“Did you hear me, Stephanie?” I asked. “It’s Norrie and I’m standing in front of your irrigation pond.”
“I know it’s you, Norrie. It’s the rest of what you said that I didn’t hear correctly. The boys are making too much noise with their model train set. They’ve been up for hours. On a school day I can’t wake them, but on Sunday, they get up with the roosters.”
“Forget the roosters and the train. I’m telling you, there’s a dead body in your pond. Maybe you should call the sheriff. Maybe I should. Holy crap. This is a nightmare.”
“A dead body? In our pond? Are you sure?”
“Unless the arm I saw is floating on its own, I’m sure.”
“Oh, my God! Don’t do anything. Don’t call anyone yet until Derek and I get there. Thank goodness my mother-in-law is here for Wine and Cheese weekend to watch the boys. Give me a few minutes, I’ll wake Derek up and we’ll both head to the pond. Stay where you are.”
I eyeballed the rutted dirt road that used to be a footpath that bordered their property. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I recognized their dark green pickup truck. Derek stepped out and thundered over to where I stood. His dark hair was unkempt, and coupled with the day-old stubble on his face, he looked as if he’d spent the night in the Bowery and not a comfortable bed.
“There had better be a dead body floating around, Norrie, because I lost a good two hours of sleep.”
“There is. And I lost sleep, too.” Of course, I was probably responsible for the dead body in an offhanded way, but still . . .
“Holy hell!” Stephanie shrieked from the truck. “Is there really a body in there? Can you see it? I’m not getting out of the truck if there is.”
Derek turned to her and shouted, “Give me a second, will you?”
Then he walked back to the pickup, grabbed a hoe from the bed of the truck and returned to the pond. “I don’t see anything,” he said.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and sighed. “Wait a second and watch the surface of the water.”
The two of us stood there without saying a word. Finally, the arm surfaced again and Derek rushed over with the hoe. One lift and we knew it wasn’t a branch. Branches don’t have nail polish or cuff bracelets.
“What the hell,” Derek said. Then he shot me a look. “On the way over here, Stephanie told me you might know who this is. What’s going on?”
“Well, as you may or may not know, because everyone seems to know at this point, a movie is being filmed in our vineyard. A scene, actually. One scene.” Then I sort of got a bit incoherent. “One long scene that I wrote and the Niagara corridor can’t be used for the filming because of the snow and ice so the producer—”
“Give me the short version, huh?”
“I think it’s Priscilla McCoy, the lead actress. Charlie came back from your pond with a necklace wrapped around a cattail. I saw Priscilla wearing that necklace yesterday when she took off her coat at the winery. She kind of had a meltdown because the director, Devora Dobrowski, is a she-witch.”
Derek clasped his hands and let out a breath. “Guess I’ll need to phone the sheriff.”
“I’m the last person Deputy Hickman’s going to want to see. Maybe you could speak with him first while I go home to brush my teeth and wash up.”
“Norrie, Gary Hickman will want to know how I happened upon a dead body in our irrigation pond at the crack of dawn. What am I supposed to tell him? That I got up and said, ‘Gee, maybe there’s a body in our pond. I’ll go take a look.’ Damn it. Why couldn’t they have dropped the body off at the other side of our hill by that bed-and-breakfast?”
“Okay, okay. You call him while I run home to get changed. I’ll be back in a jiff. Besides, it’ll take them a few minutes to get here.”
Derek glanced at the truck where Stephanie was sitting. “Look, I’ll drive my wife back to our house and make the call from there. Then I’ll meet you back here. All right?”
“Yeah. Fine.”
I waved to Stephanie and shot out of there as fast as I could considering the ground was damp and muddy and Wellies weren’t exactly running shoes. The minute I got in the door, I raced upstairs, brushed my teeth and jumped into the shower. I figured it would be a horrendous day and who knew when I’d get the chance to wash. Minutes later, I was in clean jeans and a Two Witches sweatshirt with a cauldron on it that read Stir Up Some Magic With Our Wine.
Then I gave Charlie some more kibble and stepped outside to lock the fence that we normally keep open. No sense risking Grizzly Gary’s temper if Charlie got out and messed with a crime scene. No sooner had I latched the mechanism than I heard sirens. At least they wouldn’t be headed up our road. Unfortunately, something worse was already there.
By the time I put on my coat and locked the door, our driveway had three TV vans lined up near the winery. I recognized them from the last time they covered the “breaking news” at Two Witches.
“Idiots,” I mumbled to myself. “The crime scene is next door.”
I was positive news of a dead body surfacing at one of the wineries had hit the scanners once Derek called the sheriff. I was also positive those news crews had Two Witches on speed dial, so to speak, and drove directly here. Not wanting them to take up space in our driveway, I hustled over to where they were parked with the intention of directing them to Gable Hill Winery. That’s when I found out they had no idea about a dead body.
“Norrie Ellington, right?” the reporter from Channel 13 WHAM asked as soon as I approached his van. “We got word they’re shooting a movie in your vineyard with Priscilla McCoy and Gavin Chase. Talk about increasing our ratings. One quick interview and viewers will be glued to the news.”
“Um, yeah, about that . . . I don’t think the actors can give interviews while they’re filming.” Especially since one of them might be dead.
The guy was undaunted. “Hey, even if we get some good shots, it’ll interest viewers. Too bad the competition is right behind us.”
I turned and faced the other two vans. Channels 8 and 10. Yep, all the networks were accounted for. “Stay here,” I said. “I don’t even know if the film crew has arrived.”
The guy laughed. “Look in your parking lot. That’s the film company’s van, isn’t it? I can read the logo from here.”
“That’s the sound and video equipment. I doubt viewers will be mesmerized by it. Stay here. We’ll keep you posted.”
Terrific. Derek expected me back at the pond but someone had to let Fred and Emma know what was going on. And in less than an hour the rest of the tasting room crew would be there. Not to mention the vineyard workers, who were there seven days a week. Rats! They’re probably up in some vineyard removing feeler roots or tying up the canes. I motioned for the reporter to stay put and walked toward the winery building. When I got to the door, I pulled out my cell phone and called John Grishner. He answered immediately.
“John, thank goodness you’re there,” I said. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Don’t tell me the tourists are already there. It’s only eight thirty. It’s Sunday. The event starts an hour later today, doesn’t it? I’ve got the guys down below in the Chardonnay section and I’m in the barn. What’s up?”
“You mean besides the three news vans from Rochester who got wind of the filming?”
Before he could answer, I went on. “That’s not why I called you. Priscilla McCoy’s dead body is floating around the Ipswiches’ irrigation pond. I think she may have drowned. Charlie got out early this morning and came back home with her necklace entwined in a cattail. I raced over to the pond and saw her arm in the water. I’m sure it’s her arm.”
“Take it easy. Slow down. One thing at a time. Did you call the sheriff?”
“Derek Ipswich did. I’m supposed to go back to the pond. He’s waiting for the sheriff. I was there but had to go home to brush my teeth. Didn’t you hear the sirens? They must be there already. But right now, the news crews don’t know a thing about it.”
No sooner had I said that than the Fox News van made a three-point turn in our driveway and flew down to Route 14. Channel 8 followed and seconds later, WHAM 13.
“Um, I think they just found out. The news vans are turning left on Route 14. Toward Gable Hill. They wouldn’t do that unless they got word of other, more breaking news. Oh, my gosh. Poor Stephanie.”
“Calm down, please. I’ll make sure our crew and the EMTs are posted on the driveway like yesterday, but the Gable Hill guys will have enough to worry about at their own place. In fact, Ralphie’s EMTs probably got wind of your pond discovery by now. Knowing how fast word spreads, I’ll bet a few of them are over there already. Try to keep this thing under wraps. Like a need-to-know kind of thing. See what the sheriff’s office does. We’ll touch base later, okay?”
A need-to-know kind of thing? Everyone needs to know!
“Okay. Fine.” I ended the call and stepped inside the winery building. The aroma of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, and as I got closer to the bistro I could see Fred and Emma rolling out dough.
“Hey, guys,” I said. “You didn’t happen to see anyone from the film crew here this morning, did you? The van’s parked in our lot.”
Fred looked up from kneading the dough. “Skylar and Rikesh were in to grab coffees and let us know they’d be on the east side of our property this morning. In case you wanted to know. Said there was a bit of a to-do last night at the hotel. Stefan and Gavin exchanged words at the bar, but according to Skylar it was late and not many people saw them.
“What about Priscilla and Devora? Did anyone see them?”
Fred shook his head. “Skylar didn’t say. But from what I understood, Gavin and Priscilla will be driving themselves to the shoot this morning. Devora and Stefan will most likely hitch a ride with Mickey, the other cameraman.”
“Unless Devora decides to use her broom,” Emma announced from a few feet away. Then she looked directly at me. “Is everything all right? You look kind of spooked.”
“Listen, I probably shouldn’t say anything, not until the sheriff releases the information, but I found a dead body in the Ipswiches’ irrigation pond this morning. Charlie brought home a souvenir from there. Wrapped in a cattail. It was the necklace Priscilla wore yesterday.”
Emma clasped her hands together and froze. “Priscilla’s dead?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think she is.”