One Foot in the Grape (18 page)

Antonia pushed past me. “I'm hardly one to hide behind denial. You can't stop. Whoever did this can't either. Let's go call the police.”

W
E
were in the library having a much-needed brandy when Lucas walked in. The look I got was a bit unnerving. Apparently one body per week was my limit with him. We waited while he inspected the winery office, posted two officers, and called the coroner.

The rest of the family had pooled together at the sound of sirens and now hovered out in the hallway. Lucas asked them not to go anywhere and shut the library door. He sat in the chair farthest from the fire and took statements from the both of us. Palms together, fingers laced, he read over his notes.

“Why were you two looking for Marvin at this time of night?”

I glanced at Antonia. “We thought he might have had something to do with a theft. Some jewelry is missing from storage in the upstairs playroom. There's a gun that's gone too.”

Lucas rubbed his eyes. “And you saw Marvin dead through
the window of the winery office. Why didn't you go to the front door of the apartment? He wouldn't normally be working this time of night, would he?”

“No. We knocked on the apartment door first. We heard the television, but there wasn't any answer.”

Antonia chimed in. “So we went around to the office. That's when we saw him. Through the window.”

I shot her a look.

Lucas shifted his gaze between us. “You said you think he might have something to do with a theft, which”—he cast a quick glance at me—“I haven't heard anything about. Care to fill me in?”

We told him about the theft and destruction upstairs. Lucas left a deputy with us while he spent a few moments in the playroom. He returned and instructed the deputy to look for prints.

“So you think Marvin's responsible for that?”

“We thought it was possible because he was seen trying to sell some antique jewelry at Peterson's. We suspected it might be Antonia's so we went to talk to him. That's when we found him, well, stuck to his desk.”

Lucas didn't respond.

I took a deep breath. “I have a theory.”

Lucas raised his brow.

I stuck my chin out. “Well, I do. Whoever killed Marvin tonight didn't come here planning to kill him, or they would have been armed. They decided to kill him after they were alone with him in the office. That's why they used the letter opener from the desk.”

Lucas just sat there and watched me over steepled fingers.

“Think about it. Marvin invited them in. He knew they
were there. He turned his back to them, so he didn't think he was in danger.”

“We think Marvin was blackmailing someone and they went there to pay him off. My mother's brooch must have been part of it,” Antonia said.

Lucas listened, his clear blue eyes steady. “I assume that when you found him, the very next thing you did was phone me. You did call me right away, didn't you? Because”—he leaned toward us—“earlier you said you thought jewelry was missing. Now you specifically mention a brooch. Why?”

No answer for that one.

“See, it's odd. There is a brooch. It's near the front door on the floor. The funny thing is, it can't be seen from outside through the window. It's partially hidden by a bookcase. You would have had to be in the room to see it.”

Great. I turned to look at Antonia. “Tell Lucas how we know there was a brooch on the floor where you can't see it from the window.”

“We meant we saw him
first
from the window. Then, of course, we went in, to check his pulse. You'd have wanted us to try and help him, had he still been alive, wouldn't you, Lucas?”

Oh, please. She had to be kidding. You couldn't get any deader than Marvin was when we found him and we all knew it.

Lucas held up his hand. We waited. The room was unbearably warm. It took all my focus to not say something, anything, to fill the silence. I looked over at Antonia, unperturbed and as cool as could be. The sweat began trickling down between my shoulder blades.

Lucas rested his chin on his fingertips. He was great at
this. The clock chimed eleven and still he sat and watched us. Finally he tapped his fingertips together and nodded.

“Okay. Let me go down and take another look. I know it's getting late, but I need you to wait, Penny. I want to meet with the family, and I might need to talk to you again afterward.”

I started breathing again. “Okey-dokey.” Okey-dokey? “I'm just going to call Hayley and Connor and tell them what's going on.”

Lucas allowed himself a brief smile. “Sure. Go ahead and tell them you found another body. That's a call I'd like to hear.”

I phoned, prepared to leave a message. Connor answered. Lucky me.

“So, why are you still there?”

I gave him the short version. Connor was even better than Lucas at the art of silence. I got to the end and waited.

“I'm coming over.”

“No. I'm fine, really. I'm with the police. Lucas just wants to talk to me after he's done with everyone else.”

“I think he should follow you home. If he can't, I'm coming to get you.”

I have to admit it was nice to have someone concerned about me like that. “Okay. That's a good idea. Don't tell Hayley anything. I want to tell her myself. See you in a bit.”

I hung up the phone. Lucas commandeered the library to talk to the family members, so I went to the kitchen. A small light glowed from across the room as I sat in the semidarkness. There was something I'd missed, something I'd either seen or heard, or both, that fit together, but I couldn't make the connection.

My stomach growled. It had been hours since my burger
by the sea. The kitchen was huge, miles of granite with four separate sinks. Who needed four sinks? I found what I was looking for just as the main light came on.

“Caught with your hand in the cookie jar, Penny?” Francesca moved toward the refrigerator. “I thought you had better manners than that.”

I grabbed a couple of the oatmeal cookies. I will not react.
Count to ten. One . . . two . . . ten.

“I'm here because Antonia invited me. What I'm wondering is why you keep showing up.”

She pulled out a bottle of water and closed the door. “Strange, isn't it? I feel compelled to stop in every few days, just to remind everyone I'm still around. Of course, now that I've gotten sucked into this mess with Marvin, I'll be stuck here all night. It's funny, now that you bring it up. Much as I hate Stephen inheriting this place, you'd think I'd want to stay away, but the opposite is true. I want to see what he's done. I want to watch him fail. And he will. He just doesn't have the touch.”

“Antonia's let him make some changes . . .”

“Oh, give me a break. Stephen couldn't change a tire. Most of the improvements were Todd's, and he was only a beginner.”

“Stephen wouldn't tell you that and Todd wouldn't even speak to you, so how do you know who's been doing what?”

“Marvin told me when I asked him to come work for me.”

“When was that?”

“Months ago.”

“I take it he turned you down.”

“Then. I've asked him a couple of times since, and today when I asked again he said he'd get back to me.”

“You asked him today? What time?”

She smirked. “It was in the morning. I spoke with him before lunch, Ms. Sherlock.”

“Did you see him again?”

Francesca took her time. “No, I didn't. Why would I tell you even if I had or, for that matter, why would you believe me? Anyway, back to the topic. Months ago Marvin confirmed Stephen wasn't cutting it . . .”

“That's a lie!” Veronica stood in the kitchen doorway. She trembled and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. “I can't believe you'd say such a thing. Stephen's done a remarkable job. Don't you ever say he hasn't. Ever.”

Veronica's face was a splotchy red. Very attractive.

Francesca looked amused and took a sip of the water. “Don't get so upset. At least he was smart enough to make the changes, no matter who thought of them.”

Veronica glared at her. “Stephen thought of them. Of course he's capable of running this winery. You can take your spite and jealousy and leave. Nobody wants you here.”

“Veronica, this is my family home. I've got as much right to be here as you. More. Now leave me alone.”

With that, Francesca strolled from the room.

Veronica stared after her. Her chest heaved with the effort it took to inhale and relax her shoulders. After a moment, she turned to me. “I won't listen to her talk about Stephen that way. She's so hateful.” She paced the kitchen and took deep breaths.

“You take the good with the bad when you marry someone. Try to relax a little. Francesca can't do anything to you or Stephen. Antonia has made her wishes clearly known.”

“Yes, that's true, isn't it? I just can't wait until Antonia makes Stephen's running the winery official. Then he'll get the recognition he deserves.”

I debated telling her Antonia might make the announcement this weekend but changed my mind. For once I was going to keep my mouth shut. I yawned.

“You must be exhausted, as well as shaken up. I'd forgotten you and Antonia found Marvin. That must have been terrible. I don't know what else to do, but I can make you coffee, or tea perhaps?”

“I can't drink coffee this late, but I'd love some tea.”

While we waited for the water to heat, Lucas came in. He looked at the two of us and asked Veronica to give us a few minutes. She set out the tea and watched us as she left the room. “Make yourselves at home.”

Lucas took a seat beside me and rubbed his eyes.

I waited. Again. The teapot finally whistled, and I gratefully made myself busy. “Want some?”

“Not tea, but I could use some coffee.”

I set my tea down and walked over to where the coffee and coffeemaker sat on the counter.

At home I had something you put grounds in, added water, pushed a button and coffee came out. This was a beautiful piece of equipment, something called a Fiorenzato Bricoletta. Made from stainless steel and copper, it boasted impressive features. I looked at the programmable touch pad options, which included something called “espresso extraction,” and gave up.

“I can't make coffee with this. I can't even pronounce the name.”

Lucas walked over. “Let me see if I can work it.” While he turned the knobs and switches, I looked over the yard from the window. I could see right into Marvin's office, where several people moved around the room. Outside, an officer roped off the area with the familiar yellow tape.

“You need to figure that thing out. It's going to be a long night for a lot of people.”

“Got it.” Lucas joined me at the window. “Curious to know what's going on down there?”

“Lucas, I found Marvin. I found Todd in the crusher, and don't forget I was attacked with a wine bottle. I guess you could say I want to know what's led to this.”

Lucas nodded. “I'll tell you what will be in the public records. Killed shortly before you found him, nothing else appears to be touched. Nothing is missing that we can tell. Fingerprints everywhere, both Marvin's and Todd's. Other fingerprints we'll compare to the Martinellis. We found some receipts of wagers, some online gambling and racetrack tickets. Looks like he owed a few thousand. There was something else.”

“What?”

“We think Marvin was stealing from the winery.”

“M
ARVIN
couldn't have been stealing from the winery. Managers don't have access to the actual profits. Just the wine.”

“That's what he was taking.”

“What?”

“Wine.”

“How would he manage that? Antonia keeps an eye on everything.”

“We don't think he recorded everything going through the barrel room. We think he took it out later and then sold it on the side.”

“Wait a minute. That makes sense. It must have been Marvin who stole the account ledger.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Antonia said the ledger was taken a while back. It must
have been Marvin trying to hide his theft. If the account book was missing, how did you find out?”

“We found a production report taped to the bottom of the desk and it doesn't match the tax reports. They should match, right?”

“Always. Barrel rooms are bonded wine cellars. This winery, just like mine, wouldn't remove wine from the cellar until they planned to sell it because they have to pay the sales tax right away.”

“How do you keep track of it?”

“Mandatory monthly reports are filed with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to make sure everything is compliant.”

I looked at him. “So Martinelli was producing more than was accounted for, and Marvin was able to take it out and sell it without the winery ever knowing because it wasn't recorded in the first place. He could keep all the profits.”

“We think it's possible. Production varies from year to year, as you know, so he would have gotten away with it for at least a couple of years. We don't think he's been at it for long. Antonia would have caught on,” Lucas said.

“It also explains something I heard earlier from Francesca. She'd offered Marvin a position with her new winery and he'd turned her down. Today he said he'd let her know. Maybe he was afraid it was catching up to him. Of course, instead of Antonia catching on, what if it was Todd who figured it out? That's a real motive for murder.”

“A great motive. Of course, then the question is who killed Marvin?”

“Someone who cared for Todd. People act in unpredictable ways. Or what about this: if Marvin had gambling debts,
maybe someone he owed money to convinced him to skim winery profits. What if it turned into something the partner wanted to continue? Todd finds out, and either Marvin or the partner kills him, but then the partner gets nervous and kills Marvin too.”

“There's a lot going on in that theory. I'll run some scenarios. There's also the sabotage in the fermentation building. Someone could have been paying Marvin to do a little extracurricular work.”

“I thought maybe Marvin was responsible, but when I surprised that person in the fermentation building he was with Connor unloading a tractor. Francesca is angry enough to do something like that. Either Todd or Marvin could have discovered what she was up to. Threatened to expose her. If that happened, who knows what she'd do. She has a nasty streak.”

*   *   *

IT
was the middle of the night when I arrived home. Hayley was still up, but Connor wasn't there.

“So I guess Connor decided I would be all right after all. I did tell him not to worry and that I'd have the police follow me home.”

Hayley must have heard the sound of disappointment in my voice. I could hear it myself. “Didn't you see the car lights in your rearview mirror?”

“Yea, Lucas was right behind me.”

Hayley smiled. “I mean the lights right behind those. He left right after you called. Said he might as well, he wasn't getting any sleep until you were back here either way. Neither of us were. Want an omelet?”

Warmth flooded me and I nodded.

“So if you're ready, tell me what happened tonight.” She listened in silence as I told her about finding Marvin.

“So, are the murders connected?”

“They must be. I thought Francesca was the obvious suspect. Still do, but if Marvin was stealing . . .”

“What do you mean Marvin was stealing?”

She added cheese to the pan and I told her about Marvin skimming profits.

“Todd would have gone to Antonia right away if he had proof. Maybe that's why he was out at the crusher the night he was killed. To get proof. Then, after Todd's killed, Marvin started acting funny. Maybe he thought Todd was onto him and thinks his troubles were solved after Todd was dead.”

Hayley slid the omelet on a plate and handed me a fork. She reached for the list of suspects, still on the side table. “I see what the motives are for Todd's death, but who benefits from killing Marvin?”

“Nobody that I can see.” I took a bite of the omelet. “This is delicious.”

Hayley stretched and fatigue pulled at the corners of her eyes.

“You can't stay up until I calm down. Morning is coming at the same time as usual and there's so much going on here now. You have a long day tomorrow.”

“This was supposed to be a fun time for us,” Hayley said. “Our first year as participants in the festival. The weather's been perfect, the grapes got that last bit of ripening, the harvest is right on schedule and here you are running around finding bodies.” Hayley smiled at me. “Sorry. That didn't come out right. I'm just worried about you. So is Connor. He wanted to
be here now, but for once I had my way. I told him he needed to sleep.”

I yawned and threw myself on the couch. “Good. I appreciate you being here for me, I really do. We don't have long before this is over. Whatever's going to happen will happen soon. Two murders. It's clear Marvin's wasn't planned. It was out of desperation. Desperate people make mistakes.”

Hayley stood. “People who don't sleep make mistakes.”

“Forget it. I'm too wound up to even think about going to sleep.”

Hayley grabbed the quilt, folded it around me on the couch and tucked Syrah behind my bent knees. “Just try. Humor me.”

She threw more wood into the fireplace. Anything else she may have said was completely lost. I was asleep before she closed the fire screen.

*   *   *

I
woke with a start, hot and damp. The last of my dreams swirled around my head in the darkness. I lay back against the pillows, lifted the damp hair off my neck and kicked the quilt off. Nanook's steady breathing next to the couch calmed me, and I tried to remember. I'd touched on something in my unconsciousness. I could recall the significance, but not the details. It moved just ahead of me, pulling away from my mental probing, like a sensitive nerve.

I struggled to remember until the last of the night air chilled me. The fire had died to embers. I rose, stepped over Nanook and reached for another log. If I relaxed, it would come in its own time.

That, of course, was the problem. I had the feeling I was
low on time and that someone even now was awake elsewhere, equally determined to keep the secrets safe in the dark. How would they feel right now? It was difficult enough to find the body. To kill someone and try to move on as before was beyond my comprehension. I closed the fireplace screen and made my way into the kitchen.

The predawn was spectacular, vivid pink folded into azure blue. Puffy white clouds spun in from the sea as though pushed along by an invisible hand. I fed Syrah, made a pot of tea, then grabbed the quilt from the couch and padded out onto the deck with Nanook.

The hillsides looked purple in the early light, and I breathed in the soft morning air. Sweet and earthy, the smell of a vineyard when the grapes were ready for harvest was unlike any other. Mix it with equal parts clean ocean breeze and deep rich soil, and you have the best fragrance on earth.

I curled up on the deck chair and started picking again at the unconscious thread that drove me out there. Watching the pink of the early morning fade away, I knew it was close. I could almost see it in the colors of the sky. The colors. The colors . . .

“Couldn't sleep?” Connor asked from behind me.

I looked up. “Not my best night. Thanks for offering to come get me, and also for the escort home.”

“You okay?”

“Not really, to be honest. It's going to take a while.”

Connor sat next to me. “What do you do now?”

“Now”—I took a deep breath—“I spend the day as the owner of Joyeux Winery and a participant in the Autumn Festival.”

“That's what I wanted to hear. I hope you're able to enjoy
this. We're in good shape, all set up at the booth, but I still want to be there early. I'm not sure what to expect from the crowds and I don't want Hayley there alone. She's already on her way. Want to ride with me?”

“I'll take my car. I want to walk Nanook first.” I finished off my tea and stood, resolutely pushing from my mind the unanswered questions in my head.

Still, as I turned to the kitchen, I shot one last look above me and could almost see the answer written in the vivid hues of the morning sky.