My heart broke for my friend. My mother had died too, but I had never had to make a tough choice like that. My mother had known that she was dying and so had made all the arrangements. The doctors and nurses knew what she wanted without Grandma Daisy or me having to tell them. “But you were just a kid having to make that decision. Didn’t you have anyone else to help you?”
“I was nineteen. I was legally an adult and the only adult in the family who was there. I asked the doctors to wait because I was trying to find Belinda.”
“Find her? Where did she go?”
“Traveling Europe and studying wines. She’d already wanted to be a sommelier all the way back then. Belinda had big dreams. There was so much she wanted to see and do. Look how well she did for herself. She wrote a book. I didn’t know anyone who wrote a book before. My mother would have been so proud of her. The trip was her chance to make something great of herself. I had to be the one to make the decision. Michelle and Adele were too young.”
“But she didn’t leave any way for you to contact her?”
“The last phone number I had didn’t work. I sent her an email, but she never responded. I had to make a decision.” She started walking again. “So, at the end of the week, I told the doctors to cut off life support, and my mother died that day. The next day, I finally tracked down Belinda and told her about the funeral. She flew home and was furious with me. She claimed that I killed our mother and that I robbed her of her one chance to say goodbye to her. I understood that. She was grieving and wanted someone to blame. I was the obvious choice.” She wiped at her eyes. “But I know in my heart that I did the right thing, but maybe I could have tried harder to find my sister, called her friends or reached out to her sommelier school. I didn’t think of any of those things at the time.”
I squeezed her arm. “Lacey, you did the very best you could have. I know that. You were dealing with so much at such a young age. You did so well.”
“Belinda wouldn’t agree with you.”
“But you should,” I said as I squeezed her arm a second time and then let go.
“After Mom died, I still had to take care of my younger sisters. My mother said in her will that if I was of age when she died that I would get guardianship of them.”
“You, and not Belinda.”
She nodded. “Mom knew Belinda was destined for bigger things. She wasn’t going to stay in little Cascade Springs to raise two girls. Adele was only ten at the time, and Michelle was twelve. They still needed years of care. Belinda wouldn’t be willing to wait for them to grow up.” She sighed. “Even so, Mom’s directives hurt her, and she accused me of coercing our mother into giving me guardianship of the younger girls.”
“Is this why she was so angry at you?”
She sighed again. “That’s most of it. To take care of Michelle and Adele, I had to make money, so I got a job at a fancy French restaurant in Niagara Falls as a waitress. I was awful at it. One of the young chefs took me under his wing to help me learn the restaurant business. He was so kind and handsome. I had no idea why he had taken an interest in me. I have always been round and plain.”
“Lacey,” I said. “That’s not true. You’re beautiful inside and out.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have any illusions about my appearance, Violet.”
I wanted to say more, but she went on. “That chef saw something in me that I didn’t. You can guess it was Adrien, and before I knew it, we fell in love. He talked about opening a café in Cascade Springs, and if he did, he wanted me to work there with him. I felt like for the first time I had a little hope at a happy ending. The girls were doing fine—as fine as they could be, considering what they had been through. I was hopeful.
“Adrien did buy the café and move to Cascade Springs. I didn’t know until much later he did it all because he loved me. Starting out, he acted like it was the next logical step for his career and Cascade Springs was a tourist destination. It was a perfect place for his café. I had thought the fact that I lived here was just a coincidence.”
“But it wasn’t.” I smiled.
She smiled at the memory too. “No, it wasn’t.” She took a breath. “The café was set to open in October. About a month before the grand opening, Adrien asked me to marry him. I said yes. Because of what happened the last time something big happened in our family, I tracked Belinda down. She was only in California then and much easier to find. I told her that I had met a wonderful man and that I was getting married. She was furious again and claimed this was my plan all along when our mother died. She’d spoken to all the doctors that had cared for my mother and asked them if there was any hope that she might have lived. One said something like only by some miracle. That was all my sister had to hear to conclude I murdered our mother. After that she made it her mission to turn my younger sisters against me.” Tears ran down her face. “And she succeeded in that. Now that the girls are grown, they won’t even speak to me.”
“Oh Lacey. I’m so sorry,” I said, wishing I had something more meaningful to say. “How could Michelle and Adele believe that after everything you did for them?”
“Belinda was the cool older sister who traveled all over the world and sent them expensive gifts. Of course they would take her side. I understand that. It was a difficult few years because I had custody of Michelle and Adele until they each were eighteen. They hated me for most of it.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I haven’t spoken to any of my sisters in years.” She pressed the tissue to the corner of her eye. “I shouldn’t cry. It’s so cold that my tears might freeze to my face, and we should go back. You must be so cold. No matter what you said in the café, I know you hate the cold.”
I smiled. “I’m fine.” It was just like Lacey to think of someone else’s comfort when she was crying.
“I thought if I could talk to Belinda last night that I could make amends and we could all be a family again, but you saw what happened when I tried to talk to her.”
“What happened after she yelled at you in the tasting room? Where did you go?”
She shoved the tissue back into her pocket. “I went back into the kitchen. I told Adrien what happened. He wanted us to leave, but I said that we couldn’t. We had a contract with the Mortons to supply the food. I stayed in the kitchen the rest of the night. I didn’t hear about the murder”—she stumbled over the word—“until David Rainwater told me about.”
“Did anyone else come into the kitchen after your argument?” I asked.
She looked out to the river. “Mrs. Morton did. She was very upset with the scene Belinda and I caused, and she threatened not to pay us over it. Adrien told her that Belinda was the one who made the outburst, but it didn’t matter. Mrs. Morton blamed me for it. She said that she wouldn’t pay us for catering that night because we ruined her party.”
I bit the inside of my lip. Lacey might not realize this, but Mrs. Morton’s threat gave her even more motive to kill her sister. Because of Belinda’s behavior, she and Adrien were out a lot of money—I would have guessed several thousand dollars between all the expensive food they had provided and the extra waitstaff they had hired for the event.
I could see the scenario in my head that Rainwater must have already visualized. Lacey sees Belinda head out to the vineyard after their argument. Lacey follows her and confronts her again. Belinda says she wants nothing to do with her and she will do nothing to convince the younger Perkins girls to make amends with their sister. Belinda turns her back, and Lacey stabs her with one of the grape-cutting knives that can be found almost anywhere in the vineyard on the night of the frozen grape cutting. When she does so, the letter that she tried to give her sister falls from her pocket.
It worked. Rainwater would have seen that it worked, but that didn’t make it true.
“We should head back to the café. Adrien will be worried.” Lacey turned back in the direction from where we’d come.
“Lacey, can you tell me what happened to the letter?” I asked, falling int
o step next to her.
“The letter?” She shoved the crumpled tissue back into her pocket and pulled on a pair of cotton gloves.
“The one that you tried to give your sister at the book signing.”
Her face clouded over again. “I—I don’t know. I haven’t seen it since last night. In fact, I completely forgot about it, to be honest. I have no idea what might have happened to it. Maybe it’s still in my purse or in the pocket of the coat I wore to the winery.”
I sighed. “I would be surprised if you found it in either place.”
She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I saw it last night.”
“At the signing?”
“After the signing.” I swallowed. “I was the one who found your sister, and the letter was with her. I recognized your handwriting.”
She shook her head. “But that can’t be possible. I never gave her the letter. You saw her throw it back in my face.”
“I know, but somehow she got it. Or—” I stopped myself from going on.
“Or what, Violet? You have to tell me now.”
“Or the killer found it or maybe even stole it from you with the intent to kill her.”
Lacey covered her mouth with her hand. “Who would do such a terrible thing?”
“The same person who would kill someone,” I said. “Let’s keep walking. You’re right. Adrien will be getting worried by now.”
She nodded, and this time she fell into step with me.
“Lacey, answer me as honestly as you can. Do you know of anyone who would have reason to kill Belinda?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t spoken to my sister in years. I don’t know what her life is like anymore beyond the articles she writes.” She looked down at her feet. “I save them all, you know. I have a binder of them back at the house. I was very proud that she reached her dreams.”
I bit the inside of my lip, wondering if I should tell her to get rid of the binder. Would Rainwater suspect her more if he knew she had been following all of Belinda’s movements since they’d had their falling out?
“Violet?” Lacey asked as we stopped to wait to cross the street. “Are you all right? You are very pale.”
A horse and carriage clopped by with a young couple snuggled under a blanket in the back of it.
“Would your sisters have any reason to …” I trailed off.
“No,” she said, clearly understanding what I was trying to say. “They have no reason at all to wish any ill will on Belinda. Like I said, she was the favorite sister.”
“Were Michelle and Adele at the signing? They were so young when I left the village, I don’t know that I would recognize them as adults. If they were close to Belinda, wouldn’t they have gone?”
She bit the inside of her lip. In that time, two cars passed us on the street. When the traffic cleared, neither of us made a move to walk the rest of the way to Le Crepe Jolie.
“Lacey, were you sisters at the event?”
“I saw them,” she said, barely above a whisper. And against her will, added two more suspects to my list.
“I’m going to help you through this, Lacey.”
She grabbed my hand. “I appreciate that, Violet, I really do, but I know the police chief wouldn’t want you involved, and I don’t want to cause any trouble between the two of you.”
“Let me worry about Rainwater, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Chapter Thirteen
I left Le Crepe Jolie carrying a large takeout bag filled with baguettes, lemon madeleines—my grandmother’s favorite—and all sorts of other delicious goodies. Adrien never let me leave the café without enough food to feed the Canadian Mounties. He was especially generous this time because there seemed to be a shift in Lacey after our walk. She stayed in the front of the house, spoke with diners, and was in general her old cheerful self. Only a person who knew her well could see the lingering sadness in her eyes.
I turned right out of the café toward the bookshop and in the direction of the town hall. I stepped in front of the hall just as Chief David Rainwater, who was in his winter police uniform, complete with black bomber jacket, ran down the steps. His chiseled face fell into hard lines. He appeared so upset that I almost continued on my way. I knew he wouldn’t be happy if he thought that I was meddling in his murder investigation, and he was clearly already in a foul mood.
Before I could make up my mind, Rainwater called my name. “Violet.” His face cleared as he reached the sidewalk. He nodded to the café bag in my hand. “I see you’ve been to Le Crepe Jolie.”
“I wanted to check on Lacey.”
He nodded. “You’re a good friend.”
I thanked him.
“And a curious friend, I take it.” He studied me. “Lacey say anything to you that I should know?”
I took a step closer to him. “She didn’t do this. I know that Belinda’s fiancé thinks that she did, but you know Lacey. She doesn’t have it in her to hurt anyone.”
He sighed. “You spoke to Sebastian Knight too?”
“I didn’t go out looking for him,” I said, maybe a tad too defensively. “I ran into him on the street walking to the café.”
Rainwater pressed his lips into a line. I had a feeling that he didn’t completely believe my story. I knew this must be the result of the times I had spoken in half-truths because I didn’t want him to know that I was embroiling myself in one of his murder investigations. I knew that wasn’t the way to build a friendship or whatever it was that he and I were trying to create together. I knew that I liked the police chief. He was a strong, noble man and I wanted to learn more about him. If I wanted get to know him better, I would have to be honest with him. I didn’t think there was any other way to know David Rainwater. “I’m going to help Lacey.”
He folded his arms. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” I cleared my throat. “Sebastian Knight thinks that she is behind her sister’s death because of old hurts from the past.”
“The death of her mother,” Rainwater said.
“Right,” I said. “But I know”—I pointed at myself—“and you know”—I pointed at him—“that she’s not capable of murder. I’m not going to let Sebastian or the Mortons railroad her.”
He frowned. “Why bring the Mortons into this? Have you been talking to Nathan?”
“No,” I said, surprised. “How was your talk with Nathan?”
“How do you know I saw the mayor?”
“You just came out of the town hall. Belinda’s death is the most obvious reason for you to be there right now.”
“Touché,” Rainwater said. “But I still don’t like the idea of you getting involved here. You saw Belinda’s body. I wish that you hadn’t, but you did. It was a terrible scene. Whoever murdered her was furious or strong or both. It takes a lot of force to stab someone with a curved blade like that.”
I shivered. “I had thought the same thing.”
“So you can see why I don’t want you to make yourself a target.”
“I won’t make myself a target. I’m just looking out for my friend.”
He ran his hand back and forth through his jet-black hair. “I can see that I’m getting nowhere with you.”
I knew better than to comment on that. “What did Nathan have to say? You were interviewing him?”
Rainwater frowned. “No, this meeting was his idea.”
“What did he want?”
The police chief glanced at the hall. I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised if Nathan was watching us from one of its many windows.
“He wanted to threaten me,” Rainwater said.
“Threaten you?” I asked.
“It wasn’t in so many words, but his message was delivered loud and clear. He reminded me how important his family was to the village, both socially and economically, and that he was the mayor and therefore my boss.”
My face fell. I couldn’t help but
feel disappointed in Nathan for doing that to the police chief. Rainwater was a good man, and I knew and Nathan knew he would treat everyone in the investigation fairly.
“He even mentioned you.”
I blinked. “Me? What about me?”
He shook his head as if he regretted revealing that much.
“You have to tell me. You can’t leave me hanging like that.”
“I shouldn’t have told you any of that. I’m certain if the mayor knew, he would be crafting my dismissal.”
“I’d like to see him try!”
Rainwater smiled, and his white teeth gleamed against his tan skin. “You are the most determined woman I have ever met. I guess that’s why I find you so fascinating.”
I blushed and looked across the street as if there were something along the river’s edge that had caught my eye.
Rainwater cleared his throat. “If you learn anything, you have to call and tell me. It doesn’t matter that I might already know it or what a small detail it might be.”
The river, narrowed by ice, bounced along its frozen banks. I turned back to Rainwater. “Okay,” I promised.
“Thank you. I’d walk you back to the shop, but I have a meeting back at the station that I’m already late for.”
I shifted from foot to foot. My toes were growing cold, “It’s all right. I saw Sadie this morning, and she wondered if you would be at the Red Inkers meeting tonight.”
“I know. She texted me and asked too. I don’t know.” He paused. “It depends on how the day goes. This is a complicated case.”
I nodded.
“Tell them I will try to make it if I possibly can.”
I nodded, and he walked to his SUV parked on the curb.
He turned back around. “Violet?”
I stared into his amber eyes. I swallowed. “Yes?”
“I’m happy that you’re all right. Last night when Grandma Daisy called me to tell me about Belinda, I was so worried about you. I was afraid you were in trouble again. I couldn’t even think subjectively like a cop, at least not until I saw with my own two eyes that you were in one piece. I—I don’t want anything to happen to you. Please promise me that you will be careful.”
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