Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [4]
“I wish, but no, I’ll be in the candleshop. I’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I’ve got to get ready for it.”
“No rest for the landlord, is there? I’ll be by soon.”
I made a detour back upstairs before going to the candleshop. I wanted to check on Esmeralda. I was concerned when I couldn’t find her anywhere in the apartment, but when I looked in my small bedroom again, I found her curled up on my pillow, sound asleep.
It appeared that she had settled into my place quite nicely.
I headed back downstairs, jiggling the door to The New Age as I walked past. At least Heather had locked up before coming to find me in front of the pottery shop. I had assumed she had been outside looking for me after the power outage, but after seeing her reaction when I’d told her of Aaron’s death, I suddenly wasn’t all that sure.
As I reentered At Wick’s End, I tried to put Aaron, Heather, and the rest of it all from my mind. Making candles, especially when working with scalding hot wax, is serious business, and I needed every bit of concentration I could give it if I wanted to keep from getting burned.
I was building up a nice blue taper when Morton walked into the store, the chime announcing his arrival. “You’re really burning it at both ends, aren’t you?”
I tried to smile. “What better place for that than a candleshop? Are you finished?”
“They just took the body away, and I’ve finished my preliminary work. I’ve got a forensic team coming in the morning, but with so many folks out sick, it might be a while. I taped the door, just in case, so don’t let anyone in there, okay?”
“They won’t get in with our key,” I said, “But I can’t stand around and guard the place.”
“You’ve got your hands full, don’t you,” he said as he gestured to the wax.
“You want to know the truth? It’s great fun. I’d be happy to give you a lesson sometime, if you’re interested.”
Morton shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” I said.
He looked around, then said, “I’ve got a pretty good idea. Oh, that’s right. You don’t know about my ex-wife. She was quite the candlemaker. The whole thing kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, you know?”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, I’m here,” I said.
Morton tipped his hat, then left me to my dipping.
I glanced at the clock and saw it was approaching ten. If I was going to be fresh in the morning for my one-on-one class, I needed to get some rest. Besides, there wasn’t all that much wax left floating on top of the water, and what was there was starting to congeal.
I still probably had time for that last bowl of ice cream before I went to sleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I bolted upright in bed in pitch darkness, having barely survived a dream where I was attacked by a giant feather duster that was trying to choke me.
Esme barely stirred on the pillow beside me as her tail flopped lazily toward where my face had just been.
It was going to take some time getting used to sleeping with a cat in my bed, and I wondered when Heather would come back for her charge.
I worried about my new friend, but there was nothing I could do for her at the moment.
And in a few hours, I was going to have to get up and prepare for another assault by Mrs. Jorgenson.
Chapter 2
I had half-expected Heather to wake me sometime in the night to collect Esme, but when my alarm clock suddenly jumped to life the next morning blaring out a song I hadn’t heard in twenty years, my houseguest was still with me.
“Morning,’’ I said automatically to the cat as I got up and stretched. Esmeralda opened one eye, looked at me as if I’d just handed her a bill for her night’s stay, then promptly went back to sleep. What a tough life.
The shower managed to wake me up, but not before I turned off the hot water supply and endured a sudden and heart-stopping icy stream. I’m not normally a proponent of cold showers, but I’d lost too much sleep tossing and turning the night before, and I had to be fresh for Mrs. Jorgenson.
I knew just what would take care of whatever cobwebs