A Flicker of Doubt - Tim Myers [38]
Eve walked in for her shift ten minutes after Mi Grishaber had gone. When I told her about the visit, Eve said, “Belle really did want to go with Candace, but she couldn’t swing it I told her it was just as well. The woman’s fussbudgeting would have driven her crazy inside a week. No, that’s not fair. Belle would have found it charming. On the other hand, I would have shoved her out of the jet before we even took off.”
She glanced at the report I ran midday and said, “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”
“It’s been steady. Eve, I hate to ask, but could you watch the place for me this afternoon? There are a few more things I need to take care of.”
“Harrison Black, are you sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong?”
“That’s a matter of opinion, I guess.”
Eve studied me a second, then said, ‘Try not to get arrested, would you? I don’t think the candleshop could take any more negative publicity.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises,” I said. - In all honesty, there was something besides looking into Becka’s murder that I needed to do at the moment. I wasn’t about to give up on my friend Cyrus, no matter what Morton had said There had to be a way around that guard, and I knew in my heart that if I could get Cyrus to talk to me, we could straighten this all out.
Either that or I might be spending the night in one of only two jail cells in all of Micah’s Ridge.
Despite my good intentions, I never even got close to Cyrus. The driveway was blocked off with sawhorses, and a different, tougher-looking man was standing patrol just inside the property. From my earlier confrontation, I knew that the perimeter was wired, so there was no getting in that way. I was going to have to rely on Sheriff Morton to find out what was happening with my friend.
My stomach grumbled and I realized I’d forgotten all about lunch. I didn’t want to head back to River’s Edge. Eve might see me there and expect me to work. Instead, I drove to A Slice of Heaven for some pizza and a Coke. April May was behind the counter, running a report on her cash register.
“Any chance I could get a slice?” I asked.
“Absolutely. I’m just checking my numbers. I’ve got a new girl on the register,” she said in a softer voice, “and since she started, the totals just don’t add up.”
“Do you think she’s stealing from you?” April shook her head. “No, it’s more likely she’s having trouble making change. I’m going to have a talk with her, but I wanted something to back it up, so she ran the register by herself for the lunch rush.” She studied the tape, then said, I already checked the till. It’s worse than I thought.”
“Is there a lot missing?”
She shook her head. “That I could live with if I had to, but I’ve got twenty-seven dollars and seventeen cents that don’t belong to me.” She shrugged, then said, “This isn’t going to be pretty. Let me get your slice started.”
After she slid one into the oven to reheat I said, “I’d ask you to join me, but it sounds like you’ve got a mess on your hands.”
“If she was anybody else I could just fire her, but she happens to be my best friend’s daughter. Fm not sure I what I’m going to do, but I know one thing. She’s worked her last shift at the register.”
I decided to hang out by the counter since the lunch crowd was gone. April grabbed my Coke, then said, “Shouldn’t you be selling candles or something?”
“Probably, but I’m working on something and I can’t stop.”
She nodded. “You’re looking for your friend Becka’s killer, aren’t you?”
“Now how in the world did you know that?” I knew Micah’s Ridge was small, but the grapevine could be eerie at times.
“I overheard something here last night. Folks are talking about you, how you found the body and took it upon yourself to investigate. Harrison, you’ve been asking questions around town. People are bound to talk.”
“Well, I wish I could deny it, but it’s all true. I don’t buy the theory that Becka overdosed for a second. She hated pills. I just wish I had something more to go on.”
April looked around her restaurant, though there was no one within twenty