Death Waxed Over (Book 3 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) Read Online Free

and if
the pyrotechnics kept up, I was in for a major headache before it
was time to wrap up and go home.
    “ I’d better go now then,” I
said. “Do you want anything? How about some aspirin?”
    “ No, I’m fine. To be honest
with you, I kind of like the noise. It makes me feel
alive.”
    I cut through the back way toward the
concession area rather than fight the crowd. It was roped off for
the vendors only, and I was glad to have the shortcut. Gretel
didn’t even notice as I passed within three feet of her table. She
was busy selling an expensive candlemaking kit to a woman with
frosted hair piled high on her head in a beehive. We sold the same
kits ourselves at our shop, but not for as much as she was
charging. I kicked myself for not bringing more of the high-dollar
items too, but I’d only had so much room on my table with my
giveaway and kids area. As I walked to the concession area, I
nearly tripped over a clown perched on the courthouse steps.
Dressed in full makeup and costume, he looked more at home at the
celebration than I did. Maybe Eve had been right. I probably should
have stayed home.
    I grabbed a sausage-and-egg biscuit and an
orange juice from one of the food vendors and nearly knocked Pearly
down as I turned around to head back to my table.
    “ I didn’t know you were
coming to the festivities,” I said.
    Pearly said, “A man has to do something with
his time off. Harrison, there’s something I need to discuss with
you.”
    “ Walk with me back to my
table and we can talk along the way,” I said. I didn’t want to
leave Heather alone for too long.
    He glanced toward my spot, then shook his
head. “I’d rather not, if you don’t mind. We could go over to the
courthouse steps away from the crowd, though.”
    “ Pearly, I’d love to be able
to do that, but Heather’s watching my table for me, and I can’t
leave her alone. Is it something that can wait?”
    “ I suppose so,” he said
reluctantly.
    “ Good. We’ll talk about it
first thing Monday morning then.”
    I started back toward my table, wolfing down
the biscuit as I walked. I’d probably get indigestion from the fast
meal on my feet, but I didn’t have much choice. I tossed the
wrapper and empty carton of juice into a trash can near the cannon,
wiped my hands on my bandana, then ran my hand around the inside
rim of the pitted metal of the empty barrel for good luck before I
walked back to my vending spot amid the noise of firecrackers
exploding all around me.
    While I was still fifteen feet away from my
table, I noticed a commotion out of the corner of my eye and turned
just in time to see Gretel crumple to the ground, knocking her
display down in the process.
    At first I thought she’d had a heart attack,
but as I raced closer, I saw a blood stain blossom on the back of
her dress.
    During one of the constant fireworks bursts,
someone had taken the opportunity to kill my chief competition.
    Before I could take it all in, a woman in
her mid-forties pointed right at me and screamed, “He shot her.
That’s the man who shot her.”

Chapter 3

    “ I
didn’t shoot her,” I protested, feeling my legs weaken with the
accusation.
    The woman was not to be deterred, though.
She screamed hysterically, “He threw the gun into that trash can! I
saw him do it!”
    Sheriff Morton, the law enforcement chief
for the entire county, was beside me in a heartbeat. His ruddy
complexion and brown hair were in sharp contrast to his
predecessor’s washed-out appearance, but I couldn’t count either of
the men as friends. “Harrison, what’s she talking about?”
    “ She’s nuts, Sheriff, I
didn’t do it.”
    He looked toward Gretel’s motionless form
and commanded, “Wait right here. I’ll straighten this out.” While
Morton went to check on Gretel, my accuser stood there just staring
at me, a few steps in front of the other onlookers.
    I started toward the sheriff to see if there
was anything I could do to help when the woman