“Person of interest? That’s insane. Who would ever think I’d murder that woman?”
“Apparently, one of the guests attending the event thought so. That’s all I can divulge at this juncture in time.”
“So are you telling me I need to hire an attorney?” Because I’m dating one. Although family law isn’t criminal law. And the only thing criminal was that person’s ridiculous accusation.
“You’re not under arrest, Miss Ellington. Hiring an attorney is entirely up to you. I will need you to tell me where you were between the hours of five p.m. and five a.m. on the night in question. Better yet, write it down and fax it to my office. Mark it confidential.”
My face felt warm and it was all I could do to keep myself from making a flippant remark or, worse yet, a gesture I’d regret. Then he would have an excuse to arrest me on the spot.
“I can’t believe you’re taking that call seriously.”
Deputy Hickman, who was leaning against a file cabinet up until now, walked to the door and pushed it closed. He pulled a chair up to my desk and sat down. “Miss Ellington, you had motive, means, and opportunity. The three major criteria for committing a crime.”
By now, the heat in my face had reached a new level and I pressed the cold cranberry juice bottle against my cheek. “Huh?”
Grizzly Gary crossed his arms and leaned forward. “Let’s begin with motive. Our witness said that when Ms. Dobrowski allegedly threatened your place in the filmmaking industry, you told her in no uncertain terms that . . .” He paused for a moment and pulled out his notepad. He looked down and then continued his thought. “. . . she was ‘the one who needs to worry.’ In my business, that’s known as a veiled threat.”
“Well, in my business we call it a retort.”
“Now then. Means. Ms. Dobrowski was strangled with a chain consistent with the kind found wrapped around that cattail your dog dredged up from the Ipswiches’ pond. You told our office you were certain it belonged to one of the actors, Priscilla McCoy, since you had seen it on her neck the day of the wine and cheese event.”
“That part’s true. I did see it. On her neck.” Oh, crap. I hope I’m not implicating myself.
“Miss McCoy informed our office that she had lost it during the filming and her crew substantiates that claim. In fact, she had to purchase another such necklace to continue with that scene. Something about continuity, if I’m reading my notes correctly.”
“What does that prove?”
“You were in the area where they were filming. And in the winery. Very easy for you to have come across that necklace and used it to strangle Ms. Dobrowski.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“What I believe is irrelevant. I follow the evidence and the facts.”
And ridiculous phone calls from kooks and nutcases.
“If I did do such a thing, and believe me, I didn’t, why would I be so stupid as to tell anyone about the necklace? Or hand it over to you?”
“Because you’re a clever woman, Miss Ellington. By handing it over, you made the case that you were the innocent party who came across a clue.”
“Oh, brother.”
He glanced at his notes again and continued. “Opportunity. Who, better than you, had the opportunity to commit a murder? You could easily come and go at your winery and no one would notice. It was a Seneca Lake Wine Trail event, was it not?” He continued talking without waiting for a response. “Those events are notorious for bringing in throngs of visitors. With a packed winery and that film production going on at Two Witches, no one would have batted an eyelash if you disappeared out of sight for a while.”
“And do what? Go over to where they were filming and ask Devora to take a little hike with me?”
As soon as I said that, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Is that what you did?”
“Of course not. I was at the winery the entire time, except for when I went back to the house.”
Oh, hell, no. How can I prove I was at the house?
“In any case, Miss Ellington, I’ll need the exact accounting of your whereabouts faxed to my office today. Understood?”
I nodded.
“Good. We’re on the same page. I’ll be back tomorrow to interview your employees. And please, no interference.”
Again, I nodded. He was out of my office in a nanosecond. The cranberry juice bottle was now room temperature and I finished it in three gulps. Just then, Mickey rapped on my door.
“Hey, uh, sorry to bother you but we ran out of double A batteries. Any chance you’ve got some we can use? We’ll replace them.”
I told him yes and directed him to see Lizzie or Cammy. The conversation I’d had with Deputy Hickman put me on edge.
A person of interest? I’d been in predicaments with Grizzly Gary before, but this was the first time I was a suspect. If I couldn’t find out who really murdered Devora, meeting Renee’s deadline for my next screenplay would be the least of my worries. Then again, maybe they have WI-FI in the county lockup.
I immediately phoned Bradley, who told me not to worry and that the sheriff’s office would have one heck of a time proving anything. Still, he told me to detail everything on my timeline sheet.
“He probably wants to put you on notice, Norrie,” Bradley said.
“For what? Murder?”
“No, for snooping. Deputy Hickman is well aware by now that you have a tendency to throw yourself into his investigations. He probably thinks this is one way to slow you down.”
“Virtually accusing me of murder isn’t going to slow me down. If anything, it’s going to speed things up. I’m already using social media to see if I can find anything that might link one of the film crew members to Devora’s death. The good news is that I’ve commandeered Stephanie, Cammy, Don, and Theo to help.”
“I’ll sleep better if I know you’re going to limit those searches to a computer and not the usual stalking around that you’ve been known to do.”
He sounds like Godfrey.
“Don’t worry. No one’s stalking anyone.” Unless a black Mercedes counts. “Hey, before I forget, Devora Dobrowski is the one from that divorce case. My producer told me that she’s the estranged wife of the Brouse Candies CEO. You know, if anyone had a motive for murder, it would be him. Don’t you think?”
“If money was the motive, absolutely. Gee, I wish we didn’t have to wait until tomorrow for dinner but I’m buried in work here.”
“It’s busy on my end, too, so don’t worry. Talk to you later. And thanks for reassuring me.”
“I’ll do more than that if Deputy Hickman makes another move. Miss you.”
“Me too.”
I figured I’d tell him about Stefan and the black Mercedes tomorrow. There was nothing he could do about it anyway. I tossed the juice bottle into my recycling bin and left the office. Cammy was at the front register since Lizzie was on break.
“Our little data-gathering crew is going to meet here after the WOW meeting on Thursday,” I told her.
“Great. I was able to round up a really juicy tidbit on Gavin Chase late last night but I didn’t have the chance to tell you.”
“What tidbit?”
“It wasn’t on his Facebook page but it was on another site that deals with celebrity gossip. Devora pretty much blacklisted Gavin a number of years ago, making it difficult for him to get choice roles.”
“Blacklisted?”
“Well, maybe bad-mouthed would be a better word. Anyhow, she told other directors and people in the industry that Gavin was difficult to work with. As a result, he could only get commercials and voice-overs until someone hired him for the movie Waltzing in Winnipeg two or three years ago.”
“Holy cow. If that’s not a motive for murder, what is? She could have destroyed his entire career.”
“I know. Isn’t there some sort of a quote about revenge being best served cold?”
“Uh-huh. But in this case, it was served wet.”