“I agree,” I said. “Listen, did you ever find the victim’s car?”
“I’m sorry?”
“The victim—he had to get out to the winery somehow. I assume in a car or truck. Did you ever find it?”
“No,” Mateo said with a deep frown. “I’ve covered most of the vineyard the last two days, mulching the vines and such. If there were a car somewhere on the property, I would have seen it.”
“I think the killer took the car,” I said. “It’s how they left.”
“Who would have come on the property to kill a man?” Mateo asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It has to be someone who works here on a regular basis,” Chelsea said. “Please be careful. There’s still a killer on the loose.”
“Yes, ma’am, and you as well.”
“How’s Maisie holding up?” I asked.
“She’s moping around. She really misses Tim.”
“I brought her a toy. Is it okay if we go up to the house?”
“Sure,” Mateo said. “You know where he keeps the spare key?”
“I do. We won’t be long,” I said. “I know you have a lot of work to get done before the weather turns. Speaking of turns, are you turning the juice vats?”
“Twice a day like clockwork,” Mateo said. “Mr. Tim is very particular about his wines.”
“I hope you’re protecting them,” I said.
“Yes, we’ve had a security company come in. We have cameras everywhere and motion sensors now. If anyone—even me—gets near the vats, it’ll be recorded. Mr. Tim wanted to put up a fenced enclosure, but they can’t come out and put it up for at least a week.”
“I know a guy who might be able to do it sooner,” Chelsea said. “Do you want his number?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Taylor, but do I know this woman?”
“Oh, Mateo,” I said, “I’m sorry not to have introduced you. This is my friend Chelsea McGarland. She met Tim last month when I was going through all my trouble.”
“Hello, Mateo,” Chelsea said with a small wave. “Do you want the name of the fence guy?”
“I’ll take it,” he said. “As foreman, I’ve been tasked with getting this started.”
“Cool.” She wrote on a business card and handed it to him through the window.
“We’ll just go in and check on Maisie,” I said. “We won’t stay long.”
“Okay,” Mateo said and waved us through.
I slowly moved the car up the hill, beyond the curve that turned wine tasters around the main house to the tasting barn. Instead, I moved straight up to the large mid-century ranch home. We parked in front of the garage and got out.
“Nice digs,” Chelsea said.
I grabbed the spare key from the third rock on the left of the garden edge and opened the front door. Maisie barked and came out to greet us. “Hey, girl,” I said and bent down to scratch her behind the ears. “I’ve got a treat for you. Are you lonely?”
“So where was the dead guy?” Chelsea asked.
Maisie went over to her for petting. Chelsea obliged by scratching her behind the ears.
“Come through the house,” I said.
We walked through the great room to the patio doors in the back. The entire back side of the house was a wall of windows. We stepped outside onto a brick patio. Maisie ran out with us and squatted in the grass just off the patio. From the patio, you could see the back buildings and the wine barn just down the hill from the house. Beside it was the lean-to with the vats. One hundred feet beyond that was the tasting room, with the parking lot and bocce ball court beyond. Redwoods planted around the patio were old and very tall and shaded the patio. The bottom branches were trimmed so that you could see through them to the buildings behind.
“Is that where they found the victim?” Chelsea asked as she pointed to the vat shed. “It’s not that far from the house.”
“Yes,” I said and explained what had happened the day I brought my tour group here.
“Can we get closer?” Chelsea asked as she moved to the edge of the redwoods.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “You heard Mateo. He has the place alarmed.”
Chelsea lifted her phone and took pictures of the bar area. “And the dead guy was floating in one of the vats?”
“Yes,” I said. “There was a scaffolding that was the height of the lid, so you could climb up and look into the vat. I think that he was up there and then got hit and pushed into the wine vat.”
“They did say he died of blunt force trauma. What do you think he was hit with?”
“I don’t know. It could have been something long, but even then it would be difficult to hit him hard enough to kill him from down below. Maybe the killer was on the scaffolding with him?”
“Maybe he slipped and hit his head, fell into the vat, and drowned,” Chelsea suggested.
“It’s kind of hard to drown in a wine vat. I think that it’s only about eight feet tall. A guy the height of the victim could reach up and hang from the edge. No, he had to have been killed before he entered the vat.”
“We’ll have to wait for the medical examiner’s report,” Chelsea said and took a few notes.
“What are you writing?”
“I’m making a diagram of the area,” she said. “I’m trying to figure out the sequence of events. For instance, how did the dead man arrive? We really don’t know if he drove a car or if someone dropped him off.”
“I suppose he could have taken a car service or a taxi, but then it’s not easy to get one to come back out this way.” I pointed toward the long drive. “We are out in the country.”
“So most likely he drove here.”
“Yes,” I said, “but there’s no sign of his car. That troubles me.”
“Unless the killer drove off in the car,” Chelsea said. “Also, we don’t know that the dead man arrived alone. We have no idea why he came out here.”
“I suspect to talk to Tim about the new zoning. They had a pretty open fight at the last meeting of the appellation. Maybe Mr. Hoag had a partner and they fought. He was struck and fell into the vat. The partner then took the car and left.”
“If he came here to confront Tim, why come at night?” I asked and drummed my fingers on my chin. “Why not during the day?”
“Are you sure it was at night?”
“They think the time of death was after the tasting barn was closed for the night.”
“There could have been another reason for him to come to the winery, besides talking to Tim.”
“I guess he could have come looking for Mandy. She worked for him part time. Why was he here after the place was closed? Was he going to fire her?”
“Maybe he was dropping off important papers for her to file.”
“He could just email those,” I said. “Wait—Tim said he stirs the vats at ten A.M. and ten P.M. We found the body at ten A.M.”
“That means that the murder happened after the vats were stirred at ten P.M.”
I made a face. “I supposed he could have come out at eight or nine A.M. to talk to Mandy and been murdered in time for us to find him at ten …”
“But didn’t they say he was dead awhile?”
“So seven A.M.? Plus, we don’t know what effects the fermentation of the grapes has on the body.”
Chelsea bit her bottom lip and made a note. “I’m going to talk to my friends at the coroner’s office and see if I can’t find out what the estimated time of death was.”
“Thinking about it a bit more, remember biology class? Isn’t alcohol a preservative?” I asked. “It could slow down the effects of the death process.”
“But we know he was killed between ten P.M. and ten A.M.,” Chelsea said.
“We’re assuming we know. What if no one stirred that vat at ten P.M.?” I pointed out.
“Mr. Tim is religious about his wine,” Mateo said as he stepped onto the patio. “He would not have left a vat unturned.”
“Hi, Mateo,” I s
aid. “We were talking about who might have killed that man. I’m hoping to help Tim with a good alibi.”
“Good luck with that,” Mateo said. “As far as I know, Mr. Tim doesn’t have one.”
Chapter 10
“Thanks for taking me out to the scene of the crime,” Chelsea said, “but I think Mateo was on to us.”
“He’s a smart man,” I said. “There was no way he would have let us in if he thought for one minute that he couldn’t trust me. Plus, we didn’t go near the scene.”
“I have pictures,” Chelsea said. “I’m going to go to digital maps and mock up a three-dimensional rendering. Maybe we can figure out where Jeffery’s car is.”
“Sounds pretty high tech,” I said. “But right now we have to meet Holly. We have a lecture to go to.”
“The tickets to this thing are incredibly hard to get,” Chelsea said. “I did some research. This guy came out of nowhere about two years ago and has taken the West Coast by storm. I mean, all of his lectures have sold out. The only reason I got a ticket was because I flashed my press pass and said I was going to write a piece on him.”
“They must be confident that you won’t say anything bad about him,” I said.
“I’m just sorry we won’t be sitting together.”
“Well, Holly and I were given two second-row tickets. It was crazy.”
“More like suspicious, if you ask me,” Holly said as she walked up to the car. We were standing outside of Chelsea’s car parked in an overflowing parking lot. The line to the lecture was around the corner.
“Holly thinks he must be using hypnosis or something to get people to follow him like this,” I said as we walked up to stand in line.
“Oh, girls, I’m so glad you are here.” Mandy came around the line. “Come on—I can get you in faster.” She grabbed my hand and Holly’s.
“Wait—Chelsea is with us,” I said.
“Chelsea?”
“Our friend,” I said. “Chelsea, Mandy. Mandy, Chelsea … she had to get a ticket in the back row.”
“Oh, that won’t do,” Mandy said. “Come with us. I can get you up close as well.” She smiled at Chelsea. “Any friend of Taylor’s is a friend of mine.”
“Cool,” Chelsea said and followed behind as Mandy squeezed us past the bodyguards at the door.
Inside, the auditorium was cool and dim. There were binaural beats and soothing music. I thought I could detect the scent of essential oils.
“Is that bergamot?” I asked.
“Oh, you are good,” Mandy said with a smile as she held my hand and drew us down the long aisle to the base of the stage. “Yes, bergamot is quite calming. Essential oils are a great way to clear the mind and relax the body. Hold on a minute.” She let go of us long enough to wave down an attendant dressed in long, flowing white robes. “Sunshine, these are my friends, Taylor, Holly. and … what is your name again, honey?”
“Chelsea,” she said.
“Yes, Chelsea,” Mandy said. “Now, ladies, I have to go take care of some things backstage. Sunshine will take good care of you.”
Sunshine was blond and young, with big blue eyes and black-winged eyeliner. “Ladies, please help yourself to a cleansing drink.” She lifted the tray of drinks in her hands.
We each took one of the small plastic cups. Chelsea sniffed it. “What is it?”
“Dr. Brinkman’s special recipe. It’ll relax you and help you get in the best state of mind for the lecture.” Sunshine smiled. “It tastes yummy too. Now, let me take you to our special box for friends of the family.”
“You don’t need to see our tickets?” Holly asked.
“Oh, goodness, no. Mandy said to take care of you. That means you get the special box. Follow me.”
“I’m not sure we should drink anything,” Chelsea whispered to me.
“I kind of agree,” I whispered back.
“It’s really good,” Holly said and took another swig from her small plastic cup. “What? It’s calming.”
We followed Sunshine up a flight of stairs to a mezzanine level. She pulled back a curtain and revealed a small theater box with four chairs.
“Right through here, ladies,” Sunshine said. “I’ll be back to bring you a few snacks to refresh you while the audience takes its place.”
We stepped into the box and took our seats in plush velvet chairs. Holly and I took the front seats, and Chelsea took one behind us. She pulled a small container out of her purse and dumped half her drink in the container and screwed the lid on.
“What are you doing?” Holly asked.
“I’m going to take this to a friend at the lab and see what the heck is in it.”
“Do you think they drug the audience?” I asked. “I mean it could explain the monster following this Dr. Brinkman has.”
“Well, I drank mine, and I don’t feel any different,” Holly said. “Plus, it’s not like they force you to drink anything. I think it’s just a nice thing that they offer refreshments. Especially with the price of the tickets.”
The theater was small, but recently renovated. Our box was one of four—two on either side of the stage. The boxes were halfway between the main floor and the balcony.
“Well, the view here is certainly better than the one for my original ticket,” Chelsea said. “I’ve got to give them props for that.”
“What about our seats?” Holly asked. “Will they stay empty?”
The velvet curtains behind us opened, and Sunshine floated in with a tray full of tiny cakes and small sandwich rounds in one hand. In the other, she had a pitcher full of what looked like water with cucumbers floating in the top.
“Ladies, I hope this will keep you refreshed until Dr. Brinkman comes on stage.” She placed the goodies on the table and eyed my untouched glass. “I see you haven’t tried the specialty drink. Was it not to your liking?”
“Oh, I’m not thirsty,” I said.
“Well, you let me know if you would prefer a new glass for the water.” She smiled serenely, nodded, and left.
“Did that seem a little suspicious to you?” I asked.
“I think you are being silly,” Holly said. “I drank it, and I’m feeling just fine.” She waved her hand. “I’m hungry, though. These sandwiches look yummy.”
I glanced at Chelsea, and she shrugged. “It does look tasty,” she said and picked up a napkin and took a sandwich.
“What’s in them?” I asked.
“Some sort of cream cheese and I would guess sun-dried tomatoes,” Holly said. “Really good.”
“Mine is cucumber,” Chelsea said between bites. “They are good. You should try one.”
“I’m fine, thanks.” I said.
The lights dimmed twice—a sign that the show was about to start. If you could call a lecture a show. It did seem very theatrical. The crowd hushed as the lights went down and Mandy walked out to the middle of the stage. The curtains opened behind her, revealing a large screen, and pictures of flowers moved slowly behind her.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” Mandy said. “On behalf of Dr. Brinkman and the rest of our staff, I want to thank you for coming. For the next two hours, you will be immersed in the mystic way of positivity and the law of attraction.”
The crowd applauded.
“Thank you. In today’s world we have so many conveniences, but the more time we get back with technology, the more time we spend filling it with more stress, more negative thoughts, and more worries. Well, that can stop right now. We are here today to take a few hours to learn how to change our lives. To discover how to unplug from technology and bring our focus back to our original way of being as children of the stars.”
The pictures behind her were gorgeous and mesmerizing.
“Wow,” Holly said and leaned forward. “Cool.”
“Shush,” Chelsea said.
“Ladies and gentleman, I’m here to introduce you today to Dr. Brinkman. He is a world-renowned teacher of positivity and attracting the best life for you. Pleas
e welcome Dr. Brinkman.”
The audience erupted in applause. I watched carefully as a thin man with a white turban walked across the stage. He was tan and healthy looking. and wore a beige suit. He opened by telling a story in a gentle and lulling tone. He spoke with a cadence that had the entire auditorium leaning forward, as if catching his next word would solve all their personal problems.
A quick glance over at Holly. and I could see her pupils were dilated and she seemed to be hypnotized by the man. I glanced at Chelsea. She was taking notes. I sighed. It was apparent I wasn’t the right personality for the positivity stories. I thought I needed to try harder.
My phone buzzed. I got up and stepped out into the hallway to see who was calling me. It was Tim.
“Tim, thank goodness—are you okay?” I asked as I walked toward the door to the lobby. I was surprised that no one sent me any looks for being on the phone during the lecture. They all seemed to be hypnotized by the good doctor.
“Taylor, I’m out on bail,” Tim said. “Mateo said you came by and brought a reporter.”
“Chelsea,” I said. “I think you met her last month when I was under investigation.”
“Well, maybe,” he said. “You didn’t take her down to the scene.”
“No, Mateo said it was all alarmed. I didn’t need to anyway. We got a good look from your patio. She’s going to mock up a three-dimensional map of the scene. We’re going to see if we can figure out how Jeffery got on your property without a car.”
“Yeah, I’m wishing I had put in the new camera system sooner.”
“It’s crazy to think that you could possibly put cameras everywhere on a vineyard. You might not be the largest, but you certainly have a lot of area to cover.”
A man in a white robe glared at me from across the lobby. I shrugged and stepped outside.
“Maybe it would be better if I’d put cameras in my house to give myself an alibi.”
“That might not be such a bad idea,” I said thoughtfully. It was a cool evening, and the streetlights glowed, blocking out the stars. “What did Patrick say? Did he help you get out?”
“He did some fancy paperwork and called in a favor so that I could post bail. Then he said to go home and get some rest. The problem is, I have the press hanging outside the gates.”
Seven Deadly Zins Page 8
