I shrugged, hoping Sam wouldn’t ask me anything else that pertained to Donovan. “Uh, I don’t see him so I’m guessing not. I’d better walk over and see if I can help her.”
“Okay. Hey, let us know if you hear anything.”
“Uh-huh,” I mumbled as I walked over to the tall, shapely brunette in black slacks, white mock turtleneck and beige fleece button-front coat. Like the first time I met her, she wore her long hair tied back in a French knot and sported the same rectangular red-silver glasses that were trending right now.
Donovan had introduced her as his assistant but didn’t offer up her name. Neither did she. No effort whatsoever for a friendly meet-and-greet. I attributed it to a strong work ethic but the image of the Ice Queen still stuck.
“Norrie Ellington, right?” she asked as soon as we were face-to-face.
“Yes. We met the other day. Sort of. I didn’t get your name.”
“Adrienne Stafine. I’ll make this brief. Has Mr. Brin been to your winery today?”
You may want to elaborate on the phrase “been to.”
“I haven’t seen him inside the building.”
Adrienne stared at the tasting room tables and then looked over both shoulders. “It’s not like him to miss our morning meeting and not text me. Or return my text, for that matter. I’ve already been to Gable Hill and the Grey Egret. No sign of him. And apparently he hasn’t been spotted here either.”
At the word spotted, I winced and hoped she didn’t notice. “I thought he had completed his interviews.” Not exactly a lie.
“So did I. I’ve been with Mr. Brin for three years. If he intended to acquire more information, he wouldn’t do it without my note-taking. He’s a polished journalist and knows just what to ask, but let’s just say his note-taking skills are subpar. That’s where I come in.”
“Is that all you do? Take notes?”
Oh my gosh. It sounds as if I’m asking her if she’s sleeping with him.
Adrienne remained expressionless but I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. “Um, what I meant was, do you outline the articles for him or prepare rough copy for him to review?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just say my role is a combination of court transcriptionist and ghost writer.” Then she looked around again. “This is very disconcerting. Mr. Brin definitely left the hotel. His rental car wasn’t in the lot this morning. I had to arrange for my own rental this morning. It wasn’t easy. I can’t believe how many tourists flock to this area.” She let out an annoyed sigh and glanced over her shoulders again to where a group of seven or eight people entered the winery. “I suppose that’s why Mr. Brin chose to write a cultural piece in conjunction with the Merlot article,” she went on. “But it would have been nice if he informed me he was taking in the local culture.”
“I’m sure you’ll find out his whereabouts soon enough.”
“Let me give you my cell phone number. Call me if he comes in, will you? I should have thought to do that at the other two wineries.”
“I’ll make sure they know as well.”
“Thank you.”
Adrienne turned and started for the door when my brain kicked in. “Uh, before you go, was Mr. Brin worried about anything? Was he overly anxious? Deadlines can do that, you know.” I thought of Renee and twitched. “Change everything to a quaint little town with a cozy murder.”
“That’s an odd question to ask. Why? Do you think something awful happened to him?”
“What? No. Not at all. But sometimes when people have pressing issues, they take scenic drives around the lake. It does wonders to calm them down.”
I can’t believe what’s coming out of my mouth.
“I can’t think of anything that made him anxious. Upset and annoyed maybe, but not anxious. Then again, he did act differently when we returned from California last month having visited a few wineries in the Napa Valley. Mr. Brin did a feature article on some of the organic wineries: Frontanac, Clear Meadows and LaVerna Vineyards.”
“Different how?”
“He became fixated with one of the apps on his phone. I don’t know which one, but he checked it all the time. He’s never done anything like that before. I thought maybe he was checking the status on some of his stocks because it was a quick look-and-see. He didn’t spend much time on the site. And last night, when I walked over to where he was seated in the hotel lounge, he had the phone in his hand and immediately tapped it shut. Acted as if it contained the nuclear codes.”
“Maybe it was one of those dating sites.”
Adrienne’s jaw dropped open and the amused look on her face gave me the answer before she did. “I doubt it was a dating site. Mr. Brin doesn’t seem to have a problem in that regard.”
“Not to pry”—of course I’m prying—“but I thought he was married.”
“Married, but not committed. And please don’t let that go any further.”
“Um, I think social media and the tabloids already have.”
“It’s impossible for anyone to retain any privacy these days.”
“Tell me, when was the last time you saw him?”
“In the hotel lounge yesterday evening. We were going over his article about the Merlot. I don’t know how much longer he stayed in the lounge but I booked an evening spa treatment and left after an hour or so. When I returned to my room, I went right to bed. Honestly, I can’t imagine where he could be. Don’t forget. Call me if he ambles in here.”
I think his ambling days are done.
“Absolutely.”
She made a beeline for the door without further conversation. Honestly, I was grateful for that. Each encounter with someone made it more difficult for me to continue this ruse. But maybe I didn’t have to. I located Cammy in the kitchen and motioned for her to keep quiet. Then I dialed Gladys at the sheriff’s office.
“Hi, Gladys. It’s Norrie. Hope you’re doing well. I guess Deputy Hickman told you I’m back in town. Grasshoppers this time. In the Philippines. Don’t worry, I know what you know. Maybe more. Is Deputy Hickman aware Donovan Brin had an assistant working with him? Her name is Adrienne Stafine and she’s been in here looking for him. That’s after she checked out Gable Hill and the Grey Egret. Not that I would dare tell him what to do, but Deputy Hickman really should have a chat with her.”
“Whoa. Now I know what I’ve missed the past few months. Thanks, I’ll pass that along. He’s currently at Belhurst Castle, where the victim was staying. Our office is working with the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office and the Geneva Police Department. You know how these shared jurisdiction cases go.”
“Ugh. Slow. That’s how they go. Listen, our staff is getting antsy. They know a body was found in our holiday display but so far I’ve been able to keep the identity hush-hush. But they’re going to put two and two together. Especially since Donovan’s assistant is on the hunt, so to speak.”
“I really want to help but I don’t want to risk losing my pension. Until the next of kin is notified and an official announcement is given to the media, I can’t breathe a word and neither can you. You can’t disclose what you know. Not even to your staff. Especially your staff.”
“Okay. Well, can you tell me when we can expect Deputy Eustis or whoever your office sends to interview our people?”
“That I can do. Hold on a second. Let me look at my notes.”
The line was quiet for a minute and then Gladys spoke. “I have you down for three this afternoon. Deputy Hickman is aware this is a busy time for the wineries but hopefully, the one-to-one interviews won’t take long. Oh, looks like our forensic crew is back. I need to have a word with them.”
“Okay, thanks, Gladys.”
“Got the answer I needed,” I said to Cammy. “Interview time at three. That’s usually a lull time for us but I’m not counting on it. At least we can work around it with the tasting tables.”
“No worries. What’s this about Donovan’s assistant? I’ve been back here running the dishwasher.”
“She’s out looking for him. My take is whoever killed him drove Donovan’s car. Find the car and we find the killer.”
“Not we, the sheriff’s office. Besides, we don’t even know what kind of car he rented.”
“We don’t, but I guarantee Theo and Don do. Theo’s always scoping out those things. I’ll be sure to ask when I see them tonight at Port of Call. Care to join us?”
“I wish I could but I promised my aunts I’d help out at their restaurant. Rosinetti’s is usually packed on Friday nights. With or without Hallow Wine Weekend. And don’t worry, I’ll have my ears tuned to any gossip that may pertain to Donovan. Once that Geneva crowd loosens up, you’d be surprised at the stuff they say.”
“There’s one more thing but it’s probably unrelated. The assistant said Donovan was obsessed with an app on his phone when they got back from California. I mentioned online dating and she nixed that one.”
“Probably online betting. It’s legal in most states. Or maybe he was checking his bank accounts. When my aunt Theresa’s checking account got hacked and the bank gave her a new account and new routing number, she checked it every hour on the hour for a year.”
“I doubt it had to do with his bank but I’m not ruling anything out.”
• • •
Deputy Eustis stepped into our tasting room at a few minutes past three. I had just finished restocking the blends when I noticed him a few feet from me. “Quick,” I said. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.”
“I can’t divulge any information. It’s all in the hands of the lab. And speaking of which, Eugene asked me if I’d remind you not to tamper with their evidence.”
“He could have asked me himself.”
Clarence rolled his eyes. “There’s no polite way to say this—You scare the daylights out of him.”
“Fine. I’ll keep away. But isn’t he done collecting evidence?”
“Sometimes they require more. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Okay, fine. Speaking of evidence, I had a little chat with Adrienne Stafine, Donovan’s assistant. Donovan may have been into something that he didn’t share with her. Your office should check his laptop and his cell phone. They could still be in his room at the Belhurst.”
“Thank you for the information.”
“Well? What are you waiting for? Call Gary and ask him before those devices wind up with Ontario County’s law enforcement. The body was found in Yates County. We should have dibs on everything that goes with it.”
“It doesn’t necessarily work that way but we are the lead agency on this case.”
“Whatever. Call him. I’ll wait.”
“You see, this is exactly why you make Eugene nervous.”
“The man works for Deputy Hickman. How can I possibly make him nervous?”
“First of all, Eugene works for the county and takes his orders from the supervisor in charge of the forensic lab. Oh, never mind. I need to get these interviews underway. And I’ll text my boss about the laptop and cell phone.” He wrung his hands together then shook them. “Please tell me you don’t have any other demands.”
“Um, just one more thing. Has your office determined where Donovan was killed? I mean, sure, he wound up in our cauldron, but any moron could tell you the body was staged. And while you’re at it, has your office determined the cause of death? We all know the dagger was just for show.”
“We don’t know what was for show, what was for real, and what-was-what yet. Good grief. The corpse was only discovered this morning. Now, may I please get on with the interviews?”
“Sure. Sure. Follow me to the banquet room. If you want a coffee or anything, let me know.”
“Thanks, but I’m good.”
The interviews moved like clockwork, and before I knew it, Clarence approached me to let me know he had finished. And to let me know they didn’t find a laptop or a cell phone in Donovan’s room.
“They’re probably in the rental car,” I said. “Did your office find that? It’s a bigger piece of evidence.”
Then I bit my lip. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. Seriously, I wager those rental cars come with GPS tracking systems in case the renter decides to drive one of them off to another state.”
Clarence took a step toward me. “Hey, I know it’s kind of scary to find a dead body in front of your place of business, but trust me, this isn’t our first suspicious death investigation.”
Or mine either.