Read Murder on the Candlelight Tour for Free Online Page B

if there's something he left out that we can use in his defense."
    "Sure. I'll go see him as soon as I walk you home."
    Swiftly now, shadows in the streets lengthened as the sun dropped behind Eagle Island. With the winter solstice almost upon us, nightfall was arriving earlier and earlier these days.
    We reached my house where already a line had formed. "That was nice, Jon." I stretched to kiss him on the cheek. "You're a dear. I've got to get inside."
    "I'll check on Binkie and see what I can learn."
    I started up the walk, waving. "Tell him I'll pick him up at eight. We're going to see The Nutcracker tonight."
     

 
     
     
     
    7
     
    Candlelight behind lace curtains beckoned me to my own front door. Rachel was here and the docents too. Rachel had a key so she could let herself and them inside.
    I turned my key in the front door just as she pulled it open for me. Over her shoulder I saw Nick standing in the reception hall. I dropped my sweater on a bench. "What are you doing here? And where's your little friend?"
    "Friend? Oh, you mean Lisa. She's back at headquarters, managing the news releases. With this murder, we're all pulling double shifts."
    "Then why are you here?" I challenged him, assuming he'd rather be at headquarters with Lisa.
    "I thought I'd stay with you through the tour, watch the crowd for you."
    My heart leapt with joy. "You haven't given up. You're watching for the killer. You think he'll return to the scene of the crime. On television, they always do."
    "This isn't television! And we've got men watching Professor Higgins," Nick said.
    So Binkie hadn't been imagining things. He was being watched by the police. He was still the prime suspect.
    "I'm surprised we were allowed to open, Nick. Did the police go along with that decision?"
    "The chief didn't object. There was no reason to close you down. No safety issue."
    "What about out of respect for Sheldon Mackie?" I asked.
    "I don't know about that. That's not my area. Someone was quoted as saying he'd have wanted it this way."
    "Someone was rationalizing a guilty conscience," I declared.
    "Look, Ashley, isn't it enough that I want to be with you? I know this has all been upsetting for you, and I was hoping we could talk."
    I sighed deeply. "Yes, it's been very upsetting. I've lost one good friend to a murderer, and the other to the police. What do you want to talk about?"
    "Later. We'll talk later. There isn't time now."
    Nick was an enigma, I knew that. I pretended not to care. But I did care. "Whatever," I murmured. "Your guys took the rug from the library. Hopefully, the real killer left evidence on it that will clear Binkie."
    The doorbell chimed and I opened it to see Betty Matthews urging a crowd to stand back. "Let me pass!" she commanded in an authoritative drawl.
    Once inside, she exclaimed, "Ah declare, Ashley, you will never believe what's going on out there. The entire tour is lined up at your house. The line stretches around the block."
    "Oh, no! You mean there's no one at the other houses? Everyone's here?"
    Betty was rearranging her mussed hair with her fingertips. "'Fraid so. Okay, just point me toward the rooms you want me to cover."
    "I'll show you," Rachel said, guiding Betty toward the rear of the house.
    The grandfather clock on the landing chimed four. "Well, this is it." I peered out the window at the crowd, and said to Nick, "Maybe it's a good thing you are here. There's a real crowd out there. And they look mighty impatient. Maybe this is a safety issue."
    A chunky, pugnacious woman pushed her way in aggressively, her eyes darting first to the parlor, then beyond the stairs to the rear hall. Shoving her ticket in my face, she demanded, "Just show me where it happened."
    "The tour starts in the parlor, ma'am. This way," I said firmly, my arm indicating the large, formal room where the docent waited.
    "Skip it," the woman growled. "Just show me the library. I want to see where that decorator got snuffed!"
    Eventually, Nick had to