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“We have a problem,” said Myrtle.
Miles had wandered over to the gas fireplace, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Myrtle as possible when Myrtle was nosing around.
“You got the dates wrong?”
“No,” said Myrtle briskly. “Isabella is dead. She’s been stabbed with what looks like a pruning knife of some kind.”
“No.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’ve tried to find a pulse, but there’s not one. We’ll need to call Red.”
Miles took his phone out, fumbling as he tried to find Red in his contacts list. “This is just unbelievable.”
“Is it?” asked Myrtle. “It seems like this happens rather a lot to us.”
“It does, of course. But, really, we could look like prime suspects. You’re the one who found Gerald by the firepit. You’re the one who found Isabella, although she was hidden by the bar. We’re the only ones here, Myrtle.”
Myrtle’s eyes narrowed. “Red wouldn’t dare consider me a suspect.”
“It might be a good way to get rid of you for good. Greener Pastures wouldn’t be as effective, considering they don’t lock their residents up.” Miles found the number and dialed it, taking a deep breath.
Myrtle took the opportunity to look around her. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place. The tasting room was just as tidy as it had been on Saturday. The cash register was closed, and there was no evidence of a robbery. Myrtle had the terrible feeling that Isabella had known something about Gerald’s death. And the killer had needed to make sure she stayed quiet.
Miles was saying, “Yes, Red, that’s right. Yes. No, your mom is fine. She wasn’t actually snooping at all; she was here to interview Isabella for The Bugle. Sort of a promotional article that was intended to make Serenity Springs look good. What? All right. Yes, we’ll wait outside.” He turned to tell Myrtle.
“I already heard,” she said. “Let’s go sit in your car.”
When they reached the car, both of them found they were shivering. “Shock,” said Miles. “Or maybe a smidge of fear. We might have walked in on the killer, you know. They could still be lurking around here. Maybe they murdered Isabella just moments before we arrived.” Miles turned up in the heat in the car.
“I think you and I could have taken them on,” said Myrtle. “Maybe it’s a pity we didn’t come across them.” She rubbed at her forehead, which was housing a tiny little headache. “And now we have to deal with Red. It’s all very annoying.”
Miles said, “But we’re having a much better day than Isabella.”
Myrtle gave a grim smile. “That’s for sure. That poor young woman with her whole life ahead of her. And she’d just started the winery, which had been her dream, according to Elaine. It’s a terrible thing.”
“We’re assuming she knew who Gerald’s murderer was.”
Myrtle nodded. “She must have. I mean, she didn’t seem to, when we were talking with her. But maybe something occurred to her later. Or maybe she saw something that seemed like an important clue. After all, she was all over the winery during the tasting. Inside, outside. She was refilling drinks, talking to people, and generally keeping an eye on it all. If anyone was going to see something suspicious, it would have been Isabella.”
Miles said, “That’s true.” He paused. “What’s going to happen to the winery, do you think?”
Myrtle sighed. “That’s the big question, isn’t it? I’d imagine a place like Greystone Grapes would be happy to take over the vineyard here. They could easily expand. Maybe they’d even like having a second tasting room where they could put on indoor music events.”
“Isabella wasn’t married, was she?” asked Miles.
“No. I believe Elaine has mentioned her having a sister, though. Or maybe the sister joined them for coffee once or twice near the holidays. Something like that. As far as I know, that’s Isabella’s closest family. I’d imagine whoever is running Greystone Grapes would make her a substantial offer.”
Miles said, “Julia, surely. No matter what Liv thought about Gerald changing his will, it’s still hard to imagine that he’d cut his daughter out of the family business.”
Their musings were interrupted by Red’s arrival. He pulled in next to them, glowering at Myrtle. She gave him a wink. The wink didn’t appear to improve Red’s temper.
“Did you trample all over the evidence?” growled Red as he hopped out of his police cruiser.
“I did my best,” said Myrtle, rolling her eyes. “No, Red, of course I didn’t trample anything. Although there’s no evident evidence, if you know what I mean. I’d imagine it would be very hard to collect it, anyway. You might find fingerprints, but it’s a public business. There were no muddy footprints or anything helpful like that.”
“Well, there might be all sorts of fiber or DNA evidence.”
“The answer is still no, Red. We didn’t trample anything. Miles and I walked in, looked around for Isabella, then I peeped around the side of the bar. I saw Isabella and that she’d been stabbed.”
Red asked, “Did you move her at all?”
“Certainly not. I felt for a non-existent pulse, but that was all. I left her in situ.”
Red didn’t appear to appreciate the Latin. He growled at Myrtle and headed off inside.
“You’d think Red would be more appreciative,” said Myrtle.
Miles raised an eyebrow.
“We’re finding murder victims before poor unsuspecting members of the public do,” said Myrtle in a self-righteous voice.
“I rather think of myself as a poor, unsuspecting member of the public.”
Myrtle said, “You and I are practically pros at this, Miles.”
They watched as Red came briefly outside to string up crime scene tape. Then they turned as they heard a vehicle approach.
“Oh, wonderful!” said Myrtle, beaming. “It’s Lieutenant Perkins! I’ve been wondering when I might connect with him.”
The state police officer, a tall and wiry man with a military haircut, climbed out of his vehicle and came right over to Myrtle and Miles. “Pleasure to see you both,” he said. “Although I’m sorry about the circumstances.”
“Me too,” said Myrtle. “Isabella was a lovely woman. And a friend of Red’s wife.”
“I’m sure she’ll be very upset at the news,” said Perkins.
Myrtle looked somber. “I’m sure Elaine will. I suppose I should break it to her in person after I get back home.”
Perkins said, “Could you both give me a quick rundown about what brought you here today? Unless you’ve already given all the details to Red.”
Myrtle rolled her eyes. “Red is being especially irritating today. We only gave him the briefest of background before he went stomping away into the winery. I certainly didn’t plan on discovering a body today. Miles drove me over here so I could write an article about Serenity Springs and a profile on Isabella for the newspaper.”
Perkins nodded. “I see. You were trying to negate the adverse publicity she’d gotten lately.”
“That’s right. It can’t ever be good for business when someone is poisoned at your winery.” Myrtle paused, giving Perkins a canny look. “Strychnine, wasn’t it?”
Perkins looked a bit surprised. “Did Red fill you in?”
Myrtle snorted. “Red wouldn’t fill me in if his life depended on it. It was obvious to me. Gerald was quite contorted, you see. It seemed a most unnatural way to perish.” She now tried to affect a vacuous look. “I don’t suppose you picked up any forensic evidence worth mentioning?”
Perkins was on his guard by now, though. “Unfortunately, I can’t really discuss the evidence we’ve collected.”
“But there is some.”
Miles shifted uncomfortably at Myrtle’s pushiness.
Perkins didn’t seem disturbed by it, however. “We were fortunate enough to find some, yes. Perhaps it’ll help us when the case ends up going to trial.” He seemed to be trying to get Myrtle back on track for answering questions instead of asking them. “So, you came over to do an interview. Was this arranged in advance, I’m guessing?”
They moved out of the way as an ambulance and several more police cars drove into the parking lot.
“That’s right. Isabella said late-morning would be fine. Miles drove me over, as I said. We walked inside to find the winery completely silent. The door chimes when you walk in, so we expected Isabella to come out from the back and greet us.”
Perkins said, “You didn’t think she might be out in the vineyard?”
Myrtle shook her head. “Not with an interview scheduled. And Isabella seemed keen to get some free publicity. Good publicity, that is.”
Perkins nodded. “And Mr. Bradford? Could you describe what happened next?”
Miles looked anxious about being put on the spot. “Well, we waited for a minute or two. I was going to sit over by the fireplace and relax for a bit. Myrtle looked around the side of the bar.”
Perkins directed his attention back to Myrtle. “What made you do that?”
“I had this premonition, I suppose. Something didn’t seem right. So I looked around the side of the bar.” Myrtle sighed. “That’s when I saw Isabella. She’d been stabbed with a knife. Or maybe it was more like a sickle. It looked like the kind of tool one might use in a vineyard. Wooden handle, curved steel blade.”
They heard footsteps behind them and turned. Ben Foster, the manager at Greystone Grapes, was there. The young man cleared his throat nervously. “Sorry. I just—well, I saw the police cars and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Perkins’s attitude now seemed cooler now than it had just moments earlier. He pulled out a small notebook. “Unfortunately, things aren’t okay at all. Isabella Montague has been murdered.” Perkins was studying Ben’s reaction.
“What?” the young man took a step backward. “That’s impossible.”
“I’m afraid it’s not. And I’m glad you came over. I’d like to ask you some questions.”
Ben nodded, looking pale. “I don’t know anything, though. Like I said, I just came over because I saw all the emergency vehicles coming down the road.”
Perkins said, “Sometimes we know more than we think we know. First off, I’d like a little background. Can you tell me where you were last night and this morning?”
Ben flushed. “I was at the vineyard.”
“This vineyard?”
“No, no. Greystone Grapes. I was tired out yesterday and turned in early.”
Perkins nodded. “Physical labor can do that to you.”
Ben looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t actually work outside yesterday. I was busier trying to figure out what my next move was going to be, just in case everything started going south.”
“Do you know what’s going to happen to Greystone Grapes now that Gerald Greystone is gone?”
Ben shook his head. “I spoke to Julia briefly yesterday. She wasn’t sure what Gerald’s will specified in terms of the vineyard. I think she was supposed to speak to her dad’s lawyer today. Of course, she’d love to keep the vineyard going. Julia’s just not sure if that’s in the cards yet.”
Perkins jotted down a note. “Have you spoken recently to Isabella?”
Ben froze for a second. It was clear to Myrtle that he certainly had. Perkins remained silent, waiting for his answer.
“Isabella called me on the phone yesterday.”
“Was that unusual?” asked Perkins.
Ben paused. “It wasn’t too unusual for her to reach out, no. She liked to call and ‘pick my brain,’ as she called it. But when she called me yesterday, the topic was a little different from usual.”
Perkins just waited.
Ben cleared his throat. “She asked if I wanted to join her team. To work for her at Serenity Springs.”
“What time was that conversation?” asked Perkins.
“That was sort of different, too. It was late for a call from Isabella. Nearly nine o’clock at night.”
“You may have been the last person to speak with her,” said Perkins in his clipped voice. “How did she seem?”
The idea that he might have been the last person to speak with her seemed to shake up Ben even more. He frowned, thinking his answer over. “She definitely seemed frustrated. Isabella had put all this time and effort into making the winery work, then she had this awful publicity. She needed to open the winery back up for business in order to start making money, but she was worried it wouldn’t look good.”
Perkins tilted his head questioningly. Ben said, “Isabella thought it wouldn’t seem respectful to open too soon after Gerald’s death.”
Perkins nodded. “So she was worried about her business.”
“That’s right. She seemed anxious, in general. She’d had a long day out in the vineyard yesterday. The temperatures had been warmer than a normal October, and it had been dry. Isabella said she was worried about her vines’ health and the cost of watering.”
Perkins said, “I’d imagine that would be something you’d be concerned about over at Greystone Grapes, too.”
“Of course. But we’re well-equipped to handle it over there. Our vines are a lot more mature, hardier. Plus, we have a state-of-the-art irrigation system. Gerald didn’t spare any expense, but then it was a well-established business. A new business, like Isabella’s, would be sure to struggle more.” Ben paused, thinking. “She was also concerned about the labor shortage. She was having a tough time with shift coverage at the winery and getting enough help in the vineyard, too.”
Perkins said, “So she asked you to come onboard.”
“Right. She just sounded really dispirited. I mean, it’s tough to own your own business. She said she needed the help and realized she was treating me like a sounding board way too often. Isabella said it would be a weight off her mind if I joined her team.”
Perkins said, “But you didn’t?”
“I told her I’d have to think about it. It wasn’t that I didn’t like or respect Isabella. I think she has had a great selection of wines. She’d done a great job. But I still felt a sense of responsibility toward Gerald’s vineyard. I wanted to see how everything was going to play out there. Also, if I left Greystone Grapes, I’d feel like I was leaving them in the lurch.” Ben colored a little.
Myrtle suspected he was especially worried about ditching Julia. He wanted to see if she was going to be left in charge of the business and what her plans might be. Ben knew Julia had plenty of bad memories of the business because of her father and the way he hadn’t let her be a part of it. But there would also have been a lot of wonderful memories from when she was young. It seemed to Myrtle that Julia was planning on taking the helm of the vineyard instead of putting it up for sale. But Ben wouldn’t know that for sure. And he had his future to think of.
Perkins said, “Was anything else on Isabella’s mind?”
Ben considered this. “Well, she seemed worried about security.”
Miles winced. Considering what had happened to Isabella, it was clearly a valid concern.
Ben continued, “That seemed totally normal to me. After all, somebody had just been murdered on her property, even with all those people around. And then she was by herself at Serenity Springs the past few days, and it was probably on her mind a lot.”
Myrtle thought Ben was holding something back, though. What he was saying made sense, but it was the way he was saying it.
Perkins apparently thought the same. He said, “You sound like you think something else was on her mind.”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. But last night, I wondered if Isabella knew something.”
“Why did you think that?” asked Perkins.
Ben hesitated. “Because she said something about people lying about where they were. Something like that.”
Myrtle and Miles looked at each other. Perkins leaned in a little. “On Saturday? The day of the murder?”
“Yes. She was muttering something about someone lying about not being at the tasting.”
Perkins said, “But you didn’t get any more information about that?”
“No. It was getting late, and I’d had a long day.” Ben flushed again. “Now I feel bad about it, you know? But at the time, Isabella was fine. I told her to lock her doors when she was at the winery and to call me if she got worried about anything. But she’d given me a lot of food for thought, and I wanted to think about it before I turned in.”
Perkins’s voice changed a little, becoming chattier. “One more thing. I know folks in this town like to talk. There’s some gossip going around that you and Gerald were getting upset with each other. Arguing.”
Ben sighed. “Maybe we just weren’t seeing eye to eye. It wasn’t like we were at each other’s throats or anything. Basically, I disagreed with Gerald’s vision for the business. But surely everybody who’s gossiping has got to know that I wouldn’t resolve the problem by killing Gerald. What purpose would that serve?”
“Maybe they believe you weren’t exactly thinking it through,” said Perkins in a thoughtful tone. “Maybe they thought you were reacting in the heat of the moment. Anger can do that to you.”
Ben shook his head. “If I disagreed with Gerald that much, I’d have just found another job. There are plenty to be had, even if Serenity Springs hadn’t worked out. I’m young, and I don’t have any family. If I’d had to move, I’d have just moved. I wouldn’t have lashed out at Gerald.”
Perkins said, “But you did argue with him.”
“Sure. He had big dreams, but didn’t seem to have any respect for the land. Gerald only saw it as something for him to squeeze money out of. It just wasn’t right.”
Myrtle could tell that Ben was getting aggravated just thinking about how Gerald treated the vineyard. He clearly cared a lot about the land.
Perkins said, “Okay. Have you thought any more about who might have done this to Gerald?”
Ben gave a short laugh. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it. I haven’t thought about much else. It’s keeping me up at night and distracting me at work. I don’t really know anything, of course. But I keep having this gut feeling that Liv was involved in this somehow. If you think Gerald and I were arguing with each other, you should have seen Gerald and Liv. They were much worse.”
Myrtle cleared her throat. “When I was speaking with Gerald’s daughter Julia, she didn’t seem to care much for Liv, either.”
Ben eagerly agreed. “You know what I think? I think Liv was totally out of her depth in that relationship. Maybe Liv was rough on Julia because she was jealous of her upbringing. Liv didn’t have the same background that Gerald and Julia had. Liv didn’t have the expensive education that Gerald had. She hadn’t traveled like Julia and Gerald, so she didn’t have the expansive worldview. She also didn’t read like Gerald did, so she was at a disadvantage there, too. Gerald would host these big dinner parties.”
Perkins asked, “You went to those?”
“A few of them. Liv would drink way too much, probably to take the edge off. Then she’d glare at Gerald while he flirted with other women.” Ben paused as if he was about to speak a blasphemy. “I don’t even think she liked wine. She was always drinking fruity cocktails.”
Then Ben looked at his watch. “I’ve got to go get back to the vineyard.” He frowned. “Do you think there’s really a security risk? Does somebody have some kind of weird vendetta against winery owners? Or their employees?”
Perkins said smoothly, “I think you’ll probably be okay. We’re looking at all sorts of motives, but these deaths seem personal. We’re looking at the circle of acquaintances. But you should always be mindful of general safety, of course.”
Ben nodded. “Right.” He gave Myrtle and Miles a smile, then headed off.
Perkins watched him go, then turned to Myrtle and Miles again. “So good to see you two again, although I’m very sorry about the circumstances. Be sure to take care of yourselves.” Then he too was gone, hurrying off to join Red and the forensic team inside.