Death Waxed Over (Book 3 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (19 page)

I shook my head, but led him up the rungs to
the roof. It had been my sanctuary, my peace in the world, and the
sheriff was violating it. I’d considered telling him it was
off-limits, but doing that would only make him that much more
determined to go up there. There was a chance once he saw Pearly
wasn’t up there, he’d drop his crazy notion that I was hiding
him.

I climbed up ahead of him and undid the
hatch. After I stepped out onto the flat roof, Morton was there two
seconds behind me. His gaze took in my storage bin, but since it
was too small to hide Pearly, he didn’t say anything about it.

“
Listen, I’d appreciate it
if you’d keep this to yourself. I come up here sometimes when I
want to get away from the world.”

He looked at me and shook his head. “Who am
I going to tell?”

I followed him around the perimeter of the
rooftop, but neither one of us said another word until we ended
back up at the scuttle.

“
It’s like I told you; he’s
not here.”

“
This is a big building,
Harrison. There are lots of places to hide.”

“
Sheriff, why would he run
from you? You’re not going to arrest him, are you?”

“
If I could get my hands on
him, I might. That newspaper article has brought me nothing but
grief.” I couldn’t imagine the kind of pressure being applied on
him. The Gunpowder Gazette had burned him at the stake for letting
Pearly get away. It made what they’d done to me look like a love
fest.

“
I know it looks bad, but
Pearly didn’t kill her.”

He waited until we were back in my apartment
before he said, “If he’s so innocent, then why is he hiding?”

“
As far as I know, he’s
still in the mountains. What makes you think he’s anywhere near
River’s Edge?”

Morton stormed out of my apartment and said,
“I got a report he was spotted out here last night from a reliable
source. He hasn’t gone far, you can believe that.”

“
Have you checked his place?
Most likely he doesn’t know you’re looking for him. You can’t
accuse Pearly of avoiding you if he’s not aware you’re after
him.”

Morton said, “We’re keeping an eye on his
house, but he’s too smart to go back there. Besides, there are a
lot more places to hide here, and he’s been working this complex
since Belle took over. Don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

We walked back down the stairs, and I was
surprised the sheriff hadn’t insisted on checking out the other
offices while we’d been up there. Markum had a nice space, as did
Gary Cragg and a few other folks.

My answer came when we went outside.

There were three squad cars parked in front
of River’s Edge. It looked like it was going to be a thorough
search after all.

I looked at the patrolmen and said, “You
know, I’m not so sure this is a good idea.”

Morton said, “So you have something to
hide?”

“
No, but I don’t want you
scaring my tenants or their customers. You’re going to have to get
that warrant after all.”

Morton smiled, then reached out his hand to
one of his female officers. She put a folded piece of paper in his
grasp, and after Morton glanced at it, he handed it to me. It was a
search warrant allowing him to look around the entire complex.

“
If you had one of these,
why did you bother asking my permission?”

“
I had to keep you busy
until the warrant got here so you couldn’t warn Pearly
first.”

“
He’s not here,” I
insisted.

“
And I say he is.” Morton
turned to his staff and said, “I’ve already checked the one
apartment upstairs, but there are offices up there, too. You two
check them out.” He turned to the other two officers and said,
“You’all start down by the pottery and I’ll start at the candleshop
at this end. Remember, he’s wanted for questioning at the moment,
and that’s all. No rough stuff. Now go.”

As his team dispersed, I followed him into
my candleshop.

“
I don’t need a chaperone,”
he said.

“
You do if you’re going into
At Wick’s End.”

He didn’t like it, but he knew there wasn’t
anything he could do about it. Eve looked startled when the sheriff
walked in behind me. “Harrison, what is it?” she asked, ignoring
her customer for the moment.

“
He thinks Pearly’s
here.”

“
And you let him storm in
without resistance?”

“
Eve, he’s got a warrant, so
there’s really nothing I can do about it.”

After the sheriff looked around, including
the classroom, the storage area and our small bathroom, he said,
“Okay, I’m going next door.”

I followed him to the door, and he said, “I
can’t stop you from being in your candleshop, but you’re not going
with me everywhere on the grounds.”

“
I own this place, along
with the bank. I can go wherever I please.”

Morton snorted. “And I can haul you in for
obstruction of justice.”

That was about all I was willing to take.
“I’d like to see you try it. I’m not a big fan of Gary Cragg, but I
know you two like each other even less. I’ve got a feeling he’d
love for you to try to keep me away.”

“
Do what you want,” Morton
snapped.

We walked into Heather’s shop, The New Age.
She was reading something at the register, and she nearly dropped
the book when we walked in.

“
I know this isn’t a social
call,” she said, “not with all those patrol cars out front. What is
this, a raid? If you’re looking for contraband, all I’ve got are
some rocks from Sri Lanka, but they were imported before the
ban.”

Morton said, “I’m looking for Pearly
Gray.”

Heather shook her head. “What’s the matter,
is it too dangerous looking for real criminals? He didn’t do
anything, and you know it.”

“
Then why is he on the run?”
Morton said as he pushed through a beaded divider between Heather’s
shop and her backroom. Suddenly he said, “Why is this back door
open? Was he just here?”

Heather stepped past him and closed it. “The
latch isn’t working, and I can’t call Pearly to fix it, now can
I?”

Morton worked the lock, tested the door,
then said, “It looks okay to me.”

“
What can I say? Sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

I turned to Heather and said, “I’ll take a
look at it myself after the sheriff is gone.”

Heather nodded as Morton and I exited
without another word.

Ultimately the three search parties wound up
in front of Millie’s place.

“
Are you satisfied now that
he’s not here, Sheriff?”

Morton said, “Blast it all, I should have
had a man in the alley. Don’t worry, we’ll get him.” He paused,
then said, “If he does turn up here, Harrison, I expect you to call
me. At once.”

“
I’ll be glad to if I see
him.”

After the sheriff and his staff were gone, I
wondered just who had given him the tip that Pearly was at River’s
Edge. If my handyman was hanging around, he knew how to hide. I’d
been all over the building in the last few days, and I hadn’t seen
a trace of him. I grabbed the tool belt from Pearly’s storage area
and went back to Heather’s to fix that lock before someone took
advantage of it.

“
I thought he’d never
leave,” she said.

“
Yeah, he’s convinced
Pearly’s here.”

“
Why are you back, Harrison?
Don’t you have a shop to run?”

“
Eve’s got it covered,” I
said as I pulled out a Phillips head screwdriver. “I’m here to work
on that latch.”

“
I tightened it myself. It
should hold just fine until Pearly comes back.”

I shrugged. “I just hope he decides to.”

“
Harrison Black, you can’t
honestly believe he killed that woman.”

“
Of course I don’t,” I said.
“You have to admit, though, it doesn’t look good, him staying on
the run like this.” While I was fairly certain my friend hadn’t
killed Gretel, Pearly had managed to completely hide his affair
with the woman from me. What else was there about him that I didn’t
know? And what exactly was he capable of if his back was against
the wall?

Heather said, “I’m sure he has his reasons.
Good-bye, Harrison.”

“
See you later,” I said as I
walked back to the candleshop. Heather and Pearly had always been
close, but she should have known she didn’t have to defend him to
me. I wanted to believe just as much as she did that our handy man
and friend hadn’t shot Gretel Barnett. I was beginning to have a
sneaking suspicion who did, but it wasn’t enough. If Morton had
been just a little more receptive to my input, I would have
mentioned the clown Evelyn had seen at the celebration, for
whatever amount of good it would have done. The whole thing was
getting pretty complicated, and I didn’t have a clue who to trust,
or how far.

I knew one thing, though. Clown makeup was a
perfect disguise that day, and there was no doubt in my mind that
the killer would easily blend back into the festival’s scenery
after shooting Gretel. But who could the clown have been? I took
the tool belt and put it back in Pearly’s workroom. My foot kicked
something as I laid the belt back on the workbench. I had to get a
yardstick out to retrieve it as it skittered under the workbench.
It was a tube of greasepaint with the logo from Party World on
it.

Just like something a clown would wear.

The PW logo was tough to spot, faint silver
print inscribed on the silver case, and I wondered if the murderer
had even noticed it. The police would have, though; I was sure of
that. I was just glad I’d found it and not the sheriff. If I’d told
Morton about the sighting before he’d searched the building, that
tube would be a strong piece of evidence against Pearly. Was it
possible that someone was setting him up? Evelyn had been emphatic
about seeing the clown, and that could be pretty damning testimony.
Or was she lying, trying to frame Pearly?

I grabbed an empty jar and nudged the tube
into it, then sealed the lid. If there were fingerprints on it, I
didn’t want to disturb them any more than I had. More importantly,
I wanted to get that tube out of River’s Edge before Morton found a
way to tie it to what had happened at the festival. I searched the
workroom as best I could, but I couldn’t find anything else that
could be construed as evidence against Pearly. I decided to stash
what I’d found with April May until I could figure out who was out
to frame my handyman. The possibility that he’d left it there
himself was one I wasn’t willing to consider at the moment.

I was nearly at A Slice of Heaven before I
realized I hadn’t told Eve where I was going. I’d have to make it a
quick trip before she walked out on me in protest of my increasing
absences from the candleshop. Though my assistant and my handyman
had gone through some personal problems in the past, I was willing
to bet she didn’t believe him capable of killing either.

I took the jar off the truck seat beside me
and wrapped it in a worn T-shirt I kept under the seat to use as a
rag when I washed one of my pickups.

It was between the lunch and dinner rushes,
and I found April studying the selections on the jukebox. “Harrison
Black, it’s good to see you out in the world again.”

“
It’s good to be here,” I
said. “April, I need a favor. No questions asked.”

“
Name it,” she
said.

“
It’s going to be that
easy?”

April grinned. “You just told me I couldn’t
ask about it. Besides, if I push you on it now, you’re going to
have to come up with a lie, and I don’t believe in lying between
friends.”

“
You’re one of a kind,” I
said.

“
And more of the world
should take notice of it,” she said. “Now what can I do for
you?”

“
I need you to hide this for
me.”

She took the covered jar, then said, “Is it
dangerous? Will it bite, explode or leak?”

“
No, if you look at it that
way, it’s perfectly safe.”

She nodded. “But it’s dangerous nonetheless,
gotcha. Consider it in safe hands.”

I hugged her, and as I pulled back, I saw
April blush slightly. “Thanks,” I said, “I do appreciate it.”

“
Not a problem. I would like
to ask you for a favor myself. Don’t worry, I’ll hide this no
matter what your answer is.”

“
What is it?”

“
When this is all over, will
you tell me what I’ve been hiding?”

“
I promise.”

As I drove back to River’s Edge, I felt a
wash of relief getting that makeup out of the complex. Now I needed
to find out who had placed it there, and why they were so eager to
set my friend up.

I decided to stop off at Party World on my
way back to the candleshop. Eve wouldn’t be happy about the delay,
but I had to find out how tough that greasepaint was to buy. I was
hoping that maybe, just maybe, the killer had slipped up
somehow.

“
I’m looking for some
greasepaint, the kind that clowns wear,” I asked the clerk at Party
World. The building, full of costumes, balloons, plates, cups and
everything else needed for a celebration, was laid out like a maze,
and I hadn’t had any luck after searching the aisles for ten
minutes. I’d finally found a teenaged employee who was more
interested in making time with the female clerk beside him than
helping me. Only by standing directly between them did I finally
manage to get his attention.