“Like I said, I never met the man. But from what Jeff told me he has a ruthless streak. There was an error in the books one day, and Clive was quick to spread the rumor that Jeff was responsible, and was going to get fired soon. That kind of thing. It made it very unpleasant for Jeff to work there. Though he also got a lot of support from some of his other colleagues. And his direct manager wasn’t fooled by these rumors. He even reprimanded Clive on one occasion.”
“I’ll bet he didn’t like that.”
“No, he didn’t. But at least things became better after that.”
“Can you think of anyone else who had a grudge against your husband, Steph?” asked Odelia. She had poured some tea from the pot and was sipping from it now, nibbling on a cookie as she did. And ignoring Dooley and me as we both stared at her. I mean, it’s pretty tough to have to watch other people eat when you don’t have anything to eat yourself! Talk about being selfish!
“No one,” said Steph decidedly. “Jeff was such a sweet man. Everybody loved him. His colleagues—except Clive, of course. But also his family, his friends. No one ever had a bad word to say about him. He was so kind and so wonderful.” She brought a distraught hand to her face as she remembered her husband, and tears sprung to her eyes afresh. “It’s just so hard, you know. I miss him so much…”
“I know you do,” said Odelia, who had scooted forward, and was rubbing the woman on the back. “And I’m sorry we have to ask you all these questions.”
“No, it’s fine. You want to catch the person who did this, and I want to help you in any way I can. Just ask me anything.”
“So no enemies that you can think of?” Chase reiterated.
“None. Jeff had no enemies,” said Steph. “We’re all devastated here. Jeff’s parents most of all, of course. They’re flying in tomorrow from France. They’re going to be a great support to me—and I want to be there for them also.”
“We would like to talk to your parents,” said Chase. “Are they around?”
“Yeah, they are. I’m not sure about my brother, though. He keeps disappearing on me. Last night with the window being busted he didn’t even show up. And this morning I wanted to tell him about what happened with Jeff and I couldn’t find him.” She shook her head. “This family is falling apart, that’s the truth.”
“Where is your brother now?” asked Odelia.
“I have no idea. I caught him just before you arrived, and when I asked him where he was this afternoon, he said he went for a drive. He keeps going for drives for some reason. Even when everything is going to hell, he…” She raised her hands and dropped them in her lap in a gesture of desperation. “It’s all just so… so utterly and completely…” But words failed to describe how she felt. Which I could certainly understand. And so we left, and went in search of her dad.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
We found Ian Stewart in his office, where he oversaw the day-to-day business of running a successful winery. Even though I had expected him to be amongst the vines, or stomping grapes in a big vat with his bare feet, he looked more like a banker or a businessman in his clean shirt and tie and sitting behind his desk.
He got up when we entered, and shook Chase and Odelia’s hands with a strained grimace. “Terrible business, simply terrible,” he said. “We’re all devastated here. Especially Steph, of course, who’s gone completely to pieces.”
The detecting duo took the offered seats in front of the man’s desk and Chase asked the inexorable question: “To your knowledge, did your son-in-law have any enemies, sir?”
“Oh, no, absolutely not. The man was loved by everyone he met. He was French, of course,” he added, “so if you want to know about his life before he came to America you’ll have to talk to his parents—who are flying in tomorrow, by the way.”
“Yes, Steph told us,” said Odelia. “So you can’t think of anyone who might have wanted to harm him?”
“I thought you already had a man in custody?” asked Ian as he leaned back.
“You’re well-informed, sir,” said Chase.
“I called Chief Lip just now. He told me about this man Crowley. Apparently he’s the one who threw a couple of rocks through my window last night. So what makes you think he isn’t the one who killed my son-in-law?”
“We’re looking at all possible angles, sir. Crowley is one possibility, but there may be others.”
“So he hasn’t confessed, has he? Too bad. It would be a weight off my daughter’s mind if she knew the man responsible for Jeff’s murder has been caught.”
“So anyone you can think of who might have wanted to harm your son-in-law?” Odelia asked, reiterating her question.
“Well, one name springs to mind, of course. Though not necessarily as someone who would harm Jeff in particular. More the whole family, I guess.”
“And what name would that be, sir?” asked Chase.