What did the old lady find when she got home?
老太太回家后发现了什么？
The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived.
老太太很高兴能回到她住的公寓楼。
Her shopping had tired her and her basket had grown heavier with every step of the way home.
购物让她疲惫不堪，在回家的路上，她的篮子越走越重。
In the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest;
在电梯里，她想着吃午饭和好好休息一下；
but when she got out at her own floor,
但当她从自己的楼层出来时、
both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open.
但当她走到自己的楼层时，突然发现前门是开着的，这两件事都被她抛在了脑后。
She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning for such a monstrous piece of negligence,
她在想，第二天早上一定要训斥一下她的家政服务员，因为她竟然如此疏忽大意、
when she remembered that she had gone shopping after the home help had left and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks.
这时，她想起家政服务员走后，她去买过东西，而且她知道自己把两把钥匙都插进了门锁里。
She walked slowly into the hall and at once noticed that all the room doors were open,
她慢慢走进大厅，立刻发现所有房间的门都是开着的、
yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out.
然而，按照惯例，她在出门之前把门都关上了。
Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk.
向客厅望去，她看到写字台旁一片混乱。
It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence.
很明显，在她不在的时候，有小偷强行进入了房间。
Her first impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves,
她的第一反应是去所有房间寻找小偷、
but then she decided that at her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her,
但后来她决定，以她的年纪，还是找个人陪着她比较稳妥、
so she went to fetch the porter from his basement.
于是，她去地下室找门房。
By this time her legs were beginning to tremble,
这时，她的双腿开始颤抖、
so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police.
于是，她坐下来喝了一杯浓茶，而他则打电话报警。
Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance
然后，她恢复了镇定，准备在门房的协助下出发
to search for any intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.
寻找任何可能还潜伏在她公寓里的不速之客。
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing,
他们翻遍了所有房间，小心翼翼，不敢碰任何东西、
as they did not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints.
因为她们不想妨碍警察寻找指纹。
The chaos was inconceivable.
混乱的场面令人难以想象。
She had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding:
她在公寓里住了三十年，是个名副其实的囤积狂：
and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and over.
似乎她拥有的所有东西都被翻来覆去地扔掉了。
At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for her.
至少，整理多年前就应该丢弃的东西现在对她来说变得容易多了。
Then a police inspector arrived with a constable
这时，一位警察督察带着一名警员来了
and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat.
她告诉他们她发现公寓被洗劫一空。
The inspector began to look for fingerprints,
督察开始寻找指纹、
while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced,
警察则检查前门锁是否被撬开、
thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the balcony.
由此证明，窃贼要么使用了镂空钥匙，要么是从阳台进入的。
There was no trace of fingerprints,
没有任何指纹痕迹、
but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers.
但巡视员发现了一个脏兮兮的红色包袱，里面装着老太太说不是她的首饰。
So their entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been disturbed.
因此，窃贼当天进入这套公寓显然不是第一次作案，他们肯定受到了惊扰。
The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was missing by the next day,
检查员要求老太太第二天再检查一下丢失的东西、
and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights.
并建议她这几晚不要一个人呆在公寓里。
The old lady thought he was a fussy creature,
老太太认为他是个挑剔的人、
but since the porter agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.
但既然门房同意他的意见，她就打电话给女儿，请她帮忙解决她所说的小麻烦。
