by Diana DuMont
All except one person. To my surprise, there was one local, and that local was Violet Murphy. I hadn’t seen Violet since she left the police station with Grams the night that Mitch accused Josie, Todd and me of murder, but Grams had texted me to tell me that the poor woman was on her last frayed nerve. I’d been annoyed with Grams for worrying more about Violet than about me, but I supposed I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Grams was always there for me when I really needed her, but she had never coddled me. And since she didn’t think Mitch’s accusations were all that serious, allowing me to whine about the bad week I was having would amount to nothing more than coddling in her eyes.
Nothing made Grams angrier than when she thought I was playing the victim. I’d had plenty of opportunities in my life to play the victim, not the least of which was when my parents both died in a car wreck while I was still finishing up college. Grams herself could have spent a long time feeling sorry for herself over that tragedy. After all, my father had been her son, so the loss was just as great for her as it was for me. But she had been my strength during that time, choosing to focus on happy memories and the time she did have with her son instead of losing herself in grief. She had been my rock, and the only thing that got me through.
Now, I should take heart at the fact that she didn’t think my current situation was a tragedy. But I couldn’t help thinking that her blasé attitude had more to do with the fact that she didn’t truly understand the seriousness of a murder charge than with her truly knowing that it was no big deal. In any case, whether she was right or wrong, she had chosen to focus on taking care of Violet instead of taking care of me.
Grams had told me that Violet had been horribly shaky, and hadn’t wanted to drive anymore. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether Violet should be driving. Sure, she hadn’t actually been responsible for Caitlin’s death. But she still should have been able to stop before running over Caitlin’s head when Caitlin fell into the street. The speed limit on Main Street was twenty-five miles per hour, and from what I’d seen, most of the residents were surprisingly good at obeying the speed limit. Violet couldn’t have been going that fast when Caitlin fell into the street, so Violet must not have been paying very good attention to what was going on around her as she drove.
But I supposed I should go easy on the old woman. Whether she should be driving or not, Violet had been through an ordeal. There was no denying that. And she’d already been such a nervous wreck from what I’d seen that it was a wonder the whole situation hadn’t pushed her completely over the edge.
As I watched Violet now, she looked calmer than I’d ever seen her. Her hand still shook as she raised her wine glass and took a sip, but her face—at least as much of it as I could see from her side profile—looked serene. I decided to go sit by her. I hadn’t spoken to her since Caitlin’s death, and she might have seen something in the pie shop that would be helpful. I didn’t really think that Josie or Todd were the ones who had killed Caitlin. At this point, my money was on Theo. He had the strongest motive, and he’d acted a little too crazy for my liking the night before. Something about him just didn’t sit right with me. But if I was going to play detective, I should explore all leads. Since I was here at the same time as Violet, I might as well see if she could tell me anything helpful. I just had to be careful not to upset her too much. If Grams got wind of the fact that I was stirring up Violet, I’d be sure to get an earful.
I slipped into the barstool next to Violet and flashed her a wide smile. “Hi, Violet. Funny running into you here. But I’m glad to see you out. How are you feeling today? Grams told me that it’s been a rough time for you.”
Violet seemed startled by my presence. She looked at me with what almost could have been called a scowl, but she managed to smooth away the scowl pretty quickly. I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to see me. After all, I was just one more reminder of the chaos that had filled her life in the last two days.
“I’m fine, dear,” she said as she lifted her wine glass and took a healthy swig from it. “Just having a glass of my favorite Pinot to try to relax. This whole ordeal has been so upsetting.”
“I’m sure it has,” I said sympathetically. “I hope you know that I had nothing to do with Caitlin’s death. In fact, I’m doing my best to help the police figure out who really did kill her.”
Violet didn’t look comforted by this news. She frowned at me, and took another long swig from her wine glass before replying. “I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn’t kill that girl. You are Agnes’ granddaughter, after all, even if you’re an outsider. But really, dear. Don’t you think it’s best to leave the murder investigation to the police? Chasing after a murderer sounds dangerous. I certainly wouldn’t want my granddaughter involved in something like that.”
I frowned. I should have expected an answer like that. Grams herself had hinted at the fact that I was better off letting Mitch handle this. But I didn’t trust Mitch, and I wasn’t leaving my fate in the hands of a corrupt, small-town sheriff who saw me as nothing more than an outsider who deserved to be burned at the stake. I highly doubted, however, that I was going to convince Violet that the investigation was better off in my hands than the Sheriff’s. I ignored the comment, and decided instead to ask her about whether she’d seen anything at the Drunken Pie Café.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be careful not to get myself involved in anything too dangerous. But since I saw you here, I was just wondering if you’d happened to have seen anything suspicious when you were at the pie shop before Caitlin died.”
Violet started shaking a bit more violently. “I didn’t see anything, dear. I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on at Caitlin’s table. I don’t generally make a habit of eavesdropping on my neighbors whenever I’m out at a restaurant.”
I sighed. I guess I hadn’t expected much from her, but it would have been nice if she’d suddenly remembered that she’d seen Todd or Josie slip something into Caitlin’s drink. Of course, if she did remember something that obvious, she would have already told Mitch. I’d been intending to press her a little bit and see if I could jog her memory more than the police might have already, but when I saw how badly she was shaking, I thought better of it.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Just enjoy your wine and relax. In fact, I could use a glass of wine myself. This whole thing has been stressful for me, too. I’m assuming they serve by the glass here, since you’re having a glass. What do you recommend?”
“No, actually. They don’t generally serve by the glass. They only do that for locals who know enough to ask for it. Most of the tourists come in here and do a tasting, and then that’s it.” Violet frowned at me. “You’re not exactly a local. But you are Agnes’ granddaughter. I suppose I could vouch for you enough to get you a glass of wine, if that’s what you want. I’d recommend the 2016 reserve pinot. It was their best year, in my opinion. You might think I’m just a crazy old lady, and perhaps you’re right. But trust me, dear. I’ve drunk enough wine in my life to know when a pinot is excellent. The Sunshine Springs’ 2016 reserve is excellent.”
Violet waved over one of the tasting room’s employees and told him to get me a glass.
He gave Violet a strange look, and I supposed he wasn’t happy about having to serve me a glass instead of the standard tasting menu.
“A glass of the special 2016 reserve?” he asked. “Really?”
Violet gave him a sharp look. “I’m not asking for any super special treatment. Just a glass of the same 2016 reserve that I drink. You’ve already got a bottle open for me, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble. And this girl is a friend of mine.”
The employee looked chastised. “Right, sorry. Just wanted to make sure I understood. I’ll get her a glass of what you’re drinking right away.”
A minute or so later, I had a giant glass of wine sitting in front of me. The employee must have poured a quarter of the bottle into my cup. Maybe he was trying to make up for his in
itial hesitation over Violet’s request that he serve me by the glass.
“Cheers,” Violet said as she raised her drink.
“Cheers,” I replied, and clinked my glass with hers. I felt somewhat heartened by the small gesture she’d made of ordering a glass of wine for me. Each new little gesture like that brought me one step closer to being a local instead of an outsider in Sunshine Springs. And right now, I could really use local status.
Heartened by Violet’s small act of trust, I decided to see whether she would be willing to talk to me about Theo. I had to be careful. Many of the locals loved Theo, and if she was one of them, I didn’t want to get on her bad side by slandering him. But anything that I could learn about him would make this trip out to the tasting room a little less pointless. I took a deep breath, and decided to try my luck.
“So,” I began. “You come out here a lot, huh?”
Violet raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you trying to accuse me of being a lush?”
I blushed. “Oh, certainly not,” I stammered. “I only meant that it seems like a nice place, and you seem very knowledgeable about the wine. As a newcomer to Sunshine Springs, I’d be interested in learning a little more about the history of this place.”
This explanation seemed to satisfy Violet. She smiled and got a wistful look in her eyes. “This place has quite a history, let me tell you. Theo’s father started this winery back when I was a young woman. He was a pull yourself up by the bootstraps kind of guy, and he quickly made a big success of the vineyard. All the locals were so proud of him, myself included. In fact, if you look on the wall over there, that picture on the top right is of him and me during one of the many wine festivals he threw for the locals in Sunshine Springs. He used to have parties all the time to show the locals he appreciated them.”
I looked at the wall where she was pointing. Several photographs and mementos from the winery’s history had been arranged into an attractive collage all up and down the wall. The picture Violet was pointing to showed her as a younger woman, and I easily recognized Theo’s father. The resemblance was uncanny. In the photograph, the elder Russo couldn’t have been much older than Theo was now. He grinned at the camera, and one arm slung lazily around Violet’s young shoulders. His other arm was raised so he could give the camera a thumbs up.
“He looks like he was a really nice guy,” I said.
Violet sighed. “He was a character, that’s for sure. But a smart, wealthy character. He knew how to run a vineyard better than anyone in wine country. Theo has done well with the winery too, of course. But his father was the one who gave this place its wings. It really is the pride and joy of Sunshine Springs. It holds its own against the other big-name wineries in wine country, and it put our little town on the map.”
“It’s a great place. Why don’t you think Theo has been quite as good at running the winery as his father?” I prodded.
I watched Violet carefully, wondering if my statement would hit any nerves. Did she know anything about any shady deals Theo might be involved in? She’d been around the town for a while, and from the way she was talking, she liked to spend a lot of time at the winery. Perhaps she had seen something to give her pause, and that was why she thought Theo wasn’t as good of a businessman as his father.
Violet’s eyes darkened. She must have seen through my attempt to sound innocent in my questioning. “Don’t tell me you buy into what that Caitlin girl was selling. I said Theo wasn’t as good as his dad at the business, yes. All that means is that his father was extremely exceptional. Theo is also good. It’s just hard for anyone to live up to how amazing his father was. I certainly didn’t mean that Theo is doing anything shady like those maggots from the big city think.”
I was surprised by the vehemence in Violet’s voice, although I shouldn’t have been. The Sunshine Springs locals were extremely protective of their own. Theo was one of their own, even if I did think he was a murderer. But since I’d already upset Violet, and she’d seen through my ruse anyway, I decided I might as well press her on the point a little bit.
“But don’t you think it’s at least a little bit suspicious that the girl who was investigating a possible scandal here suddenly ends up poisoned? If you assume that there was truth to the rumors Caitlin was investigating, then it explains why someone would have had motive to murder her. It’s the only motive that makes sense, if you ask me. People don’t generally go around killing other people for no reason, and protecting a family winery’s fortune seems like a much stronger reason to commit murder than, say, an argument between sisters over whom one of those sisters was dating.”
Violet’s eyes turned into storm clouds as she looked at me. Her hands stopped shaking, and her voice was surprisingly steady and strong as she spoke. “You watch yourself, Izzy. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Theo is a good man, and there’s no scandal here to find. That’s why he isn’t a murder suspect. Mitch knows everyone on the City Council well, and he can request the Council’s financial records as evidence at any time. He knows that Theo isn’t hiding anything, and if Theo had nothing to hide, then he had no reason to murder Caitlin.”
“I’m sorry,” I backtracked. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just trying to find an explanation for all of this that makes sense. And the Josie theory doesn’t make sense. Neither does the Todd theory. What motivation did they really have? Theo was under attack by Caitlin. That makes it seem as though he had motivation. And from what I understand, Caitlin spent a good deal of time here at the winery the day she died. It would have been the perfect opportunity for someone to slip something poisonous into her drink. It just seems strange to me that Theo isn’t under investigation at all. It seems like a cover-up.”
I knew that what I was saying was only going to make Violet angrier, but I had to say it. I had to see what her reaction was. If she sat here all the time as she’d said, she might know something. Perhaps she was hiding it out of loyalty to Theo, because he was a local. Perhaps she would say something that would give away what she knew.
Instead, she slammed her fist on the table with surprising force, causing me to jump. She pointed a finger at me, her hand shaking violently again as it always did, but her voice remaining steady.
“Theo is not a suspect because there’s no evidence against him. He has nothing to hide. I’ll tell you who has something to hide. It’s that girl’s sister, Josie. I was in here for part of the time that Josie, Todd and Caitlin were all in here. The three of them were arguing almost constantly. Oh, they tried to act friendly when they thought they were being watched. And I suppose there were some moments of genuine camaraderie between them. But the arguing far outweighed the friendliness. Caitlin spent all of her time either asking ridiculous questions about Theo, or yelling at her sister for being there and for dating Todd. At one point, when Caitlin was busy questioning one of the tasting room employees about Theo, I saw that Josie girl pull a bottle of pills out of her purse. She took a big pill, ground it up, and dropped the ground up powder into Caitlin’s wine glass. I didn’t say anything, because I never assumed it was poison. I figured, given how crazy Caitlin was acting, that perhaps Josie was trying to give her some sort of anti-anxiety medicine or something to relax her. But later, when Caitlin ended up dead from poison, I realized that whatever Josie gave her must not have been so benign.”
My jaw hung open “Are you serious? You actually saw Josie putting something into Caitlin’s glass? Why didn’t you tell someone?”
“Well, now I’ve told someone. Now, I’ve told the police, like any normal person does when they have evidence regarding a murder investigation. I’m not interested in trying to play detective like you are. I only wish that I’d said something sooner. Then maybe that poor girl might still be alive. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m done discussing this. I hope you’ll at least take comfort in the fact that what I’ve told Mitch about Josie should help clear your name. But I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s so upsetting. And I don’t w
ant to hear any more of this nonsense about Theo being a murderer. He’s a good man, and a pillar in this community. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop making ridiculous accusations against him.”
Violet quickly chugged the last sip of her wine, then slammed the glass down and slid off her barstool in a shaky, awkward movement. I reflexively reached out to grab her and help, but she batted me away angrily.
“Don’t touch me. I don’t want any part with anyone who would falsely accuse someone of murder. Josie is the real criminal here, and Mitch will see to it that she comes to justice. You should stick to baking pies and leave the detective work to the real detectives.”
With that, Violet shakily stormed out of the tasting room. I stared after her for a few moments, trying to process everything that she’d just told me. If what she’d said was true, Josie might very well be responsible for Caitlin’s death. But was it really possible? Out of all the possible suspects—Theo, Josie and Todd—Josie seemed like the least likely to have committed the murder.
I didn’t know what the relationship between Josie and Caitlin was really like, but for someone to be angry enough to kill their own sister, I assumed they would need to be angry enough not to be hanging out with her on a work assignment. Unless Josie had been pretending to get along with Caitlin somewhat in order to get close enough to her sister to do the deed.
With a sigh, I gulped down the rest of my wine. It almost seemed a crime to gulp down such a delicious wine. I had to admit that the Sunshine Springs 2016 reserve pinot was one of the best I’d ever tasted. Still, just because Theo could make a good pinot didn’t mean he wasn’t a murderer.
No matter what Violet had seen Josie do, and no matter how vigorously Violet defended Theo, I wasn’t quite ready to let go of him as a suspect yet. The tasting room was closing for the day, so I stood and headed toward the door. But I would be back. I would figure out a way to get more information about Theo, and I would figure out how all of these confusing threads tied together.