Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [62]
Heather stopped sweeping. “Are you keeping tabs on me now, Markum?”
“It’s just curious behavior,” he said.
Heather started sweeping again at a faster pace. “If you must know, business is down. I figure the more hours I can keep the shop open, the better chance I have of making my rent and start bringing in some profits.”
Markum said softly, “It’s a nice story.” In a louder voice, he said, “Come on out, Pearly, I know you’re back there.”
Heather said, “Have you lost your mind?”
As she said it, there was the sound of a box falling in the backroom. Markum said, “And I suppose that’s just your resident ghost.”
“Esmeralda’s probably chasing her shadow back there again.”
I spotted the cat curled up on a shelf near me. As I reached down, she jumped up in my arms. “It’s a good trick if she’s doing it. Heather, what’s going on here? Is Pearly hiding in your shop?”
She said, “Now don’t you start, Harrison.”
At that moment, Pearly Gray walked out of the backroom and joined us. “Thanks for trying, Heather, but they had to find out sooner or later.”
It was hard to tell who she was angrier with, Markum and me for exposing her, or Pearly for revealing himself. She huffed once, then put the broom down. “At least I can stop sweeping as a pretense for being here. I’ve just about worn a hole in the floor.”
“When did you get back, Pearly?” I asked.
Markum stepped up and added, “More importantly, why are you hiding in here like you’re guilty of something?”
Pearly snapped, “You’ve seen the paper. They did a rather thorough character assassination, wouldn’t you say? I was surprised there was no implication that I’d finally stopped beating my wife.”
Heather said, “You’re not married anymore, Pearly.”
“It’s a figure of speech, my dear.” He turned back to us and said, “I got wind of the article before it was published, so I decided to come back to River’s Edge, where I could keep my eye on what was happening without being under the scrutiny of the police.”
“There’s something you two should know,” I said. “I would have kept your secret.”
“So would I,” Markum said.
“Gentlemen, it was not my intent to exclude either one of you. Heather happened to catch me in my workroom the night I got back. I’m afraid I was rather careless there. I forgot to lock the door behind me.”
“I had to borrow a screwdriver to fix my back door,” Heather said. “I knew in a heartbeat that Pearly couldn’t stay in his shop; that’s the first place Morton would look for him. I gave him a key to my place, and I’ve been smuggling food to him since then.”
That explained the double orders Heather had been making with Millie. I doubted it would have escaped the cafe owner’s attention, but Millie was an expert at keeping her suspicions to herself if the situation merited it.
“So have you had any luck in your investigation?” I asked Pearly.
“Alas, no. If I could move around without fear of imprisonment, perhaps I’d be able to uncover something, but it’s difficult investigating when I’m under suspicion myself.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
Markum looked at me, and I shrugged. He took it as my approval and said, “Harrison and I are looking into Gretel’s murder ourselves.” I suddenly realized I hadn’t shared my discovery of the tube of greasepaint with Markum yet.
A ray of hope shined behind Pearly’s eyes. “Gentlemen. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. Have you had any success yet?”
I tried to sound reassuring as I said, “We’ve got some leads we’re tracking down, but it’s taking longer than I’d like.”
Pearly said, “I’ll hide as long as I have to.”
The night outside was suddenly interrupted by flashing red-and-blue lights. Pearly said in a voice full of sadness, “They’ve found me.”
I snapped, “Go into the storeroom. Don’t leave unless you hear me coughing. That means they’re getting closer.”
“Why not just flee out the back?” Pearly asked.
“They’ll be watching the rear entrance,” Markum said. “Harrison’s right. Don’t take off until you have to.”
He disappeared