Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [29]
“Do you mind if I eat while we talk? I can offer you a sandwich if you’re hungry.” It was time to go shopping again. I’d opened my last can of soup, and my cupboard was decidedly bare.
“No, I ate hours ago. If you’re sure you want to do this, I don’t mind keeping you company.”
“Excellent. At least let me get you something to drink.” I peered into the refrigerator and quickly inventoried my meager choices. “I’ve got some Bo’s sweet tea and some orange juice. I can offer you water, too.”
He shook his head and smiled slightly. “Harrison, there’s an art to living on your own. It’s taken me years to master it, and I’d be happy to share some of my techniques for single habitation.”
“I’m fine, thanks. You just caught me before grocery day.”
He nodded. “Of course. Shall we get started?”
“Sounds good to me.” As much as I liked my erudite handyman, I’d been hoping for some time alone.
He glanced at the clipboard and said, “First of all, with The Pot Shot’s space now occupied, we’re back at full capacity.”
“What do you think of me letting Sanora come back to River’s Edge?”
Pearly said, “Harrison, frankly it’s none of my business. She should be a good tenant if her past history is any indication.”
“You mean you aren’t going to disapprove or scold me? Everyone else has expressed an opinion quick enough.”
Pearly leaned back in his chair. “River’s Edge is yours to do with as you see fit. I didn’t get involved when Belle evicted Sanora, and I’m certainly not going to meddle now.”
“Thanks for that,” I said sincerely. “How is she getting along?”
“Tick’s taken her under her wing, I’m happy to say. They made their peace rather quickly. Sanora and Heather are still at odds. I’m worried we might lose her, Harrison, regardless of her lease.”
“I’m worried, too. Anything we can do about it?”
“I’m afraid it’s out of our hands. I’m concerned about her, though, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”
There was something in his eyes and the catch in his voice that told me Pearly wasn’t saying everything he was thinking.
I said, “I know I haven’t known Heather as long as you have, but I care about her, too. There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Pearly stared at his hands for the longest time, then said, “I’ve lost more than one night’s sleep wanting to tell you something, but for the life of me I can’t decide if I should.”
I waited him out, letting him decide for himself.
After a full minute of silence, he said, “I hope what I’m about to tell you will be kept in strictest confidence.”
“I already know Heather and Aaron were seeing each other,” I said.
“As does the rest of River’s Edge. No, this is about the night Aaron died.”
That certainly got my attention. “What happened?”
“It may be nothing, in fact, it probably is, but I saw Heather out and about that night. I watched her from a window upstairs and saw her in the parking lot staring at Aaron’s shop. She stood there the longest time without moving, as if she was waiting for something to happen, something she dreaded.”
“When exactly was this?”
He sighed heavily, then said, “Ten minutes before the power went off.”
I took some time to digest what he’d told me. Could Heather have had something to do with Aaron’s death? I’d known her less than a month, but I considered her beyond an act of murder. But I hadn’t known her when she’d been with Aaron. Could his rejection of her have driven her to ending his life?
“It’s probably nothing, isn’t it?” he asked hopefully.
“I wish I could tell you that, I truly do.”
Pearly said, “I should have kept it to myself. Now I’ve passed my nightmares on to you.”
“If it happened at River’s Edge, I need to know about it. I rely on you to keep me informed, and I thank you for sharing this with me. Is there anything else I need to know about?”
“As far as the building is concerned? I’m nervous about the wiring. I know I’ve expressed my concerns before, but it bears repeating. We should be on a ground-fault interrupter for the entire complex. What happened