Death Waxed Over (Book 3 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (28 page)

“
Are you honestly looking
for an alibi?” I asked, letting my words bite, not caring if he
felt my hostility in them.

“
Take it easy, I have to
ask.” When I saw the softness in his gaze, I knew he hadn’t wanted
to ask me that question, but I also realized that he didn’t have
any choice, either.

Fighting to keep my temper in check, I said,
“We went out for pizza at A Slice of Heaven last month.”

“
So then you two were dating
again?”

Millie brought him his coffee as I said,
“No, we were just two friends going out together for a meal. There
was nothing happening between us, at least not romantically. What
about the guy who was stalking her a few months ago? Is he still in
jail?”

Millie hesitated at the table and frowned at
Morton— no doubt hovering nearby to offer me her support—when the
sheriff said, “As of ten minutes ago he was. Listen, I’m not
accusing you of anything, Harrison, I’m just trying to collect
information. I know finding her like that had to be hard on you.
How are you holding up?”

“
I’m not afraid to admit
that I’ve been better,” I said. Millie must have been satisfied
with the sheriff’s softened tone, because she left us and went back
to her register.

I told Sheriff Morton, “Everybody thinks I
should hide in my apartment upstairs, but I want to get back to
work. I need to keep busy.”

He nodded. “If it matters to you what I
think, I believe it’s the best thing you could do. It will help
take your mind off what happened.”

He threw a dollar on the table and said,
“Listen, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything, okay?”

“
I’d appreciate that,” I
said.

After the sheriff was gone, Markum came back
to the table. “What did he want? Did I hear him right? Did he
actually ask you for an alibi?”

“
Don’t start,” I said. “He’s
just doing his job.”

Markum held his palms up. “Sorry, I know I
shouldn’t push you right now. Listen, do you want to get out of
Micah’s Ridge? It’s a beautiful day. We could drive up to Boone,
cruise around on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then have lunch.”

“
Thanks, I appreciate the
offer, but I want to work. The truth is, I need to keep busy. It’s
the only thing that’s going to help right now.”

He nodded. “Say no more. Why don’t I hang
around though, just in case you change your mind? There’s plenty of
stuff I can do up in my office, and that way I’ll be close by.”

“
Markum, I don’t need a
baby-sitter. I’ll be okay.”

He said, “Of course you will.” As the big,
burly man stood, he added, “Just in case, remember, I’ll be
upstairs in my office if you need me.”

“
Listen, I shouldn’t have
yelled at you before. It’s just—”

He interrupted. “You don’t have to apologize
for anything. I’m just sorry you had to be the one to find
her.”

“
Me, too,” I said, “Hang on
a second; I’ll walk out with you.”

Before I left, I walked behind the counter
and hugged Millie, maybe a little harder than I needed to. “Thank
you.”

She smiled when I pulled away. “You’re most
welcome. If you need me, I’m right here.”

“
I know that, and I
appreciate it, honestly I do.”

Markum and I walked outside, and I saw that
the kayak was still perched on the lowest step near the water.

He followed my gaze and said, “Don’t worry,
I’ll take care of that for you.”

“
Don’t bother. I can’t see
myself ever using it again.”

He said, “You never know.”

Pearly Gray, the handyman to all of River’s
Edge, joined us and said, “What happened? I was just getting out of
my barber’s chair when I heard there was some excitement out
here.”

I started to explain when Markum said,
“Pearly, if you’ll help me carry the kayak up, I’ll fill you in.”
The kayak had handles on both ends for easy portage, but I normally
just threw it over one shoulder. Markum was a lot stronger than I
was, but I realized he was deflecting attention away from me by
enlisting Pearly’s aid, and I appreciated it.

Pearly nodded to Markum after catching the
expression on my face. He had a full head of white hair that was
nearly luminescent and an IQ that was off the charts. Pearly had
been a psychologist in an earlier life, but he’d come to River’s
Edge to work with his hands a few years before I’d inherited the
place.

I said, “Thanks guys, I appreciate the
help.”

“
It’s our pleasure,
Harrison,” Pearly said.

I left them with the kayak and walked to At
Wick’s End. Maybe it was a good thing that Eve Pleasants—my lone
employee and candlemaking mentor—wasn’t scheduled to come in until
noon. I was glad for the respite, and for the first time since I’d
taken over the candle-shop, I found myself hoping that no customers
came in. It was a shock realizing that Becka was really dead,
compounded astronomically by being the one who had found her body.
Becka’s sister had died a few months earlier in a car accident and
I had helped her get over her grief. Suzanne had been her last
close relative, and now I had no one from her immediate family to
share my own grief with. I needed some time to come to grips with
what had happened, but I couldn’t think of a better place to do
that than inside my candleshop.

I was there twenty minutes when Eve joined
me. Her normally dour expression had been replaced by one of
genuine concern. “Harrison, I came as soon as I heard.”

“
You’re not scheduled to
work until noon,” I said. “Let me guess. Millie called
you.”

“
She was worried about you,”
Eve said.

“
She shouldn’t be,” I said,
“And neither should you. Go,” I insisted.

“
Harrison, I’m already here.
What sense does it make for me to leave and just have to come back
in three hours.”

I shrugged. “Go shopping, go back to bed, I
don’t care. Eve, thanks for coming in, but I’m going to be
okay.”

She took it better than I had any right to
expect. As she started putting her coat back on, she said, “You’re
sure about this?”

“
Absolutely. Don’t worry,
I’ll tell Millie that you tried.”

She was shaking her head as she left, but I
was glad she hadn’t put up a fight Eve still knew more about
candle-making than I did, but I was starting to catch up, and after
all, it was my name on the mortgage now, and she knew it.

I was waiting on my second customer of the
day when the telephone rang.

It was Morton, and he had news for me about
what had ended Becka Lane’s life.