Vol 4 Chapter 8 (1/2)
Chapter 8: The Photographs
Two cars and a e road
Larry rode slowly to avoid crashi+ng into the cars and mumbled to himself
“So we’re finally done talking to the leaders But still…”
Earlier—
“Right The cops told us to keep a low profile too Just… please find whoever killed our friend”
“We’ll do e can”
The conversation between Jenny and the leader of the Wolves ended in less than a minute
Seron, Jenny, and Neil left the leader’s house, rejoined the others, and gave their report
Larry called the police from a nearby phone booth and asked if they had found the culprit He did not receive a satisfactory answer
After discussing their next plan of action—
—the group finally gave in to their gnawing hunger and decided to go back to the villa
Once they returned, the newspaper club washed their hands and went to the kitchen Neil was also invited to eat, so he sat beside Jenny
As soon as they sat down, Mrs Ruf brought in a large, thin pizza The first one was aof bacon and sausage slices
“There’s plenty s every time”
When she cut the pizza with a knife, everyone rushed in and grabbed a slice
Once everyone had a slice on their plate, there was only one left on the platter
“If you’re gonna eat it anyway you rab it now, Lia”
“You are theman in the world, Larry Thanks a bunch”
Natalia took the final slice Everyone was so starved that they ate in utter silence The moment they finished the first pizza, the second came in It was topped with tomato slices, ham, and basil
As the pizzas caress they had made so far
“It’s mission accomplished, for now” Said Seron
“More or less But we haven’t solved the problem It’s not over until we catch the killer” Larry nodded, re everyone of the root of their problem
“Indeed But our actions were not without purpose—we’ve even given Jenny a brand-new title” Nick said with a smile
“You’re still bitter about that? And how long are you gonna keep your hair up?” Asked Jenny Nick had not yet untied his hair He smiled and said he would let it down after lunch
“I think it looks pretty cool, Nick” Said Natalia “By the here’d you learn those wicked moves? Mr Kurtz was all i or so?”
Meg joined in as well “It is It was very surprising! You can do it if you try, Nick! —I ae?”
“Why don’tcha ask Seron? Says he knew about this for a while” Said Jenny
“You really did know this, Seron?” Meg asked, turning
“I saw hiulping down his tea “You said you’ve been learning since you were a kid, Nick?”
As the others nodded, Nick smiled and reached for a slice of pizza
After the late lunch, the newspaper club and Neil found the as they discussed what to do next
Though they wondered if they should go to the police again, Nick shot down the idea
“It’s not as though we have any new developments for them”
Everyone agreed And there was nothing left to do
“So noe just leave it to the cops Unless the next murder or ”
Everyone had to nod “Not that I’ for another case” Natalia added
Soe of pace But,
“It is not good tosaid So the group decided to stay inside
“You can go home now, Neil Thanks” Jenny said Litner offered to take him and his bicycle home by car
“Thanks so much, everybody” Neil nodded, and left
Ultimately, their plans for the afternoon were no different from the previous day’s
“So that’s it then Gotta let Mr Kurtz rest too”
Jenny’s suggestion was a siesta
No one objected
While the newspaper club and Kurtz, who had not slept a wink last night, were asleep—
“Thanks for waiting! Here’s your photos!”
The owner of the village photography studio came to the villa on a three-wheeled car and handed Mrs Ruf a large cardboard box
Inside were the newspaper club’s photos and the developed film
Mrs Ruf thanked the owner, paid a handsome fee, and received the box
“I’ll show them once they’re all awake” She said to herself, and put the box on a table in the parlor
“Ruf, huh This is the place”
Hartnett leaned out theof his black sedan and scrutinized the naaze then fell on thewith flowers in bloom
“An honest-to-goodness rumbled, and stepped off the Jones Motors car
Litner greeted Hartnett and led hi him that everyone was asleep
Hartnett idled in the parlor, drinking tea and exa the luxury furniture He noticed the cardboard box on the table
But he did not open it without permission
Eventually, he dozed off in one of the expensive chairs decorating the room
Like the previous day, the newspaper club woke up around five in the afternoon
When they heard about the visitor they went to the parlor and found Hartnett He woke in a hurry and rubbed his eyes
“Hey there I decided to take you up on your invitation”
The newspaper club sat down around Hartnett and explained the progress they had nment
“I showed the wanted poster toI’” He replied, shaking his head
Mrs Ruf spoke up just as Hartnett and the newspaper club were starting on tea
“Oh! Miss Jenny, your photographs are here I left theet worse with age”
Six sets of eyes turned to the cardboard box
“Let us quickly look at the photographs” Meg said excitedly Jenny opened the box
She set aside the film and pulled out the bundle of developed black-and-white photographs They were printed on large B3 photo papers,at 25 by 38 centimeters
“Let’s flip through these before dinner Anyone who’s wasted film on a bad shot has to do ten laps around the track”
“What track?” Asked Larry
“Fine Ten laps around town”
“No thanks”
“So, whose is this?” Asked Jenny
At the top of the pile was a photo of the park fountain and a sheep statue The ie was focused on the sheep on the left side of the shot and the fountain was out of focus
“That’s mine” Said Natalia Then she furrowed her brow “Why’s that one first? It’s the last one I took”
“The order gets switched around when they’re developing, so your last picture comes to the top of the pile This one’s not bad”
“Not surprising” Natalia grinned “I’”
The next 20 photos depicted unres like scenes of the countryside or Larry and his motorcycle
Jenny checked each photo, one after another She passed the ones she had seen to the next person Hartnett was last in line; he threw each picture an uninterested glance before piling it up with the rest
Then came Larry’s photos
“Well, I got the exposure right”
Larry had indeed gotten the exposure right, but all of his photos were of his motorcycle
“Ah, those would be mine”
Nick’s photos included close-ups of a sheep’s face, shots of a pouting Jenny, and Kurtz, Litner, and the car Occasionally the photos were too dark, too bright, or out of focus
“It’s not as easy as swinging a staff”
“You need ” Jenny said
Next came Jenny’s photos She had chosen mostly the same subjects as Nick, but her exposure and focus were perfect
“That’s the president for you”
“Flattery won’t get you out of special training hell, Nicholas Browning”
Next came Seron’s photos
About half were shots of pastoral landscapes The rest depicted the flowers in Hannah’s yard
Like Natalia’s, they were decently done and unrele photo
“He” Jenny ad the photos, straightened the pile on the desk
Last ca’s photos
The photo where Seron was supposed to be pushi+ng the coas taken with too shallow a depth of field, and the coas out of focus As for Seron, even his friends barely recognized him
“My gosh… I am very sorry, Seron”
The photos of the flowers at the Lawrence manor, on the other hand, were perfectly in focus Jenny was impressed
“Nice work, Meg from these photos”