Vol 4 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5: The Murder

An entireof exercise, a delicious meal, and a breezy afternoon

All the pieces for a good afternoon nap were in place Seron and four of the others returned to their own rooms and slept until just before five

“Get up, guys! It’s 10 to five! Up! Up! We don’t have a bugle so I’et up! Get up! Get up!”

Larry’s voice resounded fro Seron

Rubbing his eyes, Seron went to the balcony He saw Larry in the garden in a T-shi+rt and a pair of shorts, wiping down the motorcycle with a pail of water beside him

“Hey, buddy! Sleep well?”

“Yeah Are you still cleaning theit if you’re not careful”

“Nah, I took her for a spin while you guys were asleep I just got back a little while ago It was nice and sht on my back”

“Well, sorry for being so big and heavy” Natalia said sarcastically from overhead

The barbecue preparations began on schedule, with the newspaper club helping out

Everyone changed into their gyet dirty and smelly Natalia had done up her hair

Mr and Mrs Ruf had gotten all the etables All that was left to do was prepare the ingredients and start cooking

“Looks like we’re up, girls”

“Yes, it does”

“I guess it’s nice to help out sometimes”

Natalia, Meg, and Jenny helped out at the island counter in the large kitchen, washi+ng, chopping, and skewering vegetables and grinding apples for the barbecue sauce

But—

“Er… how a?” Jenny wondered

“Don’t sweat the details, chief If they don’t like it, they won’t eat it” Natalia said

“Hled with the knife

The girls weren’t particularly skilled in the kitchen Mrs Ruf had to guide theh every process, correct their mistakes, and fret over their misadventures

Meanwhile,

“Could you get the other end, Seron?”

“Right”

“I shall bring the charcoal, then”

Larry, Seron, and Nick were rill onto the stone patio in the garden

The grill was large, sturdy, and heavy with s The boys placed it in a wide-open area, and also arranged the charcoal box, the chairs, and tables

Larry put sorill Then he crumpled up sonition The newspaper caught fire, and soon the charcoal was heated

The rest would not be difficult Seron and Larry headed to the kitchen and let Nick take over

Preparations were still underway in the kitchen, but Mrs Ruf was the only one who see

“This is why I hate onions” Jenny sniffled “Although I like eating them”

“Here, let me help” Seron said He washed his hands and put on an apron

“Looks good on you Natalia chuckled, skewering the beef

“It very etables

Seron let hi in an apron, and glanced at a bowl filled with uncooked vegetables and ice water

“These onions are for the salad, correct? Should I julienne them and place them in the water?”

“That would be perfect Just three more, please” Mrs Ruf replied Seron picked up a peeled onion

First, he cut off the top and the root and chopped the onion vertically in half Then he placed one half flat against the cutting board and curled his left hand together like a cat’s paw—

Chopchopchopchopchopchopchopchopchopchopchop

Rhythh to leave behind afteries of the knife, Seron julienned the onion into equal-sized slices About halfway through he turned the onion around and started from the other side

One onion, then two, then three later—

Completely oblivious to the bewildered stares of the newspaper club girls, Seron put the julienned onions into the bowl of ice water

“I’ else I could help with?”

The moment he put down his knife—

“What the heck are you?!” “It is aht now!”

Three sets of voices cried out in unison,

“Hey, one at a tiood cook” Larry said

Seron stood frozen, overwhel’s compliment

It was finally dinnertime

The sun was still above the horizon, tinting the sky a light orange Everyone was gathered around the garden table

When Larry put on an apron over his gym uniform, Natalia was quick to comment,

“That looks heinous!”

“Hey, you didn’t say that about Seron!”

“Don’t put yourself on his level”

“Da all the burnt pieces”

Larry expertly grilled the beef skewers He cooked theh, then sprinkled salt and pepper on them

“This is really good” Seron said

“It’s really quite delightful” “It is very delicious”

Nick and Meg agreed

When Jenny took her first bite, she gri skewer after skewer

“What’s up, chief? So stink?”

“No… the opposite I don’t believe it… this is perfectly cooked and salted!”

“Tell him yourself”

“Tch Hey, Larry! Gimme another one!”

“Okay! And have soies, too! Seriously!”

Meanwhile, Mr Ruf, Kurtz, and Litner—

“Would the two of you care for so to drink? We have some excellent wine in the cellar if you’d like”

“Not while we’re on duty, thank you” “Not on the job, thank you”

“I see That’s too bad”

—they drank coffee instead of wine

The frenzy that was dinner was co on dessert—Mrs Ruf’s homemade vanilla ice cream—when Natalia asked an unexpected question

“Mrs Ruf, did Jenny have long hair before?”

“Hey, that’s ancient history!” Jenny snapped, but Natalia continued

“Do you have any photographs fro to be a hair stylist”

“You liar!”

“Aw, be a sport, chief Mrs Ruf?”

“Of course Just oneto her feet

“No! It’s okay, Auntie! You don’t have to show them!”

“But you were the irl, Miss Jenny That photo isyour friends”

Quickly, Mrs Ruf disappeared inside

“Tch” Jenny pouted

“I am a little in anticipation”

“Indeed I may as well use it as a reference for my own hair”

Soon, Mrs Ruf returned—to the excite and Nick, and the disinterest of Seron and Larry In her hand was a wooden picture frame

When she placed the frame on the table, the newspaper club—sans Jenny—huddled around

In the fra three subjects The two adults on either side were Mr and Mrs Ruf, looking the same as they did now From their thick sweaters it was apparent that the photo was not from the summer

And standing between theirl—

“Wait… this is you, chief?” Natalia gaped, looking back and forth fro down her ice cream

“Yes” Mrs Ruf nodded “This is froo, when Miss Jenny was 12 years old This is the only photo we have of her froraph for the world”

Natalia stared again “No way… you’re adorable”

In the irl

A brown duffle coat rapped around her skinny frath red hair was decorated with ribbons A bright smile adorned her face

“Y-you were cute! You were like a doll, Jenny!” “My goodness… what a shock” Meg and Nick commented

“Yeah It definitely is” Seron nodded For a time, everyone was silent

Jenny, sing a heaping spoonful of ice cream, turned to Larry—who had not yet said a word

“If you’ve got so to say, spit it out”

Larry’s blue eyes went back and forth from the present-day Jenny to the 12-year-old Jenny

“Jenny… this is—”

“Yeah?”

“—this photo—”

“What about it?”

“Now this is what I call news photography!” He laughed Jenny shot hi look

“If I ever beco to have you executed!”

Everyone had finished their ice creaht afterwards

The sky was still ablaze with the light of dusk, but it was already al

The newspaper club and Mr and Mrs Ruf began to clean up, putting away the leftovers and used utensils

“Can we skip the lecture tonight, chief? I’ drowsy” Natalia said

“All right” Jenny replied “You can go after we finish cleaning up We’ll start again tomorrow—”

“Quiet!” Kurtz hissed out of the blue, cutting her off

The newspaper club and the Ruf couple turned, surprised Kurtz’s gaze was fixed on the door as he stood with his back to the others

Several seconds passed in silence Litner went up to him

“What’s going on?”

“I heard a suspicious voice outside So like a moan Stay here”

“Right”

Kurtz crossed the garden alone and headed for the gates

“What’s happening?” Asked Jenny Litner repeated what Kurtz had said and turned to the Ruf couple

“Was anyone scheduled to visit today?”

“No But I assume it must have been a local drunk, or an escaped ani calm out of consideration for the students

But then came Kurtz’s voice—

“Call an ambulance now! And the police!”

Larry and Litner were the first to react

“Let’s go, Seron!” Larry cried “You stay with the others, Nick!”

“Miss Jenny!” Litner said, stepping forward “Everyone, let’s get inside!”

Seron put down the plates he was stacking and quickly went after Larry Litner gently pushed the girls towards the villa

Being a fast runner, Larry ates first

“Mr Kurtz! What’s going on?”

Seron arrived several seconds later

Kurtz was squatting outside the slightly-ajar gate, right at the boundary between the road and the villa premises

“This” He replied tersely, looking at Larry and Seron

Before Kurtz, across the pavement and the dirt, lay a person

“Whoa!” “Ah!”

Larry and Seron cried out in unison

The person was a young man, likely in his late teens He was dressed similarly to the other locals—a pair of jeans and a checkered shi+rt

He was covered in blood

Kurtz rose to his feet and cast a watchful look over the area

At the same time, he unbuttoned his suit so he could easily reach his belt, where he concealed a holstered gun

He finished scanning the area and made sure that no one was around Then he looked back at the boy on the ground

“Wh-what happened here? What’s going on, Mr Kurtz?” Larry asked again

“I’ here when I arrived I didn’t see anyone else”

“Is he still breathing?” Asked Seron

Kurtz squatted again and placed his index finger on the boy’s neck, then over his mouth

“Yes, but…” He trailed off gravely

The boy’s breathing was so shalloas hard to tell by sight if he was still alive His eyes were closed, his face was deathly pale, and his head was completely unscathed—but his shi+rt and pants were soaked in blood Blood was pooling on the pavement The air reeked

“Hey! Hey! Can you hear htly, looking almost like a corpse

“—s-stabbed… it hurts…”