The Ghost and the Mystery Writer (5 page)

Danielle stood up. “What are you waiting for? Let's go to the Gusarov Estate.”

T
he chief remained seated
. He studied Danielle for a moment. “Where were you before you came here?”

“I was running errands here and there. Why?”

The chief didn't respond immediately, but continued to study Danielle. Finally, he said, “Before we go, I'd like you to look at something.”

Danielle let out a sigh and sat back down. She watched as MacDonald turned his attention to his computer. “What are you doing?”

His eyes focused on his monitor while one hand moved his mouse on the desk. “Hold on. This will just take a minute.”

Danielle let out another sigh and settled back in the chair, waiting. Waiting for what, she had no idea. Finally, the chief looked up and motioned for her to come and look at his computer monitor. Leaving her purse sitting on the floor, she stood up and walked around his desk, standing next to him. She looked at the computer monitor. He had six windows open. Each window displayed a different bottle of wine.

“I had no idea there were so many wine labels with chateaus,” Danielle said.

“Neither did I. Do you recognize the one Adam took over to Chris's house?”

Danielle pointed to a red and gold label. “That one.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Positive.”

“That's the label on the bottle that killed Jolene,” the chief said.

“What was the point of me picking it out? Why didn't you just show me the bottle you have? I could have told you if I thought it was the same one or not. You had to have a bottle lineup?”

The chief turned off his monitor and stood up. “Before we go over to the Gusarov Estate, I want to know the bottle he claims to have taken over there matches the bottle we found on the beach. If you can identify it now—before seeing the bottle we found—it will be more difficult for someone to argue you were swayed in your testimony.”

“Even if the wine is still at Chris's, which it probably is, I'd still think Chris's bottle would help prove Adam probably touched that murder weapon before the killer.”

“How do you figure?”

“Whoever killed Jolene probably did it in a fit of anger and happened across that bottle. If it was premeditated, I'd assume they wouldn't choose a weapon that might break or not finish the job.”

“What's your point, Danielle?”

“Adam probably bought that wine for Chris because it was one he liked, a brand he'd bought before. Maybe even handled other bottles at the store, which would have left his fingerprints on the eventual murder weapon.”

“Adam said that was the first and only time he had bought that type of wine. Even claimed it was the only bottle like that he had ever touched.”

“Maybe he forgot,” Danielle suggested.

“I don't think Adam would forget buying a three-hundred-dollar bottle of wine.”

“Adam spent three hundred bucks on that wine?” Danielle asked incredulously.

“I'm not sure exactly what he spent, but that was the price I found online.”

“Wow, I guess Adam really does want to keep Chris as a client. I suppose I should have told Adam Chris is perfectly happy with Two-Buck Chuck.”

“I think it may be about three bucks now.”

Danielle grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “Yeah, but still. For that much money, he could have gotten Chris eight cases of wine as a thank you gift. That would have gotten Chris's attention.”

MacDonald opened the door for Danielle. “For a rich girl, you sure are cheap.”

“The term is frugal. If I was cheap, I'd have a much more interesting social life.”

“
D
id
you really spend three hundred bucks on that wine?” Danielle asked Adam as they sat in the backseat of the squad car on their way to the Gusarov Estate. Brian drove the car while Joe sat in the passenger seat.

Before he could answer, Joe asked, “Do you need to stop at Marlow House and pick up the keys?”

“No. I have them in my purse.” She turned her attention back to Adam, waiting for his answer.

“Hey, it was a good commission. I couldn't be cheap,” he said with a shrug.

“Knowing Chris, he would have been thrilled with a couple cases of beer,” Danielle told him.

“The man is a billionaire,” Adam countered.

“And billionaires don't like beer?”

“It doesn't matter now. If my fingerprint really was on that bottle they have, that means someone has broken into the Gusarov Estate and took the wine.”

“Under normal circumstances, I'd want you to be wrong,” Danielle confessed.

“That's the only explanation.” Adam stared out the side window. “Someone broke into the Gusarov Estate.”

“You know, we're going to have to stop calling it the Gusarov Estate. It isn't anymore.” Danielle reminded him. A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of the property.

W
hen Danielle started
to slip the house key into the lock, Adam looked at Brian and asked, “Shouldn't one of you be doing this? If someone broke into the house, they could still be in there.”

Danielle paused and looked over at Brian and Joe.

“I seriously doubt that,” Brian said. “If they stole the wine, they obviously took it down to the beach to drink. It was probably teenagers. I doubt they returned.”

“Great,” Adam grumbled. “When I was a teenager, I drank Boone's Farm wine. I just hope whoever stole it enjoyed it!”

“If it
was
stolen,” Joe said, taking the key from Danielle and opening the door. He walked in the house first and looked around. With the sunlight streaming in through the high windows, it wasn't necessary to turn on the overhead lights.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Adam snapped. He and Danielle followed Joe and Brian into the house. “You seriously think I killed Jolene?”

“Where did you put the wine?” Brian asked.

Danielle motioned to the living room. “He set it on the mantel.”

The four walked into the living room. Adam's eyes fixed on the fireplace mantel first. He pointed across the room to where he had placed the bottle of wine. “See, it's gone!” They looked to the fireplace. The only thing sitting on the mantel was an envelope containing the thank you card Adam had left with the wine.

If Brian hadn't noticed motion out of the corner of his eye, the man sneaking out of the house might have gone unnoticed. Without pause, Brian turned back toward the front door and let out a shout. He took off in pursuit. Joe didn't wait for an invitation. He raced past Adam and Danielle and out the front door, behind Brian and the intruder.

Together, Adam and Danielle stood at the front window, looking outside, watching Brian and Joe chase the man down the front walk to the street.

“Damn, Brian can run for an old guy,” Adam said in awe.

Still watching the chase, Danielle nodded. “I'm impressed. That other guy is pretty fast too. I wonder who he is.”

“Probably the one who drank my wine. Jerk.”

The three were now halfway down the street, but Brian was getting closer, with Joe on his heels.

Still watching the pursuit through the window, Danielle said, “Next time, buy Chris some cases of beer. Buy aluminum cans. Harder to kill someone with.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Funny, Danielle.”

“You think they'll shoot him?” she asked.

“If he doesn't stop running, maybe.”

In the next moment, Brian reached the man, slamming him to the ground.

Adam winced. “Ouch. That looks like it hurts.”

A
dam and Danielle
sat with the chief in his office, waiting for some answers. After apprehending the intruder, they had gone through the rooms at the estate and had discovered the man had broken in through a back window and had been camping out in one of the rooms.

“He's not from around here,” the chief explained. “If he's ever been arrested, he's not in our system. But his fingerprints match the other prints we found on the bottle that killed Jolene.”

“Did he kill her?” Adam asked.

The chief shook his head. “The man claims to have spent last night in the ER. I called the hospital; they confirm he checked in last night around ten, before Jolene arrived at Pier Café, and didn't get out of there until this morning, after Heather found the body. He admitted to taking the bottle of wine down by the pier and drinking it. Left the empty.”

“So he's a litterbug and a thief,” Danielle said.

“He's also homeless. Lost his job; doesn't appear to have any family,” MacDonald explained.

“What now?” Danielle asked.

“Now Adam can go home.”

Danielle and Adam stood up.

“And, Danielle,” the chief called out.

Danielle turned briefly to him. “Yes?”

“Tell Marie hello for me.”

“
W
hat was that about
?” Adam asked when they were out in the parking lot.

“Your grandma sent me over here to check on you. I think the chief figured that out.”

“She did?”

“One of her informants told her you'd been arrested. She was pretty upset; you should probably stop by her house on the way home and let her know what's going on.”

“I wasn't really arrested. They asked me to come in for questioning.” Adam opened his car door.

“If you hadn't come up with an explanation for that fingerprint, you would have been arrested.”

Adam got into the driver's seat of his car, slipped his key in the ignition, turned the key, rolled the window down, and closed the door.

Danielle leaned against the car door, looked in the window, and watched as Adam hooked his seatbelt. “Who do you think killed Jolene?”

“I thought the cops figured it was a robbery gone bad? I understand questioning me because of the fingerprint, but are they really looking for someone who was out to get Jolene?”