Corked by Cabernet (17 page)

“Like what?” Simon asked.

“For starters, see if the guy really does have a suitcase that looks like Iwao Yamimoto’s, but filled with books.”

“What does Iwao’s look like?” Marco asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t been in the storage room yet,” Nikki said. “But take pictures of his luggage and then I can compare.”

“Do you see how her mind works? Take pictures. With what? My DCS Pro Back Plus? Am I a photographer now?”

“Use the camera on your phone. I just need a visual to compare. And I have a feeling that nut job might have something that will stand out to you.” Nikki knew that Robinson could be right that Kensington was simply one of those strange types who sought attention any way he could, but Nikki still thought he should have taken her story a bit more seriously. What if Kensington was less of an attention getter and more of a deranged killer?

“A feeling? Okay, so you want us to get into the creep’s room, take some photos, and check it out all CSI style, just based on your funny feeling.” Simon walked back over to the wine and poured himself a glass of red. “When is this shenanigan supposed to go down?”

“You said so yourself that the man is a weirdo. I’m thinking a good time might be during the wine tasting. Everyone will be focused on the wines, they may even get a bit tipsy, and your presence won’t be missed. And if it is, I’ll explain that you’re grabbing a few more things for me.”

“My presence is always missed.” Simon took a sip of his wine.

“That wine is for the guests, you know,” Nikki scolded.

“I am a guest. Remember? I’m a S.E.E. member. I’ll probably get kicked out, because now I’m a traitor, thanks to you.” He pointed at Nikki.

“Leave the guilt trips for someone else.” She looked at Marco.

“Not me. I don’t like them either. Come on, Simon. Nikki needs our help.”

“Fine.” He shook his head. “She’s spoiled. You’re spoiled.” Simon pointed at Nikki. “We spoil you. That’s the problem. No boundaries.”

“Okay, Dad. And one more thing,” Nikki said.

“Oh, just one more thing. It’s never only one more thing with you, Snow White. It’s like ten, twenty, two hundred fifty.”

“You’ll like this one.” Nikki flashed them a smile in hopes of appeasing their display of irritation. “Since you have been a good mom and dad, boys, I am going to make your favorites for the dinner party tomorrow night.”

Both men raised their eyebrows. “Chili and cornbread?” they both said.

“That and some other treats.”

“You are up to something. You only do chili for a lot of people. Who else did you invite besides us and Alyssa?”

“I thought I’d ask Alan Sansi and his family.”

“You are?” Simon was looking at her dubiously, his voice rising.

“Yes. I thought that it would be good to get to know everyone a little better for myself in an intimate setting,” Nikki replied.

“You are not telling us something. You don’t want us there to get to know us better, you want us there so you can keep snooping. I’m telling you that Alan had nothing to do with Iwao’s murder.”

“Maybe not, but one of his clan might have and I want to get to know everyone and see how they react. I also have another motive. You actually gave me the idea, Simon, when Alyssa mentioned liking the rock star look and then you brought up Detective Robinson.”

Simon twirled around her. “Oh, you! I get it.
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match
,” he sang. “You are so sweet, but Snow White, arranging romantic liaisons is not your forte. It’s never a good idea to try and get involved in other people’s love lives.”

“This coming from Cupid himself?” Nikki strained to keep the incredulous sound in her voice at a minimum. “You practically stood over me and Derek with an arrow aimed to fire.”

“Yes, but
I
am good at it.” He bowed.

“He is,” Marco said in serious agreement.

“Debatable,” Nikki replied and grabbed his wineglass from him.

“You two live together, don’t you? I sort of had something to do with it, I think. Before you know it, there will be love, then marriage, and then one baby or two in a baby carriage.” Simon clapped his hands excitedly.

“Aren’t you moving a little too fast?” Nikki commented.

“No. You two are moving a little slow if you ask me.” He tapped his wrist with a finger. “You don’t have a lot of time on that clock.”

“Simon!” Marco and Nikki said in unison.

“What? It’s true. Forty is on the way, baby, and you know that is middle-aged and not exactly perfect for chasing babies around. Your back starts hurting and then the knees go. Before you know it, you’ll be a mess. It’s time to get that brother of mine with the program. Come on, get a ring on that finger, start doing some baby making. I am ready to be an uncle.” He snapped his fingers in the air.

“I thought you wanted to be a daddy,” Nikki said.

Marco looked at Simon with a stunned expression. Uh-oh. Looked like Simon hadn’t shown his better half the dream board.

“I like babies, and I want to be an uncle, and yes, if I could be a daddy and Marco wanted to have a baby, too, then I would say yes to that.”

Nikki could tell that Marco didn’t know how to respond. “Look, here come the Pearlmans.” This was the first time Nikki had been relieved to see the cranky wife.

“Goody gumdrops,” Simon said while Marco continued staring blankly at him. Simon felt his eyes on him and said, “I know. Shocker. Can we talk it about it later? Don’t we have to go play Agent 007 or something?”

Marco nodded and went around to the bar to pour small tastings for the guests. Nikki could tell by the change in his demeanor and how silent he’d become that Marco’s dream board probably didn’t replicate Simon’s. Where might that lead? She also couldn’t help wondering about her own fate—the whole marriage and baby carriage thing. That sure sounded good. In fact, more and more it sounded exactly like the vision she had for the future. The near future. She only hoped Derek shared it, too.

“WINEMAKING is really like making art,” Nikki said, speaking to the group members, who were all seated with two separate flights of wine in front of them. Flights of wine were several glasses of wine with a few sips poured in them, designed simply for tasting. One flight would be white and the other red. For the whites, Nikki had a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Viognier, and Chardonnay. For the reds, she’d selected a standard Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel, and a nice Malbec the winery had started producing a couple of years ago.

“It begins with the soil. At Malveaux we grow the majority of our grapes but we do buy some grapes from vineyards in Sonoma and Monterrey counties. Many of you may be aware that we recently partnered with a wonderful Australian winery, the Hahndorf Winery. The Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier you will be tasting in the white wine flight is from the Hahndorf Winery. The Australians grow those grapes nicely and blend them well. In the red flight, you’ll be tasting Aussie wines in the Pinot, the Malbec, and the Syrah.”

One of the S.E.E. members interrupted her. “What makes one region better than another in terms of grape production? For instance, why do Sauvignon Blanc grapes taste better from Australia than from here in Napa? Same goes for the Zinfandel. I heard one of your employees talking about the old vine Zin grapes you blend here. What goes into that?” It was Rich Higgins. Next to him stood Hayden—less Chanel today and more J.Crew with her pressed jeans, button-down, and argyle vest.

“Excellent question,” Nikki said. “It’s not necessarily that the wine tastes better, because that all depends on your palate. There are so many factors that go into the winemaking process. As I mentioned, it starts with the soil and with the quality of the grape. And the quality can be affected by the soil, the weather during growth, the way the grapes are pruned, and if they’re harvested correctly at the right time. After the harvest, we look at sugar levels, which we call Brix, acidity levels and pH balances, the color, the seeds, the taste. It’s all well thought out and created in hopes of making a superior product. There is a strong science aspect to wine production, but there is an equally strong creative aspect. Blend the two together and you can get an outstanding wine. Once the harvest and science are planned out, the grapes go through the crushing and primary fermentation process.” All eyes were on her and everyone looked interested. She enjoyed speaking to groups of people. Maybe that came from her acting days.

“Basically crushing is liberating the fruit from the skin. Did you ever see the
I Love Lucy
episode where Lucy stomps on the grapes?”

Everyone laughed.

“Right, that’s not typically how it’s done now except for maybe the really small operations or a few in Europe. We have a mechanical crusher and destemmer. Red wines get their color from the grape skins, so during fermentation of a red wine, the skin of the grapes needs to be in contact with the juice. Most white wines are processed without destemming or crushing and are transferred from picking bins directly to the press.” Nikki went on to explain the fermentation process, how cultured yeast is typically added even though grapes already have a natural yeast on them, and how that yeast feeds off the must. The must is made up of skins, stems, seeds, fruit pulp, and when it comes in contact with the yeast, together they produce CO
₂
gases and alcohol. She also explained the second fermentation and the aging process. She hoped no one had become bored as most of the members were not oenphiles, only enlightened souls. “That’s a real basic how-to on winemaking. If you have other questions, I’ll walk around and we can talk, but please eat and drink and enjoy. I know that Alan is going to talk about how winemaking and the growing of grapes are akin to soul growth.” Nikki stifled a giggle. She wasn’t sure how he’d tie it all together, but knew he would in some bizarre fashion.

Even during her talk, in the back of her mind, Nikki felt the dark cloud of murder hanging over her, and she knew when people began drinking and loosening up, that she’d go in for the kill. So to speak.

Nikki sidled over to Juan Gonzales, wanting to see what information she could get from him. “You having a good time?” Nikki asked.

“Sure. I love wine. Love food, too.” He rubbed his paunch, and smiled. Nikki noticed for the first time that he had a couple of gold teeth on the bottom row. There looked to be some cheese caught in them, and she tried not to stare at it. Juan was probably somewhere in his late forties. He ran his hand through his slicked-back dark hair and smiled at her.

“What’s not to love?” She smiled. Get friendly. Get into this guy’s head and find out about the note he sent to Iwao. She raised her glass.

“Good talk, by the way. You sure do know a lot about wine.”

“Oh well, it’s my job. And how about the enlightenment sessions? How are those going for you?”

“I still have plenty to learn, that’s for sure, but Alan is wonderful. He’s so patient with all of us misfits, you know.”

“He seems wonderful. I don’t know him that well, not being a member and all, but you must, I assume. Everyone in the group must.” Nikki did her best to appear casually interested.

“No, no. I don’t know most of the people, but there are a few new guys, like your friends Simon and Marco, who I’m getting to know.”

“How about Iwao? You knew him pretty well. At least it seemed like you did last night on the train when you came over.”

He frowned. “Yeah, man.” He shook his head. “That was wrong, you know, so wrong that happened to him. I did know Iwao. I’m pretty shaken up about it.”

“I can see that.” Nikki tried to sound sincere, but come on! This guy was slamming back the vino and hardly thinking twice about Iwao Yamimoto. Those were the facts. “Did you two know each other outside of the group?” She already knew that they did. He’d told Simon that. Would he have the same story for her?

He was slow to answer, as if he was searching for the right words. “We did. We met through the group and had some things in common. And you know we did some business together.”

“Yeah? What kind of business?”

“We did some film work together. Why all the questions?”

“I don’t know. I find it curious that everyone here seems to have forgotten that this man was murdered last night and some of you knew him rather well.”

He laughed but Nikki didn’t think there was anything slightly humorous about their conversation. “You have a curious nature, don’t you?”

“I suppose that I do, but more than that, I find the situation disturbing, especially considering that you knew Iwao and did business with him.”

“What am I supposed to do? Sulk? Is that what we’re all supposed to do, Ms. Sands?” His tone turned nasty and Nikki didn’t care for it at all.

“A little mourning couldn’t hurt,” she said pointedly.

“You didn’t know Iwao Yamimoto, did you?”