商业周刊:火车模型劫持案(5)（在线收听）

As experienced engineers, club members immediately recognized how the robbers likely sawed into the containers.

作为经验丰富的工程师，俱乐部成员立即意识到劫匪是如何锯入集装箱的。

"Portable power tools are our worst enemy," says GMMES veteran Karl Midgeley.

“便携式电动工具是我们最坏的敌人。”格雷芬德海洋与工程模型协会资深人士卡尔米·德格利说。

A forensics expert from the Kent Police eventually arrived, but because the club is open to the public on weekends—and the thieves presumably wore gloves—collecting finger-prints was futile.

肯特警方的一位法医专家最终赶到了现场，但由于俱乐部在周末对公众开放，而且窃贼可能戴着手套，无法收集到指纹。

Another officer visited just after 5 p.m. to take statements, but Filley recalled him mostly mumbling along while listening to her take on the situation.

另一名警官下午5点刚过去录过口供，但是费利回忆说，他大多是边听她讲述情况边咕哝着。

She and the club weren't impressed.

她和俱乐部成员都不太满意。

"You don't get much support from police in this country," Filley told me, unsympathetic to the suggestion that there might have been more important matters to investigate.

“在这个国家，你得不到警察的太多支持，” 费利告诉我，他对可能有更重要的事情需要调查的说法表现得很冷漠。

"It's survival: If you want something done, you get on and do it yourself."

“这就是生存：如果你想做点什么，还是自己来吧。”

That same day, 62 miles northwest, not far from London in the town of Hemel Hempstead, a tatty white van motored up to the Miniature Railway Supply Co.

就在同一天，西北62英里离伦敦不远的海默尔·亨普斯特德镇，一辆破烂的白色面包车开到了微型铁路供应有限公司。

A man entered the store, introduced himself as "Jamie" to owner Jeff Price, and said he had several locos for sale.

一名男子走进商店，向店主杰夫·普莱斯自我介绍，说他叫“杰米”，并说他有几辆火车机车要出售。

"Interested?" Jamie asked. "I’ve just done a house clearance in Kent."

“你有兴趣吗？”杰米问。“我刚在肯特做过一次房屋清理。”

Intrigued, Price followed him outside to the back of the van, where the stranger showed him a green engine with brass boiler bands—just like the Mayflower’s.

普莱斯很感兴趣，跟着他走到面包车后面，陌生男子给他看了一个绿色的发动机，上面有黄铜制成的锅炉箍圈，和五月花号一模一样。

Price asked Jamie to come back into his shop so they could go over the paperwork required for trains with boilers.

普莱斯让杰米回到他的店里，这样他们就可以查看有关带锅炉的火车所需的文件。

But just as Price turned to reenter his shop, he suddenly heard doors slam shut and, snapping his head around, saw the van zoom away.

但是，正当普莱斯转身要重新走回店中时，他突然听到门砰的一声关上了，他猛然间转过头，看到面包车开走了。

Moments later, an assistant ran up to the baffled shopkeeper to report a stunning crime: "You’ll never guess what! Gravesend Model Marine have had four locos stolen!"

不一会儿，一名助手跑到困惑不解的店主面前，告诉他一起令人震惊的罪案：“你永远猜不到！格雷芬德海军陆战队有四辆模型机车被偷了！”

On a recent Wednesday morning, GMMES members putter around the club’s sprawling lawn doing chores.

上周三早上，格雷芬德海洋与工程模型协会的会员们在俱乐部的草坪上漫步，做着手中的琐事。

A squad of senior engineers, their palms splotched with grease, are repairing British Railways loco No.61149,

一队高级工程师正在修理英国铁路61149号机车，他们的手掌上沾满了油脂，

while a pair of handymen with a mess of wrenches replace a rusty curve in the 5-inch-gauge track. (A track’s "gauge" refers to its width.)

而一对手拿着一把扳手的工人正在更换5英寸轨距轨道上生锈的弯道。（轨道的“轨距”是指其宽度。）