说那些不是他给的。

He said he didn't give them that.

不是他给的，雷德说。

He didn't, Red said.

他特意不再把食物放在健身房门口了。

He'd stopped leaving food at the gym entrance specifically.

他是想让他们别再去学校那个区域了。

He was trying to get them to stop coming to that part of the school.

库尔特想了想这件事。

Kurt thought about this.

所以他说的都是真的。

So he was telling the truth.

严格来说，是红说的。

Technically, Red said.

库尔特慢慢点了点头。

Kurt nodded slowly.

我尊重这一点，她说着，拆开了一根燕麦棒。

I respect that, she said, and unwrapped a granola bar.

关于怎么处理罗德里格斯先生的问题，大概一个午餐时间就解决了，红觉得这对解谜俱乐部来说效率还挺高的。

The question of what to do about mister Rodriguez took approximately one lunch period to resolve, which Red thought was pretty efficient for the Solving Mysteries Club.

结果，答案还是他们一直得出的那个。

The answer, as it turned out, was the same answer they kept arriving at.

直接对话比举报更有效。

Direct conversation worked better than reporting.

红放学后去找了麦卡斯基尔先生。

Red talked to Mr.

不是专门说罗德里格斯先生的事，

McCaskill after school.

只是聊了聊浣熊一家，

Not about Mr.

那十八个月的行为数据，还有有人一直在学校操场上细心照料一窝野生动物，而且没造成任何实际伤害这件事。

Rodriguez specifically, just about the raccoon family, the eighteen months of behavioral data, the fact that someone had been carefully and consistently looking after a wildlife family on school grounds in a way that hadn't caused any actual harm.

麦卡斯基尔先生双手捧着咖啡听着，

Mr.

脸上露出那种已经想到后面好几步的表情。

McCaskill listened with his coffee in both hands and his particular expression that meant he was already several steps ahead of the conversation.

他说，假设真有人这么做，而且数据确实有意思，伯克校长从一月份起就在找新的课后科学选修课。

Hypothetically, he said, if someone had been doing this, and if their data was genuinely interesting, Principal Burke has been looking for new after school science electives since January.

红看着他。

Red looked at him.

先假设啊，

Hypothetically, Mr.

麦卡斯基尔先生又重复了一遍，然后喝了一大口咖啡。

McCaskill said again, and took a long sip of coffee.

两周后，学校的官方野生动物观察项目正式公布了。

The official school wildlife observation program was announced two weeks later.

麦卡斯基尔先生

Mr.

由罗德里格斯负责，每周二和周四下午上课，面向所有对本地野生动物和行为观察感兴趣的学生。

Rodriguez leading it Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, open to any student interested in local wildlife and behavioral observation.

浣熊一家在学校边缘得到了一个正式的喂食站，通过校长伯克批准的一笔小额预算来维持运营，而伯克批准的速度之快，让雷德觉得有些可疑，毕竟他 supposedly 之前完全不知道这些事。

The raccoon family got a proper feeding station at the edge of the school grounds, maintained through a small budget that Principal Burke approved with what Red felt was suspicious speed for someone who had supposedly never known about any of this.

布鲁斯在第一天就加入了这个项目。

Blue joined the program on the first day.

他是现场唯一的一名六年级学生，到了第二次课程时，他已经重新整理了罗德里格斯先生的

He was the only sixth grader there, and by the second session had reorganized Mr.

罗德里格斯先生的数据整理成了一个系统，

Rodriguez's data into a system that Mr.

罗德里格斯先生也承认，这个系统比他原来的归档方法要好得多。

Rodriguez admitted was considerably better than his original filing method.

第三次活动时，浣熊妈妈走到布鲁面前，直接从他的手里拿了一块饼干。

The mother raccoon at the third session walked up to Blue and took a cracker directly from his hand.

布鲁隔着喂食站看着瑞德，脸上露出她一眼就认出的表情。

Blue looked at Red across the feeding station with an expression she recognized immediately.

别这样，她说。

Don't, she said.

布鲁说，我只是想说，我的报酬应该再涨一涨了。

I'm just saying, Blue said, that my rate should probably go up again.

这一部分就到这里结束了。

And that is the end of this part.

晚安。

Good night.

晚安。

Sleep Tight.