Chapter 18

 

 

When Derrick finishes his report he’s the only one in the office so he leaves it on Bemis’s desk and calls it a day. With and hour and a half to kill before he’s to meet up with Julie at the restaurant he decides, since dinner with Julie is kind of a date, to head home for a walk through the shower and a change of clothes.

 

At a few minutes to seven he pulls into the restaurant parking lot and almost runs over the Paganelli brothers who have just left the restaurant and are arguing about something and not watching where they are going. They suddenly step in front of Derrick’s car and he has to jam on his brakes to avoid hitting them. The sound of the screeching brakes startles them and Duilio starts to mouth off with insults aimed at the driver of the car until Derrick lowers his window and says, “You can be arrested for using language like that in public, Mr. Paganelli, to say nothing about getting run over for not paying attention to where you’re walking.”

 

Riccardo bellows, “You! We were just talking about you. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused us by talking with our father and grandfather? They are fuming because we didn’t inform them about what has been going on. We didn’t clue them in because we didn’t want them to worry about someone messing with us. They earned a worry free retirement and we thought it best to keep them in the dark.”

 

“That’s very laudable, but in any investigation every stone must be turned over if the truth is to be uncovered. Your folks have a heap of knowledge about the folks in the Napa Valley winery industry and we were just trying to tap that reservoir of insider information for some indication of where we should look for the people behind what’s been going on.”

 

Duilio responds with, “They’ve been out of the loop for quite a while so they’ll have nothing that could help you.”

 

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, the people behind these efforts to acquire selected wineries are nobody to take lightly. If I were you, I’d watch your backs and where you’re going or the next time the car might not be driven by a sheriff if you get my drift. Have a nice evening, gentlemen.”

 

The Paganellis stomp off toward where they parked their car and a smiling Derrick parks his. “Man, a guy couldn’t ask for a better appetizer than that encounter.”

 

When he enters the restaurant there are so many people waiting to be seated he figures having dinner here tonight is going to be a lost cause. He doesn’t see Julie anywhere and figures she’s probably still on her way. He’s debating with himself whether he should put his name on the waiting list or just hang around in the reception area for Julie to show up when someone taps him on his shoulder and says, “Some detective you are. I’ve been sitting over there by the window waiting for you to spot me and you glanced right by me.”

 

As he turns around to face her he realizes why he didn’t recognize her. She’s wearing makeup which she never does on the job and she’s donned a beautiful black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with black patent leather heels that accent every contour like a neon sign. She is off the scale gorgeous and the only thing Derrick can think of to say is, “Wow!”

 

“You sure know how to impress a lady. With just one word you’ve made my evening.”

 

Laughing he finally gets his tongue untied and says, “Unless everyone else in this place is blind, I’ll bet my last dime you’ve captivated the attention of every male here and garnered the anger and jealously of every woman.”

 

“That’s got to be the nicest compliment I’ve ever been paid and I thank you and my ego thanks you too.”

 

“You’re welcome and now let’s go eat before I say something stupid and make a complete ass of myself.”

 

When they settle in at their table, Derrick tells her about his run in with the Paganelli brothers. Julie says, “It looks like you accomplished what you set out to do, you’ve stirred up the hornets’ nest.”

 

“We’ll have to wait and see if they’re goaded into a stinging frenzy and do something we can net them for. If the father and grandfather continue to probe and snoop around, they just might do our job for us and come up with the proof we need to put an end to all of this or at the very least prove to be the catalyst for the twins opting to do something stupid and incriminating, something we can nail them for.”

 

“Okay, let’s put the Paganelli brothers on the back burner for the rest of the evening and talk about something else. Why did you want to become a detective?”

 

“I don’t know. I just somehow gravitated into it. Like a lot of kids I wanted to be a cop or a fireman when I grew up and unlike a lot of kids the urge didn’t leave me when I grew up and I took the plunge. The idea of catching bad guys and putting them in jail was always appealing to me and I guess that was the root cause of my inclination towards becoming a cop. I’ve always liked to solve puzzles and was addicted to mystery books and Who Dunnits while I was growing up, still am, so I guess that was the genesis of my leaning towards becoming a detective. I guess my primary motivation for continuing in the job is the good feeling I get when I’ve closed a case and made the bad guys pay for what they did.

 

“Julie, being a detective isn’t for everyone even if you have the smarts and the proper motivation as you certainly do. It requires an enormous amount of patience and ability to deal with danger, frustration, disappointment, boring routine and tragedy.”

 

“How do you know whether or not you possess these abilities without becoming a detective?”

 

“That’s the sixty-four dollar question which I don’t have the answer to. As you know, personality tests are given to all candidates for a deputy sheriff position, but I don’t know how reliable they really are in identifying the things I’ve pointed out to you. I’m certainly no expert in that arena, so don’t go by anything I say. I’m just expressing my opinion.”

 

“And I appreciate you doing that. I believe I can deal with the challenges of the job and I hope I’ll get the opportunity here. If not, I’ll have to try someplace else.”

 

“You’re that determined?”

 

“I am.”

 

“Well then, I’ll do everything I can to help you get that opportunity. You’ve earned it.”

 

“Thanks, Derrick, and I hope you don’t regret the offer because I can be a real pain in the ass when it comes to asking questions.”

 

Laughing he says, “Thanks for the warning. Now let’s move on to the main reason we’re here, to eat.”

 

Forty-five minutes later, talked out, their appetites sated and sipping on a chardonnay that is the best Derrick has ever tasted Derrick says, “You are right on about this place. The food is out of this world and this wine could be addictive. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a pleasant evening. Thanks for asking me to join you. Perhaps we could do it again sometime.”

 

“You’re welcome. I’ve had a nice time too and when you’re in the mood for some company you know how to get in touch.”

 

Laughing Derrick asked for the bill which Julie insisted on splitting and when they settled up with Pedro they headed for the parking lot.