Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [13]
“The thing you’ve got to remember is that Belle wanted the candleshop to stay open.”
“But at what cost?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, and fortunately the line was re-forming. There was a man up front with a basket full of our most expensive stock, both kits and actual candles that Eve and Belle had poured themselves. There was even one of my creations in his selection, something I felt very good about.
He handed the basket to Eve and said, “Take your time.” He then turned to me and said, “Harrison, I understand there was bad blood from the start between you and Gretel Barnett.”
“I wasn’t exactly thrilled she was opening up a candleshop franchise so close to my shop, but I was willing to extend a neighborly hand to her.”
“So what’s this I hear about you two facing down in a shouting match this morning?”
This guy was relentless. “We had a disagreement, plain and simple. I’m sorry we won’t have the opportunity to resolve it.” And that was true. I felt a little sick that Gretel had died with bad blood brewing between us. She wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but that still didn’t mean I’d wanted to see her dead.
“Were you trying to bury her, like you said?”
I was doing my best not to lose my temper, but he was goading me. “She said she was going to bury me, not the other way around.”
Finally Eve handed the man his card slip and he signed a hasty scrawl. As our customer took it, he said, “How about this relationship between the murder victim and one of the men here at River’s Edge?”
Before I could answer, Eve said, “That’s it, I knew your name sounded familiar. You’re Tom Francis from The Gunpowder Gazette, aren’t you?”
Oh, no! I hadn’t realized I was being interviewed by the newspaper trying to hang me.
It was time to get rid of him. “Your shopping trip is over, and if you quote me, I’ll deny every word of it.”
He grinned and held up a tape recorder he’d retrieved from his front pocket. “Just try it.”
As he scurried away, I said, “No more interviews. Buy or don’t buy, I’m finished talking.”
Half the people left at the announcement, but the rest lingered, hoping I’d change my mind. Eve said, “Nothing like locking the barn after the horses are all gone.”
“Was it that bad? Did I say anything I shouldn’t have?”
“Harrison, anything more than ‘no comment’ would have been too much.”
I nodded. “Okay, maybe I should have given it a little more thought before I made my offer to them.”
As Eve rang up another sale, she said, “I wouldn’t waste my time worrying about it. Chances are they would have smeared you without the interview.”
“If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it’s not working.”
We got through the rest of the customers as closing time neared. I had had enough. “Why don’t we lock up early? All I want to do is to go upstairs, take a hot shower and lose myself in a good book.”
Eve said, “I thought our table was still at the fair? And weren’t you supposed to help Heather take her display down, too?”
“Blast it, I forgot all about that.”
“If you’d like, I suppose I could do it.”
I shook my head. “No, I need to do it myself. I promised Heather I’d be there. You can shut down early if you’d like.”
“You know how I feel about that. I’ll stay open till the posted store hours are over.”
“Just leave the deposit then. I’ll make it this evening.”
As I headed for the Ford truck, I was surprised to find a stranger waiting nearby for me. The alley behind River’s Edge was as uninviting a place as I’d ever seen, not exactly a spot to linger. The man wore faded blue jeans and a jacket that had seen its share of rough weather. I thought about turning around and going back inside when he called my name.
“Harrison Black?”
“What can I do for you,” I said, clenching my key ring in my fist.
“I want to talk to you about what happened today.”
Yeah, well, I didn’t. “Listen,