Murder Misread Read Online Free PDF Page A

hours…. Well, she hadn’t referred to the
incident since, and they managed to behave civilly enough in their
daily interchanges. But he still cringed with embarrassment to
think of last fall’s Halloween party. He’d parted his curly hair in
the middle, removed his glasses and added a tiny mustache and tramp
clothes. “My God, it’s Chaplin!” everyone had exclaimed. Nora, a
little tipsy, had declared herself so smitten she wouldn’t leave
his side. And she hadn’t. He’d had to drive her home, practically
push her weeping out of the car. But she wasn’t tipsy now; she was
her usual businesslike self. Nora’s skin was fine, tight, as though
a size too small for her facial bones. Her eyes were brown and
intense, and her dark hair was scraped back smoothly from her brow,
softened only by the first streaks of gray.
    At the Halloween party,
she’d been wearing a slinky thirties gown and a platinum wig. Jean
Harlow, he supposed. Though at one point she’d borrowed someone’s
shawl and claimed she was the blind girl in City Lights .
    “ Hi, Bart,” Nora said,
squinting at them. “Oh, and Charlie too! It’s hard to see anything
in here at first.”
    “ You want my thumbnail
lecture on dark adaptation?” teased Charlie, pleased that she was
keeping her distance.
    “ Not in the least! One of
my few joys in life is that I don’t have to worry about physiology
any more. I’m Nora Peterson,” she added, turning abruptly to
Maggie.
    “ Maggie Ryan. Statistical
consultant for Charlie’s project. If you’re waiting for Tal
Chandler too, have a seat.” She slid farther into the corner,
patting the space next to her.
    “ Thanks.” Nora took off
her dark jacket, folded it carefully, and placed it with her
briefcase on the seat beside her as she sat down. Her cream-colored
blouse, though simple, had an unexpected tiny edging of lace that
reminded Charlie of Deanna’s underthings. He forced his eyes up to
focus on Nora’s thin, smiling, talking lips. “Well, things must be
going well with your project, Charlie! Getting the statistician
signals phase two, right? Are you going to give us a report
soon?”
    “ Can’t give much of a
report until the numbers are properly crunched.” Charlie smiled at
Maggie. “But now that the cruncher is here, it shouldn’t be much
longer.”
    The plump waitress
arrived, dealt out menus like blackjack cards, and asked Maggie
hopefully if she wanted anything else.
    “ You bet! But I’ll wait
until Professor Chandler comes.”
    The waitress beamed. “Oh,
good! I’m glad he’ll be here. Okay, I’ll be back soon.” She bustled
away.
    “ How’s your brother doing,
Nora?” Bart asked.
    “ Fine.”
    “ It’s a different world
for teenagers these days. Hard to stay out of trouble. Drugs and
all….” Bart shook his head.
    “ He’s twenty-two, and he’s
doing fine.” Nora turned to Maggie. “You’re not from NYSU, are
you?”
    “ I’m a partner in a New
York City consulting firm now. But in fact, I got my Ph.D. here a
few years ago. So it’s not completely new.”
    “ A nostalgia
trip?”
    “ Partly. Mostly business,
some pleasure. What’s your field, Nora?”
    “ How children solve
problems at different ages. I’m applying some of Piaget’s theories
to moral dilemmas that I pose to children. Though I’m not ready for
a statistician yet!” Her taut face split into a smile.
    Maggie smiled too. “Good.
I’m not looking for more work. I want to have time to enjoy the
beautiful country summer.” She gestured at the window. “Sunshine,
trees, graffiti—”
    “ Now there’s a moral
dilemma,” said Bart. He shifted in his seat, causing a small
earthquake at Charlie’s end of the booth. “Tell me, Nora, if a
person knows someone who sprays the walls, is it moral to turn him
in? I mean, weighing the relatively trivial nature of the crime
against—”
    “ Excuse me.” Maggie stood
up on the seat of the booth, placed one sneakered foot neatly
between the