Aunt Pearl said, “I had to camp overnight to stake out a good parking spot. Only to lose it because of the sheriff’s stupid rules.”
Tyler ignored the slight. “Pearl saw Richard’s Corvette leave and assumed it was only Richard inside because she was preoccupied and didn’t look all that closely. She also mistook Jose for Antonio. In fact, Antonio wouldn’t arrive for more than an hour, after he and Trina finished their breakfast and left the restaurant. The credit card receipt and other witnesses at the restaurant corroborate that timeline.”
Jose’s mouth dropped open. “Antonio has an alibi?”
Tyler nodded. “An ironclad alibi.”
“That’s not true,” Desiree said. “Richard’s car never left the parking lot.”
“No, Desiree. After Richard died you drove the Corvette back to the wine festival. The other venders were busy setting up their own wares and took no notice of cars coming and going. Pearl saw the car leave but not for long enough to spot who was in it. That’s okay, because that same surveillance camera shows the Corvette returning. You even managed to park the Corvette back in the exact same parking spot. You made one fatal mistake, however.
“It had started raining, rather unexpectedly because the forecast that day was for sunny weather. Since Richard expected dry weather, he had left the convertible top down that morning.
“At the first sign of rain, a convertible owner would immediately run outside and put the top back up. But the person who re-parked the sportscar either didn’t know how to do that or didn’t think to do so. Not a mistake that a vintage sports car owner would make.
“You wanted the Corvette in that parking spot, knowing that later, wine festival attendees would see it and falsely recall seeing Richard at the festival.”
I walked over to where Desiree stood. “That’s why you made up excuses about Richard being around somewhere at the wine festival. You wanted me to think he was there, for the morning at least. However, you already knew he was dead. That’s because you were part of it.”
Desiree crossed her arms. “I had nothing to do with any of this, other than telling Richard that I was willing to make an offer on the winery.”
“I wasn’t involved either,” Jose said. “I wanted out of the winery business. Why would I kill Richard when he had a buyer lined up for us? It’s true I didn’t want foreclosure, but even that meant I would get some money out of it. Foreclosure was better than losing it all. Our winery was bleeding money.”
“Who said your motive was financial?” Tyler asked.
“What?” Jose said.
“Finding a buyer for the winery was a lie, wasn’t it, Jose? You wanted Richard out of the picture because you had fallen in love with Desiree. Desiree promised to loan you the cash to buy out Antonio but you refused that offer. Why? Because under the terms of the Lombard Wines shareholder agreement, Antonio could counter-offer to buy you out instead. That would end in a stalemate, so you needed another way to get Antonio to give up the winery. He’d have no choice if he went to jail for murder.”
“You killed my poor Richard,” Desiree cried. “Jose, you’re a monster.”
“Quit trying to deflect blame off yourself, Desiree,” Aunt Pearl said. “You know a little too much to claim innocence. You were furious at Richard for agreeing to reconcile with Valerie, so you moved on to Jose. Not only did you want to make Richard pay but you wanted to get Lombard Wines for a bargain in the process.”
Chapter 29
The bar was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The Shady Creek Police had been waiting outside the Witching Post for Tyler’s notification. They entered the bar and strode over to join Tyler.
Jose swore under his breath as one officer moved toward him.
Desiree’s eyes darted frantically around the bar, hoping for something or someone to rescue her. It wasn’t going to happen.
Everyone had their phones out, taking pictures of Westwick Corners’ latest fugitives.
Tyler faced Jose. “Take your hands out of your pockets, please.”
Jose did as he was told.
“You are under arrest for the murder of Richard Harcourt.” Tyler read Jose his Miranda rights and handcuffed his wrists behind his back before handing him over to one of the Shady Creek constables.
“Is all this necessary?” Desiree struggled against Earl’s firm yet gentle grip to no avail. “My lawyer will post bail before I even get to Shady Creek.”
Tyler turned to Desiree and clasped both her wrists together and cuffed them. “You made it necessary. We can’t have killers on the loose in Westwick Corners.”
A few people clapped.
Tyler held up his hand and they quickly stopped.
Desiree stomped her foot. “I am NOT a killer! How many times do I have to tell you? Jose is obsessed with me. I can’t help it if men do crazy things to win my love. I never told him to do anything. I would never hurt anyone, especially not Richard, the love of my life.”
Jose swore under his breath. He lunged at Desiree but the police officer held him back.
Aunt Pearl wagged her finger at Desiree. “You’re at least as bad as Jose because you were the brains behind everything. You used Jose to do your bidding. You wanted to gain control of Lombard Wines and to get rid of your boyfriend at the same time. Good luck finding a lawyer because nobody in town will represent you.”
Mom tugged at Aunt Pearl’s sleeve. “Westwick Corners doesn’t have any lawyers.”
Aunt Pearl snatched her arm away. “That’s because we don’t need ‘em, Ruby. We dispense our own brand of justice in this town.”
Tyler frowned. “Dispensing justice is my job, Pearl.”
Aunt Pearl ignored
