A Riesling to Die

by J. C. Eaton

  “As I was saying about the nondisclosure agreement, I know I’m completely bound to keeping everything confidential.” I emphasized the word “everything.”

  Declan didn’t say a word.

  “I understand that, in your business, certain decisions have to be made in order to ensure the growth of your company. Ruthless decisions, at times. Please note, I’m not entering into this lightly. I’m prepared to accept those decisions and those actions. When barriers stand in the way, sometimes they have to be removed, even if it means doing something that, well, shall we say, goes against the human conscience.”

  Hmm. The human conscience. I think I used that expression in one of my screenplays. Kisses in the Snow? Oh, what the hell.

  “Anyway, Declan, I wanted you to know how I felt. How I’m prepared to act. That Atlantis vision of yours will bring so much joy to so many, what does it matter that one less person is part of the picture? It had to happen to make all of this come together. She had to be done away with. It’s the details I’d like to—”

  “My God!” Declan rubbed the nape of his neck and it looked as if all the color had suddenly drained from his face. “You planned this all along. How could I have been so blind? So dense. To not see it. To not realize it. My God, Norrie! You’re the one who killed Elsbeth Waters to make it easier for us to acquire that property. You must’ve known the niece would be a pushover.”

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Okay, maybe a few garbled syllables but nothing coherent.

  Declan kept on talking. “It was no secret Vanna Enterprises wanted that property, as well as Two Witches, in order to establish our mega-winery-entertainment center. And you figured out how to become a part of it. A full-fledged partner. It would’ve meant millions for you. Oh my God!”

  He paused for a moment to swallow some water while I stared at him, unable to utter a sound.

  “This deal is totally off the table, Norrie. I’m not getting into bed, so to speak, with a killer.”

  I finally got my voice back and I tried to keep it low. “A killer? Look who’s talking. What about your silent partner for Euro Wonderland? And the other one? The woman from San Francisco who bankrolled your mall? Just for the record, my attorney”—whoever that may be—“did his homework.”

  “Well, he got the answers wrong. Gerhardt Weimer died from complications of congestive heart failure and Patrice Vandermark suffered a stroke. My partner and I are twenty-first century businessmen, not nineteen-thirties racketeers. Sure, we may be ruthless when it comes to contracts and legal matters, but murder? That’s unconscionable.”

  “If you say so. Then how do you explain my brother-in-law getting that grant all of a sudden? I know, for a fact, Lucas Stilton made a formidable donation to Cornell University’s philanthropic fund with the monies earmarked for one project and one project only–insect research in Costa Rica. He had to know it was Jason Keane’s forte.”

  Declan shook his head and made an annoying tsk-tsk sound. “Wrong again. You probably didn’t know this, but Lucas was a twin. When he and his sister were fourteen, their parents took them to Costa Rica for a vacation and an opportunity to see the rainforests. His sister contracted Dengue fever, only a serious version—Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. She died from it and he never got over her death. He contributes millions to research in order to find a cure.”

  Everything felt as if it was spiraling around me. I still had one more dart to toss his way.

  “Then how do you explain Rosalee Marbleton’s sudden sweepstakes win and subsequent trip to Alaska? She didn’t even remember buying a ticket. Her property would’ve completed the package for you.”

  “You got me on that one. Alaska, huh?”

  “She’s there now.”

  “Well, I had no idea.”

  By now small beads of perspiration were forming on my forehead and my foot was tapping uncontrollably under the table. Then something dawned on me. “Your car! Why would a new Mercedes have to be detailed? I’ll tell you why. Because it was used to transport a dead body across a rutted makeshift road so you could dump it in our vineyard. There are all sorts of vines and bushes alongside that road. Enough to scratch and mar the finish.”

  “Nice try, but wrong again. I made the mistake of parking my car at the Monroe County Fairgrounds to catch a car show. That’ll never happen again. So much dust and dirt and small pebbles wreaked havoc on the finish. Oh, and, for your information, Lucas and I alibied out. We were in the Bahamas during the time of Elsbeth’s murder. Atlantis, to be exact. We both wanted our project to outdo that one.”

  Suddenly, our waiter appeared. “Can I interest you in any desserts to go with your coffees?”

  No, but a hari-kari knife is beginning to sound inviting.

  “Just the bill, please.” Declan’s voice was devoid of any emotion. Then he turned to me when the waiter walked off. “Like I said, Norrie. It’s over.”

  I must’ve been in shock because nothing was processing. Declan stood, put a wad of cash on the table and walked out. I sat there stunned, the delicate coffee cup shaking in my hand.

  When I finally focused, I pulled out my cell phone and sent a text to Theo and Don. It read:

  He pointed the finger at me. Do you know any real lawyers?

  Less than three minutes later, my phone vibrated and I answered.

  Theo sounded calm but concerned. “Drive straight here. It’ll be okay.”

  As I walked out of the gracious dining room in Belhurst Castle, I wondered if I’d ever see the place, or any other restaurant, for that matter, ever again. Knowing Declan Roth, he wasn’t going to waste any time accusing me of murder. Then again, maybe he’d simply toss it up as a business deal gone sour and forget about it. Either way, the pressure would be off for the other wineries since Vanna Enterprises wouldn’t be able to have their choice piece of property.

  Unfortunately, I was no closer to finding Elsbeth’s killer and, for all I knew, I was one step closer to my own demise. Don opened the front door to their house without me knocking. He must’ve been looking out the window.

  No sooner had I stepped inside than I started bawling like a baby. It was uncontrollable. I sobbed and shook, scaring the daylights out of everyone. Myself included.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I don’t even remember the last time I cried.”

  “That’s okay,” Theo said. “Sit down. I’ll make you some tea.”

  “Thanks, no. I can’t eat or drink another thing. It was awful. Awful. I botched up everything.”

  For a second it felt as if something tickled my neck and then, without warning, a huge long-haired cat jumped in my lap and bumped my chin.

  “Wow,” Don said. “It usually takes Isolde months to warm up to new people. She must really like you.”

  I stroked the cat’s silky fur and relaxed long enough to relive every single detail of my dinner experience with Declan. When I was finally through, both guys came over and gave me hugs.

  “It’ll be all right.” Don said. “Chances are, Declan won’t want to call attention to himself and get involved with this matter.”

  “You think so?” I tried to sound hopeful.

  Theo grimaced. “Hate to be a buzzkill, but I’m not so sure. No sense worrying about it tonight. All it really means is we’re back to square one when it comes to finding Elsbeth’s real killer.”

  “What if I do get arrested? Then what?”

  “Calm down,” Don said. “We’ll get a good criminal lawyer and make sure we have lots of bail money. But seriously, I don’t believe Declan will lift a fingernail to accuse you.”

  “I hope you’re right. I really, really do.”

  Chapter 26

  Again with the pounding on the door at the break of dawn, only this time it wasn’t accompanied by Travis and Robbie’s voices. I reached for clean undergarments in my drawer, slipped a top ove
r my head and threw on some jeans. The pounding was relentless.

  “I’m coming! I’m coming!”

  Charlie bounded down the stairs and went straight for his food dish. I poured the kibble automatically before I opened the door.

  Deputy Hickman stood pokerfaced as he spoke. “Miss Ellington, you’ll need to accompany me to the sheriff’s station in Penn Yan for questioning regarding the murder of Elsbeth Waters.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I didn’t even know her until I got here.”

  “But you were acquainted with her, were you not?”

  “I only met her on two occasions when she came into our tasting room. Well, once in the room. Once in the parking lot, if you want to be specific. Are you arresting me? Because if you are, I need to call my lawyer.”

  Or the winery owner from down the road who’ll have to suffice.

  “At this juncture in time, I am bringing you in for questioning. That’s all I’m at liberty to say at the moment.”

  “Fine. Let me comb my hair at least and put on some shoes. You can grab a seat at the table. Don’t worry. It’s not as if I’m going to make a run for it.”

  I trounced back upstairs, brushed my teeth, put on some sunscreen tint and combed my hair, but not before sending Theo and Don another text.

  Hauled into the sheriff’s station in PY. Wait till you hear from me.

  It didn’t make sense for one or both of them to drive over there if I was going to be released a short while later.

  I locked the door behind me and followed Grizzly Gary to his car. “Are you going to cuff me?” I was half kidding.

  “You’re only being questioned at this time. Sit in the back, if you will.”

  It was a ten minute drive to the Yates County Sheriff’s Office, officially titled the Yates County Public Safety Building. The structure was a gray nondescript flat-roofed building that had all the charm of a boxcar. The interior wasn’t much different.

  We skirted past the glass-enclosed window that separated visitors from the safety personnel. Next, we headed past a number of small cubicles until we reached Deputy Hickman’s office. Francine’s work spot at the winery looked like the Taj Mahal compared to his tiny office space.

  Deputy Hickman walked around his desk and sat, pointing for me to take the only other chair in the room. A small uncomfortable one that faced his desk.

  “Miss Ellington, it is my sad duty to inform you that you are now considered a person of interest in the murder of Elsbeth Waters.”

  “You could’ve mentioned that at my house, you know.”

  “And risk having you bolt out of there?”

  “Where? Where would I bolt?”

  Deputy Hickman ignored my question. “Our office received some very recent evidence that points directly at you.”

  “Fine. And what exactly would that be?”

  Without wasting a second, he took out his iPhone and placed it on the desk. Seconds later I heard my own voice. Only the words had been edited. “When barriers stand in the way, sometimes they have to be removed, even if it means doing something that goes against the human conscience. What does it matter that one less person is part of the picture? She had to be done away with.”

  “Like I was saying, Miss Ellington, you’re a clever woman. I wouldn’t put anything past you.”

  “First of all, that human conscience bit came from a screenplay I wrote, and second, this is entrapment. That dirty son-of-a-gun. That sneaky, lowlife you-know-what. See? I can’t even say the word. You think I could kill someone? If I’m guilty of anything, it was trying to get Declan Roth into admitting he was responsible for the murder. And yes, before you say another word, I know. I know. I should’ve kept out of it, but I didn’t.”

  “Speak slower. I’m getting this all down.”

  Unless Deputy Hickman aced a shorthand class back in the sixties, I didn’t know how or what he was getting down on that pad of his but I didn’t say a word about it. Instead, I told him every single detail about my scheme and the rationale behind it, including the car detailing, Jason’s sudden grant, thanks to Lucas Stilton’s generous donation, and Rosalee Marbleton’s sudden sweepstakes win. He looked at me as if I had just stepped off a spaceship.

  “Oddly enough, I believe you, Miss Ellington, but that scheme of yours had to be the most ill-conceived, downright dangerous plot I’ve ever heard. For your information, our department, in conjunction with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department in Rochester, scrutinized and verified the whereabouts of Lucas Stilton and Declan Roth, on and before the time of Elsbeth’s murder. And not only that, but our investigators looked into any possible contacts those two might have had in order to execute a murder. And you know what? Clean as a whistle. They may be unscrupulous businessmen, but they’re not killers.”

  I rubbed my temples and groaned.

  “You were right about one thing, though. Rosalee Marbleton didn’t win any sweepstakes.”

  “I knew it. It was those developers, wasn’t it?”

  “No, as a matter of fact, it wasn’t.” Deputy Hickman’s voice reeked of exasperation. “It was Rosalee’s children. My wife happens to be friends with one of the daughters. Rosalee would never have accepted money from them to go on that trip of a lifetime, so they worked with a travel agent in the area and came up with that sweepstakes idea. Now, are you satisfied? And now, do you understand why these investigations should be left to the professionals?”

  Ouch. “Uh-huh.”

  He had one of the younger deputy sheriffs drive me back home and warned me again to keep out of his investigation. I called the Grey Egret the minute I got in the door.

  Don’s relief was overwhelming. “Don’t know about you, but that took ten years off my life. One for your near arrest and nine thinking about what your sister would do to us. Hold on a second…”

  His voice trailed off and then I heard, “Theo, you can stop looking up criminal attorneys in Rochester.”

  “I’m so sorry for putting you through this. Honestly. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “It’s okay. Try not to think about it. We’ll catch up later, all right?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I made myself a cup of coffee and paced around the kitchen. Charlie, who had gone back to sleep in his bed, looked up once in a while.

  “This really bites, you know,” I said to the drowsy hound. “Really, really bites. I suppose I should break the bad news to Yvonne, since there’s no way Vanna Enterprises is going to buy her property now that Two Witches is off the table. She might’ve stood a chance while Lucas and Declan thought they had a deal going with me, but that shriveled up fast, huh?”

  The dog began to snore and I made myself another cup of coffee.

  “Yep, bye-bye to Yvonne’s dreams of relocating somewhere in California. Or was it Baja California? Anyway, it was someplace without snow. Guess she better not get rid of her winter wardrobe.”

  I looked at the clock on the microwave—9:51 AM. Yvonne was probably done with breakfast at her B & B and maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all if I paid her a visit. It would also give me an opportunity to snoop around a little more at her place. Snoop, not investigate. There was a subtle difference.

  Only one car was in front of the Peaceful Pines when I got there, and the driver was backing up. Connecticut license plate. Tourists, for sure. I knocked on the door and Yvonne opened it almost immediately.

  “Hi, Norrie. What brings you here?”

  “Have you got a minute? There’s something I wanted to talk with you about.”

  “Sure. All the guests have taken off for the wine trail, so come on in.”

  “I’m not going to be long but I needed you to know something. Remember a while back when you told me you’d had an offer on this property from a larger wine company? Well, I hate to say this, but
Vanna Enterprises won’t be buying up the wineries on these hills. They needed Two Witches but, er, they changed their mind and don’t want anything to do with us. Well, me, to be exact. Long story. I’m really sorry, Yvonne. I know you didn’t want to spend the rest of your life running this B & B.”

  She crinkled her nose and shrugged. “Vanna Enterprises? They weren’t the ones who wanted to buy our property. It was Stephanie Ipswich and her husband from Gable Hill Winery down the road.”

  My God! The second suspect on my list is Stephanie. Stephanie with the tea and crumpets, and tarp to drag the body.

  “Norrie, are you all right? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “What? No, I’m fine. I was taken by surprise, that’s all. I was positive it was those developers who wanted your property.”

  “Nope, it was the Ipswiches, and I plan to take them up on it as soon as this miserable estate is settled. Things move so damn slow around here. And still no arrests regarding my aunt’s murder.”

  “An arrest might come sooner than you think. You never know. Anyway, I should get going. Have a good day.”

  I was out the door, in my car and back to my kitchen in record time. With every other possibility exhausted, it all boiled down to the one person who had the big three—motive, means and opportunity—Stephanie Ipswich. I was dying to share this revelation with Theo and Don, but it was Friday and they’d be swamped in their tasting room. Besides, I had plagued them enough for one morning. It could wait. Especially since I was without a plan. Maybe I’d bother them after Glenda’s wackadoodle séance, or conjuring of the dead, or whatever she’d planned for the Fourth of July.

  Oh my gosh! The Fourth of July! That was tomorrow night. I had told Theo and Don about it, but neither of them wanted to participate in Glenda’s summoning of the dead.

  “Call if you need us,” Don had said when I first broached the topic. “But I seriously doubt you’ll run into any problems. Not with the dead, anyway.”