“Except love from a cheating husband,” Tyler said. “Many crimes of passion start with betrayal. I could understand if you—”
“Antonio killed him and you know it,” Valerie said. “Why aren’t you talking to him instead of me?”
Instead of answering her question, Tyler said, “We are talking to every person who had any involvement whatsoever with Richard. Some we interview to corroborate facts. Others we interview to establish a timeline. Those with confirmed alibis we rule out.” He looked pointedly at Valerie.
She stood. “Well, unless I’m under arrest you can’t keep me here. Am I free to go, Sheriff, or do I need to call a lawyer?”
Tyler nodded. “You can go. Just don’t go anywhere without letting me know.”
Valerie brushed past him without another word and slammed the door behind her.
Chapter 18
I jumped at the voice beside me. I had been alone in the adjoining room, or at least I had thought I was.
“Isn’t she a piece of work? A big insurance payoff that she can hardly wait to get her greedy little hands on.”
“Aunt Pearl! Is the wine festival over already?”
She shook her head. “I called a ten-minute break before we start judging the next category. Where’s the Sheriff? I’ve got critical information about Richard’s murder that he needs to know.”
“Does it involve you stealing Antonio’s wine from the crime scene?”
“Of course not! You better not start throwing accusations around if you want any cooperation from me.”
Tyler opened the door at that very moment. “Cooperation about what?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Aunt Pearl was pretty sneaky and she never revealed her methods. If she did, you could be sure she was lying. Deception was part of the craft.
“I would, actually,” Tyler said. “What have you got?”
Aunt Pearl grinned. “Oh, I’ve got intel that you would not believe.”
I was tired of dealing with my aunt’s mind games. “Aunt Pearl says she has critical information about the case.”
Aunt Pearl glared at me. “Don’t steal my thunder, Cendrine!”
“Sorry.” I rolled my eyes to show her I wasn’t sorry at all.
“Oh?” Tyler crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He looked thoroughly unconvinced of Aunt Pearl’s claim. “Tell me what you know, Pearl.”
“I was the last person to see Richard alive. Aside from the killer, of course.”
Tyler opened the door and motioned for Aunt Pearl to follow. “Let’s go into the interview room. It’s big enough so we can all sit down.”
“Fine by me,” Aunt Pearl said. “I’m going to need the witness protection program once I tell you everything. Can I pick my new name or does it get assigned?”
“Not sure but I’ll find out,” Tyler said. “Now tell me what you know.”
Aunt Pearl frowned. “Not so fast. What’s in it for me, Sheriff?”
Tyler shrugged. “A clear conscience by doing the right thing and seeing justice served. Is that good enough for you?”
Aunt Pearl scowled. “That’s it?”
“I’m afraid so, Pearl.”
She sighed. “It’ll have to do, I guess. But I want to be on Dateline. It’s my favorite true crime TV show.”
Tyler glanced at his watch. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, tell me what you know.”
“As you know, I was very busy serving customers at Pearl’s Palace, my roadside bar. Did you see all my customers, Sheriff? Even after you forced me to a lousy location, I still had a full house. The chairs were full, and people even sat on the grass just for a chance to enjoy some nice wines. Anyway, I had just served the last bottle of Antonio’s exquisite Lombard Wines Meritage when who should tear out of the parking lot but Richard Harcourt in that fancy sports car of his. He was in such a big hurry, no consideration for anybody but himself. He peeled out of there so fast that he sprayed gravel all over the side of Pearl’s Palace. He left scratches on the Palace siding, Sheriff!”
“Sorry to hear that, Pearl. Where did Richard go?” Tyler asked.
“He headed down the highway in the direction of Lombard Wines.”
I raised my hand to object. “But Richard’s Corvette was in the parking lot.”
Aunt Pearl shrugged. “I know what I saw.”
“What time was this?”
Aunt Pearl shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly, but I think it was between eight and nine a.m. The wine tasting hadn’t started yet and there were dozens of wine lovers who couldn’t wait for the official event to start. I was far too busy serving drinks to stop and check the time, but it was early.
“Anyway, right after that, I saw Antonio. His truck was parked beside Richard’s, and I saw the two of them talking just before Richard left in a hurry. I tried to get Antonio’s attention to tell him that I had already sold enough wine to pay his overdue mortgage payments, but he just blew me off. He tore out of the parking lot right after Richard. So ungrateful!”
“Okay, so Antonio didn’t actually ‘forget’ his wine like he said.” I made quote marks with my fingers. “I thought that was a weird thing to forget at the time. You took Antonio’s wine and sold it out from under him.”
Aunt Pearl threw her arms up in the air. “Who cares as long as the stuff gets sold?”
“I care,” I said. “Antonio had no idea and he never gave you permission to sell his wine. When he discovered his wine cases were empty, he had to return to the winery to get more wine to replace what you sold.”
Aunt Pearl sniffed. “Whatever. You’d think he would be more grateful for everything I’ve done for him. I bottled his wine for him, got him a girlfriend, and sold a year’s worth of wine for him. All in less than a day. Damn, I’m good! But Antonio? Can’t even say thank you!”
“A year’s worth of wine? We didn’t bottle that much yesterday.” As soon as I uttered
