【大家说英语】 第384期:通过橘子皮破案

 　　I get a call. A thief took things from an office. 我接到一通电话。一个小偷从一间办公室里偷了东西。

　　I go to the office. A janitor¹ is next to the door. 我来到了这间办公室。一名看门人正在门旁边。

　　He's eating an orange. He puts a peel in his pocket. 他在吃一个橘子。他把果皮放到了自己的口袋里。

　　"Who are you?" he asks. 他问道：“你是谁？”

　　"I'm Mr. E. Someone stole things from this office," I say. 我说：“我是E。有人偷了这间办公室里的东西。”

　　He nods and starts eating another orange. 他点了点头，又开始吃另外一个橘子。

　　"I think it was the secretary," he says. 他说：“我想是秘书干的。”

　　I meet the secretary. She is sitting at her desk and crying. 我见到了那名秘书。她正坐在她的办公桌前哭泣。

　　"Why are you crying?" I ask. 我问：“为什么你在哭？”

　　"I didn't take anything," she says. "But the thief took some of my valuable things." 她说：“我什么也没偷。反而是小偷拿走了一些我珍贵的东西。”

　　She says she went home at lunch because she didn't feel well. 她说自己是回家吃的午饭，因为她觉得不舒服。

　　That's when the thief stole things. 而恰恰是那时，小偷偷了东西。

　　"Let me see your desk," I say. 我说：“让我看看你的桌子。”

　　I find an orange peel under her desk. 我在她的桌子下面找到了一片橘子皮。

　　"Did you eat an orange sometime² today?" I ask. 我问道：“你今天有吃过橘子吗？”

　　She looks surprised and says, "No! I didn't eat anything at my desk. How did that get there?" 她惊讶地看着我，然后说：“没有！我今天在办公桌前什么也没吃。怎么会有橘子皮呢？”

　　I look around the office. I find another orange peel in someone's desk drawer. 我环顾了一下办公室。我在其他人的抽屉里发现了另外的橘子皮。

　　I hold the peel and say, "I need to talk with the janitor again. I think he is doing a bad job." 我拿着橘子皮说道：“我需要和看门人再谈谈了。我想他没有尽责做好工作。”

1 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

2 sometime   

adv.将来某一时候；改天

参考例句：

• He came sometime last month.上个月某个时候他曾经来过。
• It will happen sometime and somewhere.有朝一日这总会在什么地方发生的。