Annie stayed behind as Charles Marchand and Celia Vick drove off in Marchand’s Lincoln. Galen didn’t make eye contact with her as he straightened up his laboratory. He opened the dishwasher, and began carrying clean glasses out to the wine-tasting area. Annie helped, until the dishwasher was empty and the wine bar was stocked and ready to open for tourists at eleven.
Taylor’s orange cat, curled up on his favorite spot on the roll top desk, raised his head sleepily and meowed. Galen reached back and gave him a handful of oyster crackers, which the animal hungrily crunched down. “I don’t know why, but Colonel Bob thinks these things are cat treats. Gotta keep our mouser happy.”
“Galen, what was going on just now between you and Marchand?”
Galen wiped the bar, even though it was already clean. “Well, it seems as though the good doctor has researched the winemaker, along with the winery. I suspected as much the first time I met the man. The way he looked at me like I was a piece of cow dung. Then there’s always the possibility Taylor told him. She was the only one around here who knew the whole story.”
“Can you tell me about it?” Annie sensed that what Galen had to say would have some bearing on Taylor’s case. But she wasn’t asking as Taylor’s lawyer. She wanted Galen to trust her as a friend.
He leaned back against the roll top desk and looked at her. “I grew up in central California, worked on farms all my life. I liked the rural lifestyle, but I wasn’t challenged by farming. Even as a kid, I loved science, spent hours playing with my chemistry set, making various concoctions. Still, farming was what I knew, and after working on my dad’s place for a few years, I decided to go back to school to study agriculture. I came up here to Washington State University in Pullman. That was back in the seventies. Even then, there were a few crazy nuts talking about winemaking in Washington. It seemed like a perfect fit for me—part farming, part science. Plus, I learned I was good at it—I had the nose, so to speak. Pullman didn’t have a program back then, so I transferred to UC Davis, got a degree, and started working for various places around the Napa Valley.
“I didn’t come from a moneyed background, and banks have never been happy about loaning money to start wineries. It took me a long time to save enough to buy my own place. I didn’t own any vineyards, had to buy my grapes from other growers, but I set up shop and started making wine. Damned good wine, if I say so myself.”
“What happened?”
Galen shrugged. “What happens to most small businesses? I was great at making wine; I didn’t know so much about selling it. I found it really hard to make ends meet. There were times when there wasn’t enough money to buy supplies.”
“A lot of small businesses fail, Galen. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Annie remembered when her own law firm almost went under, and would have, but for a merger with a larger firm.
“Well, if that’s all there was, I wouldn’t be ashamed. But truth is, what I did wasn’t the right way out of my problems. Other people owed me money, and I kept thinking, if I could just make it till next week, till the next check comes in.” Galen stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at his boots. “Everybody floats checks at the bank once in a while. You write a check, knowing that a deposit will be made the next day to cover it. Well, when you set out to do it deliberately, they call it check kiting. And they arrest you for it.
“I thought I could weather the storm if I could just make it through the harvest. So, I set up a bunch of different accounts with different banks and started shuffling money. I’d make a deposit in one place, then write two or three checks for that amount to my other accounts. Then write checks from those accounts back to the first one. It was like juggling, trying to keep all your balls in the air. Make a deposit here before that check clears there. And on and on.” He looked up. “But when all the balls come down, there are more checks than there is money in the bank. It wasn’t my intention to defraud anybody. All I wanted to do was survive till more money came in. But it didn’t work. Somehow the banks got wise to me and pulled the plug.”
The expression on Galen’s face was one of pure remorse. Annie could tell it hurt even to talk about the incident. “What did they do?”
“I guess you could say I was lucky. Fraud’s hard to prove, so they let me plead guilty to a lesser offense. And because I didn’t have a record, I didn’t have to serve any time. But the fines and penalties to the banks wiped me out. I had to declare bankruptcy, and pretty much lost everything.”
“How did Marchand know about all this?”
“It was all over the papers down there. Some holding company ended up buying the winery equipment and inventory. Hell, it could have been one of Marchand’s companies, for all I know.”
“And how did you end up here?”
“Taylor and I met in college and kept in touch over the years. I knew she’d gotten into the winery business. After all this happened, I called and basically begged her to give me a job. I figured only someone who knew me would take me on, with the record I had. She was a friend, and she came through for me when I needed her.”
“Galen, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“If Marchand were to invest in the winery, do you think he’d keep you on here, knowing what he does?”
Galen looked up at the ceiling, and his lips curled in a bitter smile. “I don’t think there’s a chance in hell.”
***
Annie walked back to the house and was surprised to find the door unlocked. She was certain that she’d left it secure when she left that morning. Pushing it open, she heard a voice call to her from the living room. Gerald North was sitting on the sofa, apparently waiting for her. He wore black rayon slacks and a long-sleeved silk shirt. His one-day growth of beard looked more like a fashion statement than careless grooming. He stood up as she entered the room.
“Annie.” His tone was serious, and put Annie on edge. “Have a seat, there’s something we need to talk about.”
Annie sat down.
“Can I get you anything? Iced tea?”
“No, thank you.”
Gerald cleared his throat. “After you left Ellensburg yesterday, I got to thinking, and realized that I didn’t know where you were staying. I halfway expected to get here and find that you’d already moved to a hotel.”
Annie wasn’t sure what to make of Gerald’s demeanor. He had certainly been moody the day before, but she hadn’t felt that his unpleasantness was directed at her. “I’m sorry if I was presumptuous. Your sister invited me here as her guest; I assumed she wouldn’t mind if I stayed on for a day or two while I looked into her case.” She was aware that she sounded defensive, and Gerald picked up on that.
“No, no. Please. It’s nothing you’ve done. Let me explain. Celia and I spoke about it, and we decided that while Taylor is in the hospital, it would be better if the house were… secure.”
Annie started to speak, but Gerald raised his hand. “No, I’m sure you’re being very careful. It’s—how can I put this—I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position, but we’ve had the locks changed.”
“The locks? But why?” Annie had her doubts that Gerald had actually discussed this with Celia. She couldn’t believe that Celia wouldn’t have mentioned it when they saw each other that morning.
“Did Taylor tell you about all of the thefts lately?”
“Yes, but she thought Steve was responsible. It was one of the reasons she was so angry with him.”
Gerald nodded. “Taylor and I had this discussion a number of times. I never believed Steve was behind it. It didn’t make sense. Why would he be interested in winemaking supplies, bottles, labels, and so on? They had no market value to speak of. Not the type of thing you’d sell to your local fence.”
“Then who do you think has been doing the stealing?”
Gerald paused. “I think it was Galen Rockwell.”
Annie said nothing.
“That’s why we wanted to change the locks. He has a key to the house, and if you were staying here… well, I know you two have become… friends.” Annie didn’t like the spin Gerald put on the word. “We thought it would be awkward for you, staying here, if you had to explain to Galen that we didn’t want him to have access to the house.”
“Now, wait just a second. Why do you think Galen would steal supplies? Weren’t there thefts from the other wineries around here too? It could be anyone.”
“There have been thefts, but the other wineries have all had break-ins. Signs of forced entry, broken latches. There has been none of that at North Faire. All of our supplies have just disappeared. And there was one other very strange occurrence.”
“What was that?”
“A month or so ago I was working on the painting of the house.” He pointed to the watercolor over the mantel. “I was trying to get the light just right. The house at dawn on a summer morning. I needed to be here so early, I drove down from Ellensburg after my last seminar the night before, got here about midnight. There was activity going on in the barn, lights on in the back room where Galen has his laboratory.”
“Maybe he was just working late.”
“Possibly. But as soon as I pulled into the gravel drive, all the lights went out. I was curious, so I went up to the door, and it was locked. I even knocked, and no one answered. Now my curiosity was really piqued, so I turned off the lights and waited on the porch to see who came out.”
“And was it Galen?”
“I’ll never know. I waited over an hour, and no one came out. They were hiding, didn’t want to be seen. It was very suspicious.”
“I still don’t see why you think it was Galen.”
“I looked around the next day. Sure enough, a supply of bottles was missing. And there was no sign of forced entry. Only two people have keys to the barn, Galen and Taylor. And Taylor was inside, asleep.” Gerald stood up, signaling an end to the conversation. “So, I hope you understand, I simply don’t trust the man. And I don’t want him letting himself into our house.”
“Why did Galen have a key in the first place? Are there papers, supplies here he needs to do his work?”
Gerald shook his head and laughed. “Why does any man have a key to a woman’s house?”
“Galen and Taylor?” Annie felt an odd sensation in her stomach. She didn’t want to admit it might be jealousy.
“Off and on. They’ve known each other for years. Although I got the impression that she’d broken it off with him. That’s probably why he’s been stealing from her. Believe me, Annie. There are things you don’t know about Rockwell. You may think he’s straightforward, but he’s had problems like this in the past.” Annie thought about what Galen just told her. He had mistakenly thought Taylor was the only one in Harmony who knew.
Gerald continued. “I’ve told Taylor a number of times not to trust Galen. Hey, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he had something to do with Vick’s death.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I think Taylor broke it off with Galen about the same time that she threw Vick out, but everyone knew she was still seeing Steve from time to time. Think how that must have infuriated Galen. Don’t you think he might have wanted to put an end to their relationship for good, so that he could get Taylor back for himself?” Annie tried to picture the impassive Galen Rockwell driven by a jealous rage, but the image wouldn’t come. She remembered during the vineyard tour Galen mentioning that he couldn’t even shoot the robins that ate his ripe grapes, but only fired shots into the air to scare them.
Annie shook her head. “I don’t agree with you, Gerald. I think it’s obvious that Taylor struck Steve, but it was justifiable. Steven Vick was a violent man, with a short temper. I’ve heard reports that those times Vick was seeing Taylor, after she made him move out, he was abusing her physically. She had bruises, black eyes. That night at the Wine Gala, she was afraid of him, of what he might do to her.”
Gerald looked at Annie incredulously. “You’re not serious, are you? You’re saying that Taylor was a battered spouse?”
“That’s what the evidence seems to point to. I know it can be hard to accept, but…”
“Not in this case. You’re way off track.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Hey, I’ll be the first to admit that Steve was a first-class horse’s ass. He was loud, rude, offensive to just about everyone he came into contact with, myself included. And there’s no question he had a short fuse—practically anything or anyone that got in his way made him mad as a wildcat. But I’ll tell you something. I know my sister, probably better than anyone alive, and there’s no way Taylor North would let any man hit her more than once… unless she wanted him to.”