At Wick's End - Tim Myers [50]
“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,