At Wick's End - Tim Myers [67]
“What? Sorry, I was thinking about something else.”
“Obviously. Care to share what’s on your mind with a harmless old woman?”
I pretended to look wildly around the store. “Is there one still here? I thought everyone left but us.”
She smiled briefly. “Millie was right, you are a rascal, Harrison.”
“I believe she accused me of being a scamp,” I said, matching her smile.
“They both fit you.” She glanced at the clock. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to make today’s deposit for you. I know it’s out of your way, given your commute upstairs. I don’t mind, really.”
I suddenly remembered yesterday’s deposit, still on my couch. If I let Eve take it, I’d have to admit I’d neglected to do it yesterday. “I’ll take care of it myself. It gives me an excuse to get out for a little while.”
“Are you certain? I’m happy enough to do it, just as long as you don’t make a habit of it.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got it covered. Go on home. It was a good day.”
She paused at the door, looked back at me and said, “Harrison, I really do like the window. It’s the most fitting tribute to Belle I could imagine.”
“Well, she never did like much of a fuss. Hopefully this would have made her smile.”
“No doubt about it,” Eve said as she left.
I locked up behind her, disappointed that my ploy hadn’t worked.
I’d just have to come up with some other way to flush the killer out.
There was no way I was going to let Belle’s murderer get away, now that I knew what had really happened.
Chapter 17
As I drove to the bank in Belle’s truck, I thought about my list of suspects, and the likelihood that any of them were involved in Belle’s death as well as the murder/theft at the jewelry store.
Eve might have had a reason to kill Belle in a fit of anger. After all, she had fully expected to take over At Wick’s End, and Belle had robbed her of that. But the jeweler? Hardly. Heather had no reason to kill Belle or the jewelry store owner, but she had acted rather oddly about the Dodge truck. Somehow I thought Markum would have found a way to commit the robbery and cover it up without anyone being the wiser. He seemed too competent to leave a string of bodies behind him. Pearly Gray might have had his own reasons for the initial theft, but again, he had the same air of proficiency that made me doubt he’d do such a bad job of it. Gary Cragg, the attorney, had wanted to buy the property from me, just as he had tried with Belle. Was it grounds enough for murder, and where did the robbery come into the picture? Was he planning to use the proceeds from the theft to buy the property? Becka had a temper, one of the reasons we’d parted, and she certainly could have gotten angry enough to confront Belle. In that case, it would have been in the heat of passion, not giving Belle time to hide the diamond, now safely tucked away in my front pocket. That left Millie, a woman I couldn’t see harming anyone, and Lucas Young, Belle’s estate attorney. He knew, better than anyone else in the world, what Belle’s provisions were for tying up the property for five years. I couldn’t see him committing murder either.
That left one possibility that was too outlandish for me to accept, that Belle had actually died of an accident, and that diamond had absolutely no significance whatsoever other than Belle’s retirement plan. That would likely be Sheriff Coburn’s take on things, but I wasn’t buying it.
I’d never been a big fan of coincidences. Not when it came to murder.
I half-expected the shop door to be burgled when I got back, but everything was still as I’d left it in At Wick’s End, with the candle still holding down its corner of the display.
My plan to flush out the killer had been a wash. It was time to get back to the business of candlemaking. After all, that was where my living was coming from for at least the next five years. I’d have to come up with some other way to trap Belle’s killer.
My water bath for Belle’s substitute