Cabernet Capers

by Dan Kelly

  As they’re heading for the next winery with Julie behind the wheel, Julie starts to say something, but stops after she utters, “You know?”

  Derrick says, “If you have any ideas, I’d like to hear them. If we don’t come up with something at the remaining four wineries to give us even a hint as to what we should do next, this investigation is going to be in big trouble.”

  “Well, I’m new at this and don’t want to be so presumptuous as to offer suggestions as to what you should consider doing.”

  “Spit it out, Styversant. You might have an idea that could shake something loose. I’m just going through the motions here, following established procedures, asking a lot of people a lot of questions, and the prospect of something coming to light to help us seems pretty dim right now from my perspective.”

  “Okay. I was thinking that if nothing helpful is learned at the four remaining wineries, it might be a smart move to start paying visits to some of the smaller wineries that haven’t received any offers or had any unusual interruptions in their operations. Maybe the people behind all of this are owners or employees of one or more of these companies. Maybe by us showing up unannounced you can shake someone up enough to give off some tells, some signs of uneasiness, lying or unwillingness to talk with us that might be significant enough to warrant closer scrutiny. It might open some doors for you that could take your investigation in a new direction with better potential for uncovering the culprits.”

  After thinking about what she said for a few seconds he says, “That’s not a bad idea, Julie, but the drawback is there are a lot of small wineries in California alone. Determining which ones to zero in on would be a tough chore. Let me think about it for a while. Maybe we could first take a look at small wineries in the Napa Valley, try to come up with some filtering mechanism to use in the selection process so we’d make the best use of our time. If you come up with anymore ideas, let me hear them.” Smiling with a wink he adds, “My male ego won’t get in the way.”

  Smiling back she’s thinking, “This guy doesn’t miss much. He knew presumption wasn’t my only reason for hesitating to share my idea with him.”

  As they feared, the rest of the day was a bust. What made the day even more frustrating though was they learned that a couple of the wineries were seriously considering selling out and moving on. The interruptions in operations were really hurting their bottom lines, making it increasingly difficult for them to generate sufficient cash flow to cover expenses.

  Driving back to the office, this time with Derrick behind the wheel, neither one has much to say as they’re both lost in thought about what can be done to turn the tide against whoever is behind the wineries’ troubles.

  Julie breaks the silence with, “It looks like you’re back to square one. Maybe it’s time to change tack and take a good hard look at who would reap sufficient financial benefits to motivate them to launch this takeover plot.”

  “I’ve been thinking along those same lines ever since you suggested putting some of the wineries that haven’t been experiencing any interruptions in their operations under our microscope. Getting financial information is going to be difficult without warrants and we have nothing to convince a judge to give us any. However, I have a contact in the NSA that might be willing and able to accommodate us. I’ll give him a call when we get back to the office.”

  When they get back to the office it’s close to six o’clock, but Derrick calls Maury Hoagland anyway, hoping he’ll still be around. He lucks out as Maury answers almost immediately.

  “Maury, I need some more help if you can pull it off. I’ve just completed a round of face-to- face inquiries with management and staff at the wineries that have been victims of these unusual interruptions in their operations and I now have a murder to solve on top of everything else.”

  He gives Maury a rundown of what happened at the Parmentier Winery and finishes with, “After talking with hundreds of people, I’ve come up with zip. I’d like to take a look at some financial data on some of the more profitable small wineries in the Napa Valley that have not been victims of any sabotage of their operations to identify those who have the financial wherewithal to acquire some of their competitors and would reap significant benefits by those acquisitions. I don’t have sufficient cause to seek search warrants.”

  “What you want to do makes sense. I’ll see what I can dig up and call you tomorrow with what I’ve got. It’ll probably be sometime in the afternoon. It’ll take me that long to pull the strings that have to be pulled.”

  “Thanks, Maury. I owe you.”

  Laughing Maury responds with, “And I’ll collect you can count on it.”

  Chapter 10

  While Derrick is waiting to see what Maury can come up with which hopefully will provide some new avenues for his investigation, Duilio and Riccardo are poring over the report submitted by Gerry Haggerty and are ecstatic with his findings.

  Looking at his brother with a big smile on his face Duilio says, “It looks like we’re not the only ones who have dirty laundry. We just hide it better. If this doesn’t bring some of these vintners to their knees, I’ll become a beer drinker.”

  Riccardo says, “Okay, we’ve cleared the first hurdle. We have what we need for effective black mail. Now we’ve got to clear the second one, getting our new partners to go along with us and give us the chance to use what we’ve learned. Patience isn’t their long suit and we’ve got to rely on Nick Petrillo to do the selling for us. I don’t think two grand is going to be enough incentive to get him to stick his neck out on our behalf though.”

  “How much do you think it will take?”

  “I think five will have a better chance.”

  “Okay, five it is. Give Petrillo a call now and see if we can get the ball rolling.”

  When Petrillo answers Riccardo first lets him know how he and his brother feel about the killing out at the Parmentier Winery. “Nick, we seldom rule anything out when it comes to getting our way, but the rough stuff is a last resort. There are a lot better ways to get these wineries to relent and agree to sell out and I want to share one of those with you now and enlist your support in getting your people to let us give it a shot.

  “Any more physical encounters without our consent and we’ll dissolve this partnership under the terms of the agreement and fend for ourselves. This killing has increased the pressure on the Sheriff’s Department tenfold to find out what’s going on and we don’t need that kind of scrutiny. We’re not looking for trouble and certainly don’t want to tick your bosses off. We’re well aware of whom we’re dealing with, but the killing was not a smart move and could bring our entire operation down to the ground.”

  “What makes you feel it was us behind the killing? It could be anyone for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with us and if I were you I’d be very careful about how you throw threats around.”

  “I’m not threatening. I’m simply stating our position on a business decision and we’re far from the dullest bulbs in the chandelier, Nick. We believe you on your own or on your bosses’ behalf sent someone out to that winery to do some roughing up and things got out of hand. But that’s now water over the dam, so let’s move on. Please make our wishes known to your employers and listen up to what Duilio and I have in mind to make the wineries more receptive to our offers. If you can sell it to your bosses, it will also put a nice piece of change in your pocket and no one has to know.”

  “How nice?”

  “Five grand.”

  “That’s very nice. I’m all ears.”

  Riccardo tells him what they want to do and finishes with, “We’ll do all the work. We just want your bosses to agree to stay in the shadows and give us a chance to pull this off. Nick, we don’t want this partnership to dissolve. We like having your bosses in our corner. We just think we can get what we all want without resorting to violence. Can we count on you to pass on what we’ve discussed in the best possible light?”

  “Mr. Ambassador that�
�s me. I’ll get right on it.” Click.

  Duilio asks, “How did it go?”

  “He agreed to make the pitch. We’ll have to wait and see how good a salesman he is.”

  “If he fails, we don’t have a Plan B. We’ll have to go along with the rough stuff and let the chips fall where they may. We have no other choices. Things could get real ugly in a hurry. Are you okay with that?”

  Without a second’s hesitation Riccardo says, “I am. You?”

  “Whatever it takes to get the job done, I’ll do. In the meantime, let’s assume Petrillo makes the sale and get to work on how we’re going to use Haggerty’s discoveries.”

  This last exchange was no more intense or emotional than if they had been discussing what they were going to have for dinner. Conscience is something they’ve never had to deal with. Cold-bloodedness is so deeply embedded in their psyches that they don’t give their behavior a second thought and they assume everyone is like them. Clinical psychologists would have a field day with these two.

  Chapter 11

  As promised, Maury gets back to Derrick late in the afternoon the next day with what he has managed to garner from the IRS on a select group of wineries based in Napa Valley and the filtering info he used to make the selections which he obtained from some financial gurus and business brokers he knows.

  “Derrick, my resources have identified four wineries in the Napa Valley area that have the financial wherewithal to make the kinds of offers you’ve told me about. On the surface, they all seem to be playing by the rules, filing their tax returns and paying what they owe to Uncle Sam, abiding by all of the regulations governing their industry, none of the C level executives have had any run ins with the law, etc., etc., etc. This, however, doesn’t mean there’s no dirt under someone’s carpet.”

  “Give me the names and I’ll start beating some rugs.”

  “This has to remain between you and me, Derrick. I bent some rules getting some of this information and I prefer to avoid answering any embarrassing questions if you get my drift.”

  “I understand and really appreciate what you’ve done, Maury. Hopefully, this will open some doors for me. Thanks.”

  After getting the names, Derrick goes into his research mode to learn everything he can about these companies. He’s come across all of them in his occasional quests for quality dinner wines, but he knows very little about them.

  A half hour into his internet surfing, Bill Bemis stops by his desk to touch base with him on the status of the winery investigation. “How’s it going, Derrick?”

  “At a crawl, but it’s still going. I’ve decided to take a different approach and try to shake some trees to see what falls out. I’m going to approach some wineries that, as far as I know, haven’t been approached with offers and possess the financial means to buy the wineries that we know have been approached. I’ve zeroed in on four of them in Napa Valley and I’m in the process of learning as much as I can about them before I start to rattle their cages. I’m also planning to shake a whole lot more trees by arranging with the Napa Valley Vintners Association in St Helena to talk with their membership at their next meeting. The more eyes and ears we have working for our side the more apt we are to start making some headway.”

  “Would you like me to accompany you when you go to St. Helena? My badge might lend some additional weight to how determined we are to catch these people.”

  “It certainly couldn’t hurt and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks.”

  “How’s Deputy Styversant working out?”

  “Just fine. She’s proving to be a good sounding board for me. She’s very quick to ‘get it’, she thinks fast on her feet and does all of the right things to watch my back. I’d like to have her with me on my next set of interviews at the four wineries I’m taking a close look at now if that meets with your approval.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  As Bemis starts to walk away he stops and turns to face Derrick again and says with a smirk on his face, “Just in case it hasn’t crossed your mind, Deputy Styversant’s riding along with you on these interviews puts her in some danger as well. I’m expecting you to watch her backside as well. Although now that I give that a second’s thought, I don’t think I have to give you a reminder.”

  “Oh come on, Bill. Give me a break. This is strictly police work.”

  Laughing Bill says, “Yeah, yeah and the moon is made of green cheese.”

  Laughing even harder, Bill heads for his office. To make the moment even more awkward, Julie walks into the office and sees the aftermath of the exchange and asks the obvious questions. “Why is Bill laughing so hard and why is your face turning red?”

  This makes his face even redder, but he manages to avoid giving her an answer, truthful or otherwise, by saying, “You had to be there.”

  “Oh I see, more guy talk, huh?”

  This doesn’t help his complexion any and Julie responds with, “Gee, Derrick, if your face gets any redder blood’s going to start oozing from your pores. That must have been some conversation.”

  Quickly changing the subject Derrick says, “You’ll be working with me again tomorrow when I pay a visit to some additional wineries.”

  He fills her in on what he has learned from Maury and what he intends to do at the Napa Valley Vintners Association meeting.

  “That should create some waves somewhere.”

  “I’m hoping.”

  “Well, I’ve got some paperwork to do and then I’m out of here. What time do you want to leave for the wineries tomorrow?”

  “I have some phone calls to make before we leave. Let’s plan on eight-thirty.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here.”

  As he watches Julie walk away he catches some movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turns his head to get a better look at what had caught his eye he spots Bemis in his office doorway watching him watch Julie and the Sheriff bursts out laughing.

  Shaking his head in embarrassment, Derrick figures this is as good a time as any to call it a day and give his face a chance to recuperate. He’d definitely been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Thinking about the exchanges, even he has to laugh at his reaction.

  Chapter 12

  One of the phone calls Derrick makes the next morning when he gets into the office is to the Napa Valley Vintners Association to see about getting some time at their next meeting to talk with them about what has been going on at some of the Napa Valley wineries. As it turns out, their next meeting is this coming Friday night at seven and after hearing why Derrick wants to talk with the membership the President and CEO is very willing to make room for him on the agenda. Although he did see the story about the killing at the Parmentier Winery he was not aware of the harassment taking place at some of the member wineries.

  Julie shows up at eight-thirty on the button and they head out for the first winery on his list, Vescovi Vineyards. When they drive through the gates it’s like they are driving onto a movie set depicting a winery somewhere in Tuscany. It is quite impressive and the owners, Victor and Antonio Vescovi, are eager to show off the place and don’t hesitate to answer the questions put to them. They are content with growing their business by the sweat of their own brows and have no interest in acquiring someone else’s headaches to achieve their goals at a faster pace and are looking forward to doing so for many more years. After an hour of questioning with no red flags being raised, Derrick thanked them for their time and cooperation and they headed out for the next winery on the list, Paganelli Wineries.

  Julie says, “I’m surprised the Vescovi brothers haven’t heard about what has been going on at the other wineries. You’d think the wineries would have an extensive and effective grapevine just like any other industry.”