Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [77]
“Do you see the clown in one corner? I need a better look at him.”
Tom said, “You pulled me away from my work so we could look at clowns? You’ve got to be kidding.” He fiddled with some dials as he complained, and the clown jumped into intense clarity. He did something else to move the entire tape over to one side, and I could now see all of the clown in the display.
“Can you run the tape this way?”
He didn’t say anything, but tapped another button and I saw the clown moving in reverse. When the start of the shot arrived and the scene shifted, he started it again.
“There’s no audio here, just background noise,” he said.
“I’m not expecting him to say anything,” I said. I watched as the clown sat down on the courthouse steps, much as I’d found him the day Gretel had been shot.
And then I saw something that told me, without a doubt, who had killed Gretel Barnett.
I forgot myself and pointed to the screen again. “Freeze it right there. I need a copy of that.”
Tom froze it, hit the copy button and handed me the print. I wasn’t sure it was evidence that would hold up in any court of law, but I was convinced.
“Thanks, you two, you’ve helped more than you’ll ever know.”
They both looked bewildered by my behavior as I handed Mary Fran two dollars, but there was no time to explain. I had a murderer to confront.
I tried to get the sheriff, but he wouldn’t come to the telephone. Evidently Vince or Vance or whatever his real name was confessing to crimes that no one had the slightest idea he’d ever committed. I considered getting one of Morton’s deputies to back me up, but I really didn’t know any of them well enough to share my theory with.
I made up my mind to confront the man myself. After all, it was broad daylight in a busy part of town. He wouldn’t have the nerve to try anything with the world walking past his front door.
Chapter 20
“Harrison, I trust you’ve brought the cash with you,” Jubal said as I walked into his store.
“I’ve got it right here,” I said, patting my back pocket. “I’m just sorry it couldn’t be more.”
“My friend, I already told you, whatever you came up with will be fine with me.”
I kept my back to the glass, making sure I was always in sight of the street, as I said casually, “Of course, you’ve got the rest of your inheritance to see you through, don’t you?”
He looked at me oddly. “I thought we’d already discussed this. Gretel didn’t leave me a thing.”
“As Jubal, no, but as Hans, you’re going to make a real killing when you sell this building to Runion, not to mention getting everything else Gretel had.”
Jubal said, “Harrison, I’m afraid you’ve been out in the sun too long. I’m not Hans.”
“Come on, there’s nobody here but the two of us. Do you honestly think you’re going to get away with this?”
He eased up to the register as he said, “I truly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, if you want me to lay it out for you, I will. You see, I knew you killed Gretel before I realized who you were. It wasn’t until after I figured out you were the murderer that I realized that meant you had to be Hans.”
He kept fidgeting with something, but I was on a roll. I pulled out the photograph, laid it on the counter and said, “You were the clown I saw that day at the fair. One of your customers came by here to buy some supplies, but you were closed, though you denied it later to me. I told you, candlemakers can be a persistent lot. When she saw you were gone, she went to the fair to buy her supplies there. She was talking to Gretel just before you killed her.”
He looked at the copy and said, “How could you possibly think I’m the person behind this clown makeup, let alone prove it?”
I pointed to the photograph and said, “You mean besides the fact that you used to work on a carnival? I’m sure you learned how to apply that makeup; you did a first-class job when I saw you.”
“And what makes you think that?”
“In a way, Gretel provided that clue herself. She made a diary entry on her web page with your bio on it. I’d forgotten all about it until this morning. It fits, but there