Corked by Cabernet

by Michele Scott

  Even during her talk, in the back of her mind, Nikki felt the dark cloud of murder hanging over her, and she knew when people began drinking and loosening up, that she’d go in for the kill. So to speak.

  Nikki sidled over to Juan Gonzales, wanting to see what information she could get from him. “You having a good time?” Nikki asked.

  “Sure. I love wine. Love food, too.” He rubbed his paunch, and smiled. Nikki noticed for the first time that he had a couple of gold teeth on the bottom row. There looked to be some cheese caught in them, and she tried not to stare at it. Juan was probably somewhere in his late forties. He ran his hand through his slicked-back dark hair and smiled at her.

  “What’s not to love?” She smiled. Get friendly. Get into this guy’s head and find out about the note he sent to Iwao. She raised her glass.

  “Good talk, by the way. You sure do know a lot about wine.”

  “Oh well, it’s my job. And how about the enlightenment sessions? How are those going for you?”

  “I still have plenty to learn, that’s for sure, but Alan is wonderful. He’s so patient with all of us misfits, you know.”

  “He seems wonderful. I don’t know him that well, not being a member and all, but you must, I assume. Everyone in the group must.” Nikki did her best to appear casually interested.

  “No, no. I don’t know most of the people, but there are a few new guys, like your friends Simon and Marco, who I’m getting to know.”

  “How about Iwao? You knew him pretty well. At least it seemed like you did last night on the train when you came over.”

  He frowned. “Yeah, man.” He shook his head. “That was wrong, you know, so wrong that happened to him. I did know Iwao. I’m pretty shaken up about it.”

  “I can see that.” Nikki tried to sound sincere, but come on! This guy was slamming back the vino and hardly thinking twice about Iwao Yamimoto. Those were the facts. “Did you two know each other outside of the group?” She already knew that they did. He’d told Simon that. Would he have the same story for her?

  He was slow to answer, as if he was searching for the right words. “We did. We met through the group and had some things in common. And you know we did some business together.”

  “Yeah? What kind of business?”

  “We did some film work together. Why all the questions?”

  “I don’t know. I find it curious that everyone here seems to have forgotten that this man was murdered last night and some of you knew him rather well.”

  He laughed but Nikki didn’t think there was anything slightly humorous about their conversation. “You have a curious nature, don’t you?”

  “I suppose that I do, but more than that, I find the situation disturbing, especially considering that you knew Iwao and did business with him.”

  “What am I supposed to do? Sulk? Is that what we’re all supposed to do, Ms. Sands?” His tone turned nasty and Nikki didn’t care for it at all.

  “A little mourning couldn’t hurt,” she said pointedly.

  “You didn’t know Iwao Yamimoto, did you?”

  “No. I only just met the man.”

  He picked up another glass of wine on the table next to them. “Right. Let me tell you something. Iwao was not always the most ethical of human beings. In fact, he’d screw anyone over if given the chance.”

  “Sounds like you two had some difficulties. Is that why you wrote him a note when he arrived here?” Juan frowned at Nikki’s question. “I remember Iwao mentioning it to you on the train and I got the feeling it wasn’t a pleasantry or a welcome card.”

  “I feel I’m being attacked here. I never wrote Iwao a note, a card, nothing. I was confused when he said that to me.”

  Nikki studied him. Was he telling her the truth? She remembered the night before when Iwao made the sarcastic remark to him about the note; Nikki had sensed something was off between the two of them. Neither one wanted to be around the other. “I’m not attacking you. I apologize if you feel that way. I suppose it’s what you said—I’m curious is all.”

  He nodded. “Right. I didn’t write nothing, like I said. He had to have misread the signature. You know, everyone who did business with Iwao had difficulties, even his nephew. There are at least a few people in this room who would agree to that. Not me. I hate to be rude, but since the police have interrogated me, I don’t feel like having this conversation again in a social situation. I’m here to have fun.” Juan Gonzales walked away from Nikki, leaving her dumbstruck.

  Most people didn’t walk away from her, not even when she was digging for information. She had to find out what his problems were with Iwao and why he clearly didn’t like the man. Not only that, she had to find the note that had been left for Iwao, and see if it had been Juan who’d written it—or someone else, as he’d insisted. How was she going to do that? Could it still be in Iwao’s room?

  A note. What did you do with a note someone wrote to you? Especially if it was someone you didn’t care much for? Throw it away. That seemed the logical explanation. Unless it was a threat—maybe you kept those? The police had gone through Iwao’s room this morning, but what if Housekeeping had gone through it before that? She had to ask Mizuki if Housekeeping had been in their room, before she’d been moved out of there. If so, then that meant there was only one place a note could be: the Dumpster. She was not going there. No. First things first. See if she could somehow communicate with Iwao’s mistress.

  The police had asked the hotel to move Mizuki out of the suite she’d shared with Iwao so that they could check the room out further. Alyssa had taken care of the switch that morning. Nikki could use the excuse that she wanted to be sure everything was suitable in the new room. How she would do that, Nikki wasn’t sure. The loud, slowly spoken English she’d tried last night hadn’t gone over too well. But dammit, she had to try.

  Maybe she could get away and check on Mizuki right now. Where were Simon and Marco? They should have been back by now. Had they found anything more incriminating against Kurt Kensington, who was now busy chatting up Sierra Sansi? Sierra, Nikki noticed, did not seem to be pouring the booze down like she had the night before. Was there a reason for that? Sierra was a martial artist who had worked on films. Was she also a great actress? Nikki sighed. What she needed was some time to sit down alone and analyze last night’s events by herself. Something was amiss but she was having trouble putting it together in the middle of this wine tasting.

  She was not done picking at Juan Gonzales. She didn’t care that he thought she was rude. She’d try a different tactic, because she planned to find out what his beef was with Iwao.

  Juan was now engrossed in a tense-looking conversation with Ruben Pearlman. They glanced at her as she came toward them.

  Juan started to walk away and Ruben smiled awkwardly at her. Then her cell phone rang. She could hear it from behind the counter—even over the din of people’s voices. And she also knew it was Derek. She’d set a certain ring tone for him—ABC’s “The Look of Love.” Yes, she was a teenager in the eighties.

  She grabbed the phone off the counter and took a deep breath before answering. “Hi, sweetie.” Oh, no, now she was doing the endearment thing that they so did not do, and surely it would tip him off to the presence of winery shenanigans.

  The tone in his voice told her that he’d already been tipped off. “Hi, yourself. I just got off the phone about five minutes ago with Simon.”

  Shit. Boy, when she got her hands around Simon’s neck, she was going to wring it as hard as she could.

  “Yes,” she said, hearing the hesitation in her voice.

  “I understand that there is a situation out there.”

  “Can you give me a sec? I have to walk outside. I’m actually doing the wine-tasting event for the S.E.E. members right now.”

  “I can wait,” he replied, his voice stern.

  Nikki grabbed a glass of wine from the table before heading out and took a larger than usual sip while making her way out the side doors.
She brought the phone back up to her ear. “I can hear you now.” She could also hear noise in the background where he was and decided to try to change the course of the conversation. “Where are you?”

  “I’m at a restaurant that one of the Salvatores’ relatives owns in Manhattan.”

  “Oh, Italian. Good. What are you having?”

  “Ravioli. I think. Stop what you’re doing and tell me what’s going on out there, Nik.”

  She sighed. “Well, there’s been a hiccup with Alan Sansi’s event here.”

  “A hiccup? My brother told me that hiccup was actually a murder.”

  She cringed. Man, when she found Simon . . . Where was he anyway? He’d obviously spent some time on the phone with his brother. Thanks for the heads-up! “Yes. One of the S.E.E. members was murdered last night on the wine train.”

  “Jesus, Nikki. Could you have called me?”

  “You were on a plane,” she protested. “And then I knew you had meetings and were busy, and what could you do anyway?”

  “Not a whole helluva lot considering I’m stuck here in the city. Have you seen the news?”

  “No. I’ve been kind of busy myself. What’s the problem?” She leaned against the stone wall that housed the tasting room.

  “Only the biggest snowstorm the East Coast has seen in fifty years. The planes are grounded. I don’t know when I can get home.” Nikki heard the frustration in Derek’s voice. “As soon as Simon told me what happened, I called all the airlines, but I already knew no one was getting out of here tonight. It’s been all over the news. It started early this morning and hasn’t let up.”

  “That’s terrible, honey.” Terrible, my ass. Secretly, she couldn’t help being a little glad that he was stuck out there. If she knew him the way she thought she did, he would have already been on his way to JFK if he could to get the first flight home. Nikki was not ready to give up playing Colombo anytime soon; there was a killer in Napa and she hadn’t earned her Nosy Nikki name for nuthin’.

  Derek returned the sarcastic nickname exchange and said, “That’s right, that’s terrible, sweetie.”

  “Derek?” Nikki heard a woman’s voice in the background. “Your ravioli is on the table. It’ll get cold.”

  “Hi, Sophia. I’ll be with the table in a moment. I have an important call here.”

  “Sophia? Who is Sophia?” Nikki asked, her blood pressure rising by the second. Anyone with a name like Sophia could mean nothing less than trouble with a capital T.

  “She’s Vicente’s daughter. She’s also the family attorney and is going over these contracts with us. She’s a real stickler.”

  “Okay.” Nikki didn’t have a more intelligent response in her repertoire. She hated when she sounded jealous. For all she knew, the woman was an ugly hag. “Is she pretty?” Ooh. She closed her eyes tightly. Now why on earth did she have to go there? That was even stupider than responding with the “okay.”

  “She’s attractive, I guess. If you like her look.”

  Not the answer you want to hear from your boyfriend. Her look? Don’t even pursue this one any further, Nikki warned herself. In fact, talking about the murder suddenly appeared like an easier conversation to have.

  “I can’t believe this happened on the wine train. Do they have any idea who did it? And Simon says that the workshop is still taking place.”

  “Yes. Alan felt that was the best way to go. And no, Detective Robinson really isn’t sure who did the crime, or if it was one of the members or someone who worked on the train. My guess is that he’s exploring all the angles.”

  There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. The only way Nikki could tell that Derek was still there was by the background noise.

  “Jonah Robinson is investigating the murder?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.”

  She shifted uncomfortably against the wall. “Is that a problem?”

  “No. He’s kind of different, and I thought when he was investigating Georges’s murder that he kind of had a thing for you.”

  She laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No.”

  “Derek, we really need you at the table.” Nikki heard Sophia’s voice again.

  “I’m sorry, babe.”

  Another freaking endearment. Bad sign. “You have to go, I know.”

  “I do, but listen to me. I know you too well, and this is not the ideal situation here. You there, in the middle of a murder investigation. Me here, not watching your back. It’s not good. You better not be poking into this thing. Keep Ollie with you and promise me you’ll stay out of Robinson’s way and let him do his job.”

  She bit her lower lip. “I promise,” she muttered. Crap. She hated when he made her make promises that she absolutely knew she couldn’t keep. That was like holding a cookie jar out to a five-year-old and saying, “Now promise me you won’t eat one when I go back and clean my room. You be a good boy, Johnny, and watch Sesame Street.”

  Please! And that was the problem: Derek knew she couldn’t keep that promise and she knew she couldn’t keep it, but she made it anyway.

  “You better not be crossing your fingers behind your back, Nik. I mean it this time. Keep your word, and just stay away from Robinson. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Enjoy your ravioli.”

  And with that, he was gone and she was left standing outside the tasting room, cell phone in one hand, empty wineglass in the other, knowing she’d made empty promises to the man she loved. What a scoundrel! How to live with herself? She looked at the empty glass. She could refill. That might make it easier. No. No. She couldn’t do that.

  Okay, since the empty promises had been made and she already knew she’d break them and feel all that guilt and shame, she figured, what the hell? Nikki went to see if she could talk again with Mizuki.

  Cheese Ravioli with Sweet Italian Sausage and Bracco Chianti Classico

  Sophia! Sophia! That could not be good. All women named Sophia are sexpots and gorgeous. It’s a well-known fact. And Derek is having ravioli with her at an Italian restaurant! Hmmm. Well, the only consolation Nikki can have in this moment is that she knows she makes the best ravioli around. So, when Derek takes a bite of that ravioli he’s eating there with Sophia, he won’t be able to help remembering Nikki’s divine cheese ravioli with sweet Italian sausage.

  Got to have a good bottle of Chianti when eating ravioli, right? Yeah, well, Derek better not be with that Sophia! When he gets back to Napa, Nikki will have to make him her ravioli and pair it with her favorite Chianti by Bracco Wines owned by Lorraine Bracco of The Sopranos. The Chianti Classico is an elegant red wine with flavors of black cherry and plum. It’s aged in new Slovenian oak barrels for a year. It’s a fantastic wine for pasta and meat dishes.

  12 oz fresh sweet Italian sausage links

  1 cup beef broth

  1 cup chopped onion

  3 cloves garlic, minced

  2 tsp olive oil

  28-oz can whole Italian-style tomatoes

  ¼ cup tomato paste

  ¼ cup dry red wine

  2 tbsp snipped fresh basil

  1 tsp dried oregano, crushed

  ¼ tsp crushed red pepper

  12 oz dried or 16 oz fresh cheese-filled ravioli

  In a large skillet combine sausage links and broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain off broth. Cook sausage links, uncovered, for 2-4 minutes more, or until brown, turning frequently. Remove from skillet; cool. Slice into ½-inch pieces. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels.

  In the same skillet, cook onion and garlic in hot oil till tender but not brown. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Add sausage to skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or to desired consistency.

  Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or pasta pot bring 3 quarts water to boiling. Add pasta. Reduce heat slightly. Boil, uncovered, 15 minutes for dried pasta or 8-10 minut
es for fresh, or till al dente, stirring occasionally. (Or cook according to package directions.) Immediately drain. Return pasta to warm saucepan. Pour sausage mixture over hot cooked pasta. Serve immediately.

  Eighteen

  NIKKI peered back inside the wine tasting and saw that Alan Sansi had taken center stage again. This was good for her. It meant she could head over to Mizuki’s suite.

  She knocked on Mizuki’s door, hoping no one from the wine tasting was wandering the halls, but there was no response. This troubled Nikki. Where would Mizuki have gone? Maybe she was resting. Both Robinson and Nikki agreed that Mizuki had information to share. The problem was, no one had been able to get that information because of the language barrier. It was too bad the interpreter that Robinson had requested hadn’t come by when he was supposed to. She knocked again before giving up. It was dark. Ollie needed to get out and be fed. Poor guy. He was used to a lot more attention than what he’d been getting over the past couple of days.

  Thoughts of Ollie led to thoughts of Derek. She didn’t like the way their conversation had ended. She figured he was angry and frustrated, which she understood. Here he was, stuck in New York, when this horrible thing had happened. But really, what could he do? The strangest thing about it all was what seemed to be Derek’s jealousy toward Robinson. He had nothing to be jealous about. The detective was just doing his job. Yes, he’d asked her to help and she’d omitted telling Derek that part. Boy, wouldn’t that have really gotten under his skin! She wouldn’t have wanted that.

  Speaking of jealousy, what about that Sophia chick who’d been with Derek? A woman with a certain look. Hmmm. Nikki would have to Google this Sophia Salvatore character later. Right now she had to find out where Mizuki was. Nikki couldn’t believe that she’d left her room. Maybe she went to the restaurant for some dinner? Nikki checked but she wasn’t there.