Read Murder in a Good Cause for Free Online

wants to talk to you about it.” She was talking in a soft voice, and rapidly, with one eye on the door in case he returned.
    Klaus walked in carefully balancing two bottles of Kronenbourg and two tall glasses on a tray. Eventually he was followed by Bettl, who stalked in, slammed down a plate thinly covered with sandwiches, and wordlessly stalked out again. “This isn’t much,” said Nikki as she scooped what she considered to be her fair share from the plate. “Bettl must figure we’re all going to eat too much tonight.”
    â€œShe didn’t look very happy when I asked for that,” said Klaus. “I guess we can’t complain about what we got.”
    â€œThat’s because Mamma almost sacked her today,” said Nikki, and settled down to her modest lunch.
    Nikki finished the last drop of beer in her glass, put it down, and stretched extravagantly. “Now I am off to take a bath and generally get myself looking more civilized. Mamma, you should take a nap and stop even looking at that stuff. You could read it with both eyes shut if you had to, couldn’t you?”
    Her mother waved goodbye to her. “I’m going to do that in just a minute. As soon as Frank comes.” Clara watched her out of the room before turning to her nephew.
    â€œWhen is he coming?” asked Klaus, glancing at his watch.
    â€œNot for twenty minutes,” she replied. “Did you want to see me?”
    â€œYou’re sure you’re not too tired? We could easily talk tomorrow, when you aren’t getting ready for a performance.” He fidgeted uneasily in his chair.
    â€œNot at all,” she said. “I have nothing to do until seven but dress and get worried.” She shrugged her shoulders irritably. “I detest these small performances when you’re only a few feet from the audience. Now, Nikki tells me you have an idea, she thinks. What is it?”
    â€œIt’s hard to know where to start, really,” he said, leaning forward, looking anxiously at his aunt. “But ever since I came here I’ve been thinking seriously about getting myself established.”
    â€œDoing what?” she asked in a carefully neutral voice.
    â€œOh, photography, of course. I’ve had several pictures published here and there, and I’ve made some money doing portraits—little girls with their dogs and so on. I’m pretty good . . . they thought I was very good at the institute, even though I hated it by the end of the course. But I did finish. I am capable of finishing something that I start.” He gave her a self-conscious smile and sat back in his chair.
    â€œI thought you were considering something like this. And it would be expensive to set yourself up as a photographer, is that what you’re saying?” She laid the book in her hand down on the floor and looked steadily at him.
    â€œWell, not exactly. I’m not asking for money, Aunt Clara.”
    â€œThat’s strange. Everyone else is,” she said with a touch of bitterness. “But what was it you wanted if not the other half of my fortune?”
    â€œActually, there are two things. Remember I asked you if I could store things in a room in the basement?” She looked up sharply, studied his face for a moment, and then nodded. “Well, while I was here in the summer, I took one of the empty rooms and turned it into a darkroom, using the bathroom next to it for washing film and prints. It’s on the other side of the basement from your storage room. I wouldn’t get in your way. I put in some secondhand equipment and used one of the cupboards for chemicals and things like that. And there’s a whole lot of color film in the freezer, too, all packaged and labeled. If Bettl hasn’t tried to cook it, thinking it was lamp chops.” His aunt smiled. “I should have told you sooner, but I intended to clear it all out before you came down