Cut to the Chaise

by Karen Rose Smith

  “You two are going to behave, aren’t you?” Caprice asked them.

  Valentine hung her paw over the shelf. Lady cocked her head, stared at Caprice, then looked back up at Valentine.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Caprice said with a smile.

  It seemed as if she always smiled when she came into her Nana’s parlor. Her grandmother’s taste ran to antiques, lace, and flowered patterns in lilac, yellow, and pink. A regal woman, Nana was only five foot three, but she always held her head up high and her shoulders straight.

  Nana’s small table between two wing chairs near the window was already set with delicate teacups, a plate of biscotti that Nana had made herself, and a teapot wearing a tea cozy.

  As Caprice sat in one of the chairs, Nana poured tea into their cups. “So tell me, what did you think of your wedding gown? Your mom and I can’t wait to see it.”

  “I love it! It looks like yours in some ways, but then Bella added her own design to it. And the veil . . . Oh, Nana. That veil is just beautiful. We were all in tears.”

  “Hopefully you’ll be wearing a smile on your wedding day and the rest of us will be in tears.”

  Caprice laughed.

  “Tell me, tesorina mia, are you ready to get married?”

  Caprice didn’t hesitate for an instant. “Oh, yes. I’d run off with Grant today if a church wedding didn’t mean so much to us and the family.”

  “Anticipation is good,” Nana told her. “On your part and his part. Does Grant seem nervous?”

  “Not about the wedding.”

  “About something?” Nana prompted as she seated herself in the other chair.

  “He’s nervous or anxious about his family. His brother has agreed to come but he doesn’t want to be in the wedding party. I know that upset and disappointed Grant, but he is glad Holden is coming. And his parents . . . They haven’t decided yet whether they’re staying here with Mom and Dad, or if they should reserve a room at the bed and breakfast. They also haven’t made any arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, but Roz has. Do you think it would be all right if Mom calls them to tell them that?”

  Nana thought about it, took a sip of tea, then set her cup down carefully. “It might be better if Grant calls them, honey. You know, it is the groom’s family’s tradition to host the rehearsal dinner.”

  “Yes, I know, but he doesn’t want to put them in an uncomfortable position if they haven’t thought about it.”

  Nana touched the bun at her nape as if she were thinking about what she wanted to say next. “So I suppose what you’re telling me is that Grant and his family don’t communicate well.”

  With anybody else but Nana, Caprice might not say anything at all or answer her question. But this was Nana who always gave her wise advice.

  “The truth is—I think they avoid conversation about subjects that matter . . . difficult subjects. I don’t think Grant ever talked to them about his marriage to Naomi or his divorce or what he felt afterwards.”

  “That’s such a shame.”

  “I think his decision to get engaged to me was a surprise to them too,” Caprice admitted.

  “Did he think they would disapprove?”

  “Most probably. And disapproval was the first feeling I got from them when I met them at the restaurant. Not that they disapproved of me so much, but they didn’t like the idea of the annulment and Grant marrying again.”

  “I can understand that,” Nana said. “But on the other hand, I don’t think men and women were meant to live alone. Grant’s marriage was a mistake and then he had tragedy on top of that. If anyone deserves a fresh start, he does. And I think he’ll have it with you.”

  Nana’s support meant so much. “The contractor is going to start on the addition as soon as we return from our honeymoon. Depending on the disruption, we might be staying at Grant’s townhouse. It depends. We have the animals to consider.” She glanced over at Lady and at Valentine who were both snoozing.

  Changing the subject, Caprice asked, “Have you spoken to Vince since the murder occurred at the winery?”

  After a bite of biscotti, Nana frowned. “No, I haven’t. You girls confide in me but Vince not so much. Your father did tell me that Vince was helping out Michelle Dodd and Roz wasn’t happy about it.”

  To distract herself, Caprice lifted a biscotti from the plate and took a bite. Nana’s biscotti weren’t twice-baked biscotti like you found in stores. Hers were soft and biscuit-like with a lemon icing.

  Caprice finished the biscotti and wiped her fingers on her napkin. “I don’t know what’s going to happen between the two of them. I don’t think they’re communicating very well right now. I’m trying to gather some information to get Michelle off the hook. If she doesn’t need Vince, then he and Roz can go back to normal.”

  “Maybe they can’t get back to normal when there’s a disruption in a relationship that’s not easily forgotten,” Nana advised.

  That was true. Caprice remembered when Grant had spent time with his first wife Naomi so they could have closure. It was definitely a rough patch. But they’d come through that okay. Surely Roz and Vince could too.

  “Do you have any other suspects besides Michelle?” Nana asked.

  “A few,” Caprice responded. “There’s Travis’s brother Jarrett. The two of them didn’t get along well. There’s Travis’s chief financial officer Neil Allen. Someone overheard Neil threatening Travis with blackmail.” She didn’t consider Fred a real suspect.

  “An odd incident happened when Travis was still alive and I was at the winery.” She told Nana about the teenager trying to ruin the vat of wine.

  “Do you know this young man’s name?”

  She remembered it. “His name was Andy Sprenkle.”

  “Then you have another place to investigate,” Nana suggested.

  As always, her Nana was right.

  * * *

  Since she’d been involved in murder investigations, Caprice was learning nifty computer skills as well as how to search databases. It wasn’t long before she found a couple most likely to be Andy Sprenkle’s parents. If she was wrong, then she was wrong. But she had to try.

  The one thing she could do to make sure the address she’d found was correct was to park on Andy’s street for a while and see who went in and out of his house. If it was his house. She could be patient.

  Thankfully the afternoon was warm but not too warm. She’d driven her yellow Camaro because she didn’t think anyone on Andy’s street would recognize it. His house was at the north end of town on Maple Avenue, nowhere near her neighborhood or her parents’ neighborhood . . . or even Bella’s.

  She’d brought along her earphones and iPad. She intended to listen to music while she was waiting. Her oldies-but-goodies playlist would do. She had to choose songs for the DJ. This was her way to multitask.

  She’d been sitting there for about an hour and was getting antsy wondering how policemen actually survived stakeouts, when a young man came zooming by her on his bicycle and rode up the driveway. As she watched, the teen took off his helmet.

  It was Andy Sprenkle. She hadn’t seen anyone else go in or out of the house. If she was lucky, he’d be there alone.

  She waited ten minutes and climbed out of her car, went up the walk, and knocked on the door.

  Andy himself opened the door, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” he said.

  “Why not, Andy? Obviously, you recognize me, and I know what you did at the winery.”

  “I didn’t do nothing.”

  “Drop the act. Travis practically hung you up by the neck of your shirt. The police are looking for anyone who knows anything about Travis and who might have had a grudge against him.”

  “It wasn’t me.” Andy started to shut the door.

  Caprice set her palm on the door. She wasn’t going to force entry, but she wanted to convince him to talk to her. “If you’re smart, you’ll talk to me. I know the detective o
n the case and I can turn your name in.”

  At that thought, Andy went pale. He also looked scared. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I want you to tell me how you were hired and who hired you to pour the vinegar bacteria into the wine.”

  “How do you know that that’s what it was?”

  “Because I’ve spoken to Michelle. Travis didn’t even have to have it tested. He knew what would ruin his wine. A murder happened, Andy.”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t know nothing about that.”

  “Then tell me what you do know. You said you were supposed to take a selfie when you poured the vinegar into the tank. How did you know where that photo was supposed to go?”

  “I had a number to text the photo to.”

  “And how did you and Travis settle this?”

  The teen shrugged. “We didn’t settle it exactly. Travis made me take the photo of me pouring the mixture into an empty tank and then send it. Travis said he had a friend who can trace where it went. I was supposed to get five hundred dollars by going to a drop-off point a mile out of town. The envelope with the money would be in the hollow of a tree at noon the next day. Travis scouted out the area and he waited there. When I got there to pick up the envelope, no money was there. So I don’t know whether or not Travis found out who was supposed to leave it. But the next thing I knew—Travis was dead. I really didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  It was easy for Caprice to see that Andy was shaken up.

  “As I told you, I know the detective on the case. I think you should go to him and tell him exactly what happened.” Michelle might have already done that as far as she knew.

  “I don’t want to go to the police station and I don’t want to tell my parents.”

  “How old are you, Andy?”

  “I’m nineteen.”

  “Then you’re old enough to do this on your own. Maybe your parents don’t have to know. That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On what Detective Carstead has to say to you.”

  She could see he was still frightened, and there was only one way she knew how to alleviate that. “If you’ll talk to the detective, I’ll go with you to the police station.”

  “Will you be in there with me?”

  “I doubt if the detective will let me stay, but at least you’ll have an escort there, and a friendly face to introduce you to Detective Carstead. Let me call the station and see if he’s there.”

  “You have his number?”

  “I’ve worked with him before.” She pressed the icon for contacts and found Brett’s number. Fortunately, he answered.

  “Carstead.”

  “Brett, it’s Caprice.”

  “Uh, oh. Am I going to like this?”

  “You might. You might not.”

  He gave an amused chuckle. “That’s just like you. Is this about Nikki? Or about the murder?”

  “It’s about the murder.”

  “You know something?”

  “Michelle might already have told you about this. Did she say anything about the teenager who tried to ruin a vat of Travis’s wine?”

  “She mentioned it, but she didn’t know much about it other than he tried to do it. Why?”

  “Because I’m with Andy now. I told him I’d bring him to the police station and introduce him to you. That’s if you want to talk to him. Someone hired him to do it. Maybe you can learn a clue about that.”

  Brett was silent for a few heartbeats. “You’re too involved in this because of Vince,” he said with a sigh.

  “It’s not just Vince. I’m supposed to have my wedding reception at the winery, remember?”

  “You can’t find another place?”

  “Obviously you don’t know much about weddings. The alternative would be to have the reception in my backyard.”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  “Brett,” she said impatiently.

  “Okay, I’ll butt out of your wedding stuff. But let me tell you, Caprice, once you bring this kid into the station, I’ll want you out of it. You can’t tell me Grant wants you involved either.”

  “Whether or not I want to be involved, I am. And don’t warn me about obstruction of justice. We’ve been through this before. I’m not doing anything wrong. I just Googled Andy Sprenkle and his parents. I found him. Did you have his name?”

  “Michelle couldn’t remember it,” he admitted.

  “And she didn’t tell you I was there?”

  “I was going to talk to you. I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet,” he said defensively.

  “Brett, you’re going to be Grant’s groomsman. I don’t want to argue with you.”

  “I don’t want to argue with you either,” he said begrudgingly. “Bring the kid in. But once I meet him, I want you to leave.”

  “He has to get home again.”

  “I’ll take him home.”

  “He’s going to hate that.”

  “I’ll use an unmarked vehicle. No patrol car.”

  “You’ll give me your word on that, even if you get tied up with something?”

  “If I get tied up, I’ll call you back and you can pick him up. How’s that?”

  “You’re a good guy, Detective.”

  He was silent.

  “I’ll see you in about ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes,” Brett confirmed, and then ended the call.

  Andy was watching her. He’d obviously heard the back and forth between her and Brett. “You sound like you know him.”

  “I told you I’ve worked with him before. Besides that, he’s dating my sister.”

  At that news, Andy looked a bit relieved. Maybe now he wouldn’t just see Brett as a detective, but as a regular guy.

  “He’s good at what he does, Andy. He’ll ask you the tough questions, not give you a pass on anything. So be prepared for that.”

  Andy thought about it. “All right. Let’s go. I want to get this over with.”

  Caprice just hoped with the information Andy gave Brett, they could all get the murder over with too.

  * * *

  Caprice and Grant were sitting on the sofa in the living room going over the notes they had made for the contractor. They’d planned a meeting with him for tomorrow night and they wanted to be prepared. Yes, they’d had the plans drawn up, but there were details to be ironed out. He’d have questions for them and they’d have questions for him. The biggest one was—could they stay in the house while the renovations were going on?

  Caprice was using her electronic tablet. Grant was using a legal pad and a pen. They had just agreed that they wanted a bathroom off of Grant’s office. They might as well do it now. It would be convenient to have one there.

  “Do you think Lady and Patches will mind when the yard is smaller?” Caprice asked him.

  “You have a big lot. They’ll still have enough room to run and play. Besides, we walk them and there’s the dog park too. They’ll be fine.” He reached over and put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you getting nervous about the wedding and the construction, so you’re concentrating on details?”

  “Could be. Maybe I’m thinking about the honeymoon.”

  Grant gave her a crooked smile. “Nothing to be nervous about with that. We’ll be good together, Caprice. You know we will.”

  Yes, she did. But wasn’t a bride supposed to have jitters before her wedding? Some of them were caused by pure excitement and anticipation.

  Grant had just leaned over to kiss her when her cell phone played. She’d set it on the square coffee table that was inset with colorful ceramic tiles. The antique silent butler sat next to her phone. That was where she’d placed her affirmations every morning.

  When she picked up the phone, she saw Michelle was calling. She said to Grant, “Do you mind if I take this? It’s Michelle.”

  “I hope nothing else has happened to complicate the situation even more.”

  So did Caprice.

  “Hi, Michelle
.”

  “Caprice, I need your help.”

  “What do you need help with?”

  “You find homes for stray cats and dogs, right?”

  “Yes, I do.” She suspected what was coming.

  “That Schnoodle that’s been hanging around here. I’m having trouble taking care of everything else, let alone caring for a dog. I took him to the vet. There isn’t a chip. He checked him over and said he’s healthy.”

  “What vet did you use?”

  “Marcus Reed at Furry Friends.”

  Marcus was the vet who’d often helped Caprice. She always took animals to him to get them checked or for necessary appointments. “I trust Marcus. If he said the dog’s healthy, that’s a good thing.”

  “He gave him a rabies injection and some other stuff, but now he needs a home. No one has responded to my ads or my notes on bulletin boards. Can you help?”

  “I might be able to.” What she was thinking was a bit unorthodox, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t work. “Are you going to be home in the morning?”

  “I have errands to run. I’m meeting with the loan officer at Kismet Community Bank. But Neil can be here.”

  “I’ll pick up dog supplies and drive to the winery to pick him up. If what I have in mind doesn’t work, you might have to keep him a little longer until I can find him a home.”

  “That’s fine. I just want to know he’ll be having good care.”

  In spite of herself Caprice could see Michelle was a little attached to the dog. “I’ll see Neil in the morning about ten.”

  “That sounds good. And thank you, Caprice. I really appreciate this.”

  After she put her phone back on the coffee table, Grant asked, “You’re going to try to find a home for the dog at the winery, aren’t you?”

  “I have something in mind. If it works out, it will be win-win-win for everybody, including the Schnoodle.”

  Grant just shook his head but then he kissed her.

  * * *

  Before Caprice drove to the winery the following morning, she called Marcus and asked him about the Schnoodle. Marcus had told her that he was probably about two. He’d given him a flea treatment and vaccinations he deemed necessary. Michelle had told him she wanted the dog to stay healthy. He’d also explained to Michelle that the dog had a good sense of commands.