Read Online Death Waxed Over (Book 3 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers - Free Book Online

had left
me two newspapers in front of the candleshop when I went downstairs
the next morning. They’d thoughtfully provided yesterday’s edition
of The Gunpowder Gazette, along with Monday’s paper as well. I
considered tossing them in the recycling without reading them, but
my curiosity got the better of me, and after going inside, I
unfolded the papers with dread.
    It was even worse than I’d
expected. candlemaker slain at
fair , the headline screamed across the top
of page one of Sunday’s paper. The top of the fold carried the
story, along with a glamour shot Gretel had used for publicity
announcing the opening of Flickering Lights. When I flipped the
paper over, I was shocked to find my own face staring back. The tag
line under it said, “Harrison Black, rival candlemaker, questioned
at the scene.” It wasn’t the most flattering photo I’d ever seen of
myself, and somehow they’d managed to shade it two tones darker
than normal, giving me a dark and sinister look. If that was how
they’d handled the photograph, I couldn’t imagine what the article
itself said. I scanned it for my name and found it uncomfortably
close to the top. Harrison Black, embroiled in a heated rivalry
with the victim, was present at the scene of the crime. Though Mr.
Black was questioned extensively by the police, he was released due
to insufficient evidence. An anonymous source with the police
department said that though there was an eyewitness to the slaying,
there was no other specific direct evidence against Mr. Black at
the time of his questioning. That was just wonderful. Reading the
article, I was starting to get the suspicion that I’d done it
myself.
    The follow-up paper wasn’t much better, but
at least there were no photographs of me in it. Instead, there was
a small headline below the fold that said the police were close to
an arrest. I was startled to see that it also mentioned several
anonymous tips the police had received, and that they’d even noted
Sheriff Morton’s visit to River’s Edge the night before! It was
obvious someone had been watching the candleshop last night.
    Eve came in and found me reading the paper.
“Honestly, Harrison, don’t you have anything better to do with your
time than read that rag?”
    “ I didn’t buy it. Someone
left it on our doorstep. Did you see this?” I asked, waving the
paper around in the air.
    “ I don’t read rubbish,” she
said, “And you shouldn’t, either. Don’t you have a class to prepare
for?”
    “ Do you honestly think she’s
coming?” Mrs. Jorgenson was strong willed and tough minded, but I
couldn’t believe she’d show up after all the bad publicity I was
getting lately.
    “ Come, Harrison, she’s too
devoted to candlemaking to believe these lies. She’ll be
here.”
    “ Then I’d better get ready
for her, just in case she shows up,” I said.
    I started pulling the supplies we would need
for our next lesson. We’d already covered candles rolled from
beeswax sheets, and touched on dipping candles, too. Now it was
time to pour, something I’d been practicing quite a bit on my own
and was most eager to start teaching.
    Eve came back as I was setting the
worktables up in the classroom for our lesson. From the look on her
face, she was bearing more bad news.
    “ What is it?”
    “ Mrs. Jorgenson called.
She’s not going to be able to make it.”
    I slammed a block of wax down on the table.
“Why am I not surprised?”
    “ Harrison, she had a meeting
she forgot all about, and you know how she loves those
things.”
    As I gathered the materials back together, I
said, “So if she really wanted to be here, when did she reschedule
her next class for?”
    When Eve didn’t answer, I pushed her.
“Well?”
    “ She said she’d let us
know.”
    “ Yeah, right.” I brushed
past Eve and said, “We gave it our best shot, didn’t
we?”
    “ Harrison Black, we’re not
out of this yet.”
    “ Face it, the ship is
sinking, and we’re both going