Of Merlot & Murder (A Tangled Vines Mystery) Page 6

  Elise and her grandmother stood close together just outside the room and one look at their faces told him they were both worried.

  “Jax?” Elise began the moment he closed the door. “What did you find?”

  Abigail gave a grunt. “He found Divia Larson’s dead body, that’s what he found.”

  “Gram. That’s not helping.”

  “Well, he did. What else did you find, Jackson?”

  His gaze locked onto Abigail’s, and there he saw understanding. “I figure you know what else I found, Miss Abby. I’ve called it in and Deputy Stockton has a team on the way.”

  Abigail nodded, but Elise was obviously confused and impatient. “I’m glad you two seem to be on the same page, but could one of you fill me in?”

  “Sweetheart, what Jackson found is a probable crime scene. Poison, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “What?” Elise gasped. “How do you know that, Gram?”

  “Ha! From all those damn mysteries I read. That and the smell.”

  Elise shook her head. “Smell? What smell?”

  Again, Jackson’s gaze met Abigail’s. “The smell of bitter almonds.”

  “You could smell it, too?” Abigail’s eyebrows shot up. “I wondered if you would. Not everyone can, you know.”

  “Yeah, I could smell it, but there were other clues. Like the bright red blood and pink skin tone. I’m thinking cyanide, but we’ll wait for the tox screen.”

  “Oh my God!” Elise cried. “Are you kidding me? Cyanide? You think someone murdered Divia?”

  “I don’t know what happened yet, El. All I’ve got is first impressions, but I’ve tagged it as a suspicious death. From here, I’ll have to follow the evidence.”

  “I guess you’re gonna want my statement,” Abigail said with a nod.

  “Yes, ma’am, I do.” Stepping over to the truck, he pulled off his gloves and got a notepad and pen out of the glove compartment. “Miss Abby, some of the questions are going to be hard. But you understand I have to ask, right?”

  Abigail gave him a grim look before nodding again. “I know. Ask your questions, Jackson. Let’s get this over with.”

  “Jax, what are you talking about? You make it sound like Gram is a suspect when you don’t even know for certain there was foul play.”

  “Elise, I have to make sure Miss Abby is in the clear before this becomes a murder investigation.”

  “And you think that’s where this is going?”

  The frightened look on her face went straight to his heart. He didn’t want to scare either of them any more than he had to, but his gut was telling him murder was exactly where this scenario was going to end up.

  “Let’s just get Miss Abby’s statement out of the way before Toby or Mr. Larson get here. Then we’ll wait for the CSI team’s findings, okay? Now, Miss Abby, what were you doing out here in the first place?”

  “I got a text from Divia in the late afternoon, which I ignored.” Abigail heaved a beleaguered sigh. “It’s no secret that we weren’t the best of friends, to say the least.”

  Jackson made some notes. “And what time did you get the text?”

  “I left the festival for home about half past five, so it must have been closer to five, maybe just before.”

  “That would have been thirty or forty minutes after we saw Divia and Toby having that argument in the parking lot,” Elise said. “Remember, Jax?”

  “Yes, that would fit the timeline so far. Go on, Miss Abby. You ignored the text. So, how did you end up coming out here anyway?”

  “Well, she called me a couple hours later. Must have been a little after seven. Said she knew I didn’t think much of her and that we’d never be friends, but could I come over right away.”

  Abigail ran a hand through her hair and shut her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, her sorrow was evident. “Jackson, she begged me to come. She said she was afraid and needed to talk to somebody.”

  “How did she get your cell number? Like she said, it’s not like you were friends.”

  “I don’t know how she got my personal number.” Abigail sighed and shook her head. “Perhaps she got it from Garrett, or maybe from one of the festival organizers like Lita Washington.”

  “No offense, but why do you think she called you?” he asked. “I mean, why not call her husband or her son?”

  “I asked her that as well. She said Garrett had gone into Austin for a meeting and wasn’t due back until late. Toby was still out at the festival.” She shook her head. “I advised her to wait for one of them to get back, but she was adamant. Said she needed someone she could trust—someone who wasn’t connected.”

  “Not connected?” Jackson repeated. “What did she mean by that? Connected to what?”

  Again, Abigail shook her head. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say any more over the phone. She plain wore me down and I finally said that I would come, but God help me, I didn’t want to.” Abigail’s voice broke as she continued and Jackson’s heart went out to her. “Oh, Jackson, I putzed around and didn’t get out here until after eight. Maybe if I’d gotten here sooner Divia would still be alive.”

  Elise hugged her grandmother close. “You don’t know that, Gram. We don’t even know what happened yet, but Jackson’s going to find out, right?”

  “That’s the plan,” he answered, then addressed Abigail. “Miss Abby, tell me the rest. Take me through what happened when you got here?”

  She pointed toward the parking lot where her Buick was parked. “I pulled in, parked, and walked straight here. I wanted to get whatever this was over with quickly and get back home. When I got closer I could tell the door was slightly ajar—I could see the purse stuck in the jamb. That didn’t seem odd to me, though. People do that all the time, right? Stick something in the jamb to keep from being locked out when they run to the car or go get ice.”

  Jackson pointed to the purse that he’d moved to a spot beside the door when he’d gone into the room. “You mean that’s not your purse?”

  “Hell no, it’s not mine. I wanted in and out as fast as possible, so I left mine in the Buick.”

  In that case, he figured it probably belonged to the deceased, but he’d have the crew bag it when they got here. “Okay, go on.”

  “Well, I did pretty much what you did. I pushed the door open and saw her immediately. I called out to see if anyone else was inside and when I got no answer I went in as far as her body. After I checked for a pulse and realized she was dead, I called you, grabbed a chair, and came back out the way I went in. Then I sat down and waited. That’s it.”

  “One last question, Miss Abby. Did you bring anything else into the room with you?”

  “Anything else?” Elise asked with a frown. “She just told you she left her purse in the car, Jackson. What else would she have had?”

  “Miss Abby?” he repeated, ignoring Elise’s testy outburst.

  Abigail shook her head in response. “No, Jackson. I had my keys in my hand, and that’s all I had with me. I didn’t bring the wine.”

  “What wine?” Elise asked in confusion. “What are you two talking about now?”

  Reluctantly, Jackson answered. “There’s an open bottle of Merlot sitting on the dresser. It’s River Bend Reserve.”

  “Really, Jackson! Anyone could have gotten that bottle at the festival, or at the Wine Barrel, for that matter,” Elise pointed out. “How many cases did we take out to the venue at set-up, Gram?”

  “We had four cases of the Reserve: two of the Cab and two of the Merlot when the festival opened yesterday. And before you ask, Jackson, as of today when I left, we’d sold almost a case of the Merlot.”

  “See, almost a case,” Elise said, jabbing a finger in his direction. “Anyone could have purchased that bottle and brought it out here.”

  “Okay, okay.” He put up a hand in surrender b
efore she really got going. “Calm down, would you? I had to ask.”

  Just as he was about to send them home, Jackson looked up to see a couple of vehicles pulling into the parking lot. One was the CSI SUV, and the other one was Toby Raymond’s Mustang. Jackson was not looking forward to telling the man that his mother was dead.

  “I haven’t had time to tape the door,” Jackson said to Reggie Martins, the lead CSI, as he approached. “But I’ve been standing right here since I came out of the room. The door’s locked now, so you’ll have to get a key from the office.”

  As the man headed off in that direction, Toby Raymond hurried over, followed closely by Madison. “What’s going on here?” he asked, his voice starting to rise. “Where’s my mother? And why is the CSI vehicle here?”

  Jackson stepped over to the man and put a hand on his shoulder. “Toby, I’m sorry to have to tell you this way, but your mother is dead.”

  six

  To say Toby Raymond had a meltdown after hearing the news of his mother’s untimely death would have been an understatement. Elise’s heart ached for him as she watched him go from shocked disbelief to emotional denial, and on to accusatory anger, in a matter of minutes.

  In his angry phase, he did his best to bully Jackson into allowing him access to his mother’s motel room. When that didn’t work, he dissolved into a pool of hysteria right there on the sidewalk outside the room.

  It was incredibly hard to watch.

  Of course, Elise had no idea how she would react to such news and sincerely hoped she never had to find out. That left her unqualified to judge anyone else.

  She had to give her sister credit, though. Madison and Toby hadn’t known each other long, but she’d sat down next to him on the sidewalk and held him as he wept, murmuring softly and rubbing his back in a soothing manner. After a time, Toby seemed to compose himself a bit, and her sister had helped him back to his room.

  Jackson called Doc Nagle down to the scene to get his opinion and clear the body for transport into Austin. Since Bastrop County had no coroner, the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office would conduct the autopsy and run any tests needed, as it had on her uncle a few months back.

  Realizing Divia’s son was in distress and needed help, the physician had given Toby something to calm his nerves and help him sleep, before heading into the Larson’s room with Jackson.

  Josiah Nagle looked like your typical sixty-ish, small-town country doctor, but looks were often deceiving. He was actually a country doctor-turned-author who had an avid fascination with death by poison. He’d written and published several works of fiction—all featuring murder with this main theme—and it was an area in which he excelled. Somewhat of a local celebrity, the doctor was sharp as a blade and never missed a trick.

  “I agree with your initial assessment, Jackson,” Nagle said when they came out of the room fifteen minutes later.

  He and Jackson were keeping their voices low. Elise tried not to be too obvious as she strained to hear the details of their conversation.

  “The telltale signs are there for cyanide poisoning, but the wound over her eye is substantial,” the doctor continued. “Either could have caused her death, but until an autopsy is conducted I won’t speculate. You’ll have to wait for the reports from the M.E. to be certain.”

  “I figured as much. Thanks for your assistance.”

  “There are definitely questions to be answered. I’ll be interested in what the tests reveal about the wine spill on the carpet.”

  “Yeah. Like if the spill contains cyanide, who put the glass back on the dresser next to the bottle?”

  The doctor nodded. “That would be one question. Another would be who washed out the other glass and left it on the towel in the bathroom?”

  “I know,” Jackson replied with a frown. “I’ll have the team bag that one, too. But I doubt we’ll get anything from it. It seems like someone did a good job of covering their tracks.”

  Elise found that last tidbit disturbing. The Lost Pines motel was a throwback to a simpler time, using drinking glasses that were actually made of glass. In the room, one had been left sitting in plain sight on the dresser along with the open bottle of Merlot. Evidently another glass had been found washed and left to drain on a towel in the bathroom. If someone had murdered Divia, then this could have been the killer’s glass.

  In any case, it suggested Divia had known this person, perhaps had a glass of wine with her killer. That this person would clean-up before leaving the room—with the woman’s freshly dead corpse lying right there on the carpet—suggested a coldness that was too gross for words.

  Elise was still mulling over this new information when Ross showed up alone a few minutes later.

  “The look on Jackson’s face in the restaurant was a dead giveaway that there was something seriously wrong out here. I figured it would be better to take Caro home first,” he told Elise. “I also stopped and told Mom what I knew, which of course, isn’t much. She wanted to come with me, but I talked her into staying home. I told her we’d call when we knew anything, and I’d get Gram home as soon as I could. I’ll check in with her in a bit.”

  He paused to point to the CSI vehicle. “So, what’s up with that?”

  A part of Elise wished Ross would have brought Laura with him. Their mom was a rock during stressful situations and usually knew just what to say to keep everyone calm. And this definitely qualified as a stressful situation. While they waited for more information, Elise used the time to take her brother aside and fill him in.

  “Somebody killed Divia Larson? With cyanide?” He scratched his head and blew out a breath. “That’s incredible.”

  The motel was an L-shaped building with all the room doors opening onto the covered walkway and the parking lot beyond. He nodded toward the other end of the building. Though they kept their distance, a number of people had come out of their rooms to see what was happening. “Lookie-loos. Everyone loves a show.”

  Elise shrugged. “Human nature, I guess.”

  “Looks like Jax really has his work cut out for him. I mean, there were quite a few folks that would’ve delighted in spiking Divia Larson’s drink with a little poison if they thought they could get away with it.”

  “That’s true,” she replied in a hushed tone. “There’s no shortage of murder suspects. Gram included.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, El?” he said before dropping his voice and taking her arm. He nudged her farther down the breezeway, maneuvering her away from where Jackson and Abigail stood on the sidewalk. “What do you mean Gram is a suspect? She couldn’t murder anyone and you know it.”

  “I agree. But think about it, Ross. Divia’s husband is Gram’s old high school sweetheart. It’s no secret what Gram thought of the woman, and she had words with her just yesterday in front of witnesses. The bottle found at the scene—which may or may not have been tainted—was River Bend’s Private Reserve. Whether the cyanide was put in the bottle or just her glass, it was probably how she ingested the poison. And finally, Gram found the body and was here by herself until we showed up.”

  “Come on, El. You’re taking it all out of context, making it sound suspicious. At this point, it’s all circumstantial. So Gram didn’t like the woman. None of what you just said adds up to a strong enough motive for murder.”

  “Maybe not. And you’re right, it is circumstantial, but Jax will have to consider everyone a suspect until he can positively rule them out. And that includes Gram. Remember how it was with Uncle Edmond’s murder? All those little things by themselves might not be enough to establish motive, but when you put them together, it doesn’t look good for Gram, either.” Elise glanced back toward Abigail and sighed. “What we need to do is give Jax a little help in eliminating her from the suspect list. And the sooner, the better.”

  Ross narrowed his eyes at her. “I thought Jax made you pro
mise to butt out of his police investigations.”

  “He did.” She gave an indifferent shrug. “And I won’t put myself in that kind of danger again, but he didn’t say anything about helping to clear a family member’s name. It’s bad enough that Gram got caught up in this and was the one who found Divia’s body. I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand around and see her name dragged through the mud as a suspect, too.” She folded her arms and glared at him. “So, are you going to help me?”

  “Fine. But where do we start? We don’t have much to go on.”

  “We start by keeping our eyes and ears open. Somebody knows what went on here tonight, and they’ll slip up at some point. We just have to be ready when that happens. I’m gonna call C.C. and get her on board, too. The more eyes and ears we have out there, the faster we’ll find the information we’re looking for.”

  They walked back over to where Jackson and Abigail stood just as the EMTs carried Divia’s body out of the room on a gurney and lifted it into the waiting ambulance. Jackson went with the CSI team and lingered while they did a thorough sweep of the Larsons’ room.

  In the light from the open doorway, Elise watched over his shoulder as Jackson pulled out the contents of the purse that had been used to hold the door open, not surprised to find that it had indeed been Divia’s.

  After taking a quick inventory, he bagged it. Elise couldn’t say if anything was missing, but important items like the woman’s cell phone, checkbook, and wallet were all found inside. And the wallet still held several credit cards and a little over two hundred dollars in cash, which seemed to rule out robbery.

  But then, what thief took the time to poison their victims after robbing them?

  Ross did what he did best in stressful situations—he paced—while Elise and Abigail watched the investigators continue their work. That is, what they were able to see. The team kept the room’s curtains closed, but every time Elise saw the flash light up the window, she knew they’d snapped another photograph. Toward the end of their sweep, the techs made several trips to the SUV with sealed brown paper bags containing potential evidence.