He looked scared.
This was one mess I couldn’t get him out of.
Chapter 12
We stood in awkward silence as the minutes ticked slowly by. There was so much I wanted to ask Antonio, but I kept silent. Instead I looked around the property, taking in as much information as I could. Things looked much the same as they had yesterday. I pulled out my cell phone and recorded the scene anyway, thinking clues might be revealed upon closer inspection later on. I panned slowly across the property from the driveway to the winery, and then over to Antonio’s house, which was about thirty feet or so from the winery building.
Tyler re-emerged from the winery after what seemed like a very long time. He motioned to Mark to join him at the entrance. The men were out of earshot, but Tyler had his phone out, and I suspected he was recording a statement from Mark. They talked for about five minutes before both men headed back toward us. Mark walked past us without a word and rejoined the other firefighter waiting by the fire truck.
“I’ve secured the building until the Shady Creek medical examiner and crime scene techs arrive. Shouldn’t be too much longer,” Tyler said to Antonio and me.
“Crime scene techs?” Antonio asked.
“Protocol whenever someone dies of unnatural causes, Antonio.”
Obviously. Antonio must be in shock. I kicked at the dirt, feeling uneasy.
“Oh.” Antonio’s voice was flat.
I glanced down at Antonio’s feet. His sneakers were bloodstained and were of a similar size to the tracks I had seen in the cellar. I wouldn’t be able to see the tread except in the unlikely event that he lifted his feet. I squinted to see a brand name or logo, but the bloodstains made that impossible. The crime scene techs would eventually confirm whether or not the footprints were Antonio’s, but I wanted to know now.
I jumped at the sound of slamming doors, but it was only the firefighters getting back in their truck.
We watched in silence as they started the fire truck and drove out through the gates and back to town.
Trina walked toward the front gate, following in the path of the firetruck. She talked on her phone in a low voice, like she didn’t want to be overheard. She walked around in a circle for a minute or two before ending the conversation and slipping her phone back into her pocket.
She walked back toward us without saying anything further.
Tyler’s face was expressionless. “Tell me what happened, Antonio.”
Antonio’s hand shook as he touched his face, which was also bloody. “When I came back here to get my wine, the first thing I noticed was that the main door to the winery was unlocked. I know it was locked when I left this morning.”
“Hear any noises or see anything else out of place?”
“No,” Antonio said. “I checked around, but there was no one else inside and nothing was disturbed. Except for all the wine that had been stacked up against the wall. It wasn’t there anymore.
“That’s when I went to the wine cellar to see if somehow there was wine down there that I had missed before. I headed downstairs, unlocked the cellar door, and went inside. I turned the light on, but it’s not very bright and I was focused on finding more wine in a hurry. I walked straight over to the wine racks on the far end of the cellar. I-I didn’t see Richard at first. Then I tripped on something. It turned out to be Richard. There he was, dead…on the floor of my wine cellar.”
Tyler said, “Hmm…so the winery was open, but the cellar was locked.”
Antonio nodded. “It’s weird, but I figured it was a break-in and the intruders weren’t able to unlock the cellar, so they left.
“You didn’t notice the blood everywhere?”
Antonio shook his head. “No because there wasn’t any blood out in the winery, only in the cellar. I guess I was so focused on getting more wine that I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings.”
“Okay…so then you found Richard. How did you know for sure he was dead? Did you check for a pulse?”
“I tried…but then I saw that he wasn’t moving at all…that his chest wasn’t rising up and down. I don’t know how I knew for sure…but I just did. There was so much blood that I didn’t think it was possible…”
That explanation didn’t jive with Antonio’s bloodstained clothes. If he didn’t help much, and if Richard was already dead, then why was he covered in blood spatter?
“How long before you called for help after you discovered Richard?” Tyler asked.
“Right away. I ran outside because I was worried that whoever had killed Richard was still here. I ran to the gate and called the fire department first, and then you.” Antonio’s voice was hoarse. “Should I have done something different?”
Tyler didn’t answer.
“You sure you didn’t leave the cellar unlocked, Antonio?” I asked. “Tell Tyler about your high-tech security lock.”
“I put in a new security lock a couple of months ago. It uses a combination of a key code and my fingerprint. It’s called a biometric lock. It’s supposed to be theft proof, only someone got in.”
I quickly explained to Tyler about the wine cellar’s biometric security lock, and how it could be unlocked only with both the combination number and Antonio’s fingerprint pressed against the sensor.
Tyler frowned. “Isn’t a biometric lock overkill for a small town?”
“Apparently not,” Trina interjected. “Richard’s proof of that. Somehow, he got in, didn’t he?”
“Who else has a key, Antonio?” Tyler asked. “Trina? Jose?”
Antonio shook his head. “Only me. Jose said he didn’t want to be set up because he was afraid someone would cut off his finger or something. That was an excuse obviously, because no access meant he didn’t have to do any of the work either.
Tyler frowned. “Jose co-owns the winery. How can he not have access?”
Antonio shrugged. “Jose hasn’t had access since we got the new lock installed a month ago.
