At Wick's End - Tim Myers [49]
“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 Belle, 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