Blood Is Thicker Than Wine

by Liz Eagle

  She sat back down on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know, but only a few sips really made me sick. Louise would not intentionally give me tainted brandy, if that’s what you’re getting at. They seemed like lovely people, despite their eccentricities. I am sure it was an honest mistake. But it certainly made me feel awful and, now that I think about it, I was the only one who drank it.” Jacqueline’s naivety worried him sometimes, but he had no proof of his suspicions just yet, and he didn’t want to appear overly investigative in front of his daughter. His blood was heating up inside. How dare these people harm a sweet creature like his Jackie. The truth was very real, however. She knew their dirty family secret, and thus was a liability, whether they were aware of it or not.

  This was truly interesting but worrying. He needed to get her to a doctor to be sure exactly what was wrong. “Be very cautious around these people, Jackie. You know something they don’t want anyone finding out, and I would not rule out their willingness and ability to do you harm.” He gave her a long hug. Gus wanted to go right over there and ask a few direct questions to Milton and Louise, but he knew he needed more evidence and could not let his personal emotions get in the way of his investigation. What he really needed to do was get Jackie to a doctor, straight away.

  “Listen, I know you are concerned, Dad,” Jacqueline said. “But Phillip has a good future here as a lawyer. He is going to join his father at the law firm, and he will take good care of me. He took care of me on the walk home last night. The hardest part about all of this is that I hate to give up my acting, but on the other hand, I haven’t had any auditions in weeks. If I give up this opportunity, it may not come along again. I like Phillip a lot and after spending time with him, I really doubt he is connected to the shenanigans that his parents are involved with. He is good to me. He even bought me that pretty dress yesterday at the boutique downtown to wear to meet his parents,” she said, pointing to the dress hanging on the back of the door. “He is very generous.”

  Gus looked at the dress, and it did appear to be very elegant and probably expensive. “Let’s give it a little while longer,” he said. “I don’t know what to make of this family. I would like to meet Phillip’s father and mother first. Then we can talk more about this proposal. I will not completely rule it out, yet. Besides, I want to ask Louise about the brandy she gave you. I wonder if Max knows anything about it….” He knew he had to get back into that cellar, or at least ask a few more questions. “Get up, Jackie, and get dressed. I think we should get you to a doctor as soon as possible, we have already waited longer than we should have.” Gus left her and went to his room to make some more notes, tucking them in his briefcase before going downstairs.

  Chapter 24

  Winston-Salem, North Carolina

  “Thank you for seeing me, Judge,” Lil Starling said to Judge Stone after his secretary allowed her to enter his chambers. She decided to follow Joe’s advice and take Judge Stone up on his offer to help review some of the old documents. She brought all the documents she had gone through so far, as well as the notes her grandfather had written about the murders in her hometown. She held back the things she had not reviewed and set the file folder of what she had so far on his desk.

  “I have all these handwritten notes from my grandfather, Gus, the FBI agent,” she told him. “From what I can make out so far, he seems pretty sure that someone in my family was somehow connected to the murders. But my dad was in law school at the time, so I find it hard to believe that he had any involvement, but as of this moment I can not discount anyone. He also says that Milton, my grandfather, was Mr. Harvey’s attorney, and that Mr. Harvey was sent to prison but always maintained his innocence. He keeps mentioning jars of wine that were not accounted for in the police or investigative reports. If they were anywhere near the crime scene, you know as well as I that there would be some notation about them someplace. It looks like he may be barking up the wrong tree, but I am just not sure I am being as objective as I should be.”

  “This is such a different situation when it involves my family, so different than writing about someone else in a presentence report. At any rate, you are the only one I would trust with these documents. Thank you so much for helping me, Judge. I just don’t know what to make of all this.” Lil felt like she was going to break into tears but held them back.

  She was confident in Judge Stone’s ability to see clearly what was going on. He had been a respected member of the local bar for years, until he was appointed by the president to be a federal judge for life. Lil respected his opinion and since she had no other immediate family to help sort this out, he was her best hope at resolving this, or at least getting an objective opinion. Surely, Judge Stone would see something she missed.

  “I told you not to worry about it,” the judge said. “There is no hurry to resolve this. You have already waited how many years? Seventy-three?” Sensing that she was about to break, he opened the folder and took a quick look at the court documents.

  “You are correct with many of your assumptions,” Judge Stone said. “Your grandfather, Milton Chandler, was Harvey’s defense attorney. These notes show Chandler did little to fight for his client. That alone would be somewhat disturbing, and also suspicious. Your Grandfather Gaylord seemed to also believe the homemade wine had something to do with the murders.” He closed the folder and looked at Lil. “Why don’t you leave me these papers and I will go over them more carefully after I finish this trial?” the judge asked. “I will call you after I have read through all of them and we will get together to talk,” he told Lil. “Don’t you worry. Together we will figure out what happened. Oh, by the way, I saw AUSA Harris in the hall the other day. Since she just transferred here from NY Western, I asked her if she knew your grandfather and she said that she did. She may be a resource for us, as well.” Lil made no comment. She was uneasy about confiding in anyone else beyond the judge or her husband about this very personal matter. She hoped that the judge would not go farther.

  Lil left and felt like the weight of the world was lifted from her. She had hit a wall and needed an independent opinion. She could trust the judge. He had always been supportive of her in the probation office, and they held a mutual respect for each other. Probation officers often felt protective of their judges, especially when it came to their difficult job of sentencing federal defendants, but she recognized that federal judges were also vulnerable. When Lil saw one out in public she felt an overwhelming concern for their safety. After all, probation officers were fully trained and carried guns. Judges, well, not so much.

  Even though she trusted Judge Stone, Lil was careful to just give him copies of all the pertinent documents. She was suspicious of most everyone, as her grandfather appeared to be, and even though she trusted the judge implicitly, she was not sure who would have access to his chambers at any given time. Lil did not want to take a chance on any of the documents getting into the wrong hands – if there were any wrong hands. It was doubtful that anyone would be interested in a seventy-year-old murder case, but she never took chances, not in her work, and not now.

  Heading toward the elevator after leaving chambers Lil ran into Assistant U.S. Attorney Harris from the Jenkins sentencing. “Hi Lil.” Harris said. “So, what brings you to the judge’s chambers? Still increasing defendant’s prison sentences?” That stopped Lil in her tracks. She did not really know her that well, but thought it was an extremely harsh comment, let alone unprofessional, for a AUSA to make about a current case or even to a probation officer. They were on the same side in the courtroom and Lil had worked comfortably and mutually with many AUSAs in the office. It was not uncommon for AUSAs and probation officers to meet for drinks after a tough case. She was friends with most of them and had occasionally met them at the beach to socialize. But, Harris...the jury was still out on her.

  “Well, if you must know, I had another matter to discuss that needed the judge’s attention. Is there something bothering
you? Do you have a problem with me?” Lil was not afraid to confront when there were inappropriate comments like that.

  “Well, none that it is any of your concern. See you.” Harris walked toward the judge’s chambers.

  When she was permitted to enter Judge Stone’s chambers, he invited her to take a seat as he put Lil’s documents on top of a wooden box containing more papers. “I prefer to stand, thank you.” Harris said to the judge and put her fingertips on his desk as if to steady herself.

  “You said you wanted to discuss the upward departure in the Jenkins case? What is on your mind?” Judge Stone leaned back in the leather black chair and rubbed his hands together. He felt he was on solid footing with his ruling and that there were no grounds for an appeal, but he was willing to hear the prosecution’s side, albeit a little late.

  “I am actually concerned about Officer Starling and her recommendation.” Harris stood very straight with shoulders back. She really wanted to find out what Lil was up to.

  “Is that so? Well, before you go any further I should inform you that you have no reason to be concerned. We discussed the rationale for the upward departure in chambers. I found it perfectly sound and do not see where another court would reverse it.” He turned his chair to retrieve a Federal Sentencing Guidelines book and it slipped from his hand. As he reached down to get it Harris looked at the documents on top of the box. This was what Lil had given the judge. It was all there.

  As the judge came back up to his desk, he saw what Harris was looking at. He opted not to bring it to her attention but thought it was very bold for her to be snooping around a federal judge’s desk. He made a mental note to call the U.S. Attorney and have a talk with him. Harris was new and perhaps they did things differently in the Western District of New York.

  Chapter 25

  1945 Warsaw, New York

  Phillip decided to take a detour back to Buffalo and went by Batavia Downs in Batavia. The place was packed, and he had to wait in line to get the pass to his father’s private booth. When he finally got to the booth, he started in on the buffet. Batavia was only slightly bigger than Warsaw, and many people drove there for the excitement of a larger town and the horse races, of course.

  “Well, hello there, Phillip,” said a woman from across the room in a singsong voice.

  Phillip looked up from the buffet table but did not see anyone he knew. He was not expecting to see anyone at this place, and he especially did not want any company tonight. He has his sights firmly set on someone else, Jacqueline. Poor thing, she was so sick and helpless last night, he truly wished she was feeling better today. Maybe he should find a way to check up on her, he thought.

  A woman approached and extended her hand, heavy with diamonds, for him to kiss. His worst fear was realized, she was from Warsaw. “Hi Cynthia,” Phillip said. “What brings you to the big city of Batavia?” He reached to shake her hand and lightly kissed it afterward. Cynthia Lewis was one of his father’s clients, and Phillip had had sex with her when he was home from Rutgers a few times. Her husband, a local surgeon and friend of his father’s, was always being called to the hospital for some emergency surgery. The whole town knew that he was having an affair with one, if not more, of the nurses at the hospital because he stayed at the hospital way too much, and his car was occasionally spotted in one of the nurses’ driveways. In such a small town, did he really think he could hide his car? Phillip hoped she was not with her husband tonight. If so, the good doctor would go right to Phillip’s father and spill the beans that Phillip was procrastinating going back to school. His father would raise another stink, not that it mattered to him. He felt certain that his little episodes with Cynthia would be a safe secret. She was not about to tell anyone. After all, she was married to the rich town surgeon. “Oh, I just came over for some excitement. What about you?” Cynthia asked. Before Phillip could answer, she asked with a smile and a wink, “Do you have plans after the race? I left my husband back in Warsaw, some hospital emergency again, and I am available for some fun if you are. I brought the Cadillac and it has lots of room in the back seat.”

  Phillip ignored most of what she had said. “Me too,” he said. “Very nice to see you, Cynthia. Well, the race is about to start. I had better get to a table. My dad will be here soon to meet me.” He figured a little lie would not hurt. He knew that the thought of his father coming would keep Cynthia at bay. She would not want to be seen talking at any length to her lawyer’s son in this place.

  Phillip soon became engulfed in the race and he was very happy for the distraction. Luckily for him, Cynthia had left the dining room after she realized Phillip was not interested in her. At that point, he made a promise to himself that there would be no more close calls like that. He would not have sex anymore until Jacqueline. If he had the urge, it would be with someone not connected to Warsaw.

  Chapter 26

  1945 Warsaw, New York

  After dropping Jackie back off at the inn, Gus made his way to the local hospital down North Main Street. The town doctor said she certainly showed signs of poisoning, but he would need to wait for test results to be sure exactly what kind. The bluish-green tint of her vomit made copper sulfate a distinct possibility, the doctor said. Gus would have to wait for now, but most importantly it was confirmed that Jackie would be fine as the vomiting should have expelled most of the toxin. She just needed to keep drinking lots of water to flush it out. This gave Gus peace of mind, he could not handle anything bad happening to Jackie. He felt the guilt creep into his heart; part of him wished so badly that he had not gotten Jackie involved, but he knew she had been invaluable thus far in helping him solve this mystery.

  Since Max and Gynnie were out for the day, rearing them unavailable for further investigation, his next stop was the hospital. He needed to get to the bottom of the missing strangulation marks and was hoping someone who could help him would be available. He came in through the back door near the emergency room entrance and approached the staff nurse on duty for directions to the morgue or the department responsible for storing bodies for the funeral home to pick up. Gus was not going to show his identification. He still did not want anyone in the town to know he was with the FBI. Just as his supervisor said, “the tree would be gone.”

  As he was instructed, Gus walked down the gray tiled floor and made his way to the department that operated as a morgue. In small towns, he knew it was a gamble whether they even had a coroner. Even if there was one, that person was only responsible for the taxes to be paid from the deceased’s estate and not necessarily to determine the cause of death. Gus knew that person would be useless. When he found a counter that actually had a person behind it, he figured it was as good a place to start as anywhere.

  “Can I help you, sir?” the young woman asked from behind the counter. She was wearing a red-and-white striped pinafore over a white blouse with a white nurse’s hat secured with bobby pins to her hair on both sides. The name tag pinned to her pinafore identified her as “Heather.” There was no last name.

  “Yes, thank you very kindly, Heather,” Gus responded. “I have a final report from a relative’s death and wanted to get an opinion of the results. I am not sure who I should talk to. Can you point me in the right direction?” The FBI trained him well, he almost believed it himself.

  “Let me look at the document that you have, and I will see if the attending doctor is around here today,” Heather said, reaching for the document on the murder victims from Gus. “That looks like Dr. Lewis’ signature,” she said. “I think he is in the hospital today, and I believe I saw him in the laboratory. If you will excuse me, I will go find him and see if he can help you.” Gus nodded, and she left from behind the counter and went down a hall.

  Gus would have to really pile it on to avoid suspicion from the doctor. But, he was determined to find out what was going on and why the report showed strangulation as the manner of death despite no visible marks around the
victims’ necks. Gus was conjuring up a story in his mind to be prepared for any questions.

  A tall man wearing glasses and a long white coat walked down the hall and approached Gus. Holding out his hand, he said, “Hello. I am Dr. Lewis. I was the doctor who signed the final death report as to the manner of death for these women.” For a young doctor, he was very stern, and Gus could tell he did not mess around. This could be more difficult than he had originally imagined, and he might have to let him know he was with the FBI. Gus would see how far he could go without giving out that information.

  “Thank you for taking the time to see me, Doctor,” Gus said. “I know you are a very busy man, and I will not take any more time than is necessary.” Having already decided how he would obtain the information he needed, Gus said, “I am a relative of one of the deceased and had an opportunity to see the pictures of her body at her death. I know that this was a while ago, but I noticed in the picture that there were no marks around her neck, but your evaluation as to the cause of death was strangulation. I was just wondering if there may have been a mistake or possibly another reason for her death. This is something that has been bothering me for a while, and I just thought you might be willing to help me. I am not in Warsaw very often, so I felt I just had to come in while I was in town. That is the only reason for my visit.” His only hope was that the doctor would be so caught off guard with his impromptu visit that it would take him by surprise and he would talk or admit to the possibility of a mistake.