Dead Men Don't Lye (Book 1 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers

Author:Tim Myers [Myers, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: mystery, cozy, traditional, tim myers, crafts, soapmaking, soap, where theres soap, ben perkins
Publisher: Tim Myers
Published: 2011-07-21T04:00:00+00:00

The next morning there was a car I didn’t recognize sitting in the family parking lot behind the shop. I could see that someone was inside, but not much more than that. My pulse sped up as the car door opened just as I reached the back steps of Where There’s Soap, and I had to fight the urge to run inside and dead bolt the door behind me before they could do something to me.

“Ben? Can I talk to you?”

It was Heather Kent from A Long Lost Soap, probably the last person in the world I expected to see that morning.

“Sure, come on inside. I’ll fix us some coffee.”

She looked at the shop—and the back stairs in particular—with obvious distaste. “Would it be possible for us to go somewhere else? I’m not really comfortable talking to you here. Do you mind?”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I know a place we can talk. I’ll be with you in a minute. Just let me tell one of my brothers where I’m going to be in case they need me.”

I slipped inside the door and found Bob staring at the equipment on the production line. “What’s going on?” I asked him.

“The shifter’s still not working properly. I know I made that part correctly, but I can’t figure out what the problem is. We really have to change the layout of this line. It’s driving me crazy the way it is.”

I knew just enough about the situation to realize that his ideas were worth a lot more than mine on the topic. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

He shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Bob said, “I know you’re the go-to guy around here, but this is out of your league.”

I couldn’t argue with that. Besides, I had something else to do at the moment. “Good enough. I’ll see you later then.”

“Don’t go away mad,” he said.

“I know, I know; just go away, right?”

Bob looked startled as I walked away. He called out, “Hey, Ben, I was just kidding. You don’t have to go. You know how I get when I’m trying to fix a problem. My wife’s surely given me enough grief about it over the years.”

For him, it was a sterling apology, not that I needed it. I’d grown tough skin when it came to dealing with my family, and it would take more than a few cracks from Bob to get me going. “It’s okay, really. I’d love to stick around, but I’ve got a breakfast date with a beautiful college coed. She’s waiting right outside for me.”

Bob said, “Yeah, right. You’ve been drinking that crazy tea Louisa’s been pushing on all of us, haven’t you?”

Just then, Heather tapped on the door, and I saw my brother’s jaw drop. I said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“See you,” was all he managed to say before I left.

I had to laugh, wondering what Bob might be thinking. I wasn’t about to dissuade him of whatever notions he had.

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