Murder Before Moscato_A Vineyard Winery Culinary Cozy Mystery

by Christie Waters

  That wasn’t the legacy I wanted to leave though. I’d never been the type of person to just coast through things, to just rest on my laurels… Though, when it came to winemaking I wasn’t even sure I had any laurels to rest on in the first place…

  “I… I just wanted to come over and say hello. You know, formally.” I said.

  “Hello.” She said with a slight head-tilt.

  “So….” I searched my brain for something to talk about. “Have you guys selected your entries for the competition yet?”

  “That’s awfully brazen of you.” She said. “To ask straight out like that.”

  “No…” I said. “It’s not like that... I… I was just trying to be polite.”

  “By being nosey?”

  “No. I mean, yes. No! I mean no.”

  “Been drinking a little too much of the product?” She asked, in a voice dripping with enough venom to knock a sumo wrestler off his feet.

  “No.” I replied. “Absolutely not. I was just here to look around. I’m still a little new to all of this.”

  “Yet you still insisted the contest be held in your vineyard.”

  “No.” I said. “I don’t know what everyone is talking about. I didn’t insist on-“

  “Listen.” She interrupted. “I don’t care what your reasoning is. I also don’t care why you’re on my property. I just don’t want you poking around uninvited.”

  “I thought this was Daniels vineyard…”

  “Ah…” She said with a crooked smile. “So that’s what this is…”

  “What what is?” I asked.

  “Newly single, looking for a man to help you run the business. I doubt my brother falls for that.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Brother?” I asked.

  “Surprised?” She smiled.

  “I… I guess I just hadn’t thought about it. And he didn’t mention you.”

  “You’ve spoken to Daniel?” She asked.

  “He stopped by.” I said. “Just to find out a few things about the setup for the show.”

  It was only as the words left my lips that I realized I hadn’t actually followed up with the wine club and that I still had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to pull this thing off. The more I thought about it the more I realized I needed to get out of there, call Shelly and figure out how to avoid making myself look like a complete idiot.

  “And did he get the information he was looking for?” She asked.

  “I never got your name.” I said.

  “Molly.” She said. “Did my brother ask anything else?”

  “No.” I replied. “We just had a chat and then he left. He gave me a bottle of wine…”

  “A bottle of Glass Rose?” She asked, her eyes widening.

  “Yes.” I replied.

  “May I ask which blend?”

  “I’m not sure…” I said. “I never actually got around to drinking it. There was a small mishap and the bottle fell to the floor.”

  I wouldn’t normally lie, but I didn’t really want to admit the fact that I’d somehow misplaced the bottle of wine her brother gave me. That somehow seemed even more insulting.

  “Shame…” She said. “Mind if I ask which blend?”

  “I… don’t know.” I said. “The label was ruined and like I said, I never got to actually taste it. It was a very dark blend though, I can tell you that. Almost purple in color.”

  “Purple…” The words slowly rolled off her tongue.

  “Listen.” I said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I apologize.”

  “Nothing to apologize for. Like you said, it’s just a friendly visit, right?” She asked, giving a smile sharp enough to cut glass.

  “Even so.” I responded. “I think I’ll be on my way.”

  But I realized my exit wasn’t to be as I turned back to my car to see Daniel standing directly ahead of me with a fake smile painted across his face.

  I guess watching the sunset from my bathtub wasn’t going to happen…

  Chapter Six

  “Zara.” He said to me. “What are you doing here?”

  I was just stopping by to thank you for the wine.” I said. “Though I never got to actually drink it.”

  “Oh?”

  “It kind of fell to the floor and shattered.” I said.

  “Psh…” I heard Molly say from behind me, then walk away.

  “Well.” Daniel said. “We’ll have to get you a replacement.”

  “That would be nice.” I said, a little surprised by how nice he was being to me.

  “Not a problem.” He said. “How about I give you the tour?”

  “Sure.” I answered.

  Daniel nodded toward the vineyard, then began walking down a small hill. I followed behind him, noticing for the first time how muscular and toned his body was. He was handsome by anyone’s standards, and for the moment anyway, he seemed to be friendly.

  “These are our Muscat Grapes.” He said. “They produce some of our most powerful reds, with bold and spicy notes. These particular ones have great aging potential.”

  “They look very impressive.” I said.

  The truth was I knew very little about Muscat grapes. It was one of the varieties my vineyard didn’t produce. And it had never been my favorite type of wine anyway. I was more of a sweet kind of girl. And from what I knew of Mucat it pared better with boldly flavored meats and game.

  Not that I was looking to become a vegetarian anytime soon. But I rarely craved things like steak and pork chops, instead opting for pasta and grilled vegetables. Those types of things usually pared better with white wine anyway.

  “My family has been growing them for years.” He replied. “I think by next year we’ll be able to enter this blend in the competition, not to mention add it to our available wine list.”

  “Impressive.” I said.

  “It is.” He smiled. “So why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?”

  “I’m sorry?” I said.

  “You don’t expect me to believe it’s to replace a bottle of wine do you?”

  “I... I just wanted to check out your vineyard.” I said. “Something happened… after you left the other day. It was strange and I-“

  “What kind of something strange?” He cocked his head.

  “I’d rather not say.” I admitted.

  “And you think I’m responsible for this something strange?” He asked.

  “That’s not what I said. I just didn’t know if maybe you’d noticed anything while you were there.” I said.

  “Anything like what?” He asked, becoming more and more frustrated with me.

  “I don’t know.” I said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.”

  “Funny.” He said. “That’s the same thing I said after leaving Chateau de Midnight.”

  “Makes sense.” I said turning on my heels and marching the other way.

  “Wait.” He said, stepping closer.

  “Yes?” I replied.

  “What did my sister say to you?”

  “About what?” I answered.

  “About anything…”

  “She asked me the same thing about you…” I said. “Maybe you two should just have a conversation.”

  “Hard to have a conversation with someone who isn’t speaking to you…”

  “She’s not speaking to you?” I asked.

  “Not for the moment.” He said. “Not that it’s your problem.”

  “No.” I said. “It isn’t.”

  “No need to be rude.” He said.

  “Me? Rude?” I snapped back, appalled at his words. “Maybe stand in front of a mirror before you start throwing words like that.”

  “Yes.” He said. “I may have been a little rude during our first meeting, but I’m trying to make up for it.”

  “Really?” I chuckled. “I’d have never guessed.”

  “See…” He said. “That was rude.”

  “Only because you’re obviously lying…” I said. “
I’ve never met anyone as rude as you.”

  “Well you must not get out much.” He rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you live in New York? Unless you spent the whole time indoors I doubt that’s true.”

  “Do you want something from me?” I asked, getting tired of this song and dance.

  “Me…” He snapped his neck back. “You’re the one that came here. This is my vineyard. If anyone wants anything it’s you…”

  “It was a mistake.” I said. “One I’ll gladly rectify if you’ll allow me to be on my way.”

  “When I heard you were coming back to town I was almost happy.” He said.

  “Happy?”

  “I remembered you being a different girl.” He sighed. “But I guess memories can be selective.”

  “What memories?” I asked. “Aside from the other day I can only remember ever speaking to you once.”

  “Like I said.” He said. “Selective…”

  “Excuse me.” I said, walking past him. “I don’t really have time for this.”

  As I reached my car I noticed a woman in the vineyard. She looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and wonder painted across her face. Perhaps she worked here. Maybe she’d just seen me have an almost-argument with her boss or something. Her face looked familiar, though I couldn’t really place it at the moment. And truthfully I wasn’t in the mood to try. I slammed my door, turned the key and drove away.

  Looking over the divorce papers I’d yet to actually sign I lifted a glass of light-bodied moscato to my lips. It was a bright and refreshing blend, one I wouldn’t have usually gone for at such a late hour but I was just feeling it at the moment, though I wasn’t sure exactly why. Perhaps it had been the conversation with Daniel and Molly, maybe I’d had enough darkness and drama for one day and now my body was just looking for something easier to digest.

  I held my small notepad in my hands, the contest was growing ever closer and I still hadn’t narrowed it down to two wines. I tried my best to concentrate on the bullet points I’d written myself. Calling to mind each flavor, each aroma and body. I pictured bottles, glasses and colors, anything I could think of to distract myself.

  It was no use though, my mind was a mess, running a million miles per hour in a million different directions. All I could think of was the fact that someone died on my property, and I know it seems selfish but I couldn’t stop thinking about what might happen if that news began to spread. I was one big pile of worry and aggravation.

  I wanted to turn out my light, nestle myself under a mile-high pile of blankets and wait for next season, but I knew sleep wasn’t going to come easy tonight. Not that I was a complete insomniac or anything, but once my head got crowded like this it was almost impossible for me to get any sleep.

  Many the nights I’d spent in New York just sitting out on the fire escape, sipping whatever I could find and watching the city-life unfold below me. That hadn’t happened in a while though, not since coming back to Hillside Grove.

  I was happy here, happier than I’d ever been in the big apple, this place felt right, it felt real in a way concrete streets and skyscrapers never could. I’d managed to trade in yellow taxicabs and hot dog stands for convertibles and ripening grape vines and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

  Still though, I’d built a life in New York, and even if I knew it never really fit the way it was supposed to, there were still pieces of it I missed. Not to mention Phillip, I missed him too.

  I remember watching movies as a kid, there was this one in particular where the bride ran off and left the groom standing in the aisle. And while I hadn’t exactly done that my marriage had failed. I remember thinking I’d never be one of those girls, the kind that couldn’t make love last. I was actually foolish enough to believe that those things lasted forever, but now I knew better.

  People change, situations change and often times, even if we try to stop it from happening, love just fades away. It might not be the most romantic notion in the world, but it’s true. Very few things are forever and for most people, love just isn’t one of them.

  “Time for a walk…” I muttered to myself.

  Tying my white silk robe tight around my waist I headed downstairs to the cellar. The only thing that was going to make me sleepy enough to actually go to sleep was work, unfortunately. I figured a few easy minutes of cataloguing would help me calm down.

  As I walked through the cellar, I couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. There were too many inconsistencies in the way things were left. Aside from her friendly smile and bubbly personality one of Shelly’s most defining attributes was her slight OCD. She always made sure to put everything in its place before leaving.

  She not only made sure each bottle was in the right place, but that its label faced the right direction. Labels to the right side for reds, the left side for whites and straight up for anything she was currently working on. But as I looked around the room I couldn’t help but notice bottles out of place and their labels facing the wrong way. It almost looked as if someone had come in looking for something. And I doubted it was Shelly.

  Chapter Seven

  Turns out one of the quickest ways to pass the night away is to throw on a bit of music and try to straighten up a wine cellar, who knew? I’d just managed to finish putting everything away when Shelly came bounding through the door like a Labrador chasing a tennis ball.

  “Oh no!” She said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It’s happened.” She held up a newspaper. “The paper found out about Mr. Roberts…”

  I pulled the paper from Shelly’s hand and read the headline. Right there in bold type were the words I’d been dreading for a week.

  Local man poisoned. Is local winery to blame?

  “I knew this was going to happen.” I said. “It was just a matter of time…”

  “So you have a plan, then?”

  “No.” I said. “Though, that would have been the smart thing to do.”

  “Well…” Shelly bit the corner of her lip. “Yea… it kinda would have.”

  “What are we supposed to do now?” I asked.

  “Well…” Shelly said. “Not that we were allowed to sell wine anyway, but I bet this will keep any customers away.”

  “That’s not really an answer.” I said.

  “Right.” Shelly said. “I sometimes state obvious facts when I don’t know what to say… Haven’t you noticed?”

  “Yeah. I have…”

  “It’s charming.” She smiled.

  “If you say so.” I replied.

  Two hours passed with Shelly and I sitting in the cellar staring at one another. I wanted so badly to pop a cork and try my best to delude my troubles, but I just couldn’t be the kind of person that drank an entire bottle of wine at eight o’clock in the morning, even if I did own a vineyard.

  I needed to come up with a game plan, to figure out how to handle the situation I’d suddenly found myself in, and I needed to do it fast.

  “There’s no way it was the wine…. Right?” I asked.

  “We’re still alive.” Shelly answered. “And we’ve drank almost everything in this place.”

  “Then what is going on?” I asked. “It had to be something he ate at home… He was an old guy, maybe he’d ate something that had expired without realizing it. Or maybe he mistook rat poison for sugar or something…”

  “Mistook rat poison for sugar…” Shelly’s voice trailed off.

  “I know it sounds crazy, but something had to happen. There’s no way it was the wine.” I said.

  “I agree.” Shelly said. “But this headline isn’t going to do much to make the rest of the world believe that.”

  “Well…” I said. “Then there’s only one thing to do.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. It was the last thing I ever thought would come out of my mouth. But with public opinion of my business sure to take a nose dive I had to act, even if it did mean doing something I wasn’t at all qua
lified for.

  “We have to solve Charley Roberts murder…”

  Obviously I’d lost my mind. There was no other explanation for what I was about to set out to try and do. I wasn’t a private investigator, I wasn’t a police officer and I wasn’t at all ready to take on the tasks of either, but my financial future was on the line here and it was up to me to fix it.

  “So.” Shelly said. “Where do we start?”

  “Something still doesn’t feel right about Daniel to me.” I said. “I think I need to go back there and take another look around.”

  “You went there?” Shelly asked.

  “Oh…” I said, realizing I hadn’t told her yet. “Yea. I wanted to go look around. To see if I could spot another bottle of that wine he left.”

  “Did you find anything interesting?”

  “No.” I said. “It didn’t really go so well.”

  “Oh?” She asked.

  “Yeah. I ran into his sister, and let me tell you… she isn’t gonna win a Ms. Congeniality award any time soon. I can promise you that.”

  “Yeah.” Shelly rolled her eyes. “I’ve met her. Pinocchio himself would be less snooty.”

  “Right?” I chuckled. “Anyway. I ran into Daniel too. He was friendly… for a minute anyway. Suffice to say I left with about as much information as I came with.”

  “Well…” Shelly said. “It does look a bit suspicious. Him showing up here for the first time ever, only a few minutes before someone died…”

  “Hopefully I’m right.” I said. “Not that I want him to turn out to be a murder or anything. I just need to clear my name in all of this.”

  “RING’

  “I’ll get it.” Shelly said, walking over to the phone.

  One look from Shelly and I knew it was bad news. There’ just something about the way people’s faces drop when they hear something bad. It’s almost like their eyes become five pounds heavier in an instant. And from the looks of it, Shelly’s eyes must have weighed twenty pounds in that moment.

  “Bad news…” She placed the phone back down. “That was Aiden Riley, from the wine club. They’ve moved the contest to Glass Rose.”

  “I knew it…”