“But, we can’t let them leave,” she protested. “And what are they going to do to us in the middle of the day?”
“Polly, if they were the ones who killed Bruce Victor, who knows what they’d do?”
“Let’s just drive down there and look around, then. Please?”
“No.”
“What if they aren’t even in the truck? Maybe they went back in the hotel. At least we could go look and see if the wine is there.”
“It’s probably locked. Stop it.”
“Please?” she asked again.
“You aren’t going to stop asking, are you?”
Polly grinned at him. “Probably not. Just drive down there. If they look dangerous, you can turn around and we’ll come back out and wait patiently.”
Henry gave a deep sigh and backed out of the parking space and slowly drove to the end of the parking lot.
“Henry, I was right. That’s Lori’s BMW.” Polly pointed at the car. Lori Victor was sitting in the driver’s seat, her window rolled down. She was talking to Barry Manush, who was standing between the car and the truck.
“Well, now what?” he asked, when he was nearly in front of the two vehicles.
“Stop here.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“Do it! Now!”
Without thinking, Henry reacted and stopped the truck. Polly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, then jumped to the ground.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Polly walked to the passenger side of Lori Victor’s car and opened the door. The woman realized who she was and in an instant, her demeanor became furious. She asked, “What in the hell are you doing here, Polly Giller?”
“I think the better question is what are you doing here?” Polly responded. “Is that the wine from Secret Woods?”
Lori turned around to see what Polly was pointing at. “Wine? What do you mean?”
“All of the bottled wine is gone from Secret Woods. Did you steal it? What are you planning to do with it?”
“You stick your nose in places it doesn’t belong. Why would I steal wine?”
“Maybe because Bruce wasn’t making enough money to satisfy you and your new boyfriend,” Polly said, jamming her fists on her hips.
“My boyfriend? My husband just died.”
“Uh huh. So when the Sheriff’s Deputy gets here, you’ll let him look inside the truck?”
“It’s not my truck. He’d have to ask the owner. Now, move. I need to go home.”
Polly looked inside the car. Seth wasn’t there. “Where’s your son?” When Polly and Lydia had been in Lori’s home, the young woman had made it seem like she had no help other than Bruce and that she wasn’t comfortable leaving Seth with anyone else, but this was now the second time Polly had seen her in Boone without the little boy.
“That’s why I need to get home. The babysitter is expecting me.”
“Lori, you might as well quit lying. Everything is going to come out sooner or later.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re a nosy know-it-all. I don’t have time for this. Have your friend move his truck or I’m calling the police.”
“You can try, but I already have and when they get here, they will probably have questions for you instead of me,” Polly said.
Lori Victor’s face went white.
Henry was standing beside Barry Manush, who looked sick to his stomach. He hadn’t made a move to leave.
Polly looked up and over the car. “Are you going to show us what’s in the truck?”
Manush looked down at Lori Victor, pleading in his eyes.
“Don’t you dare,” the woman threatened.
“It seems kind of stupid to let her get you into any more trouble,” Polly said. “The deputies are going to be here pretty soon.”
He shrugged his shoulders as if to admit defeat and walked to the back of the truck. He unlocked the door and lifted it up.
Henry pulled a packing blanket out and nodded at Polly. “When you’re right, you’re right, Polly. I just wish we could have waited for the deputy.”
Manush sat down on the tailgate of the truck and bent over, his head between his knees.
“What are you planning to do now?” Polly asked Lori. “What will happen with Seth?”
The woman looked at her in shock. “What do you mean? This isn’t any big deal.”
“It’s theft, Lori. Plain and simple. How long did it take you to get this out of the winery? You couldn’t have done it all at once. People would have noticed a big truck. Where did you store it until you loaded it into the U-Haul and where in the world were you planning to take it?”
Lori just shook her head. “I’m not talking to you.”
“You’re going to have to talk to someone. It isn’t like we caught you red … oh!” Polly grinned. “I guess we did.”
Then Polly looked the woman in the eyes. “Did Bruce catch you stealing his wine? Is that why you killed him? Who stabbed him? You or your buddy over there? Who ran over him with the utility vehicle?”
Lori stared back, her look venomous. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not too far off, though, am I? You’ve destroyed your son’s childhood. You killed his father and managed to get yourself caught stealing Bruce’s work.”
“I have every right to that wine. I was the one who sacrificed everything so Bruce could work all of those hours. I didn’t say anything when he came home late at night and went back early the next day. He got to spend time with Seth after I’d done everything to make that boy happy. He played with Seth while I made sure his diapers were changed and cleaned up his messes. He owed me.”
“So, you did kill him?”
“I’m not sorry he’s gone.”
“It had to be you, but if it wasn’t, who then? If you were stealing wine out of the building every night, you had to have known when it happened.”
Lori looked down and took a deep breath. “You’re so quick to accuse me, but have you looked at the blonde bitch and her boyfriend?”
“Annalise? She killed him?”
“I’m not saying who did.”
“Simon isn’t her brother?”
“Hell no.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because, you stupid twit, I’m her sister.”
“What?” Polly was completely shocked. “How has no one known this? You don’t look at all alike.”
“Our dads are different people.”
Polly shook her head, trying to comprehend how long they’d kept this information from everyone they knew.
“Patrick didn’t know?” she asked.
It was as if a switch had been flipped in Lori’s face. She lost most of her defiance and became resigned to the fact that it was all over and began speaking, but more quietly this time.
“He saw her and became totally infatuated, so I broke up with him. One of us was getting our hands on him. If it wasn’t going to be me, then it was Annalise. When he started talking about building a winery, we saw all of the money from the gaming company fly out of our hands, so I knew we had to get to Iowa and figure out how to stay close to it. I found Bruce and got him involved so we’d be part of it.” She looked at Polly. “Do you know how long I waited? There wasn’t going to be any damned payout. The only way to get out of this with anything was to steal the wine and re-sell it. It won’t be much, but at least I won’t have to wait any longer.”
“But you had a son with him and that little boy needed you? How could you do that?”
“Sometimes things just happen. It’s not Seth’s fault.”
“Who is Barry then?”
“An old friend.” Lori glanced backward. Barry was still sitting on the tailgate of the truck.
“Were you two in love?” Polly asked.
“Once upon a time. But he understood that I had to move on.”
“Did he kill Bruce?”
Lori creased her brow. �
��I’m not saying anything.”
“What about Simon?”
“Oh, he’s a completely self-involved jackass. Just like his pretty little girlfriend.”
“Annalise?”
“Yeah. They’ve been a thing since forever. The only way she could keep him around all the time was to say he was her brother.”
“One more question,” Polly said. “Why now? What happened to make you steal all of this now?”
“Barry came up every once in a while and we’d take a few cases of wine out. He sold them in Missouri to a small winery for extra money. After Bruce died, I knew we needed to move quickly. One of these days they’d change all the locks on the door and I would have no more access. We took car loads out every night.” She shrugged. “After he left today, I was going to wait a couple of weeks and then pack up and move out. No one would question it. I couldn’t stay in town any longer since I had to move on and find a job. I was going to meet up with him in Missouri and start over.”
“How is Annalise involved in this?” Polly asked.
“She and Simon caught us hauling the rest of it out last night. I told her that if she wanted to stay out of trouble, she’d better keep quiet.”
“Did she know what happened to Bruce?”
Lori didn’t respond, just shrugged her shoulders.
“Was she involved in his death?”
The woman put her head down and shook it in the negative. “No,” she said. “Just let her go. Her only fault is that she’s an idiot.” Lori looked up at Polly. “I have no reason to expect your help, but if I give you a couple of phone numbers, will you call Bruce’s parents and have them come get Seth?”
“I thought you said they didn’t like him.”
“I know. I lied. They adore him. I know I might never get him back, but they should come take their grandson home for now.”
“Where’s he at?”
“He’s with a neighbor girl.”
“He can’t stay with her.”
“I know,” Lori said. “Could you?”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, yes.” Polly pulled out her phone and opened the note program. “Give me the numbers. Lydia will help with Seth and we’ll take care of him until they get here.”
Lori gave her names and phone numbers and Polly stepped back in time to see a sheriff’s vehicle come into the parking lot.
He pulled in behind Henry and got out, looked at Polly and said, “I’m guessing you’re Polly Giller. Am I right? We know all about you.”
“That’s me.” Polly said. She pointed at the truck. “That’s the stolen wine and I’m guessing that these two are responsible for Bruce Victor’s death.”
Barry Manush didn’t say anything, just set his jaw and glared at her.
“So you think you’ve solved this?” the deputy asked.
“No, I don’t think I have. But at least I have some more answers and won’t have to bother your boss any longer.” She grinned at him. “What’s your name?”
“Will Kellar. Have they admitted everything to you?”
“No, but I could keep asking questions if you’d like.” Polly laughed, then said, “I’m not going to hear the end of this from you guys, am I?”
“No ma’am. That’s why you have your own special file at the office. Sheriff Merritt keeps saying you should hang out another shingle and start a body retrieval and investigation business.”
Henry stepped in and put his arm around Polly’s waist. “Don’t you dare give her any ideas, young man. She’ll find a way to make them happen. Are you done here, Polly?”
“Am I finished, Deputy Will?” she asked.
“As far as I’m concerned, if you promise to call the Sheriff, you’re done here.”
“It was nice meeting you today.” Polly put her hand out and shook his. “Stop in for coffee anytime you’re in Bellingwood.”
He tipped his hat at her and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Two more vehicles came in and waited for Henry to pull out. He took a deep breath as he drove back through the parking lot and said, “The death of me. You’re going to be the death of me.”
“I hope so, in about seventy or eighty years. Now, I want McDonalds,” Polly said to Henry. “I’m starving.”
“Of course you are. Any good investigator needs food after solving the case.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“You can’t be mad at me,” Polly said to Aaron when he answered his phone. “I knew it was going to be okay.”
“Will tells me you cornered our suspects,” he said. “Polly, you can’t do things like this. You are going to give me a heart attack.”
“Aaron, I knew that wine was in the U-Haul and I had Henry there to take care of me. If they were the killers and I think they are, no one used a gun. It’s not like they were going to shoot me in the middle of the day in Boone, Iowa.” She heard Henry take in a quick breath and ignored him.
“You can’t know those things,” Aaron said. “Why do you think that we have trained law enforcement? It’s to keep people safe. You have to stop threatening my poor heart!”
“I’ll try,” she said. “I’ll really try. But now I need your wife’s help. Lori asked me to contact Bruce’s parents about coming to Iowa to get Seth. She gave me the number and said he’s with a neighbor girl right now. She was coming back to Bellingwood to get him and thought her boyfriend would be long gone.”
“Lydia and I will go over and get the child. I might as well keep some part of this investigation on a professional level.”
“I’m sorry,” Polly said, though she didn’t really feel apologetic. “I just couldn’t stop myself. I had to know what was going on.”
“You aren’t telling me anything new. Have you figured out who killed Bruce Victor for me, too?”
“Barry Manush was involved. He didn’t deny it when I asked.”
Aaron groaned loudly. “I’m not putting you on the payroll, Polly.”
“Oh, this is all pro bono,” she said, laughing. “I’m glad to Support My Local Sheriff!” Polly waited for him to get the reference. He didn’t say anything.
“Have you talked to Annalise Stephens?” she asked. “Have you talked to Will? She and Lori Victor are actually sisters and she’s not related to that Simon guy? Lori implied those two were lovers and that they kept up the ruse of being siblings so he could be around her and they could still siphon money from Patrick. And by the way, I think Annalise was there at the winery last night when Lori and Barry took out the last load of wine. That’s probably why her hairpin was there.”
“That’s interesting. I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Neither did I! This is all really twisted and convoluted. Have you been able to find Annalise?”
“Not yet. They aren’t at her home in Ames. I wish I’d known that before today.”
“Well, if they didn’t steal the wine and they didn’t kill Bruce Victor, maybe they’re just two young lovers who got caught up in something they couldn’t control,” she said.
“It’s bad timing.”
“For Patrick. This will kill him. He was set up from the very beginning. Those two women planned to get his money. No one expected him to reinvest in a winery in the middle of Iowa.”
Polly held the phone away from her ear and said to Henry, “Do you know where Patrick lives in Ames?”
He nodded and she said back to Aaron. “We’re going over to his house. I want to make sure he’s okay.”
Henry picked his hands up from the steering wheel and slammed them back down. “No we’re not.”
Aaron chuckled on the other end of the phone call. “Tell Henry that when you’re done in Ames, I want to hear everything you’ve uncovered. Lydia and I will pick Seth up and then I need to get to Boone and deal with the county’s new residents.”
Polly swiped to end the phone call and looked over at Henry. “Please? If Annalise is gone, he’ll need support. And someone is going to have to tell him the truth of what he’s been dealing with.
J. J. and Ryan are the last people he’ll want to hear from - it will destroy their relationship. It might as well be someone he respects and if you don’t want to do it, then it should be your wife.”
“I’ve been married to you for less than twenty-four hours and now I have spiking pains shooting through my head,” he said. “Why does this have to be our problem?”
“You heard J. J. They need you. And right now Patrick is in a mess.”
“You are a worse busybody than Lydia, by far.”
Polly patted his hand. “But you love me.”
“I don’t love this. I don’t love this at all.”
“Fine then,” she said. “Go back to Sycamore House. I’ll drop you and Obiwan off and drive to Ames by myself. I’m not going to let him do this alone and I’m fine with you staying in town.”
He glared at her.
“No. Really. I’m not mad at you or anything. I’ll go.”
Henry drove straight through Bellingwood, ignoring the Sycamore House entrance. “I’m going, I’m going. This really is how it’s going to be, isn’t it.”
“See, before we were married, you could just go home and ignore all of my bad behavior. Now you have to know everything.” She gave him an evil grin. “It will always be entertaining.”
“I really do love you, but you’re going to wear me out,” he said. “I think I’m going to be very glad that my business has so many clients. I can’t be part of this every day.”
“The worst thing is,” she said. “I have more confidence when you’re around. I don’t think I’d have cornered Lori Victor if you weren’t there, but I knew I was totally safe, so I just did it.”
“Great. I’m an enabler. Don’t tell Aaron about that, okay?”
Henry drove up to a beautiful home and Polly was surprised to see Patrick sitting on the front steps, his head in his hands. He was dressed in sweats and running shoes. “You go,” she said to Henry. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Henry scowled at her, then opened his door and called out, “Hey, Patrick. What are you doing out here?”
The young man looked up at the two of them, streaks of tears still evident on his cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said.
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change Page 28
