Grapes of Death Page 5

  “Ross, would you and Carlos come over here and help me turn him?” Jackson asked as he laid out a tarp next to Edmond’s body.

  Ross made a face but went to help. For this job, Elise was more than happy to wait on the sidelines and let her brother assist. Seeing her uncle this way was one thing, but no way did she want to have to touch his cold, dead body.

  Edmond had been a good-sized man. At just over six feet tall, he’d been slender but solid as granite, like her father, and it took the strength of all three men to roll him over onto the tarp.

  What they found was not pretty by any stretch of imagination.

  From where she stood, Elise could see that the back of her uncle’s head was a bloody mess. She loved police dramas and had seen this kind of thing on television, but it was a whole other story from just thirty feet away. Putting a hand to her mouth, she swallowed hard and prayed the toast and diet soda she’d had for breakfast wouldn’t make a stunning reappearance.

  “He must have hit his head on something,” Elise heard Ross say, repeating what they had just been talking about.

  “Yeah, but what?” Jackson checked Edmond’s back pockets and found them empty. He stood and did a quick search of the area.

  “There’s a good deal of blood over here,” he said, pointing at the ground along the bank. “But I don’t see anything that would do that kind of damage to the back of his head. And if he did just accidentally fall here, it’s a good twenty feet to the riverbank. How did he get into the water?”

  “Like I was just saying to El, maybe it didn’t happen here.”

  Elise watched as Jackson continued to scan the ground like a bird dog on the scent. He took several more photos and then hunched down next to the large patch of blood he’d found. She could almost hear what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing. What he said next came as no surprise.

  “Whatever occurred, it took place right here. This is way too much blood to have happened when the crew pulled him out of the water. And I’ve gotta say, this is looking less and less like an accident to me.”

  Ross shook his head. “Now hold on, Jax. Don’t get ahead of the facts here. You don’t know anything for sure yet.”

  “You’re right, buddy,” Jackson said as he stood. Pulling his cell phone out of his shirt pocket, he punched in a number and put the phone to his ear. “But he hasn’t got a scrap of ID on him—not one single thing in his pockets. Where’s his wallet, Ross?”

  “Robbery? Way out here?” Ross wondered aloud. “That seems a little far-fetched, don’t you think? What could Uncle Edmond have had on him that was worth killing him over?”

  “I don’t know. But no matter how implausible it all seems, in my opinion this is a suspicious death. Since we don’t have a coroner in Bastrop County, he’ll have to be sent into Austin. Hopefully, the Travis County ME will be able to tell me more once an autopsy is completed.”

  In the two hours that followed that statement, Elise saw Jackson cover a lot of ground. He called in with his report, arranged for transportation of Edmond’s body, and interviewed everyone who was present when his body was found. Elise’s mind was working overtime during the entire process.

  As her uncle’s body was loaded up and driven away, she could only hope the medical examiner in Austin would conclude that this had simply been a tragic accident and nothing more. But her instincts and everything she’d seen so far were telling her that Jackson was right, and that would not be the case. Too many things just weren’t adding up, no matter how Ross tried to spin it or explain them away.

  Carlos asked if the crew could finish the work they’d started before finding Edmond’s body, but Elise thought the other workers weren’t quite as interested in completing the task as he was.

  In any case, Jackson nixed the idea immediately. “I’m sorry, but that’s going to have to wait, Carlos. This may or may not be a crime scene, but Edmond’s death is certainly suspicious. I’m cordoning off the area until we hear one way or the other from the medical examiner. This scene is now off-limits and we’ll be doing a more thorough examination of the site as soon as possible.”

  As Ross helped Jackson put up the bright yellow tape around the entire area, the crew packed up their tools and drove away.

  When Elise climbed back into the cruiser with Jackson and Ross, she gave one last look to the spot that would forever be burned into her memory as the place they’d found her uncle’s dead body. She had a horrible feeling that though Edmond’s ordeal might be over, theirs was just beginning—and would get far worse before it was finished.

  The three of them rode back to the ranch house surrounded by the incongruity of bright sunshine and uncomfortable silence. Elise, for one, was really glad that the drive was short. They dropped Ross at his cottage and continued down to the main ranch house.

  “How long do you think it will take for the ME to finish?” she asked Jackson as he pulled the cruiser into a space at the front of the house.

  “That depends on how backed up they are, but I’m hoping to hear something by the end of the week or the first of next week at the latest.”

  “I can see by your face that you aren’t expecting good news. You really don’t think this was accidental, do you?”

  “At this point I have more questions than answers.” He turned to her, a calculating look on his face. “But I’m not going to jump to any conclusions yet, and I don’t think you should either. Speculating before all the facts are in is pointless. It’s better to just wait and see what the ME finds and what else turns up at the scene, and then go from there.”

  Although Elise agreed that this was sound advice, it was easier said than done.

  After Jackson spoke to her mother and left, the rest of her afternoon seemed to drag by, and it was impossible to put Edmond’s death completely out of her mind.

  Stuart had called her cell phone several times during the course of the day, and she let it go to voicemail each time. She was pretty sure he was wondering about the weekend and the party they were supposed to attend in Dallas on Friday. To leave town even for the weekend in light of what had happened seemed inappropriate and somehow disrespectful. Stuart would be disappointed, but she knew he’d understand once she explained.

  She tried to do some work to occupy her mind, but it was a losing battle. She ended up knocking off early. By the time she got home she felt like she’d been through the wringer. All she wanted was a nice cool shower to wash off the stickiness of the day, and a bit of quiet.

  That was not to be.

  She hadn’t been home ten measly minutes when her home phone rang. She thought about letting the machine pick it up, but in the end she answered.

  “Well, finally! Elise, where have you been?” Stuart asked, concern coloring his voice. “I’ve been calling your cell all day long. I was really starting to worry. Are you all right?”

  “I’m sorry, Stuart. I’ve had a really rotten day. I know I should have called you earlier, but with so much happening, I just got caught up. We had a death in the family.”

  “What? Oh my God! Who?”

  Elise sighed, not feeling up to a rehash of the entire event but knowing there was no way around it. “Uncle Edmond, my dad’s only brother, was found dead on the property by some of the workers this morning.”

  “Oh, darling, I’m so sorry.” Stuart cleared his throat on the other end of the line. “Uh, not to speak ill of the dead, but wasn’t he the slightly unpleasant man I met during my first visit at the beginning of the year?”

  Elise rubbed the spot just above her left eye that had begun to pound and wondered if this heinous day would ever end. “Yes. That was Uncle Edmond, may he rest in peace.”

  “Do you need me to come down and be with you, for support? I would have to rearrange a few things, but it’s doable. I can be in Delphine by tomorrow afternoon.”

  “No!” she
blurted before she could stop herself. The last thing she wanted or needed now was Stuart hovering over her like a mother hen. Plus the fact that she hadn’t even mentioned his job proposal to the family yet. If he said something about it in their presence, the result could be disastrous.

  Especially now.

  The guilt she felt over what she was sure was an inappropriate reaction to her boyfriend’s attempt at kindness and support had her softening her response. “I mean, that’s really thoughtful of you, Stuart. But there are so many details the family will need to attend to in the next week or so, and I’ll be neck deep in those arrangements. Plus, I wouldn’t want you to take time away from your work to baby-sit me. I’ll be fine, really.”

  “All right,” he said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “But if you change your mind, you just have to ask, and I’ll come.”

  “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  She spent the next forty-five minutes filling Stuart in on how it had all gone down. He had been very understanding, agreeing that she shouldn’t leave her family in this time of loss for something as silly as a dinner party, which made her feel worse in light of her reaction to his offer of support. By the time she hung up, her head was throbbing like a bass drum.

  Turning, she caught sight of Chunk studying her from the Papasan chair.

  “Don’t start with me, mister. You don’t even like Stuart, and you know it. Having him here right now is not in either of our best interests. Besides, this whole situation is going to get very ugly before it’s finished, I just know it.”

  Five

  Though the week may have started off with a bang, the remainder of it flew by without further incident, and given the circumstances, seemed to end on a whimper.

  Like the rest of the family, Elise tried to put her uncle’s disturbing sudden death out of her mind. They had yet to hear anything from the Travis County Medical Examiner, and she was trying to stay optimistic. As Jackson had put it, to worry about the outcome was pointless. But nothing could be done and no arrangements could be made pending the ME’s ruling. Until then, Uncle Edmond couldn’t be laid to rest and they were all in a state of limbo, but it was funny how the oddest little thing brought it to mind when you were the least prepared.

  Like the paystubs and gambling markers that she’d pilfered from Edmond’s house and kept stumbling across every time she opened her purse. Sooner rather than later, she’d have to mention them to the rest of the family. At the very least she should have discussed them with Ross by now, but she’d been waiting for the right moment.

  So she’d tried not to think about the situation for most of the week, preferring to concentrate on her hybrids. The latest batch was coming along well, and she hoped to have starts ready for transplant by the first of the month. The young vines would replace the rows Carlos and his crew would remove as soon as Jackson cleared the area where Edmond’s body was found.

  In time, her hybrids would produce a stellar grape, giving River Bend a leg up in the market. Drought- and disease-resistant, their predecessors were already in the ground at the south end of the vineyard and would hopefully yield a unique grape for an exceptional wine within the next couple of years.

  Until that time, she was holding the specifics of her process very close to the vest. Even Stuart had jokingly called her paranoid when she refused to give him details.

  Maybe she was being paranoid, but she wasn’t about to have all her hard work and innovation stolen before seeing it come to fruition. It wasn’t that she was worried Stuart would steal from her, but all it would take is one slip at the wrong time to the wrong person and she could potentially lose everything she’d worked toward.

  As Friday rolled around, Elise was ready for some major R&R. With all that had happened, combined with having to wait on the ME’s office, it had been quite the stressful week. She and C.C. had plans that night with several other women for a girl’s night out. Elise intended on leaving work early and was just about to pack it in when Ross swung into the greenhouse.

  “You’re still here?” he asked. “I was sure you’d be gone by now.”

  “I was just about ready to head home and change clothes. I take it you’re knocking off early today too?”

  “Yep. I’m beat. I needed a break to get my circulation moving again. I’ve been sitting in one place looking at rows of figures all friggin’ day.” He rubbed his eyes and then stretched. “What are your plans for the weekend? Anything fun? I have nothing waiting for me but more work when I get home. Some of us do have to earn a living, you know.”

  “Awww, poor baby,” she said with a sympathetic pout. “I’m meeting the girls for dinner at Toucan’s on Main at six thirty.”

  “Mmm, Toucan’s. I’m jealous.”

  Ross practically salivated with the words, which made her giggle. “I know, I can hardly wait, myself. Just thinking about it actually makes my mouth water. And I hear Rueben has added some new sculptures.”

  Toucan’s was Elise’s favorite Mexican restaurant and within walking distance of her apartment. They served incredible food, and the owner was a neon artist who displayed his amazing sculptures throughout the restaurant.

  “Man, I wish I could afford one of his pieces. But Caroline would kill me, and I don’t know where we’d put it,” Ross said with a laugh.

  “Hey, you should have Sancia come over and sit with the boys. Bring Caroline and come have dinner with grown-ups for a change. We’re heading down the block to the Dew Drop after dinner for drinks.”

  Friday nights at the Dew Drop Inn were usually a hoot and always packed. It was technically a private club, with Bastrop being a semi-dry county. But for a dollar a year you could buy a membership, and it was all good.

  “When was the last time you guys had a night out?” she asked with a stern look.

  Ross blew out a breath. “I can honestly say I don’t remember the last time Caroline and I went out without the boys, and that’s a sad statement.” He shook his head and appeared a little woeful. “But don’t tempt me. With the balloon payment coming due and a few other considerations, I’ve got tons to get done. I’m going to have a tough time working tonight knowing y’all will be eating spectacular food and partying it up while I’m going cross-eyed with numbers.”

  Elise laughed at that and then decided that maybe this was the time to tell Ross what she had hidden in her purse. “Ross, there’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you about my visit to Uncle Edmond’s the day before he was found. I made a disturbing discovery that I—”

  “Daddy!” The name was shouted from the doorway in unison cherub voices, interrupting Elise before she could get any further. Turning, she watched Ross’s two boys race toward them with Caroline strolling in behind.

  “Hey, guys.” His wife greeted them with a smile. “We were on our way back from the bus and thought we’d take a detour through the greenhouse.”

  Elise gave an inward sigh. There goes my opportunity to spill the beans, she thought. Not that she didn’t trust Caroline, but she really wanted to talk through what she’d found with Ross before going to the rest of the family. That Edmond had been working for Henry Kohler, a direct competitor of River Bend, was a big deal. There was no telling how many ways her uncle may have compromised their security, and she needed some uninterrupted, private time with her brother to talk about her findings.

  “Now, what were you saying about a discovery, sis?” Ross asked after a few minutes of chit-chat.

  “You know what? It can wait until later. Besides, I need to get home and change clothes.” She grabbed Caleb, Ross’s youngest son, and had him giggling as she made loud, slobbery, smacking noises against his neck. “But first, I need to gobble me up some boy!”

  Toucan’s was crowded when Elise and the group arrived. They ended up waiting for thirty minutes for a table but knew it would be worth the time spent.
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br />   “El, I was so sorry to hear about your uncle,” Brenda Peterson said once the waitress had seated them and taken their drink orders. “I heard he drowned and was found right there on the property. Is that true?”

  “Actually, we’re not sure what happened just yet.” Elise sighed and resigned herself to repeating the story one more time, a story which was rapidly becoming tiresome. “It did look that way when he was found, but we won’t know the exact cause of death until the medical examiner is finished with the autopsy.”

  Miranda Rollins cocked an eyebrow. “I thought they only did an autopsy when the circumstances were questionable—and not accidental.”

  “I’m not sure about that, but there were some inconsistencies,” Elise admitted, trying to skirt the issue.

  “What kind of inconsistencies?” Tina Babcock asked. It was an innocent enough question, but it had every woman at the table perking up and tuning in.

  “It looked as if he may have hit his head on something before going into the water.”

  “Looked like he hit his head on something? Or someone bashed him on the head with something?” Miranda asked with a smirk.

  “Geez, Miranda.” C.C. whipped around and gave the voluptuous blonde an evil eye. “What the hell kind of question is that? Elise loses a family member and you’re looking for ghoulish juice to spread around town?”

  “I’m just saying.” Miranda sat back and folded her arms over her ample chest. “Besides, that kind of ghoulish juice is already out there and being spread around without my help.”

  C.C. glowered at the woman. “Yeah? Well, how about we don’t hitch ourselves to the gossip bandwagon just yet.”