by Cat Chandler
“Welcome, ladies. Come in and make yourselves comfortable.”
Nicki, with Alex half a step behind her, crossed into the sparsely furnished room with a large window on one side, and a picture of a bull rider on the opposite wall.
Bill grinned at Nicki. “That’s my baby brother. He preferred the rodeo circuit over going into the family business. Did okay for himself, too. But he’s retired now. Bull riding is a young man’s game. He owns a feed and grain store in Colorado.”
He went to stand behind his desk, waiting until Nicki and Alex took their seats before settling into his office chair.
“What is your family business, Bill?” Nicki asked.
“I forget you’re fairly new to the area,” Bill chuckled. “It’s making wine. My parents owned The White Crown and did pretty well there. Everyone believed dad was the winemaker and mom kept the books, but the truth is that dad ran the business and mom had the final say on the wine production. She had a great instinct on when a good wine had aged exactly the right amount of time.”
“Then you’re the second generation of winery owners?” Alex asked.
“I am. And I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Nicki immediately apologized. “I’m sorry. That was certainly rude of me. This is my good friend, Dr. Alex Kolman. Alex, please meet Bill Stacy, the owner of Todos.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stacy.” Alex smiled. “I was admiring your tasting room earlier. It’s very warm and inviting.”
“Thank you, and call me Bill. I’m glad to meet you, too. My sister’s a doctor. Has a practice up in Portland.”
He leaned back in his chair and winked at Nicki. “Been expecting you. I wondered if my feelings should be hurt because I wasn’t higher on your list of suspects.”
“Higher?” Nicki wrinkled her nose slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Winery owners may be business rivals, but we do talk to each other. I know you’ve been out to grill Jim and Jeremy, so it was only a matter of time before you showed up here. But I heard a rumor the chief isn’t too happy about you nosing around and asking questions.”
Nicki bit her lip. Like Jenna would say, you gotta love small towns and the efficiency of their gossip mills.
“Are you going to tattle on me to the chief?” she asked, relieved when he shook his head.
“Not me. You go ahead and throw out any question you want. I’ll do my best to answer it.” He smiled and lifted one foot to rest it on the opposite knee. “Shoot.”
“I didn’t realize The White Crown belonged to your parents. Do you blame George for your family losing it?” Nicki asked. It was a bold question and out of the corner of her eye she saw Alex’s neck and arm tense up.
But Bill only shrugged. “If you know the story, then you know the answer to that. Of course I do. Wouldn’t you?”
“But you rehired him as head winemaker at Todos. If you blamed him for losing your parents’ legacy, why did you do that?”
“Business is business, Nicki, and the wine industry is a cutthroat one. Lancer put it out that I had inferior grapes in my production and so an inferior wine. He’d just introduced one of the best chardonnays to ever come on the market, so my mediocre production couldn’t logically be blamed on him, even if it should have been. Lancer was the reigning winemaker in the region when I opened Todos, so it was good for business to hire him again.” He paused and rubbed a hand over his chin. “There was no love lost between us, so I’d bet he took the job out of guilt. Probably the last decent feeling the man had.”
“Then the dislike you were showing at the tasting event was real?” Nicki asked.
“Absolutely. But I didn’t kill him. I might have come back here and had a toast to the guy that did, but it wasn’t me.”
“Actually, that’s a healthy reaction,” Alex observed. “A scary one, too.”
The winery owner laughed. “If your friend, the amateur detective, intends to interview everyone who disliked Lancer, you’ll both be talking to a lot of people.”
“You mentioned rumors earlier. I heard one that you were looking to replace George even before he was killed.”
“You’ve got powerful ears, Nicki. I kept that pretty quiet.”
“So it’s true?” Nicki asked.
“Yes.” Bill didn’t sound as friendly as he had before.
“Also heard a rumor that you stopped looking for a new head winemaker a few weeks ago,” Nicki went on, keeping her gaze on him and not backing down from his intense stare.
“All right. I’ll admit to that, too.”
Nicki raised one eyebrow. “You found someone to replace George?”
“I have,” Bill said. “But that’s off the record or I’ll deny I ever said it. It won’t be announced until next month. I’ve sampled this winemaker’s blend, and it will beat anything Lancer could have come up with.”
“Then why the delay?”
He shrugged. “Business reasons that have nothing to do with Lancer’s murder.” He glanced at his watch. “Is that all your questions?”
“No. Why was Geri here?” When he looked startled, Nicki smiled. “She was driving out as we came into the parking lot.”
Bill relaxed back into his seat again. “She was doing a barrel swap. Wineries trade barrels sometimes, depending on what type we need.”
“You mean such as American or French oak?”
Bill nodded. “Is that it, then?”
“Only one more thing,” Nicki said. “Where did you disappear to during the tasting event?” She wasn’t sure he had, but thought she’d try the shot-in-the-dark approach.
“Who told you that? Chief Turnlow?”
Nicki didn’t confirm or deny that, but simply smiled back at him.
“Like I told the chief, I went to the men’s room.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Nicki was proud of how professional she sounded, even if she had heard that line a thousand times on TV.
“I have no idea.” The owner of Todos rolled his eyes. “Treating a trip to the john as if it was a social occasion and looking around for someone to talk to is what women do. Men don’t. I didn’t notice if anyone else was in there while I was doing my business.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Remind me why we’re here instead of enjoying a nice lunch in town? Or better yet, the smell of that wonderful eggplant Parmesan that you make? The one with the buttered breadcrumb topping?” Alex asked. “Accompanied by a fabulous red wine, of course.”
“Well first, to get a fabulous red you’d have to go further inland than Sonoma or the Russian River wine countries. And second, it’s just a quick stop to take Geri up on her offer of a tour, so my special eggplant Parmesan is way too much of a bribe.”
“Fine. But I expect a decent lunch in town after this, and if anything strange or annoying happens on this little detour, then making eggplant Parmesan is in your immediate future,” Alex said, following Nicki into the tasting room at Holland Winery.
“Agreed.” Nicki spotted Kurt behind the bar, and at the far end was none other than Geri, drying glasses. Lucky break for me, Nicki thought. Now I won’t have to go searching all over the winery for her. She waved at the assistant, hiding her smile at the pained expression on Geri’s face.
She and Alex strolled over to the bar, with Alex turning to talk with Kurt and Nicki to face Geri.
“Hi. Taking a break from your winemaking duties?”
Geri picked up a glass and started drying it, keeping her gaze firmly on her hands. “It’s a quiet week after the hard work from the crush.”
“Well, I wanted to stop in and see how you’re doing after everything that’s happened.” Nicki waited patiently until Geri finally finished with the glass and looked up.
“I’m okay. Planning the memorial helped a little.”
Nicki slowly nodded. “I can understand that. It helped to make that lasagna. It made me feel as if I was doing something useful in the middle of all the chaos.”
“O
h. Yes. Well.” Geri cut short her stammering by clamping her lips into a thin line. She took a deep breath. “I can’t remember if I thanked you for bringing your lasagna to the memorial gathering. I didn’t realize that you might want the aluminum pan back.”
“I don’t,” Nicki hurried to reassure her. “That’s why I used it, so you wouldn’t have to bother with returning a dish.”
“Oh, good. Well then, I should…” Geri froze when Nicki cheerfully cut in.
“But I would really like to take you up on your offer of a tour of the winery. It would be helpful for my blog to see as much of the production operations as I can.”
“I don’t remember offering to give you a tour,” Geri stammered.
“You didn’t?” Nicki did her best to look crushed. “Are you sure? Between going with you to find George and discovering his body instead, and the articles I’ve had to get finished for the magazine, and making the lasagna for the memorial, I was so certain we talked about a tour. I’ve really been looking forward to it, too.” Nicki hung her head.
“Well, I guess I could arrange it.”
Even though there wasn’t a drop of enthusiasm in the assistant’s voice, Nicki jumped on her words anyway.
“Do you have time now?”
“Now?” Geri held her towel over the row of glasses. “I’m pretty busy today.”
Nicki cast a pointed look at the drying towel in her hand. “Oh. I thought you said it was a quiet week.” She looked over at Alex and Kurt who were both listening to her conversation with Geri.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever met my good friend, Dr. Alex Kolman. We shared an apartment in New York City before we both decided to move to California. Alex, this is Geri Gant, the assistant winemaker at Holland.”
Alex leaned forward and held out her hand. “We met the day Chief Turnlow came to look over the crime scene and found Nicki poking into it. But I’m pleased to see you again, Geri.”
Geri briefly shook the outstretched hand before snatching hers away to continue drying the glasses while remaining stubbornly silent.
“I’d love a tour of the winery,” Alex said. “Nicki’s told me how difficult a time it’s been for both of you.”
“Oh go on, Geri,” Kurt said. “You love telling people how wine is made, and Nicki’s lasagna really was great. It’s the least we can do. I can handle the customers alone for a while.” He grinned. “The crowd isn’t that big.”
Nicki and Alex looked over at the lone customer in the room before returning their gazes to Geri.
Scrunching her face up into a grimace, Geri gave a short nod and tossed her towel on top of the bar. “I guess I can spare a few minutes. Why don’t we start in the private tasting area? It’s that way.” She pointed to the opposite end of the room, over near the doors.
“That would be great,” Nicki said all smiles as Geri led the way and Alex fell into step beside her.
For the next fifteen minutes, the two women listened to Geri go on about how the smaller, separate room was used for the different private parties the winery booked there, and even how the decor was changed with the seasons. They asked polite questions until Geri relaxed enough to take them through the front doors and around to the rear of the building. When they were right across from the backdoor leading into the hallway and the room where George Lancer was murdered, Nicki stopped.
“Before we see the production areas, Geri, I noticed a barrel room next to the one that was sealed off by the police. With all the excitement, I haven’t had a chance to see it yet.”
Nicki didn’t give the assistant time to answer but made a beeline for the backdoor, yanking it open and heading straight down the dark hallway. She heard the swift clip of shoes behind her. Satisfied the other two had come along as well, she breezed past George’s private room and stepped through the archway into the large space with the separated rows of barrels.
“So, what is this used for? It’s a bit far away from the production area, isn’t it?” Nicki asked.
Geri barely stood inside the archway. With a deep sigh, she leaned over and flipped on the light. “The winery doesn’t store any of the production in here. This is strictly for the employees who make their own, personal blends.”
“Really?” Alex said. “Isn’t that interesting? Do you or Kurt have any wine in here?”
The older woman walked further into the room and started pointing at the various stacks against the walls. “That group belongs to Victor, and those over there are more of George’s. Mine are right here.”
She gestured to the twelve-barrel group Nicki had seen marked with one “6” on top of another. Nicki realized it wasn’t a “6” at all, but a “G”, for Geri Gant.
Nicki did a slow turn, pretending to inspect each stack. “Why didn’t George put those into his private room?”
“He probably didn’t feel they were good enough to be in there,” Geri said.
“Makes sense,” Nicki agreed. “We waved at you this morning, but I guess you didn’t see us.”
“What?”
“This morning,” Nicki repeated. “When you were driving out of the Todos parking lot.”
“Oh,” Geri got the one word out then stood and stared at Nicki.
“Checking out the competition, maybe?” Alex asked, a teasing note in her voice.
“No. That is, I wasn’t spying. I mean I was there on business.” Geri stopped and rubbed her hands together. “Delivering barrels. They needed a few extra and we could spare them.”
She hurried over to a cabinet next to the archway and opened one of its doors revealing a row of wine glasses. “Would you like a taste?”
“A taste? Of George’s wine?” Alex asked.
“No, no. I can’t do that. I meant of my wine,” Geri said, already pulling out glasses.
Nicki and Alex exchanged a look while Geri’s back was turned. Nicki shrugged in answer to Alex’s silent question.
“Of course. We’d love to try it,” Nicki said.
Geri brought a couple of glasses and a thin pipette called a wine thief, over to her double line of barrels. She stepped around the front two barrels and put her hands on a third. She removed the bung, which was simply a large cork, from the hole all winemakers drew samples from when tasting the wine still in a barrel. Using her wine thief, she withdrew a small amount of wine and piped it into the glasses before closing the barrel up again. With a tiny smile, she handed the glasses to Nicki and Alex.
“I’ve been creating a personal blend using American oak barrels for the last eight years. It takes a lot of practice.”
Nicki took a tentative sip and quickly pursed her lips together. She shot a look at Alex whose eyes were practically crossed. Peering into her glass it dawned on Nicki why Jim Holland hadn’t even considered promoting Geri to head winemaker.
Clearing her throat, Nicki managed not to wince. “It’s certainly an interesting blend.”
“It still needs another few weeks of aging, I think,” Geri said with a nod.
“Yes, I believe so.” Alex’s voice was faint, but Nicki had to give her points for putting a tad of enthusiasm behind her words.
“Geri?” Victor suddenly appeared in the opening of the archway. “Kurt told me you were giving a tour to a couple of friends. I’m sorry to break it up, but Jim wants to see you right away.”
“Okay.” Geri turned back to Nicki. “I’m sorry. We’ll have to continue this another day.” She reached over and plucked the two glasses out of her audience’s hands. “I’ll take care of these, and Victor can show you the way to the parking lot.”
“Sure, sure,” Victor said as Geri walked past him. He smiled at the two women she’d left behind.
“You ready to go?” He took a second, closer look at Alex. “Hey, I know you. Don’t you work in the Emergency Room over at the hospital in Santa Rosa? I was there last month with my cousin, and I remember seeing you.”
Alex took a deep breath and held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Kolman. It’s nice to meet y
ou.”
“Victor is the warehouse foreman here at Holland,” Nicki said. “Alex is a good friend of mine who wanted to see how a winery works. I wish we’d had time to see the production area.”
“I’d be happy to show you,” Victor offered. “If you aren’t in too much of a hurry. I know doctors have pretty busy schedules.”
Unlike writers who spend their days lounging around conjuring up stories in their heads, Nicki thought. But she kept a smile on her face and nodded.
“That would be great. Thanks.”
“Well c’mon, Nicki.” Victor waved them through the archway and fell into step beside Alex.
“Hey, Doc. I’ve been getting this pain along my lower back. It comes and goes—nothing steady. Do you think I should get it looked at?”
“Tell me a little more,” Alex said. As Victor launched into a description of his back pain, Alex turned her head toward Nicki and mouthed one word--eggplant.
Twenty minutes later, having wandered between the huge tanks in the fermentation area, Victor took them into a room where barrels were stacked on top of each other.
“This is where we store our barrels to replace the ones that have reached the end of their lifespan for aging wine.
Alex looked around. “What do you do with the old barrels?”
“We sell them, mostly. Sometimes a few of the smaller wineries, or places just starting out, will come and buy them, but mostly we sell them to decorators or furniture stores. People like to use them in their gardens.” He pointed to the one closest to them. “That’s a brand-new, French oak barrel. It costs well over a thousand dollars.”
“Wow!” Alex said, her eyes getting bigger. “For a barrel?”
Victor nodded while Nicki glanced over at the wall. Two clipboards hung there. She walked over and picked one up and started flipping through it while Victor kept on with his talk.
“The stock room is only open during the day, and every barrel taken out has to be entered into the inventory sheets along with what wine it was being used for, the date and who took it. There’s enough money invested in this room that it’s locked up every night, and the only key is in the owner’s safe. Not even the master key will open this room.”