At Wick's End - Tim Myers [62]
She admitted, “They’ll bring my order here, but it costs twice as much, and honestly, I can’t afford to stock them that way.”
I asked, “So what about your store? Are you shutting it down while you go?”
“No, Mrs. Quimby came in a few minutes ago, and things are kind of slow right now.” She hesitated, then added, “Never mind, Harrison. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, I don’t mind, really. Tell you what. Why don’t you take Belle’s Ford? I just put gas in it.”
Heather said, “The old Dodge is fine. Really, I don’t want to take a chance messing up Belle’s truck. She used to fuss at me all the time about my rocks. We had an arrangement where I’d borrow her truck, then gas it up when I got back.” Heather sighed, then added, “She wouldn’t take any payment from me, but she would let me buy her a pizza every now and then. Hey, I might even make an offer on your Dodge if I like it. The last thing in the world you need are two pickup trucks.”
There was no way to get out of this without sounding like a nut. A sudden thought occurred to me. I could use the situation as a test for her. “Fine. Here are the Dodge keys. Have a safe trip.”
Did her eyebrows raise a fraction at that? It had happened so quickly, I couldn’t be sure.
Eve came in as Heather was leaving, and I called out, “I’ll be right back,” to her as Heather disappeared. I couldn’t let her take the truck, not knowing that the brake lines had been tampered with, but I did want to see how far she’d go. I followed behind her, staying back, ready to stop her if she even put the key in the door.
She was two steps away when her cell phone rang. After a brief conversation, she turned abruptly on her heel, and caught me, dead to rights, following her.
“Harrison, what are you doing?”
“Eve came in to relieve me,” I said walking toward the Ford. “I figured I’d go out and grab a bite to eat. I thought you were going after your rocks.”
“I’ve changed my mind. Here are your keys.”
“Are you sure? I honestly don’t mind you taking one of the trucks,” I said.
“You don’t have two hours to kill right now, do you?”
I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t feel right about leaving Eve that long. She just came in.”
Heather looked disappointed by the news. “Don’t worry, I’ll get them another time. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you go with me next time you take a day off? It could be a fun field trip. To be honest with you, I hate going alone. My supplier’s kind of creepy, and when I go by myself he makes me really uncomfortable. That call was from a girlfriend who was supposed to go with me, but she bailed out at the last second. Belle even used to ride along with me from time to time.”
“I’ll make time to go with you next week. I promise,” I said as I grabbed the truck keys out of her hand. “Want to grab a bite to eat with me?” I asked.
“I’d better not. I’m feeling guilty for leaving Mrs. Quimby alone. She’s got a cold.”
“Another time, then,” I said as she walked back to her shop.
I honestly doubted that Heather had been testing me, though she’d done nothing to remove herself from my suspect list. The means and opportunity were there, but my problem with her was the same as with everyone else.
I couldn’t for the life of me come up with a motive for Belle’s murder. The only thing I knew in my gut was that her death had been no accident. And someone had their sights on me for their next victim.
I decided to go get some pizza, but April May wasn’t at A Slice of Heaven. After lunch, I got back to the shop to find Eve in an uproar. “There you are. I was almost ready to call the police.”
“What happened? Were we robbed?”
“No, of course not, don’t be so melodramatic, Harrison.” She pointed to the shelves and I saw Mrs. Jorgenson standing there, studying a book on candlemaking.
I whispered, “What does she want?”
“She wouldn’t tell me. She insisted on speaking only with