Murders and Metaphors

by Amanda Flower

  He blinked at me.

  I pointed to the ground.

  “What is …” he trailed off. Even in the dim light, I could see his face pale. “Is that Belinda?” he whispered.

  I nodded and burrowed into his coat. “I’m afraid so.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the knife sticking out her back. She had been stabbed in the back. Literally. It seemed like such a gruesome way to die. “We need to call Chief Rainwater,” I said.

  His eyes snapped in my direction. “Rainwater? Is he the one you call when you need rescued?”

  I glared at him. “I don’t need anyone to rescue me. I was doing just fine handling this until you showed up.”

  “You were doing a great job freezing to death,” he said.

  “Violet! Violet!” my grandmother’s voice called through the stillness.

  “Over here!” I called.

  She bustled down the row of grapes. “Violet! Did you find Emerson?”

  “Grandma Daisy, thank goodness you’re here!” I grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward the body on the ground.

  Grandma Daisy pulled up short. “Oh my! Is that Belinda Perkins in the snow? And is that a knife sticking out of her back? Is she dead?”

  “Very,” Nathan said.

  “We need to call the police,” Grandma Daisy said.

  “I was just going to go do that when Nathan showed up.”

  “I’ll call then,” Grandma Daisy said, starting back toward the winery.

  “Wait!” Nathan shouted. “We can’t make a scene. Just give me a few minutes to convince all the guests to leave, and then you can call the police. We can’t have scandal where the winery is concerned.”

  “Nathan, that’s not going to work,” I said.

  “Why? It has to work. After they leave, the police can have free rein of the place, but we can’t lose our credibility as a safe place.”

  “A world-class sommelier was just murdered in your vineyard. People are going to know. You can’t cover this up, and your parents can’t cover this up either, no matter how much they will want to.”

  Nathan stared at me. I knew that we were both thinking about what had happened twelve years ago. When his parents had made up a lie about me to protect Nathan from getting in trouble with the police when Colleen died. That wasn’t going to happen this time. I wouldn’t allow it. I wasn’t a scared seventeen-year-old girl anymore. They couldn’t intimidate me.

  “David Rainwater is on the way,” Grandma Daisy said. “I just called him from my cell phone while the two of you were arguing. I spoke to him directly to make things go more quickly. He will call up the rest of his people.”

  Nathan turned and ran back toward the house to warn his parents, I was sure. For some reason, that broke my heart all over again, just like it had when we were seventeen.

  “What should we do until he gets here?” I asked.

  “What do you think?” my grandmother asked. “Look for clues. There might be something here that will point to her killer.”

  The pink envelope came to mind, but I shook that thought away. Lacey would never hurt anyone. She could never hurt anyone.

  I was about to tell my grandmother that if we searched the area for clues, our boots would leave tracks in the snow, something that Rainwater would most definitely not want. However, I was too late in saying it, as Grandma Daisy was already walking around the body bent at the waist. All she needed was a magnifying glass to complete the look.

  “Are you going to help me or what?” my grandmother asked.

  I sighed and stared at the snow-covered ground looking for clues too.

  “Violet!” a deep male voice cried into the cold air. I immediately recognized Rainwater.

  “Over here!” I called back.

  The police chief made his way down the row of grapes. He held his flashlight at eye level, and the powerful beam fell directly on my eyes. I threw up my hand to block the glare.

  “David, watch where you’re pointing that thing. You’re blinding both Violet and me. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be. I want to keep what I have left.” Grandma Daisy had her gloved hand over her cat-eye glasses.

  “Sorry,” Rainwater muttered as he lowered the light and pointed the beam on the ground.

  I blinked away the spots in my eyes. When my vision cleared again, I realized that the police chief stood right in front of me. I blinked a few more times. “Hi” was the best I could say. Chief David Rainwater was a striking man. He was Native American, a member of one of the last tribes in western New York State. He had smooth tawny skin, sharp cheekbones, and a straight nose. His most striking feature, though, was his amber-colored eyes. Sometimes I wasn’t convinced he was even a real person. He was too perfect to be a mere mortal.

  Those amber eyes bore into me. “Hi? That’s all you can say to me? Hi?” he asked.

  I moved my gaze and stepped back. Sometimes looking into the police chief’s eyes was like being pulled in with a tractor beam. With a dead body literally holding evidence that I knew would incriminate my friend in the murder a few feet behind me, I needed my wits about me. “You got here awfully quick.”

  “I was in the area doing patrols,” he said.

  “Grandma Daisy told you what we discovered.”

  Rainwater turned to my grandmother. “Part of me hoped this was just a ploy to make me come out here and see you. We all know that you can be sneaky when you want to be, Daisy.”

  Grandma Daisy put the hood up on her coat. She had been the smarter one of the two of us and had taken the time to find her coat, hat, and gloves before she ran outside. Even wearing Nathan’s coat, I couldn’t stop shivering.

  “No prank this time, David. Violet really did find another dead body. She’s almost like a bloodhound when it comes to these things.”

  “Thanks, Grandma,” I muttered.

  Rainwater looked me up and down. “What’s wrong with your arm?”

  “My arm?” I asked, fighting another shiver.

  “Why are you cradling it like it’s broken? Are you hurt? Did you fall?”

  “Oh!” I said. “I’m not cradling my arm. That’s Emerson.”

  As if on cue, the little cat poked his head out from the inside of Nathan’s coat.

  Rainwater looked at the clear night sky as if petitioning it for relief. “What’s your cat doing here?” the police chief asked.

  “Stowaway,” Grandma Daisy said. “He is a tricky little rascal, our Emerson. When he wants to go places, he goes whether you want him to be there or not. If it weren’t for him, we might not have found Belinda for hours. He led Violet right to him.”

  “Your cat has cadaver dog skills?” Rainwater asked.

  Officer Clipton appeared behind the police chief. “Sir, what do you want us to do?”

  Rainwater’s officers had arrived. Clipton was a no-nonsense female officer who didn’t know how to take a joke.

  “Start securing the scene, and I will get Violet and Daisy’s statements.”

  “What about the statement from the cat?” Clipton asked seriously. “If he’s the one who found the body first?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Rainwater replied. He turned back to my grandmother and me. “I do need an account from both of you as to what happened from the beginning.”

  “Can we talk where it’s a little bit warmer?” My teeth chattered. “I’m freezing.”

  The police chief nodded. “You and Grandma Daisy go back inside the winery. I’ll find you when I’m done consulting with my officers here. Do not leave until I have had a chance to talk to both of you.”

  Against my better judgment, I took one last glance at Belinda. It was a blessing that most of her body was now obscured by the police on the scene. All I could see was the toe of her high-heeled shoe, and the sight of it made me impossibly sad. “Poor Lacey,” I murmured. I thought this not only because she’d just lost her older sister, but also because of the letter. I wished I’d had time to grab it and stash it away somewhere. It was far too lat
e for that now.

  Grandma Daisy clicked her tongue as we walked back to the winery. “Yes, poor Lacey. That sweet girl has been through enough in her life, and to have this happen after the scene inside the winery. She will be so torn up.”

  I bit the inside of my lip because I was afraid that scene inside the winery just might have promoted my friend to number-one suspect in her sister’s murder.

  Chapter Eight

  Grandma Daisy and I entered through the back door of the winery, just as we had arrived hours ago before the signing. I wanted to go straight to the kitchen to talk to Adrien. A large part of me hoped he and Lacey had gone home. It would be even better if Lacey had left the winery before the murder.

  My plans were foiled by Grant, who stood in the black-and-white-tiled entryway, effectively blocking my way into the kitchen. “What kind of trouble are you getting into now, Vi?”

  “Grant Morton,” Grandma Daisy said. “You always seem to be up to mischief, but this is neither the time nor the place. A woman has been killed in your backyard. I suggest that you wipe that smirk off your sanguine face and do some damage control.”

  Grant frowned. “I know all about that. My family is having a council of war as we speak. As you can guess, this is a publicity nightmare for the Morton label. Bad timing too, as we were about to go national.”

  “The winery was going national?” I asked. I couldn’t think of any of the wineries in the village that had made that big leap.

  He nodded. “That was the plan.” He shook his head. “At least before all this happened. We were taking our ice wine to the national market first. My father was going to announce it tonight at the end of the signing.” He paused. “You saw how the signing ended.”

  My grandmother removed her gloves. “Why aren’t you helping your parents in this ‘council of war,’ as you call it?”

  “They don’t need me,” he said bitterly. “They have Nathan. You know my brother, being the good politician that he is, can spin bad news into good news.”

  “I don’t know how even Nathan can spin a woman’s death into good news,” I said.

  “If there is a way to save the national launch, he will do it.” Grant frowned. “Just ask my parents.”

  Grandma Daisy looked Grant up and down. “You should be trying to help instead of complaining about your brother. I swear, neither one of you boys has matured past middle school.”

  Grant’s face flushed red, and I had to bite down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ll go see if Nathan needs help.”

  “That’s a good man,” Grandma Daisy said to his back. After he had gone, she shook her head. “I like to think the best of people, but that boy tries me to my last nerve.”

  “I’m sure you’re not the only one,” I said.

  “Surely not,” my grandmother agreed. “Let’s go back into the main room and pack up what books we have left. There aren’t many. Belinda had many fans here tonight.”

  I nodded. “That’s what makes this so sad. This was supposed to be her triumphant return to the village, and now she’s dead.” I bit down on my lip. “I keep thinking about the awful scene with Lacey. It’s going to haunt me until I know she’s okay.”

  “I’m sure it will haunt Lacey as well. I’m sure this is not how she wanted it to go.” She removed her hat and coat and hung them over her arm.

  “Can you start packing up on your own. I want to find Lacey if she’s still here. She may not know …” I trailed off.

  “That’s a good idea, my dear. Lacey needs a friend right now. Remember the times that she was there for you. You need to be there for her now.” She patted my cheek. “All will be set right. Do not worry.” She lowered her hand and made her way down the hall.

  After she was gone, I stepped into the kitchen.

  The sous chefs and waitstaff who had buzzed around the room when I first arrived were gone. Lacey and Adrien were alone in the kitchen. Adrien was polishing his knives before setting them back into his knife case. Lacey had her head down as she dried wine glasses and put them back into the white overhead cabinet. Her eyes were focused on the task. Her silver barrettes were still falling out of her hair, and when I saw her face, her eyes were red from crying.

  I swallowed hard, thinking about the knife sticking out of Belinda’s back again. I wished I could forget it. I wished Belinda were still alive.

  Adrien smiled at me, showing off his bright white teeth. “Violet, we were wondering if we would see you again before heading home. I have some chocolate-covered strawberries left over. Let me wrap up a little box of them for you and Daisy to take with you.”

  I smiled. “That’s very kind of you, Adrien. You know I’ll eat whatever you make, but chocolate-covered strawberries are my very favorite. Well, second only to your crepes. I love your crepes the most.”

  He laughed. “You are a good cheerleader for a chef’s fragile self-esteem. Like any chef, I am only as good as the last meal I prepared.”

  “Every meal you make is great, Adrien, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “You are too kind.” He smiled.

  I searched for some way to bring up the topic of Belinda. It was clear that Lacey was upset, but I knew it must be over the argument with her sister, not over her death. Adrien wouldn’t be cracking jokes if they knew Belinda was dead. But how did I tell them? And should I let the police chief tell them? I knew what Rainwater would say.

  I had finally made up my mind to tell them when Emerson popped his head out of Nathan’s coat.

  “Sacré bleu!” Adrien cried. “You have your cat with you.”

  That comment made Lacey turn around and look at me. Her eyes were even more bloodshot than I had first thought and her cheeks were sunken in.

  “Why do you have the cat here?” Adrien asked. “I don’t think that Camille Morton will be happy to know you brought a cat in the kitchen,” he said with a slight chuckle. But his merriment didn’t reach his eyes, which kept flitting in the direction of Lacey. Lacey, who usually found joy and amusement in everything, wasn’t smiling. That was the most heartbreaking part of all.

  “Emerson’s trip out to the winery wasn’t planned. He was a stowaway. He snuck into my car, and I didn’t have time to take him back home.” I tucked Emerson further down into the coat.

  Adrien shook his head. “You have a very peculiar cat.”

  Lacey turned back to the cupboard and the wine glasses. I raised my eyebrows at Adrien and nodded at Lacey. He simply shook his head.

  “Lacey,” I started.

  She spun around. There must have been something in the tone of my voice that told her whatever I was about to say was important. “Violet, what’s wrong?”

  “There’s been an accident in the vineyard.” The words came out in a rush.

  Adrien nodded. “We heard. Camille stopped by the kitchen and asked us to let the waitstaff go home and to pack up. She said that someone fell in the vineyard. I hope there weren’t any broken bones. I have always thought that frozen grape cutting was dangerous. It does make the best ice wine, but there are many chances for injury. The knives they use are quite sharp.”

  I shivered at the mention of knives. “It was more than an accident. I’m sorry, but—”

  “Violet,” Rainwater’s voice interrupted me. “I need to speak with Lacey and Adrien alone.”

  Lacey looked from Rainwater to me and back again. “What’s going on? What happened in the vineyard? What are you doing here, David? You wouldn’t be here unless something terrible has happened.” She grabbed on to the large kitchen island for support, and immediately Adrien was at her side, holding her up. She seemed to melt into his body as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Please, someone tell me.”

  Rainwater looked to me. “Violet, can you go find your grandmother?”

  I wanted to stay and be there for Lacey when she heard the news, but Adrien would be enough. He was the person she would want
most at a time like this. I nodded and headed out of the room. I paused outside the door. I couldn’t seem to make myself walk any further.

  There was a wail that stabbed me in the heart. I wished I could run into the kitchen to comfort my friend, but I knew Chief Rainwater wouldn’t allow it. I reminded myself that Lacey and Rainwater were friends and he would be kind to her. But how long would the kindness last after he found the letter? He or one of his officers must have found it by now. I wished I knew what it said.

  I turned to walk down the hallway and stepped through the archway that led into the tasting room. I had unfortunate timing, as I ran directly into Camille Morton, who fast-walked in my direction.

  She glared at me. “Violet Waverly, do you make it a personal mission of yours to ruin everything good my family has? The frozen grape harvest is the most important and time-honored event at Morton Vineyards, and you ruined it.”

  Mr. Morton was a few feet behind his wife. He glared at me too. He was a tall, handsome man who looked like an older version of Nathan, with graying at the temples and a few fine lines around his mouth. In all the time I had known him, I had heard him speak only a handful of times, and everything he did say held criticism.

  “If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I doubt Lacey Dupont would have come and made that terrible scene if you hadn’t been here to support her. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it is found out that you put her up to it,” Mrs. Morton said.

  I blinked at her. “I had no idea that Lacey would be here tonight. I didn’t even know Le Crepe Jolie was catering. You’re the one who hired Adrien to cater. Lacey works with him. Why wouldn’t he bring his wife? How can any of this be my fault?” I asked.

  “Please, let us keep our voices down. There are still a few guests left in the tasting room. We can’t have any more scenes. I won’t allow it,” Mr. Morton said in his measured tones.

  I glanced over his shoulder and saw that the crowd of guests had greatly dwindled, but there were still a handful sipping ice wine around the ice sculptures. Grandma Daisy had our table packed up and was loading the last remaining box of books onto the dolly. As soon as the police chief gave us permission, we would be able to go home.