Chill Factor

“Only what I’ve observed whenever he comes into the store.”

“How often is that?”

“When he’s in town, he comes in frequently. He always . . .” William cast a wary glance around at his listeners. “It’s probably not important.”

“What, Mr. Ritt?” Impatiently Begley slapped his gloves against the palm of his other hand. “Let us decide if what you’ve observed is important or not.”

“Well, it’s just that, whenever he’s in the store, he attracts attention.”

“Attention?” Begley shot Wise another look. “From whom?”

“Women,” William replied simply. “He attracts them like a magnet.” Looking over at Wes, he added, “I’ve overheard you and Dutch and your friends talking about him. Someone called him a peacock.”

“Guilty,” Wes said, raising his right hand. “I think the guy knows that women swoon over that rugged outdoorsy type.”

All eyes turned toward Marilee, who felt herself go rosy with embarrassment. “I’ve only seen Mr. Tierney on a few occasions, but I’ve read some of his articles. They’re quite good, actually, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.”

Apparently Begley wasn’t. He turned back to William. “Does he ever engage women in conversation?”

“All the time.”

“What do they talk about?”

“I don’t make a practice of eavesdropping on my customers.”

All evidence to the contrary, Marilee thought. He’d just admitted that he listened in on Wes and Dutch’s conversation.

Begley looked skeptical of William’s claim, too, but he let it pass without comment. “What does Tierney buy when he comes in? If you can tell me without it violating professional privilege,” he added, tongue in cheek.

William actually smiled at him. “Not at all, since he’s never had a prescription filled. He buys lip balm, sunscreen, toothpaste, disposable razors. Nothing out of the ordinary, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It is.”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. The only curious thing is that he usually makes only one purchase at a time. One day it’s Band-Aids, the next it’s a tin of Advil, the next a paperback book.”

“Like he’s creating reasons to come in here?” Begley probed.

“Now that I think on it, yes. And it seems that he’s always in the store when I’m swamped with customers. Mid to late afternoon. A lot of people stop here before going home.”

“Millicent Gunn?”

“Sure. A lot of the high school kids come to the soda fountain after school. As long as they behave themselves, I let them—”

“Have Ben Tierney and Millicent Gunn ever been in the store at the same time?”

William was about to answer when the importance of the question registered with him and his lips snapped shut. He looked at each of them in turn, then seemed to wilt as he slowly nodded his head. “Week before last. Only a couple of days before she disappeared.”

“Did they talk?” Wise asked.

William gave another nod.

Begley turned to Wes. “Where do we find this sanding truck?”

“If you want to follow me, I’ll take you.”

Begley didn’t wait for Wes to lead the way. Turning, he strode swiftly toward the door, pulling on his gloves as he went.

“Is he always that abrupt?” William asked Wise, who was wading through his layers of clothing to get t