He laughed. “I’m afraid the only moving and shaking you’ll see is when Justin Beauclaire walks across his office to the bar and shakes the martini pitcher.” He pulled out of the lot and headed down an alley. “But whatever your pleasure…”
The factory was located a couple of miles outside of town on a two-lane county road that curved past the Brew and Bowl Alley, a few blue-collar businesses and three trailer parks. Louise recognized the name of the mechanics garage where Miranda Lopez’s husband, Pedro, worked, as well as the Lazy Day Mobile Home community where the family lived.
Louise knew she might see the women she’d talked to the night before at the Kettle. They’d all agreed that if they encountered each other at the factory, they would pretend to be strangers. Their association would be public soon enough, but for now, Louise was concerned with getting information, and her guise of being a tourist interested in candles was the best way of doing that.
Wesley parked near the double doors of the two-story colonial offices. This part of the building resembled a modest but gracious Southern mansion. The rest of the business, the production area extending behind the offices, was a long, single-story metal building with windows along the roofline.
Wes and Louise entered a lobby furnished in Wedgwood-blue wing chairs, Queen Anne tables and peaceful pastoral prints. And of course, candles. A half-dozen mahogany shelves displayed the products, which came in many shapes and sizes. The receptionist, a middle-aged lady, gushed over Wesley while Louise scanned the racks, picking up samples. One fact was abundantly clear. This company didn’t miss a holiday sales opportunity or the chance to permeate the world with all sorts of intoxicating smells, from light floral to exotic spice.
After answering questions about where he’d been, how long he’d been home, and thanking the receptionist for expounding on what a handsome young man he’d become, Wes waved for Louise to follow him through a door that led from the lobby. “I called ahead,” he told her. “Justin Beauclaire, the CEO of the company, is expecting us.”
Louise walked beside him down a short hallway to an elevator. This was exactly what she’d hoped for. She whistled in appreciation. “Wow, are we getting a tour from the president?”
“Looks like it.”
“I’m impressed with your contacts, Wesley.”
“Don’t be. This is a small town. Justin and my dad go way back.”
They exited the elevator on the second floor and were met by a portly, balding man. He shook Wes’s hand and introduced himself to Louise as Justin Beauclaire. While he openly admired his visitor, Louise gave him her sweetest smile, slipped her hand into her shoulder bag and discreetly turned on her tape recorder.
BACK ON THE MAIN FLOOR, Justin Beauclaire took his guests past offices on either side of a long hallway. They ended at a metal door. “Through here lies the pulse and energy of the factory,” Justin said. “This is where tons of paraffin is turned into the beauties I hope you saw on display in the lobby.”
“I did indeed,” Louise responded. “I was truly amazed by the number and variety of candles produced here.”
“We’re trying new designs all the time,” Justin said. “We have a research department entirely devoted to market analysis, product testing and nationwide sales.” He opened the door and held it for Louise and Wes to precede him. “Ordinarily I don’t allow any visitors into this part of the business,” he explained. “Insurance issues, you understand.”
She stopped just inside the warehouse and waited for Justin to close the door.
“’Course, I don’t mind breaking the rules for old Wes, here,” he said. “Even if I do remember wiping his nose a few times when he was just a little sprout.”
Wes, clearly embarrassed, forced a snicker.
“We have a lot of expensive and sensitive machinery in here,” Justin added. “Plus nearly every employee inside this building is working with wax in one form or another. In the beginning stages of candle production, wax can be tricky to handle. We melt ours to one hundred eighty degrees.” He gave Louise a sly grin. “Can’t have any novices poking their pretty noses, or fingers, into a vat of hot wax, now can we?”
Louise tsked in sympathy. “Certainly not. I promise to stay safely away from any bubbling cauldrons.” She studied the huge metal tanks across the warehouse. Suspended above each were large circular racks, each holding dozens of taper candles of varying thicknesses. “Has anyone ever gotten badly burned?” she asked.
Justin waved off the question. “No. The wax isn’t hot enough to cause blisters. Just smarts a little if it gets on the skin. Besides, we have all the required safety measures in place.” He frowned. “Got no choice in the matter. We have government inspectors from OSHA breathin’ down our necks every time we turn around.” He clarified in case she didn’t understand. “That’s the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”
Louise nodded. “I see.” She gestured toward one of the wheel racks that had just begun lowering its candles into a vat. “What’s happening there?” she asked.
“That’s one of our dipping wheels,” Justin explained. “We have six of them operating sixteen hours a day. Each candle is dipped fifty times and cooled in between each lowering.”
Louise remembered that Bessie referred to herself as a dipper. She’d worked in that position for fifteen years. As if to validate that thought, the older woman walked out from behind a wheel and glanced at the trio of onlookers. Louise gave her a hint of a smile. A hairpin held between her teeth, Bessie nodded at her behind a pretense of rewinding her long gray mane into a knot at the crown of her head.
Justin next took them to where wax was molded into various shapes. Several women poured the thick substance from large tubes into metal forms, reminiscent of cake decorating on a grand scale. When Justin had explained the procedure, Louise asked how many people the candle company employed.
“We’re the largest employer in the county,” he said proudly. “Got one hundred and thirty-three on the payroll. We’re just one big happy family here at Bayberry Cove Candle Company,” he added. He poked Wesley in the ribs. “Even had Wes working for us at one time. Remember the summers after your junior and senior years of high school, boy?”
The question produced an involuntary flinch, as if Wes was trying to erase the memory from his mind. “How could I forget?” he said. “I left here every afternoon smelling like a bouquet of roses.”
Justin hooted before explaining to Louise, “Wes worked in the scent department. He was a good employee. We could have made a junior chemist out of him if he’d stuck around.”
Louise cast a sideways grin at Wes. “You mean instead of the junior plumber he’s become?”
Wes rolled his eyes. “Never mind, both of you.”
“How many positions are there in the candle factory?” Louise asked.
Justin stared at the ceiling. “Let me see, now. We’ve got dippers and packers, cutters and polishers, dyers, mixers, machine operators…too many to list. And then, of course, we’ve got our office, research and sales force in the main building, where you first came in.”
As they’d walked the hall earlier, Louise had glanced into each office. “I noticed mostly men behind the desks,” she said. “Don’t you have any women in management positions?”
“Not really,” Justin answered unabashedly. “We mostly hire women for the production jobs.” He walked ahead of her to a rear entrance and turned around before leading the way outside. “Women seem to take to the repetitious tasks better than men.