Pinot Noir and Poison

by Sandra Woffington

  “So you stayed?” asked Max.

  “I hired an attorney the day after Danny’s funeral. Life seemed too short all of a sudden. I can give you his number if you need to substantiate that. We hadn’t served Sally yet. We were still examining the pre-nup and the assets to see where I’d be. I can find another job.”

  “We’ll need to speak to Maria,” said Max.

  “Sunday is her day off, but I’ll get her number for you.” Elliot swiped his phone and read off the number. “The thing is—why did it take me so long? I kick myself about that. Why did I wait?”

  “We all have our reasons to wait and our reasons to rush forward before we’re out of time. It’s not always easy to tell the difference,” added Joy.

  “Right,” said Elliot. “But I didn’t want it this way. That much, I know. I was ready to walk away.”

  Joy helped Max into the SUV. Max could move his fingers better, grip better, but he still felt tingles at his fingertips.

  “It’s not high on the list, but let’s follow Sally’s schedule. She had a treatment in the morning. Should be a quick stop on the way to Lizzy’s.”

  Max’s cell phone rang. “King here.” Max had to hold the phone away from his ear to get away from Captain Jayda Banks’ screeching voice.

  “Detective King, you get your sorry, crippled ass back to that hospital pronto! And you stay there until the doctor clears you for duty, you hear me! Of all the stunts—what were you thinking? You better not be toting a weapon, or I’ll use it to shoot some sense into you! Did I make myself clear, Max? Because if I don’t hear from the doctor in the next hour, I’ll find you, and I’ll drag your ass into that hospital myself! And if I do, you’ll need some medical attention.”

  “Yes, Captain,” said Max. “Anything else?”

  “I think that’s enough, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Captain Banks.” The line went dead. Max turned to Joy. “We have time to stop at Sally’s spa before you take me back to the hospital. By then, I might be able to wiggle my toes and get a proper release.” Max clenched and unclenched his fingers to stimulate the circulation and, hopefully, speed his recovery.

  Max and Joy strolled into the Wine Valley Medi-Spa, faux painted like a Roman bath with grape clusters stenciled around the upper reaches of the walls. Max left the walker in the SUV. He walked a little funny, slightly bent at the waist, but he walked on his own power.

  Soft music played overhead. The calming scents of jasmine, lavender, and essential oils wafted through the air. The shelves burgeoned with products for sale.

  A young brunette receptionist peered up from her computer. “Can I help you?”

  Joy introduced them. “This is Detective King and I’m Dr. Joy Burton, special consultant. Can we speak to Jessica?”

  “Which one? We have two.”

  “The one who treated Mrs. Sally Kinsey Fee Friday morning,” said Max.

  The receptionist sputtered, “Of course, I’ll get someone to cover for her. Let me take you to the staff’s coffee room. You can talk there.” She led Joy and Max to a back room—more like a combo storeroom with locked glass cabinets full of stock, except for the coffee maker on the counter and a table surrounded by chairs.

  Max and Joy sat and waited. It didn’t take long for Jessica, a thirtyish blonde with a French braid, to join them. Her face looked ashen, like she’d seen a ghost. She sat on the edge of her seat, her back stiff, her hands cupped in her lap.

  Max introduced them. “We just have a couple of questions. Was Sally Fee acting strangely at all when you saw her Friday morning? Nauseous maybe?”

  Jessica stammered. Her knee pumped up and down in a nervous twitch. “No. She was fine.”

  “Jessica.” Joy waited for the girl to look her in the eye, which she clearly did not want to do. “What treatment did you give Sally?”

  Jessica blurted, “MuscleToxA. She was in a couple of weeks ago, and she said I botched it, that one eyelid drooped more than the other. I made the mistake of saying that at her age, she was going to have some wrinkles no matter what she did. She blew up. Insisted on seeing the doctor. She tried to get me fired. The doctor defended me, said I was the best nurse-technician he had. But he appeased her too. He gave me permission to give her more MuscleToxA to correct the difference. She said she had some party to go to, and she had to be beautiful.” The girl snapped, “She knows it doesn’t work that fast, which is why she came in a couple of weeks ago to be ready for this party in the first place.”

  “You gave her more?” asked Max.

  “I gave her the allotted amount prescribed by the doctor. No more. No less.”

  Joy tilted her head. “Max, can you get a printout from the receptionist of all of Sally’s treatments in the last two months?”

  “Sure.” Max stepped out.

  Joy leaned in. “Sally was a bitch.”

  Jessica’s eyes opened wide.

  “I haven’t had MuscleToxA or anything else. But I hear that a rare side effect is ptosis. Did I say that right?”

  Jessica’s head bobbed as fast as her leg. “Eyelid droop.”

  “I saw Sally at the party. While both lids drooped, one drooped more than the other. Significantly more.”

  Jessica bit her lip.

  “How does that happen?”

  Jessica frowned; her lips parted. “If the medication is injected too close to the levator palpebrae muscle, it can migrate. That muscle opens the eyelid.” She added in short bursts, “It’s not permanent. Since it migrated, not much affects that muscle. And it wears off.”

  “I’m sure that you can’t always control where the medication goes. Right?”

  Jessica folded her arms over her chest. She bit her lip again.

  “Look at me.” Joy waited to have full eye contact. “We all make mistakes. Especially when our buttons are pushed. But remember this day—remember that a mistake made under those conditions will be the biggest mistakes of your life. Don’t let your emotions lead you down a road that has the potential to destroy you. You’re what, thirty?”

  “Twenty-nine.”

  Joy leaned in until her face was so close to Jessica’s that she had to whisper. “If the doctor sees you as the best he’s got, then don’t throw that away on the likes of people like Sally. Trust me on this, because I’ve been there. When you cross some lines, there isn’t always a way to cross back. The bridge that you walked across disintegrates, and you’re stuck living on the opposite bank for the rest of your life. You can see the other shore and remember what it was like. But you can’t go back there ever again. Do you understand?”

  Jessica’s breathing increased. She nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”

  Joy stood up to leave. As soon as she entered the hallway, she heard Jessica burst into tears.

  10

  On the way to Lizzy’s, Joy called Dr. Robert’s office and chatted up his receptionist. She first obtained her name, Nettie. “Nettie, I’m Dr. Joy Burton, special consultant to the Wine Valley Police Department, and my idiot partner—sitting beside me as we speak—decided to check himself out of the hospital against your doctor’s orders this morning.”

  “Hemlock poisoning?”

  “Right. So now, he’s worthless to us both. He can’t carry a gun or help me solve a current case involving murder, but I can report that he’s stopped drooling, and he can walk and talk all by himself. How do we fix this, Nettie? Max will grovel and beg at Dr. Robert’s feet if it will help.”

  Nettie laughed. “Give me some time. I’ll have to speak to the doctor and get back to you.”

  “Please remind him that having saved my partner’s life, I’m also eternally grateful and willing to grovel. If Max can’t get back to work fast, others will die. Literally. We can’t afford bruised egos.”

  “I understand,” said Nettie. “Leave it to me.”

  By the time Joy reached Via Vendage and approached the turn off, her phone rang. “Hi, Nettie.”

  “Dr. Roberts can’t see Max today, but
he’s in his office tomorrow. He will see Max at two. A little groveling won’t hurt. Between you and me, he’s a sucker for See’s candy, caramels and chews.”

  “Aren’t we all? I’ll have him there with a box of chocolates,” said Joy. “Thank you! You just saved my life. I’ll bring some nuts and chews for you too.”

  “Bridge mix—I tell myself the raisins and nuts are good for me.”

  “Well, they are. Thanks, Nettie.”

  Max called Captain Banks and relayed the information.

  Banks, on speaker phone, reminded Max that he was not on active duty as far as she was concerned. “You’re a spectator. Max. A pimple-on-the-ass ride-along.” She disconnected.

  Max directed Joy to turn at a cross street.

  Red and Kate had given their son, Danny, and his bride, Lizzy, a couple of acres of Raedwald vineyard property on which to build a grand house in the Scottish tradition. It looked like a mini version of the winery estate, a castle, rather than Red and Kate’s manor house. The single-level stone-faced home sprawled to the left and right of a gargantuan wood door, which looked like a drawbridge.

  Lizzy answered the doorbell. “Max! You look so much better. Joy, good to see you too. Come in, come in.” She ushered them through stone-walled rooms to the living area. Max had been in the kitchen before, which had a monolithic hearth on which he’d seen a suckling pig and other items roast.

  They all sat down on red sofas in the living room, decorated with medieval wall tapestries of hunts, antique carpets, a knight in armor, similar to the one in Red and Kate’s dining room, and a modern big-screen television.

  “Can I get you some iced tea?” asked Lizzy. “To ward off this heat?”

  “No thanks, Lizzy,” said Max. He knew her too well to suggest that she call him Detective King. “We need to ask you some questions.”

  “Of course, Max. I understand.” Lizzy pushed her dark blond hair away from her plain face, devoid of makeup. Her green eyes lacked luster. Her jeans and pale green T-shirt made her even more washed out than usual. “I’m not at my best these days.” She feigned a smile.

  Joy sympathized. “How did you meet Danny? I’ve heard so many good things about him.”

  Lizzy lit up, “Didn’t Max tell you? It was under the worst of circumstances. I’m sure you’ve heard that Elliot, my fiancé, dumped me for my sister. I got in my car and headed out with the intention of getting quite plastered. I ended up at the Wolf winery, and Danny was the bartender. He poured me a glass of wine, and I told him to keep the bottle close by. I spilled my guts. When I told him it was finals week, and that I didn’t care, he took my glass away from me.” Lizzy laughed and blushed. “As he liked to remind me and all of our friends, I told him where to stuff his bagpipe. But he took my hand and he said not to let my sister win. He sent me home to study. ‘You get As, and I’ll take you out and get you good and plastered, and I’ll get you home safely too,’ he said. I got As. He took me on our first date, but I didn’t get plastered. We married a couple of years later. He was the love of my life.” Lizzy crossed her arms over her chest. A tear fell down her face, but she wiped it away, cleared her throat, and sat up. “You have questions for me. What do you want to know?”

  Max asked, “Elliot tells us that Todd will inherit Sally’s shares. Is that true?”

  “As far as I know, yes. Todd called Elliot and gave him a heads up. It makes sense. Sally and Todd have been an item for a very long time. Ever since my father died, in fact. Todd was a young pup corporate attorney, as hungry to race up the ladder as Sally. He helped Sally secure her place at Kinsey Pharmaceuticals. Sally wanted the company all to herself, but she couldn’t get rid of me.”

  “That must have been a thorn in her side,” said Max.

  “No bigger a thorn than she’s been to me, I assure you, but she’s my sister too. I’ve always thought we could mend our fences.”

  “You were Daddy’s girl,” said Joy.

  “Yes, poor Sally.” Lizzy grabbed a pillow, pressed it against her belly, and hugged it. “She was already working at the company when father died. I was in college. I thought that running Kinsey together would bridge our gaps. But Sally pushed Todd to broker a deal to cut me out.”

  “A buy out?” asked Max.

  Lizzy nodded. “I almost took it, but Danny stopped me. He said my father gave me half of the company for a reason. I couldn’t give it up. It was my heritage. So I said no. Poor Linus wasn’t so lucky.”

  “The chemist who created your wonder drug?” asked Max.

  “My father was a fair and decent man. He promised Linus Tyler he’d make him a partner as soon as MuscleToxA released. Then father died, and Sally and Todd kicked him out of the company for good.”

  “What happened to him?” asked Joy.

  “I heard he died a few years later,” said Lizzy.

  Joy leaned forward and clasped her hands. “Lizzy, is Rio home? I have a question or two for him while Max finishes up with you.”

  Lizzy walked over to the intercom and sent out an all-points to every room. “Rio? Max and his partner are here. They have a few questions.”

  A muffled response came back. “Be right down.”

  Joy asked to speak to Rio in private.

  Rio led her into a library room with walls of books stuffed into dark wooden shelves. They sat in red leather chairs before a black granite hearth. The red walls gave the room a stately feeling, but the intricate carpets added warmth. “Rio, I need you to tell me about the affair you had with Sally. It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.”

  Rio, a tall, handsome young man with olive skin, shifted uncomfortably. He had prominent facial bones and black wavy hair. “It’s embarrassing. I was drunk. Technically, she’s my aunt, although I’ve never seen her that way.”

  “The same rules apply for men as women—if you weren’t able to consent—”

  “I did consent. It was just stupid.”

  “Just tell me what happened?”

  Rio kept his eyes on the ground. “After graduation in May, I took a month off before I started working at Kinsey. My buddy and I dreamed of backpacking Europe, but Dad got real sick then, so I started work in June to stick around. He was pretty bad over the summer. Mom had to give him morphine. I’d only been at Kinsey a couple of weeks. Sally asked to see me after work. I went to her office, and she poured me a drink. She said we had to toast my new career with Kinsey, said she’d heard excellent reports of my work. I asked about Elliot, and she said he had left hours earlier to visit my dad and see if my mom needed any help. I got up to leave, but she kept talking, asking me questions, refilling my glass. Before I knew it, she was right beside me on the couch, saying how we weren’t really related at all.” Rio locked his dark brown eyes on Joy’s. “I’d had a crush on her for a long time. It just happened, and I regret it.”

  “Sally knew what she was doing, Rio. Don’t blame yourself. I’m just a few years older than you. I’ve made mistakes. We think we’re all grown up in our twenties, and we are, but parents aren’t around to stop us from making bad decisions.”

  Rio paused. His voice dropped, as if he could barely get the words out. “I hate her. She’s pure evil. And I’m not sorry she’s dead. She put my mom through hell.”

  “So you punished her?” Joy sat up straight, her spine stiff.

  Rio froze. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m asking if you poisoned her?”

  Rio’s shoulders arched back in defense. “I didn’t poison her.” His eyes shifted to the floor.

  Joy thought back, and a scene came to mind. As she stood in the hallway, Oliver had eye drops. And he had refilled Sally’s wine glass. “But Oliver did?”

  Rio rolled his eyes. “It was dumb—but not deadly. He saw it in The Wedding Crashers. He didn’t know how dangerous that stuff is. He felt guilty after she died. He thinks he killed her. He swore he didn’t put that much in her drink. A few drops.”

  “But you know the chemical reaction?”


  “Vomiting, maybe rapid heartbeat.”

  “Difficulty breathing, tremors, seizures. Death.”

  “He didn’t kill her. You said it was hemlock.” Rio raised his voice. “If he could take it back, he would. Don’t you think he was freaking out at the party when she started acting loopy? I’ve been freaking out ever since he told me. I’m glad you know. I haven’t slept. Neither has he. A few eye drops—would she have survived if he hadn’t have…”

  Joy leaned forward. “No, Rio. I don’t really know for sure, but I think the other poisons in her system tipped the scale. You saw Max go down. The few drops Oliver put in her drink would have been a splash in the poison pond. I’ll see what comes back on the tox screen, but I wouldn’t worry.”

  “I’ve been so scared for him. I confided in him about Sally to warn him to stay away. Mom has been through enough. She doesn’t need me adding to it. And she doesn’t need Oliver adding to it. Please don’t tell her.”

  “Does your mom know about you and Sally?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t live with myself if she did. Sally eyed me like a trophy she’d won. Dad saw right through me. I told him. He said he’d keep it a secret. He was on his deathbed, telling me not to worry. That he loved me, and that I could do no wrong.”

  “Rio, just remember this: if he ever broke that promise, it would be to protect you, because he wasn’t going to be around to kick Sally’s ass himself.”

  Rio nodded. “I know. But if Mom knew, it would kill her.”

  “Don’t underestimate your mother. She’s tough.”

  “Yeah, she is. She had to be with a sister like Sally. Am I in trouble with the law? Or Oliver?”

  “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now, and we’ll see how the hand plays out. I’m glad you told me.”

  By the time Joy found Max, Lizzy had served him tea, but he was still asking questions. “You have a garden, don’t you, Lizzy?”