这位老妇人很高兴回到了她居住的公寓大楼。
The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived.
购物把她累坏了，而且每走一步，提篮似乎就越来越沉。
Her shopping had tired her and her basket had grown heavier with every step of the way home.
在电梯里，她满脑子想的是午饭和好好休息；但当她在自己那层走出电梯时，这两件事都被她突然发现前门大开这一事实给忘得一干二净了。
In the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open.
她正想着第二天早上必须好好训斥一下家政帮手，因为这种疏忽实在太严重了——就在这时，她想起来自己是在家政帮手离开之后才去购物的，而且她清楚地记得自己已经把两把钥匙都锁上了。
She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning for such a monstrous piece of negligence, 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.
她缓步走进门厅，立刻注意到所有房间的门都开着，然而按照她一贯的习惯，出门前她是把它们都关上了的。
She walked slowly into the hall and at once noticed that all the room doors were open, yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out.
她朝客厅望去，看见写字台那边一片狼藉。
Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk.
这时，盗贼趁她不在时强行入室的事实已经清楚得不能再清楚了。
It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence.
她的第一个念头是挨个房间搜找窃贼，但随即她想到，以她的年纪，找个人陪着或许更为明智，于是她下去把门房从地下室叫了上来。
Her first impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided that at her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to fetch the porter from his basement.
到这时候，她的双腿开始颤抖，于是她坐了下来，接受了一杯浓茶，而他则去打电话报了警。
By this time her legs were beginning to tremble, so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police.
随后，她重新镇定下来，准备在门房的协助下出发，搜寻任何可能仍潜伏在公寓里的闯入者。
Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to search for any intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.
他们穿行于各个房间，小心翼翼地什么都不去碰，因为他们不想妨碍警察寻找指纹。
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints.
混乱的程度难以想象。
The chaos was inconceivable.
她在这套公寓里住了三十年，是个名副其实的囤积癖者；而且看起来，她所有的东西似乎都被翻出来、一遍遍地翻腾过了。
She had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding: and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and over.
至少，整理那些她本应在多年前就扔掉的东西，如今正变得更容易一些了。
At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for her.
随后，一名警探带着一位警员赶到，她向他们讲述了发现公寓遭到洗劫的经过。
Then a police inspector arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat.
警探开始寻找指纹，而警员则检查了前门锁是否被强行撬开，结果证明没有——从而说明盗贼要么使用了万能钥匙，要么是从阳台翻进来的。
The inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced, thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the balcony.
没有找到任何指纹痕迹，但警探发现了一个装有珠宝的脏红色包裹，老妇人说那些珠宝不是她的。
There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers.
因此，闯入这套公寓显然并非盗贼当天的第一次行动，而且他们中途一定是受到了某种打扰。
So their entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been disturbed.
警探随后请老妇人尽量在第二天之前核查一下哪些东西不见了，并建议她在接下来几个晚上不要一个人待在公寓里。
The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was missing by the next day, and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights.
老妇人觉得他是个过分爱操心的人，但由于门房也赞同他的建议，她还是给女儿打了电话，请求女儿帮忙处理她所称之为的"一点小麻烦"。
The old lady thought he was a fussy creature, 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.