Three days before the regional chess tournament, the club's engraved trophy vanished from its shelf in the school library. Chidi had polished it himself every Friday for two years. He noticed immediately that the space where it usually stood was empty. Only a faint clean rectangle in the dust showed it had ever been there.
地区国际象棋锦标赛前三天，社团那座刻了字的奖杯从学校图书馆的架子上不见了。奇迪两年来每个星期五都亲手擦拭它。他一眼就发现，它平时摆放的位置空了。只有灰尘里一块淡淡的干净长方形，证明它曾经在那里。
The chess club's group chat exploded with theories within the hour. Someone suggested the rival school down the road, whose team had lost the trophy to them last year. Someone else was convinced it was a prank by the seniors, who had been talking all week about "one last mission" before graduation.
一个小时之内，国际象棋社的群聊里就炸开了锅，各种猜测满天飞。有人说是不是街那头的对手学校，去年他们的队伍把奖杯输给了本社。还有人坚信是高三学长搞的恶作剧，他们整个星期都在念叨毕业前的“最后一次行动”。
Chidi wasn't so sure. If it really had been stolen, he reasoned, whoever took it would have needed to get past the librarian and the front office. They would also have had to avoid a security camera, all without being noticed. That seemed unlikely for a joke that would probably be forgotten within a week.
奇迪却没那么肯定。他推想，要是奖杯真被偷了，那个拿走它的人得先躲过图书管理员和前台办公室。他们还得避开一个监控摄像头，而且全程不被人发现。为了一个多半一星期就会被忘掉的玩笑，这似乎不太可能。
He decided to check with the school office instead of chasing rumours. It was there that the mystery unravelled in less than a minute. The trophy, it turned out, had been temporarily moved to the display case near the main entrance, along with several other awards. The principal wanted photographs of the school's achievements for the new website. A request had been sent to "student clubs" the week before, asking permission. It had gone to an email address the chess club had stopped checking months ago.
他决定去学校办公室问问，而不是追着传言跑。谜团就在那里，不到一分钟就解开了。原来，奖杯被临时挪到了大门口附近的展示柜里，跟另外几个奖项放在一起。校长想为新网站拍一些学校成就的照片。一周前，一份征求许可的申请发给了“学生社团”，却被发到了一个国际象棋社几个月前就不再查看的邮箱里。
Mr. Doyle, the school's caretaker, had simply been following instructions. He unlocked the library shelf and carried the trophy across the building himself, assuming someone from the club already knew.
学校的管理员多伊尔先生只是照吩咐办事。他打开图书馆的架子，亲自把奖杯搬到了教学楼另一头，还以为社团里的人早就知道了。
Chidi felt almost disappointed at how ordinary the answer was, after a full day of imagining rival spies and midnight raids. Still, he had to admit the trophy looked rather good sitting in the entrance case, catching the light from the front doors. He suggested to the rest of the club that maybe it could stay there until after the tournament. Then, he said, it could come home with a second trophy beside it.
在一整天想象着对手间谍和午夜突袭之后，奇迪对答案如此平常几乎感到失望。不过他不得不承认，奖杯摆在门口的展示柜里，映着大门透进来的光，看起来相当不错。他向社团其他人提议，不如就让它先放在那里，等锦标赛结束再说。到时候，他说，它回家的时候，身边还能再多一座奖杯。
