Snuffed Out (Book 2 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Read Free Book Online Page A

for a spot near the jukebox, then
saw Heather sitting in the corner by herself. I approached and
asked softy, “Care for some company?”
    She looked up, startled by the sound of my
voice. “Oh. Hi, Harrison.”
    “ Listen, I didn’t mean to
interrupt, but I’ll be over there if you want somebody to talk
to.”
    I started for the place I’d intended to sit
all along when she called out, “That’s okay, you can stay.”
    It wasn’t the warmest invitation I’d ever
gotten in my life, but I sat with her anyway.
    I glanced at the menu and said, “What did
you order? I’m not sure what I feel like today.”
    “ I don’t have much of an
appetite,” she admitted as she twisted her glass on the
table.
    “ Well, I feel like pizza,
and I can’t eat one by myself. You don’t have to have any, you can
take a piece and sneer at it if you want.” She wasn’t interested in
my banter or my smile, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I
saw the owner, April May, wearing an apron that said, “Pizza, the
world’s most perfect food.” Her flaming red hair was pulled back
into a braid, and though business was starting to pick up, she
trotted right over to our table.
    “ Hey, Harrison,” she offered
as she watched Heather carefully. It was clear she was worried
about her friend.
    “ April, may we have a
pizza?”
    “ Gee, I haven’t heard that
one before,” she said with a slight groan. “What can I get for
you?”
    “ We’ll take a garb—a Heaven
Scent pizza, please. Better make it a medium, Heather said she
isn’t hungry.”
    April said, “You know what? I feel like
making a large. Hope you don’t mind. What you don’t eat you can
take home for breakfast. Refill, Heather?”
    She glanced up at the restaurateur, then
back at her soda. “Sure, why not?”
    “ How about you? What are you
drinking?” April asked me.
    “ I’ll have what she’s
having.”
    “ Two Dr Peppers and a large
Heaven Scent. Back in a shake.”
    “ You can stop it now,”
Heather said as soon as April was out of sight.
    “ Stop what?”
    ‘ Trying to cheer me up. I’m
in no mood for it.”
    I said, “Listen, I’m sorry about what
happened to Aaron.” The last thing Heather wanted to hear were my
suspicions about Aaron’s demise.
    “ It wasn’t an accident,”
Heather said, her gaze on her glass and not on me.
    I remembered what Markum had told me and
wondered what had brought Heather to the same conclusion. “Why do
you say that?”
    “ Aaron never threw his work
on an electric wheel,” she said. “Somebody should tell the
sheriff.”
    “ He already knows,” I said,
“And he doesn’t believe it was foul play for a second. According to
Morton, Aaron was experimenting. That’s why he never noticed the
frayed cord, he wasn’t used to working on that wheel.”
    “ That is complete and utter
nonsense,” Heather said. “You didn’t know Aaron all that well, but
I can tell you, he was a fanatic when it came to keeping the
equipment in his shop in good working order. I’d like to see that
cord myself. How badly was it frayed?”
    I admitted, “It was pretty bad. But who
would want to kill him?”
    “ Do you mean besides me?”
she asked sullenly.
    “ Come on, you can’t believe
anyone would think you were a suspect.”
    Heather started to say something, then
stopped when April came up with our drinks. She noticed the
truncated conversation, and for a change April dropped off the
sodas and scampered away without comment.
    “ You were getting ready to
say something,” I nudged her.
    “ It’s not important. Listen,
thanks for trying, but I can’t do this.”
    Before I could stop her, Heather was
gone.
    I thought about going after her, but when
she was finally ready to talk, Heather knew where to find me.
    A few minutes later April slid the large
pizza in front of me. She said, “Please tell me Heather went to the
little girls’ room.”
    “ She walked out on me,” I
said.
    “ And you didn’t stop