Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [48]
I know the gimmick gets me business, but some of the choices are horrendous. When things get crazy, I get in the mood for some mellow music.”
“A woman after my own heart. Thanks, April.”
She saluted, then said, “I’d better get back inside before they tear the place down. Good night, Harrison.”
“Good night,” I called out, but she was already gone.
I considered taking my pizza to the rooftop and eating it there, but if the wind up there was anything like the breeze kicking up below, it would be too cold to enjoy it. I settled for the kitchen bar in my apartment and had just popped the lid off when someone knocked at my door.
I guess it could have been worse. I could have been in the shower.
“I’ll be right there,” I called out as I grabbed a slice anyway and took a healthy bite before I answered the door.
Chapter 12
Markum was at the door, and I moved aside so he could come in. “Want a slice?” I asked him before taking another bite.
“No, but if you’ve got another beer, I wouldn’t say no to that.”
I grabbed a cold one from the refrigerator and handed it to him. “What’s up?”
He said, “I wanted to see what the sheriff had to say about our power cord.”
“I told him what I thought, but he wasn’t interested.”
“Typical,” Markum scowled, running a hand through his thick hair.
“Give him a break,” I said. “He’s got the flu, along with half his department. I don’t think he has all that much time for suppositions and guesswork.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind,” Markum said.
“No, it’s too much of a coincidence, I agree. I’m just not sure what we can do about it.”
“We look harder at Sanora, that’s what I think. She had the most reason of anyone to want him dead.”
I finished a bite, then said, “Did you hear about what happened this morning?”
“No, I’ve been sleeping all day.” Before I could make a crack, he said, “I’m trying to set something up in another time zone, so it makes more sense for me to start keeping their hours.” I wanted to ask Markum what kind of salvage operation he was preparing for, but the man was remarkably closemouthed about his business. “So what happened?”
“Somebody tried to run Sanora down this morning with a Wee Haul van.”
“Were there any witnesses?” Markum asked.
“Just Sanora.”
Markum thought about it, took another sip from his beer, then said, “So she could have made the whole thing up.”
I said, “She’s got the scratches from diving off the road.”
“Adds evidence to her claim, from her point of view.”
I shook my head. “So why was she downplaying the whole thing when I talked to her this morning? She told me she thought the driver was probably reaching for a map and the truck started to drift over toward her. It didn’t sound like she was trying to set herself up as another potential victim.”
Markum shrugged. “Maybe she’s just being cute, or maybe she lost her nerve and decided to backpedal.”
“Do you really think she killed her ex-husband?”
Markum finished his beer, then said, “Whenever I’m faced with something like this, I ask myself, who had the most to gain? Sanora gets The Pot Shot and eliminates her ex-husband as her main competition, all with one murder. It could have been too tempting for her.”
“It could have been, but from what I’ve heard, the two of them were friends, they weren’t even dating again. Besides, her shop was supposed to be doing pretty well right where it was.”
“Then why was she so eager to leave that location and come here to River’s Edge?”
I didn’t have an answer for that. “Surely she can’t be your only suspect.”
“Can you think of anyone else?”
I hated to do it, but Markum needed to know about Heather if he was going to be able to help me with Aaron Gaston’s death. “Heather Bane had reason enough. Aaron broke up with her so he could see Sanora again. When that blew up in his face, she was willing to take him back, but he turned her down flat. From what I’ve heard, Aaron was dating someone new, but I haven’t been able to find out who it was yet.”
Markum grinned at me. “Aren’t you the fishwife, swapping tales over the clothesline.”