by Tim Myers
“I’d like to do more as a way of apologizing,” he said. “Let me think. Is there any legal representation I can handle for you?”
“Nobody’s suing me that I know of,” I said, trying to take some of the somber tone out of the conversation. “At least not yet.”
He thought a moment, then said, “I know, I can draft your new will for you. Now that you’re a man of some substance, you’ll want to make certain things are taken care of if something should happen to you. I’d be honored to tender my services free of charge.”
“I appreciate the offer, but to be honest with you, I don’t know who I’d leave my things to. I’m the last Black left, at least from my particular branch of the family tree.”
The attorney nodded. “If you should change your mind, I’d be delighted to help. The offer has no expiration date.”
I offered my hand. “I appreciate the gesture.”
He nodded and left as I added a little more cream to my coffee.
As I did, I looked up to see Millie smiling at me. “What’s so amusing?” I asked.
“I feel like the Red Queen. I’ve seen two things today I never thought possible, and it’s not even 9 am yet.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What are they?”
“A lawyer offering something for free, and a lunatic turning him down.”
I grinned at her. “You never know, I might just need him if anybody ever sues me.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I hear you’re cat-sitting,” she added as I was nearly to the door.
“Mrs. Quimby came by, I take it.”
She laughed. “Come on, Harrison, you’re spoiling my reputation as a psychic.”
I said, “I won’t tell a soul,” as I left to open At Wick’s End.
To my surprise, Eve was already there, a good hour before we were due to open.
Now what in the world was she up to?
I unlocked the door, intent on seeing what Eve was doing, when I heard the chime go off above my head. In all honesty, I’d forgotten all about it when I’d decided to slip inside.
Eve looked up at the sound, and was flustered a moment before she could speak.
“Good morning, Harrison,” she said.
“You’re in awfully early,” I replied, trying to keep my voice casual. “Are you trying to show me up?”
She frowned slightly, then said, “I wanted to check on our inventories so I could order before we opened. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, it’s a great idea. In fact, I’ll give you a hand. I made a preliminary list yesterday.”
“It’s not necessary,” she said, a little more forcefully than was required. “I’m nearly finished, and I’m sure your list will just duplicate parts of mine. I can handle this myself.”
“I insist. I’ve got to learn how to run my own candle shop.”
She started to cloud up, and I quickly added, “If I’m ever going to be able to operate this place without calling you every two minutes, I need to learn how to do everything myself.”
I walked back to the storage room before she could stop me and found a dozen boxes on the floor, all moved off the top shelves.
“It looks like a hurricane went through here.”
Eve said, “That’s another reason I came in early. Items are always falling behind the boxes. We find them later, after we’ve ordered duplicates we don’t need. Belle and I started pulling the top inventories once a month to make sure we weren’t missing anything.”
I shook my head. “There’s got to be a better way to do inventory than that.”
“I’m just an employee,” she said with a slight nod. “It’s your store.”
“I’ll look into it,” I said, making the hundredth mental note since I’d taken over the shop. “In the meantime, let me give you a hand getting this back into some kind of order.”
We had things straightened out again soon enough, with everything back in its rightful place. There were three packs of wicks, one expensive rubber mold, a few scraps of paper and a handful of votive candle forms lodged behind the boxes.
“This won’t take long to place, it’s hardly big enough for you to bother with,” Eve said as she studied the list.
“I’d still like to do it myself, if you don’t mind. The quicker I learn, the better off I’ll be.”
She handed me the list and said, “You’re welcome to it.”
“Hey, I could use a walk-through first,” I said, sorry I’d offended her yet again. “I don’t even know who to call.”
“I’m sure you’ll have no problem at all, there’s a list of our vendors by the telephone. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other work to do before we open.”
As Eve started straightening the shelves out front, I stared after her. Most likely Belle had let her place the orders herself, but if I was going to get a handle on running the business, I had to know how to do everything in the store. I probably should have handled it more diplomatically, but I couldn’t do anything about that at the moment. When things settled down, I’d try to make things right with Eve.
I dialed the number of our supplier and was waiting for someone to pick up when there was a knock at the office door. Good, it appeared that Eve had reconsidered and had decided to give me a hand.
Pearly stuck his head in and said, “We need to talk, Harrison.”
“I’m kind of busy right now, Pearly.”
“I can see that, but it would still be in your best interests to make that call later.”
I hung up the phone and asked, “What’s up?”
“Harrison, you don’t know me all that well, but I’m not one to overreact to situations. Still, there’s something going on here that requires your attention.” He paused a moment, then added, “I’m beginning to suspect this new tenant Markum is up to something.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked, suddenly forgetting all about the supply order.
“Last night I was upstairs adding a new dead-bolt lock to Cragg’s office when I saw the oddest thing. Markum didn’t notice me, I was on the inside of Cragg’s office with the door cracked. He walked up the stairs with a bag slung over one shoulder, and from the strain on his face, I’ll wager there was a heavy load in that duffel.”
“He’s into salvage, Pearly. It could have been anything.”
“I might concur if that were all. However, I needed a different tool from my truck for the installation, and as I walked by his office, I heard him on the telephone.” Pearly colored slightly. “Now I wasn’t eavesdropping, but he’d neglected to close his door, and the man’s voice does have a way of carrying.”
“What did you hear?” I asked, in spite of the invasion of privacy If Markum had anything to do with Belle’s death, I wanted to know about it. Courtesies, even legalities, didn’t bother me much if they stood in the way of me finding the truth.
“There was quite a bit of shouting. I caught references to payments being late, and then there were some questions about glass for sale.”
“Glass?” That got my attention. “What else did he say about that?”
“Just that some of it had to be cut first. I assumed that part had something to do with a broken window, but the rest of the argument was quite forceful.”
“I’ll talk to him tonight,” I promised.
“Fair enough, that would ease my mind.” Pearly paused, then added, “I’m as level a man as you’ll most likely find, Harrison, but there’s something in the air around River’s Edge lately, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is.”
It was murder, I thought, but I kept it to myself. Pearly was absolutely one of my least likely suspects in the search for my great-aunt’s killer, but I couldn’t let the fact that I liked him impede my judgment. I liked just about everyone at River’s Edge, with the possible exception of Gary Cragg. Markum seemed like a straightforward fellow with a good disposition, but that didn’t exclude him either. It would be hard to imagine Millie or Heather or Eve doing anything to B
elle, but that didn’t take them off my list. Until I could prove otherwise, every last one of them was a legitimate suspect.
The only problem was that my list kept growing with suspects as I added new people, but I never managed to eliminate anyone. If I couldn’t discover who was involved in Belle’s death, maybe I could start from the other end and try to eliminate some of the suspects I had.
It was bound to be better than my current approach.
By nightfall I hoped to speak with Markum about that glass. I’d read enough mysteries to know that it was also a term used as slang for diamonds, and I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what that might be connected with.
I still had a little time before we opened the candle shop, so I told Eve I’d be back before we opened and returned to The Crocked Pot. Millie was just finishing up with a customer when I decided it was time to try to strike her off my list.
“What’s the matter, Harrison, did you forget something?”
“Do you have a second?” I asked her.
“For you? I’ve got all the time in the world.” As Millie said it, she polished the top of the counter with her rag.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question.”
Her ever-present smile dimmed as she nodded. “Okay by me. Fire away.”
“Were you around River’s Edge the night Belle died?”
She looked shocked by the question. “What an odd question. Why do you want to know that?”
“Honestly? I was hoping maybe you noticed something, or saw someone hanging around who shouldn’t have been here that night.” If she gave me a positive answer, I’d know whether Millie had been there herself without asking her for an alibi directly.
Millie pondered a moment, then said, “I know, I was with George at the baseball game. He’s a fanatic for the Ridge Runners, and it was their first home playoff game. Their last one too, I might add, the dear boys didn’t do well.”
So Millie was out with a crowd of three thousand other folks at our local single A baseball team’s game.
I said, “Was there anyone in Belle’s life most folks around here wouldn’t have known about?”
Millie shook her head, then said, “I don’t think so.”
“If you come up with any names outside of River’s Edge, let me know, okay?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” If I did as Pearly had suggested and went with my gut, Millie had to be ruled out as a suspect. It would be easy enough to check to see if she’d really been to the game, but I wasn’t about to do it unless she gave me the slightest reason to suspect her.
It was time for me to get to work. I headed back to the candle shop and dove into the day, even venturing out from behind the cash register now and then to actually help a few customers myself. Eve was never more than a few steps away, but she showed remarkable restraint by letting me handle things myself.
By that afternoon, I was starting to get the hang of running At Wick’s End. We were nearly ready to close for the day when Eve asked, “Did they say when our order would ship?”
“Order?” I asked as I went through the stack of credit card receipts.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already. I’m talking about the order you placed for the store this morning. You did call it in, didn’t you?”
“Blast it all, I got distracted. I’ll go do it right now.”
Eve looked at the clock and said, “They’re already closed for the day.” She looked pointedly at me as she added, “That’s because they open so early in the morning, before the stores get busy and don’t have time to call.”
“I’ll phone them first thing tomorrow,” I said, feeling my face burn.
Eve didn’t answer, and I knew I’d earned her disapproval yet again. That was just too bad. I was about to throw another log on the fire.
When I asked Eve where she’d been the night Belle died, giving the same reason I had to Millie, she said, “I was home alone. How terrible that Belle had to die that way, without another soul around her.”
That was exactly what I was trying to find out. “Did you get any calls or visitors that night?”
Eve shook her head. “My evenings are solitary, Harrison. Honestly, that’s the way I like it after dealing with our customers all day. There are times when I turn the telephone ringer off and ignore my doorbell.”
So far nobody was willing to admit they’d been within ten miles of River’s Edge, but I still didn’t believe Belle fell off that ladder on her own.
Eve and I were nearly ready to lock up for the night when Mrs. Jorgenson came in. She looked around the empty store, then said, “Mr. Black, would you mind walking me out to my car? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Was there a problem with your bill?” I asked, worried that I had indeed overcharged her for the lessons. Eve looked like she was going to pass out.
“No, it’s nothing like that. This is a personal matter.”
Eve looked quizzically at me, but I just shrugged. “Let’s go.”
Once we were outside, Mrs. Jorgenson said, “I debated telling you this, but there’s something I feel you need to know. I received a rather quizzical call about you this afternoon.”
“What? About me?”
“Whoever was on the other end of the line refused to identify themselves, and the voice was a whisper. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.”
“And you say my name was mentioned?” What was going on here?
“Oh yes. Apparently someone has a grudge against you. They implied that it would be unhealthy for me to continue with our private lessons.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I was nearly speechless by the revelation.
She looked sternly at me, then said, “My dear man, you have no need to worry that an idle threat will keep me away from your candle shop. I don’t respond to pressure, I never have. I told them so quite emphatically.” She grinned slightly at the thought, then added, “I did think you should know though.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
As I watched her drive away, I tried to figure out who in the world would try to submarine me like that. Was there a competitor out there who begrudged my chance at Mrs. Jorgenson? Or was it something more ominous? There couldn’t be anything random about the call, since my name was mentioned specifically. I considered discussing it with Eve, but since there was nothing either one of us could do about it, I decided to keep it to myself, at least for the moment.
Chapter 12
After I closed the candle shop, I headed straight to the bank with our day’s deposit. That was one lesson I had learned without danger of repeating. I got there before they closed since this was one of the rare nights we shut the doors before dark, and decided to take it inside myself.
A bright-eyed young lady took the bag, made quick work of checking my amounts, then handed a slip to me. “Is that all, sir?”
I suddenly remembered my own check, still folded up in my wallet. “I’d like to cash this too.”
It felt good having money in my pocket again as I put the crisp new bills in my wallet. My meager savings were nearly depleted. I promised myself to move my checking account to the new bank, since it would be so much more convenient doing all my business at one place.
After I finished at the bank, I found a grocery store along the way back to River’s Edge and decided to go on a little shopping spree. Forty minutes later, I’d put a noticeable dent in my take home pay, but my larder would be well-stocked for the next few weeks.
I found Mrs. Quimby waiting impatiently for me at my door when I got back, Esmeralda squirming in her hands. “Harrison, did you forget about your star boarder?”
Blast and nonsense, it had slipped my mind completely that I was still cat-sitting, even after I picked up a toy for Esme while I was out shopping. “I’m so sorry. I got hung up at the grocery store,” I said as I put my bags down and retrieved my key.
Mrs. Quimby sniffed at the air
and said, “I don’t mind, but the princess is quite upset. She hates to wait for anything.”
I didn’t doubt that. Esmeralda seemed to be the type of cat who considered anything short of complete and utter devotion an unacceptable outrage.
“She’ll have to get over it,” I said as I opened the door. “My schedule’s not quite as set as Heather’s is.”
Esme shot through and disappeared inside before I could even get my key back out of the lock.
“You two have a fun evening together,” she said quickly as she walked away.
“Thanks. Sorry again about the delay.”
After I put away my groceries, I went in search of my boarder. “Esme. Come here, Esmeralda.”
I should have realized it was the height of futility calling a cat. While a dog would most likely come running at the sound of its name, that cat was probably holed up somewhere laughing at me. Then I remembered one of Janie’s tricks. I pulled out the can opener and opened one of Esmeralda’s dinner tins.
After a minute, she poked her head around the corner to see what I was up to as I arranged the meal tastefully in her bowl, and as she began to eat, it was obvious that we were friends again.
After making myself a sandwich and letting Esme finish her meal, I said, “Hey, I almost forgot. I got you something.” I retrieved a plush mouse toy I’d picked up at the grocery store and put it on the floor in front of her. If a cat could sneer, this one was doing it. I tried to make the mouse dance on the string, hoping to get some action out of her that way, but by the way Esme was looking at me, it was clear she thought I was insane.
I was beginning to concur with her opinion by the time I gave up.
I cleaned up the dishes, lit Belle’s candle and settled onto the couch to read. That’s when I noticed Esmeralda, playing not with the mouse, but with the packing it had come in, batting it back and forth from one paw to another.
It was all I could do to keep a groan from escaping my lips. The cat waited until I was settled in, then hopped up onto my lap and eased in for the evening. I suddenly remembered my earlier plan to confront Markum.
