Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [63]
Heather asked the cop, “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for your handyman, Pearly Gray,” the woman said.
I glanced at her nameplate and saw her name was Kelner. “Officer Kelner, I’ve already told your boss, I don’t know where Pearly is.” Technically it was the truth. Sure, he was somewhere lurking in the backroom, but I didn’t know his exact location.
She looked around, then said, ‘There were four of you in here when I drove up.”
I held Esme up. “There are four of us here now.”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” She started for the backroom, and I was just about to cough to warn Pearly when Kelner’s radio on her belt went off. “Toni, where are you?”
“I’m at the hippie shop at River’s Edge,” she answered.
“It’s called The New Age,” Heather said stiffly, but it was lost on the cop.
“Well, get over to Mulberry and Main. Some lunatic just drove into Ridgway Flowers.”
“I’m on my way,” she said, forgetting all about her suspicions.
After I was certain she was gone, I called out, “Pearly, you can come out now. She just left.”
Silence.
“Come on, it’s all right.”
The three of us walked into the backroom. The first thing I saw was the exit door, standing wide open. It looked like Pearly had decided to run after all.
Chapter 16
We waited around Heather’s shop for an hour, hoping that Pearly would come back, but we finally realized it was a lost cause.
Markum said, “I’ve got some calls to make, but if he shows up again, call me, Heather.”
She said, “Do you honestly think he’s coming back after that? He probably thinks we called the police ourselves.”
“Come on, you know he doesn’t think that at all. Pearly knows he can trust us. Markum’s right, though. There’s no sense in us hanging around here.”
“You two go on, then. I’m staying.”
Markum said, “Suit yourself. Harrison, I’ll be upstairs in my office for another twenty minutes, then I’m going to my place. If you need me, call me there, okay?”
“I’ll do it. Thanks.”
After Markum was gone, I said, “Are you sure it’s a good idea to just hang around here?”
“I’ve got nowhere else I need to be,” Heather said.
“Think about it. If you’re still here when that cop comes back, she’s going to want to look around. Why don’t we get out of here, turn out the lights and give Pearly a chance to come back without being seen?”
After a moment’s thought, Heather said, “You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so worried about him. He’s old enough to be my father. He can take care of himself.”
“It’s okay,” I said, “You worry because you’re a good friend.”
I walked Heather out as she locked up her shop. Then she turned to me and said, “Would you like to grab some dinner? We could go over to A Slice of Heaven.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got to run my reports, make out my deposit, restock shelves and get an order ready for tomorrow. I’m going to be here for a while.”
“Okay, but I’ll give you a rain check,” she said.
“And I’ll cash it once things slow down around here,” I said.
I walked back to the candleshop, wishing I’d brought a jacket with me. Even though I was wearing one of my favorite flannel shirts, the wind was biting enough to make me wish I had more on. There wouldn’t be any rooftop soirees tonight.
The total on my report was healthy enough to make me believe that the worst of our slump was over. Steadily our business had been picking up until we were nearly at the levels we’d been at before Gretel had died. I had half-expected another slow period when Pearly had been named as a suspect. After all, the paper had gone out of its way to tie him to River’s Edge in their story. Though some of my other tenants might have seen some fluctuations because of it, it hadn’t affected me, at least not yet.
I did my chores, locked the shop and considered leaving the deposit for the next day. But if I did that, I knew I’d have to tell Eve I’d skipped a day at the bank, and frankly, it