At Wick's End (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (5 page)

“
Who’s there?” I called out
into the night.

There was no answer, and I thought about
checking it out more thoroughly, but the darkness was getting to
me. I decided the best place for me to be was on the other side of
that locked door. I didn’t really breathe again until I was safely
inside. No doubt it had just been my imagination, but I still felt
better with all the lights of the shop blazing.

I was so lost in the world of candles in At
Wick’s End that the storm was on me before I realized what was
happening. There was a flash of light, followed almost immediately
by the crack of thunder, and instantly I was plunged into
darkness.

River’s Edge was without power, and I was
alone in a strange place in complete and utter blackness.

Right on its heels, another explosion of
lightning ripped through the night, blinding me for an instant as
the candle-making shop was bathed in sudden white light. I
remembered seeing boxes of decorative matches near the cash
register, so I felt my way toward it between flashes of lightning.
Outside, the rain was drumming against the windows like fists
hammering urgently to get in. I struck a match and followed its
brief light to the display candles up front. Grabbing the nearest
twisted taper, I lit it, feeling instantly better now that I had my
own source of light. It was amazing how much illumination it
offered. The flickering flame from the candle in my hand was no
match for the next burst of lightning though. As the brutal force
of the flash vanished, it was followed almost instantly by a
thundering roar that shook me so violently I nearly dropped the
candle. I could smell the burning ozone in the air as I fought to
get my sight back.

My eyes were just starting to clear when
another flash of lightning blasted into the room.

Even worse luck, I happened to be looking
toward one of the bay windows in front of the candleshop. The
lightning strike was like a blow to the chest, driving me back
against a display bench, and extinguishing the candle in my
grasp.

But it wasn’t just the harshness of the
explosion that made me stumble backward. There, by the window, was
a bloodless white face peering in at me.

I dropped the candle as my back hit a
display shelf, my sight lost again from the flash of lightning. The
man outside beat on the window and yelled, “Open up,” as I
scrambled blindly for the beeswax candle. I finally chased it down
under one of the shelves. That’s the problem with cylindrical
objects; they have a tendency to roll. Just as I started to light
the wick again, the power came back on.

The ghostly face I’d seen was clear now with
illumination. Standing outside the shop was a man in uniform,
soaked to the bone, with one of the palest complexions I’d ever
seen in my life. He flashed a badge and repeated his command to
open up.

I did so, but not before grabbing a
hand-forged iron candlestand that would do in a pinch as a
weapon.

“
I’m one soaked rat,” the
cop said as he walked in, shaking the water from his jacket and
running his fingers through his hair.  “The rain’s coming down
so hard and blowing in under the awning I didn’t have a chance.” He
noticed the stand in my hand and added, “Plan on clubbing a cop,
are you?”

“
Do you mind if I have
another look at that badge?”

He grinned, a reaction that surprised me.
“Don’t mind a bit. Listen, I hate to leave puddles all over your
store, Belle would have shot me. How about getting me a towel from
the bathroom? She keeps extras on the shelf above the mirror.”

I glanced at his badge, then retrieved a
towel. Man, I was getting too paranoid for my own good. First, the
wind had rustled through the bushes, then that storm really had
given me the creeps. Seeing the sheriff’s pale face lurking in the
window hadn’t helped matters.

As he dried off, the sheriff said, “My
name’s Coburn. You must be Harrison. Belle told me a lot about you.
She was a truly fine lady.”

I nodded. “I think so too. Did you come to
investigate the break-in upstairs?”

Coburn shook his head, drying some of the
moisture from his hair. “I thought Stevens took care of that.”

“
He seemed to think it was
some random act of violence,” I said.

“
And you believe
differently,” he said flatly.

“
Think about it. Whoever
broke in had to have had a key. There was no sign that the lock had
been forced, and Lucas Young swears he locked the door behind him
when he came by to do his inventory this morning. The lock worked
fine too, I tested it myself after everyone else was gone. And
another thing, what thief in his right mind would randomly break
into an apartment on the second floor of a building like this? It
just doesn’t make sense.”

“
So your instincts are
better than my man’s,” he said evenly. “Mind if I ask what
qualifications you’ve got?”

I debated telling him I’d cut my teeth on
Agatha Christie, and had continued my love affair with mysteries
ever since. I figured out the killer more times than not in just
about every book I read, but I doubted it would carry much weight
with him. “Common sense. I tried to tell your man that, but he
seemed more concerned with your jewelry store robbery.”

The sheriff stopped toweling his hair for a
moment as he gave me a solid stare. “The robbery’s nothing, as far
as I’m concerned. It’s the murder that’s got my blood boiling. I
take it personally when somebody dies in my jurisdiction.”

Okay, I had to admit he had a point. “I
understand that, but I still don’t like the idea of somebody
breaking in Belle’s place, no matter what your deputy thinks
happened.”

Coburn said, “I read the report. Like you
said, there was no sign of forced entry, so the door was either
unlocked when the thief got there, or whoever was up there had a
key. Either way, that problem should be over now that you have a
new lock on the apartment door.”

“
How did you know that?” I
asked.

“
I was playing chess with
Christine Lanina when you called her. Christine’s not just a good
locksmith, she’s a fine chess player. Blast it all, I thought I had
her last move figured out, but she managed to come up with
something new, so now I’m stuck again.”

I took the offered towel back from him,
considerably wetter now, and said, “Thanks for explaining how you
knew about the new lock. I was beginning to think everybody in
Micah’s Ridge knew what I was up to.”

He laughed, but there wasn’t a great deal of
humor in it. “Don’t kid yourself, Harrison, everybody most likely
does. You lived in big cities too long. It sounds like you’ve
forgotten what it’s like to live in a small town.”

A thought suddenly struck me. “So if you’re
not here about the burglary, why did you come out here on a night
like this?”

He shrugged. “Belle didn’t believe in
funerals, so there was no real way for me to say good-bye. I argued
with her till I was blue in the face that the funeral wouldn’t have
been for her at all. It’s a way for folks to deal with their loss,
you know what I mean?” He studied his hands a moment, then added,
“Anyway, I drove out here because I miss her. You have my
condolences. The world’s a little darker without her in it.”

I took his hand, surprised by the gesture
and the softness in his voice. “Thanks, I appreciate that. I miss
her too.”

Coburn glanced outside, and for the first
time I noticed that the storm had abated during our conversation.
He followed my gaze and said, “It’s just drizzling now. I’d better
get on home.” The sheriff started for the door, then added, “You’re
working pretty late yourself, aren’t you?”

“
I couldn’t sleep,” I
admitted.

Coburn nodded. “Lot of that going around
these days.” He took a card from his wallet and handed it to me.
“Anything else comes up, you call me.”

I took the card. “Thanks. I appreciate
that.”

After he was gone, I turned off the lights
and locked up the store.

The storm had been a release for me, a
purging. My jumpiness earlier was now gone. The intensity of the
lightning barrage, and then the sight of what had looked like a
corpse outside my window had buried me in a wash of adrenaline.
Suddenly, I was so tired I barely made it up the stairs back to my
apartment, and to my great surprise, sleep came easily after
all.

Chapter 4

“
Millie, these are the best
doughnuts I’ve ever had in my life, blueberry or otherwise,” I said
as I finished the third on my plate at The Crocked Pot the next
morning. There were quite a few people there, no doubt due to
Millie’s fine offerings. She’d saved me two, and I’d added a third
myself from the quickly-dwindling stack under glass on the counter.
I was in the habit of walking in the evenings for exercise at my
old apartment, something I was going to have to start again if I
was going to be able to keep fitting into my clothes. I’ve got a
weakness for the taste and aroma of freshly baked goodies, and I
could see my relationship with Millie was going to be trying, a
constant battle with temptation. This time temptation won, hands
down.

“
That’s a real compliment,”
she said. “Are you sure you won’t have another?”

I patted my stomach. “Not if I’m going to be
able to fit through the door of At Wick’s End.”

I was just tossing my paper plate in the
trash can when Gary Cragg, the attorney from upstairs, came in.
“Mr. Black, I need a moment of your time.”

“
That’s about all I can
give you,” I said. “I’ve got to move my things to River’s Edge
before we open the candle shop this morning.” In truth, I knew I
should have moved the day before, or even slept in my old apartment
until I could get settled at Belle’s, but I hadn’t been up to
tackling it after the day I’d had. I had to admit, it would feel
more comforting having my own things around me again. I hadn’t
minded using Belle’s shampoo, though I did smell faintly of
apricots now, but I drew the line at borrowing her razor, and the
stubble on my chin was starting to bother me.

Cragg looked around at the customers
enjoying Millie’s breakfast offerings. “I’ll take whatever time you
can give me, but I’d much rather speak with you in private. Why
don’t we go up to my office?”

“
Walking up and down the
stairs would burn all the time I’ve got.” I thought about it a
second, then suggested, “I can give you a minute outside on the
front steps. Otherwise, it will have to wait until tonight.” I was
pushing my luck as it was, planning to pack my meager belongings,
move them to River’s Edge and still have time to prep myself for
the next day’s candlemaking lesson with Mrs. Jorgenson. Eve had
been emphatic that I get in more practice rolling candles before I
tackled the important private lesson with the woman who could make
or break us.

Cragg glanced at his watch. “We can’t do
this in a minute or two. I’m free after five. We’ll meet in my
office then.”

With that, he dismissed me, but I didn’t
have time to come up with something snappy to say in response. I’ve
been known to have a slight problem with authority figures in the
past, so I didn’t take too kindly to the order implicit in his
request, especially since he was my tenant, and not the other way
around.

Maybe I’d show up at five, and maybe I
wouldn’t.

At the moment, I had some packing to do.

It was amazing how little I’d acquired in
the way of possessions over the years. After packing two boxes of
keepsakes, a suitcase and travel bag stuffed with clothes, I was
ready to move. I tossed out some things in my refrigerator that had
been in there so long they were taking on lives of their own and
grabbed a stack of paperbacks and magazines I’d already read to
give to Mrs. Harper, the sweet old gal who lived next door. We
often made it a habit of swapping reading materials. She had the
most eclectic tastes of anybody I’d ever known, and a mind that had
sharpened to a fine point over the years from her constant
reading.

After I brought her up-to-date on my vastly
changed life, she said, “I hate to see you go, Harrison. I’m going
to miss you.”

As I handed her my ragtag collection of
reading materials, I said, “I’ll miss you too, but I can’t stay. It
just makes sense this way now that I’ve got an apartment over the
candle shop. Don’t worry, I’ll come see you when I get the
chance.”

“
I might just surprise
you,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “I’ve always been quite
fond of candles. I may just come visit you at your store sometime
soon.”

“
That would be great. Just
give me time to get settled in first.”

She smiled softly, “And wait until you learn
how to make candles as well?” She patted my hand. “Don’t worry.
You’ll do fine, Harrison.”

“
Thank you,
ma’am.”

She surprised us both by kissing me on the
cheek just before saying good-bye.

And that was that, the final tie I had to my
old life. At least it was near the end of the month, so I didn’t
waste much on unused rent. The landlord took my key, shrugged but
otherwise showed no sign that my presence would be missed.

I loaded everything in the back of my pickup
and I was on my way to my new home.

“
Good morning,” I said as I
walked into At Wick’s End seventeen minutes before it officially
opened.

Eve said, “Belle and I had a morning routine
before the shop opened every morning. We arrive forty-five minutes
before the doors are unlocked.” She tried to hide the scolding in
her voice.

“
I had to move my things
here from my old apartment,” I said, finding it odd that the owner
was explaining his non-tardiness to his employee like a small child
in school. I added, “By the way, if you’re interested, I’ve got a
few boxes of Belle’s things if you’d like to look through them
before I take them to the Salvation Army.”