Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [79]
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t figure it was his to sell since he came by it through murder.”
“So what do we do now?” Pearly asked.
“We wait for the deputy, then we get you back to River’s Edge. We’ve missed having you there, my friend.”
“And I’ve missed being there,” he said. He held my wallet up and said, “Did you miss this yet?”
I took it and said, “Where’d you find it?”
“It was in the backroom. I thought you might be needing it.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Sheriff Morton came back alone. “He’s on his way to the station. Listen, I want to say something to both of you while I’ve got the chance.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” I said.
Morton looked startled by the suggestion. “What makes you think I owe you an apology?”
Pearly said, “Let’s see, you practically accused us both of murder. Isn’t that a good place to start?”
Morton shook his head. “This is why I hate working with amateurs. I was just doing my job. I don’t make any excuses for that.”
“So what did you want to say?”
“I wanted to thank you both for your help, but I’m not sure I still want to.”
I grinned at him. “It’s too late now, isn’t it?”
Pearly asked, “So what’s going to happen to all this?”
Morton shrugged. “It’s not any of my business. Now let’s get out of here. I’ve got an officer in back to watch the place until we can lock it up. Somebody did a real number on the lock in back. I wonder who that could have been.”
Pearly said, “I wonder.”
We left Morton, and Pearly and I drove our vehicles back to River’s Edge. We met again on the front steps, and Pearly said, “Harrison, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“I’m not the only one here who believed in you. We all knew you were innocent.”
“Based on what? I have to admit, the evidence did seem to point in my direction.”
I slapped him on the back. “Yeah, but when your family’s in trouble, you stand behind them. That’s what we all did.”
“Then I’m glad to be a member of this particular clan.”
Eve must have spotted us outside. She came bustling over, glanced at Pearly and told him, “It’s high time you stopped skulking around here.”
Before Pearly could reply, Eve turned to me and said, “I stayed up most of the night, but I’ve got the pricing done. You just need to plug in the inventory numbers and we’ll be set.”
I didn’t know how to tell her that the deal had fallen through, but she must have read something on my face. “Harrison Black, I can’t believe you let this slip out of your hands. Just when we have the chance to make some headway, you manage yet again to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
She stormed back to the candleshop, and it was all Pearly and I could do to hold our laughter in until she was gone.
Pearly said, “Now I really feel like I’m back home.”
Dorothea Hurley’s Top-Secret Apple Pan Dowdy Recipe
(the one that Millie borrowed)
Ingredients
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups sliced and peeled apples (tart works well, one or two apples are plenty, depending on their size)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (we use real butter)
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Combine the brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Coat the sliced apples in the brown sugar-nutmeg-cinnamon mix. Preheat oven, then place apple mixture in a buttered
1-quart baking dish and bake covered for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the softened shortening (butter), and add the egg and milk. Stir until well mixed, then spread over the apples (still in their dish) and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes, still at 375 degrees.
This was one of my late mother-in-law’s desserts, still a real family favorite at our house. Some folks like to pour a little cold milk over their portion, but I like a glass of milk on the side.
Assorted Candlemaking Tips for Gel candles
By adjusting the temperature of the wax, you can get some interesting shapes and forms in the candle using the