A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (13 page)

“
Thanks, Pearly,” I said.
“Have you had a chance to speak with Heather and Sanora
yet?”

“
No, but I’ve got them on my
schedule. I have high hopes, Harrison.”

“
Listen, don’t take it as a
personal insult if you can’t work things out between them,” I said
as I walked him to the door.

“
You should have more faith
in me than that,” he said, a smile on his lips.

“
I’m just saying that their
history runs hot and deep. Keep that in mind.”

He patted my shoulder gently. “Thank you for
your concern.”

Three minutes later the overhead light came
on and I had power in the candleshop again. I just hoped Pearly
would be as successful when he talked to Heather and Sanora.

It was a busy morning, and I was happy for
the distractions of selling candlemaking supplies to the public.
The more I worked in At Wick’s End, the larger my list of customers
grew, and more importantly, the bigger my circle of friends. I knew
folks who traveled in all walks of life. When my great-aunt left me
River’s Edge, I never dreamed she’d be changing my life so much. I
still had her letter in a simple frame upstairs, the one where
she’d first told me I was about to inherit the complex. I could
remember reading it in the lawyer’s office, amazed by the scope of
what Belle was suggesting.

The most important words she’d given me were
when she’d said, “Candles bring light into the world, my boy, and
we need all the illumination we can get.” I tried to live up to
those words every day.

A middle-aged woman came into the shop and
went directly to the mold releases. If she’d been in the store
before, I hadn’t noticed her.

“
Can I help you?” I
asked.

She looked at me through squinted eyes. “I
don’t know, can you? I assume you are willing to assist me, since
you appear to be working in this establishment, but that is the
question, isn’t it? Can you help me?”

“
I surely hope so,” I said,
not sure what I was getting myself into. “Do you need some
release?”

“
I do indeed. Belle Black,
the proprietress here and the woman I assume is your immediate
superior, used to carry a product in a gray and red can, but I’m
afraid I’ve forgotten the name of it.”

I said, “You’re looking for Yukon Release.”
I handed her a can, then said, “They changed the label, but the
product’s still the same. Will there be anything else?”

She looked around the store,, then said, “I
was hoping ‘ to spend a moment or two chatting with Belle. I’ve
been touring Australia. She’d yearned to go with me, but I’m afraid
her finances and commitments here limited her traveling.” She
patted her handbag and said, “I’ve brought her a souvenir I know
she’ll absolutely adore.”

I hadn’t had to tell any customers about my
great- aunt’s demise in months, and I was finally hoping I wouldn’t
have to anymore. Belle was loved by a great many people, and I
hadn’t found an easy way to pass the news on, despite countless
times to practice.

“
I’m sorry to have to tell
you this, but she died while you were away.” I said, not wanting to
go into details unless I was pressed.

“
Oh, dear. That’s dreadful,”
the woman said as she stumbled back against a shelf full of votive
molds. “Was it her heart?”

I shook my head. “I’m afraid it was more
ominous I than that. She was killed here in the candleshop.”

“
That is ghastly,” the woman
said. “And you’re the new owner? Did Eve leave you as
well?”

“
I’m the owner, but Eve’s
still here. I’m Harrison Black,” I said as I offered her my
hand.

“
Candace Grishaber,” she
said. It took her a moment, then she added, “Black, did you say?
Were you related to Belle?”

“
She was my great-aunt,” I
said.

“
And she was my great
friend,” she said. “I’ll miss her.”

“
As do I,” I said. I
couldn’t bear the thought of spending any more time dwelling on the
past. It left me sad and empty inside, and it did nothing to bring
Belle’s memory back. “Are you done?”

She arched one eyebrow. “I suppose if I were
a turkey I might be done. As it is though, I am human, therefore I
am finished.”

I started to reply when she said, “Forgive a
retired English teacher. We never quite get over correcting our
students.”

“
You’re forgiven,” I said as
I rang up her purchase. “I hope you visit again.”

“
You can count on it, my
dear young man.”

Eve walked in for her shift ten minutes
after Mi Grishaber had gone. When I told her about the visit, Eve
said, “Belle really did want to go with Candace, but she couldn’t
swing it I told her it was just as well. The woman’s fussbudgeting
would have driven her crazy inside a week. No, that’s not fair.
Belle would have found it charming. On the other hand, I would have
shoved her out of the jet before we even took off.”

She glanced at the report I ran midday and
said, “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

“
It’s been steady. Eve, I
hate to ask, but could you watch the place for me this afternoon?
There are a few more things I need to take care of.”

“
Harrison Black, are you
sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong?”

“
That’s a matter of opinion,
I guess.”

Eve studied me a second, then said, ‘Try not
to get arrested, would you? I don’t think the candleshop could take
any more negative publicity.”

“
I’ll try, but I can’t make
any promises,” I said. - In all honesty, there was something
besides looking into Becka’s murder that I needed to do at the
moment. I wasn’t about to give up on my friend Cyrus, no matter
what Morton had said There had to be a way around that guard, and I
knew in my heart that if I could get Cyrus to talk to me, we could
straighten this all out.

Either that or I might be spending the night
in one of only two jail cells in all of Micah’s Ridge.

Despite my good intentions,
I never even got close to Cyrus. The driveway was blocked off with
sawhorses, and a different, tougher-looking man was standing patrol
just inside the property. From my earlier confrontation, I knew
that the perimeter was wired, so there was no getting in that way.
I was going to have to rely on Sheriff Morton to find out what was
happening with my
friend.

My stomach grumbled and I realized I’d
forgotten all about lunch. I didn’t want to head back to River’s
Edge. Eve might see me there and expect me to work. Instead, I
drove to A Slice of Heaven for some pizza and a Coke. April May was
behind the counter, running a report on her cash register.

“
Any chance I could get a
slice?” I asked.

“
Absolutely. I’m just
checking my numbers. I’ve got a new girl on the register,” she said
in a softer voice, “and since she started, the totals just don’t
add up.”

“
Do you think she’s stealing
from you?” April shook her head. “No, it’s more likely she’s having
trouble making change. I’m going to have a talk with her, but I
wanted something to back it up, so she ran the register by herself
for the lunch rush.” She studied the tape, then said, I already
checked the till. It’s worse than I thought.”

“
Is there a lot
missing?”

She shook her head. “That I could live with
if I had to, but I’ve got twenty-seven dollars and seventeen cents
that don’t belong to me.” She shrugged, then said, “This isn’t
going to be pretty. Let me get your slice started.”

After she slid one into the oven to reheat I
said, “I’d ask you to join me, but it sounds like you’ve got a mess
on your hands.”

“
If she was anybody else I
could just fire her, but she happens to be my best friend’s
daughter. Fm not sure I what I’m going to do, but I know one thing.
She’s worked her last shift at the register.”

I decided to hang out by the counter since
the lunch crowd was gone. April grabbed my Coke, then said,
“Shouldn’t you be selling candles or something?”

“
Probably, but I’m working
on something and I can’t stop.”

She nodded. “You’re looking for your friend
Becka’s killer, aren’t you?”

“
Now how in the world did
you know that?” I knew Micah’s Ridge was small, but the grapevine
could be eerie at times.

“
I overheard something here
last night. Folks are talking about you, how you found the body and
took it upon yourself to investigate. Harrison, you’ve been asking
questions around town. People are bound to talk.”

“
Well, I wish I could deny
it, but it’s all true. I don’t buy the theory that Becka overdosed
for a second. She hated pills. I just wish I had something more to
go on.”

April looked around her restaurant, though
there was no one within twenty feet of us. “Have you looked around
for a boyfriend?”

“
I’ve tried I’ve come up
with a couple of leads, but nothing I can be sure of.”

April wiped the counter down, or at least
pretended to. “Two weeks ago she was in here with a man it shocked
me to see her with.”

“
Who was it?’

“
Do you know Greg
Runion?”

“
I’ve had the misfortune to
deal with him a time or two in the past. Did they come here on a
date?”

“
I don’t know if you could
call it a date,” she said. They were arguing about something, and
she left in a huff. Funny thing is, just outside she ran into Hank
Klein, and they started arguing, too.” She added, “Hang on a
second. Let me get that slice for you.”

A young woman with long red hair pulled back
into a ponytail approached April and asked, “You wanted to see
me?”

“
Hang on a second; let me
take care of this customer.”

“
Would you like me to ring
the sale up?” she asked eagerly.

“
No, it’s already taken care
of.”

April slid the pizza across to me, then
nudged me away from the counter with a single look.

I took the pizza, grabbed my Coke and sat at
one of the tables near the jukebox. I wasn’t in the mood for music
with my meal, though. As I ate the slice, I kept thinking about
what an odd combination Runion and Becka made. Markum was starting
to believe that it could have been Runion’s voice we’d heard on
Becka’s answering machine, but I was still positive it was
Klein’s.

After I ate, I had some time to kill before
I went back to the candleshop, so I decided to pay a visit to
Runion and see if he’d deny what April had just told me. Markum was
convinced that Runion could be Becka’s secret boyfriend, but even
with what April had just told me, I couldn’t see it Still, I wanted
to hear his voice again in person to see if I could compare it with
the man on the answering machine. I’d deal with Markum later. The
last thing he needed was to lose any more sleep over this.

Runion’s secretary Jeanie was behind her
desk, and she greeted me with a smile when I walked in. “If it
isn’t Harrison Black. How are you this fine day?” Her Tennessee
accent melted as she spoke, her voice filled with different
inflections from the ones found in my part of North Carolina.

‘
I’m fine, Jeanie, how are
you?”

“
I’m so healthy I could
crow.”

“
That’s good to hear. Is
your boss in?”

Her smile dimmed. “Greg’s back there, but I
should warn you, he’s been in a bear of a mood lately.”

I lowered my voice and asked, “Could I ask
you something?”

“
Anything,” Jeanie
said.

“
Is there a chance Runion’s
had a secret girlfriend over the last few months?”

Jeanie frowned. “Do you mean just one? He
fancies himself a lady’s man, and evidently there are some women
attracted to the slick, greasy type.”

Runion came out of his office. “Jeanie, who
are you talking to?” He spotted me and said, “Black, what are you
doing here? I thought we were through talking.” It was obvious he
wasn’t trying to sell me anything, or buy anything from me, either.
I was getting the real Greg Runion, an ugly face he kept well
hidden from the rest of the world. “If this is about buying Cyrus
Walters’s land, you’re wasting your breath.”

“
How do you know I didn’t
come by to break Belle’s will like you asked me to?”

That got his attention. “Let’s talk, then.
Come on into my office. Jeanie, hold my calls.” He paused at the
door, then added, “Unless it’s Sam Ridgway.”

Runion thought a second, then added, “I’m
waiting to hear from Dale James, too. You know what, I’ll take
whoever calls.”

My number-one status was dropping
precipitously as he walked in behind me.

He sat behind his expansive desk and said,
“Now what’s it going to take to get you to break that
agreement?”

“
First you have to answer
some of my questions, and I want the truth.”

He looked startled, but nodded. “Fire
away.”

“
Have you been dating Becka
Lane recently?”

A cloud crossed his brow. “Harrison, I’m a
single man. I date a lot of women in the course of a year.”

“
I’m talking about a few
weeks ago. Your memory should be clear on that.” I added, “Don’t
bother denying it, someone saw you two out a few weeks
ago.”

Runion reluctantly admitted, “We might have
had dinner a time or two, but we weren’t dating. In fact, she
turned me down the last time I asked her out. Turns out she was
seeing somebody new.”