“Zenora can do the visualization and reconnection tonight around six,” Glenda announced the second I walked into the tasting room. She had come out of the kitchen with a fresh pitcher of water for her table. “I called her yesterday when you told me about the bracelet and she’s anxious to see if she’s mastered the skill.”
Good grief. Why do I let these things happen?
“Does this involve chanting, moaning, burning nasty-smelling herbs or anything like that?”
Glenda thought for a moment before responding. “I think the traditional methods are more of an inner reflection. Not quite a trance but something like that.”
Wonderful. This is all I need.
“Um, it doesn’t have to be tonight.”
“Oh, yes, it does. It absolutely does. Zenora said that the longer an object sits, it loses the human contact it once had.”
“She’s not testing for trace DNA. She’s—”
“Homing in on an ancient art. She gets out of work at four thirty and will drive from Ithaca straight over here. You’re lucky, you know. In the fall, her hours are much longer. Uris Library is packed with academia doing all sorts of research. Of course, they only call upon her when the other research assistants can’t locate information. Zenora’s a genuine treasure.”
A genuine treasure formerly known as Mabel Ann and housed in a secluded part of the library basement so as not to scare the students.
I started to say something but Glenda kept talking. “We close at five thirty. We should have everything all cleaned and set up for tomorrow. The timing couldn’t be better.”
With that, she trotted off to her tasting room table and I stood frozen in place.
“Everything okay?” Cammy asked. She had just finished a tasting with two couples and glanced my way.
“Some people have to pay money for entertainment but not us. Tonight at six, if you stick around, we’ll be privy to Zenora’s . . . geez, I don’t know how to put this . . .” I rolled my eyes and tried to find the right words. “Zenora’s astral connections to—oh, what the hell! She’s going to hold that bracelet Godfrey and I found and see if she can pull up a vision of its owner and draw the person over here.”
Cammy burst out laughing and had to grab her chest. “Seriously? This might beat everything else she’s done. Sure, I’ll hang around. It’s cheaper than flying to Vegas for a magic show. Too bad Sam’s not working today. He’d have a field day with this one. I’m not sure about Roger but I’ll let him know when he gets done with that crew of senior citizens at his table.”
“I think I may have homed in on the bracelet’s owner a few minutes ago, and that was without incantations and heaven knows what else.”
“What do you mean?”
I looked around to make sure no one could overhear us and then told Cammy about my conversation with Brewer’s office secretary. “That adds another suspect. That is, if the bracelet we found is hers. Too bad she had to take a phone call and it was awkward for me to stand and wait.”
“Or the woman could have simply lost a bracelet that wasn’t the one you found in the woods.”
I nodded. “True, but think about it. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It might be shoulder-length hair like the woman Godfrey and I saw coming out of the woods. Plus, her boss was the murder victim. Maybe she had a reason to do him in. Or maybe her boyfriend, if she has one, had a reason to do him in.”
“You’re not writing a screenplay, Norrie.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. Then again, I did find out from her that there were issues with Speltmore Winery and Lake View Winery. And issues could mean motive.”
“Or issues. Look, you’ve got more theories bouncing around in that creative little mind of yours than popcorn kernels on a stove. Maybe give it a rest and see what the sheriff’s office turns up. After all, they’re the ones who get paid to do that sort of thing.”
“But they’re not the ones who are inches away from having Steven Trobert breathing down their necks. Or worse yet, his mother.”
I knew I needed to take my time and piece together the information. Right now all I had was a series of loose ends and no real game plan in mind. I did, however, promise Cammy I wouldn’t do anything rash. Not right away, that is.
She went back to the tasting room and I made a beeline for the bistro and a mental note to eat more substantial breakfasts in the future. Once satiated, I moseyed into the winery office and dealt with the usual emails and correspondence, including one lengthy tome from the wine trail that Henry just had to send out. It was a detailed history of port wine beginning with the Roman Empire in the twelfth century and, worse yet, a lengthy list of the more than eighty indigenous grapes found in Portugal today.
One look at the email and I knew what that bugger was up to. He wanted to focus everyone’s attention on port wine since his special tawny port was about to be released. I figured Madeline and the rest of the WOW ladies would have all the salient details memorized so I didn’t bother to finish reading the email. Besides, Henry had already lost me after mentioning Tempranillo and Touriga Franca grapes. I finished up with the usual paperwork and went home to focus on my real job. One that didn’t require an extensive background in winemaking.
At a little before five, I put together a quick salad and polished it off with an apple and some chocolate dipping sauce. Then, having taken Charlie out for a brief walk, I resigned myself to the fact that I had acquiesced where Glenda was concerned and now had to deal with Zenora’s attempt to find the owner of the scarab bracelet.
Drat. I should have put an ad in the lost and found section of the Chronicle Express.
I retrieved the fourteen-carat gold piece of jewelry and tucked it into the pocket of my jeans before taking off for the winery. With any luck, Zenora would hold the thing in her hand, mutter a few unintelligible words and we’d be done. Or so I thought.
When I got to the winery, Zenora had already arrived and was seated next to Glenda at one of the tasting room tables. Cammy, who opened the door to let me in, whispered, “Lizzie and Roger were the smart ones. They left as soon as Zenora walked in.”
I tried not to laugh. “What about Fred and Emma?”
“They’re in the bistro preparing for tomorrow. Lots of chopping, mixing, and sorting, I imagine.”
“Might as well get this over with. Come on.”
Zenora stood as soon as she saw me approach and stretched out her hand. The sight of cascading rolls of fabric in clashing colors that somehow came together to form her loose-fitting dress stunned me momentarily. I thought I was used to the offbeat attire Zenora wore but apparently not. “I’m so pleased to see you welcoming the spiritual world and accepting all it has to offer.” She swept an unruly lock of her long dark hair from the side of her face and grasped my hand.
“Um, uh, yeah. Glenda was pretty insistent you could help with the matter of this bracelet.” I reached into my pocket and held it out to her, fully expecting she would take it in her hand but, instead, she lifted a small vial of heaven-knows-what from a pocket in that dress of hers and proceeded to wave it around the bracelet.
“We cannot afford to take any chances if the bracelet contains dark energy. It’s my special mixture of fennel, lemon, and juniper.”
Cammy, who had taken the seat next to Glenda, moved her index finger in a circle around her ear when Zenora and Glenda weren’t looking.
“Good idea,” I muttered. “Very helpful. Now what?”
“Now, I can grasp the object and feel its strength. Not physical strength, mind you, I’m talking pulse, vibration, energy, and connection to its wearer. I’ll need to sit. The process is exhausting.”
Glenda motioned to the chair on her right and Zenora gracefully spread out the skirt of her dress as she sat, all the while holding the bracelet as if it was liquid mercury.
“Be still, everyone,” she said. “I need complete silence.”
I glanced in the direction of the bistro and thankfully Fred and Emma were working quietly. Then I watched Zenora. At first she held the bracelet to her lips and inhaled. Then she folded it into her fist with such intensity that it reminded me of Superman when he’d take a piece of coal and turn it into a diamond. Any even without psychic powers of my own, at that moment, I knew I should have declined Glenda’s offer to have Zenora help find the owner.
Zenora began to moan and physically strain her body as if she was trying out for a TV commercial about constipation medicine. I watched her press down, release the tension, and tighten up again. Thankfully Cammy was on the other side of Glenda because I feared if we made eye contact, we’d lose it completely.
Then, if the inhalations and straining weren’t enough, Zenora stood, closed her eyes and waved the bracelet around her head. I figured by now she was nearing completion of whatever the heck she was trying to do, but apparently I was wrong. She tucked the bracelet into the cleavage of her loose-fitting bra, outstretched her arms, and whirled. Not one of those classic ballet routines where a graceful ballerina spins to the delight of the audience, but more like someone who was trying to rid themselves of fleas and didn’t know what else to do. My mouth was suddenly dry and I was at a loss for words. Then, the pièce de résistance. Zenora sank back in her seat in what appeared to be a trance.
She swayed and hummed, all the while with that bracelet still tucked in her cleavage, and I wondered how much it would cost for a jeweler to power-wash the thing when she was done. In the background I could hear Fred and Emma as they continued to prep for the morning and I had a sudden desire to jump up and help them. Anything to get me away from the spectacle taking place a few feet from me.
I glanced at Cammy, whose eyes widened as she stared at Zenora, and then, without warning, not that I expected Zenora to give us a warning, but still . . . Zenora leapt from her chair and let out a primordial shriek that resulted in Fred or Emma dropping what sounded like cutlery as a series of metallic sounds reverberated from the bistro.
“What happened?” Fred yelled. “Is everyone all right?”
I rushed to where he stood and motioned for him to stay still. “Whatever you do, don’t interrupt her or we’ll be here for another hour. She’s trying to contact someone via spiritual means.”
“Can’t she just use a phone like the rest of us?”
“Shh, long story. I’ll tell you later.”
Fred shrugged and walked back to the bistro, sparing himself from Zenora’s grand finale. She bent down, tucked her chin to her chest, and waved her arms in a circular motion before opening her eyes and letting out yet another shriek, only this one lingered long enough to give all of us a bout with tinnitus.
“I’ve projected into the astral realm and sent a message to the person to whom this bracelet belongs,” she said. With that, she reached into her cleavage and extricated the poor scarabs. “Here, Norrie. Now it’s simply a matter of waiting.”
If ever I wanted to don a pair of food-handling gloves, that was the moment. But instead, I held up my palms and raced to grab one of the gift towels from the rack. “Place it on here,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to take away any of the bracelet’s energy.”