That brought Megan up short. “Think about what? That no one knew what they were working on?”
“Yeah.” Drew shook his head. “It just can’t be right, can it? Someone knew what those vines were and how important they were. Otherwise, why bother? Why the risk?”
His face was too grim to be solely worried about grapevines.
“You said a significant development has occurred in the case.” Megan was starting to get a very bad feeling about that significant development.
Drew nodded.
“Did you find the truck?”
“Yeah, we did. It had been reported stolen in Santa Maria last Monday night. White Chevy extended cab with a toolbox in back, like every other truck on the road around here.”
“The same night the vines went missing? That’s fast.” So they stole the truck and probably drove it straight to Nico’s house. “They knew what they were after.” There had to be something else putting that angry look in Drew’s eye. “What aren’t you telling me about this truck?”
“We found blood,” Drew said. “A lot of it.”
Megan felt like she might throw up. “You found blood in the truck?”
“Not in the truck, in the bed.”
“How much—?”
“Way more than a scratch,” he said quietly. “Put it this way: I have never seen that amount of blood in one place without seeing a dead body very close by.”
“Oh my God.” Megan rose and added a warm-up to her cup. This changed everything. She turned and looked at Drew. “Have you told Nico?”
“I wanted to tell you first, just in case you had any illusions about playing detective on this case.”
She nodded slowly. “I see.”
“And also because I think Nico listens to you. He needs to start looking at his family, Megan. I know he doesn’t want to consider them, but they’re the most likely pool of suspects. All these other wineries are a distraction.”
No.
It was a gut-level reaction, and Megan was surprised by the vehemence. “They’re a close family,” she said. “You think they’d do that to one of their own?”
“They’re a big, complicated family with big, intertwined businesses, and Nico is trying to step out of that shadow with something new. Something that could put him on the map, but something that’s also cost him a great deal of time and attention.”
“And?”
“And as soon as we found that truck, this case got a lot more complicated. Now we’re looking for a victim to go with all that blood, and this is about way more than missing grapevines even if they are superspecial rare vines.” Drew waved a hand.
Megan blinked. “Yes, but the vines are still the motivation. You have to keep looking for them.”
“We’re looking for a possible murderer, Megan. Grapevines are not the priority here.”
“But why was someone killed? Probably, that is. It all comes back to the original crime.”
“You think someone got killed or maimed over grapevines?” Drew was incredulous.
“Why not? President Reagan got shot because a sad, strange man wanted to impress Jodie Foster. People commit murder—or try to—for all sorts of weird slights.”
“Okay, say you’re right. That line of thinking leads right back to Nico’s family,” Drew said.
“How?”
“Let’s just say that a little bird told me some people in the family might not understand why he is so obsessed with this grape. After all, things have been going really well the way they are. You plant an acre or even a partial acre in these experimental vines, that means that land isn’t planted in something that’s a sure moneymaker.”
Megan started to see where Drew was going with this. “You think someone in the family decided that Nico and Henry needed to be spending more time on the proven lines at the winery, not the experimental stuff.”
Drew shrugged. “It makes as much sense as anything else about this case. You know, Poulsard grapes used to be grown in Santa Cruz.”
Megan frowned. “What? I thought Henry said—”
“All the vines were wiped out in the Phylloxera epidemic. Little bug that took out nearly all of California’s wine grapes.”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“Maybe these vines could mean big success,” Drew said. “And maybe they could mean a very expensive failure. Either way, it’s a fair bet that not every Dusi was on board with Nico taking the chance.”
“Which means that someone in the family could also be responsible for all that blood.”
“I’m not saying that. Maybe they hired someone to help them. Maybe something went wrong. But if something went wrong and mistakes happened, then it’s more important than ever that whoever is behind the vine theft come forward and clear this all up.”
“But if Katherine and Toni and I were looking into the theft—”
“Which I’m sure you’re not, because I just told you it took a very dangerous turn.”
“Right.” Megan’s mind was racing. “Of course we’re not.”
Drew carefully stirred his tea. “Because you know it’s a police matter.”
“It definitely is.” She sipped her coffee. “I mean, what would we know about unraveling a criminal conspiracy?” It’s not like we haven’t solved two other ones right under your nose or anything. Megan smiled and sipped her coffee.
“It’s way out of your comfort zone. Especially with Toni nearly ready to give birth.”
She stood and reached for his empty mug on the table. “I better get to work. Don’t want to run you off, but—”
“It’s fine. Thank you for the tea.” Drew walked down the entryway but turned just before he reached the door. “Keep in mind what I was saying about the Dusis, will you? We both come from big families, but that clan is on another level.”
“Fair enough.” Megan didn’t even like thinking that one member of Toni and Nico’s family would betray another, but maybe she wasn’t thinking of it the right way. Maybe someone was trying to save face or save Nico and Henry from heartbreak or financial ruin.
A lot of presumptuous decisions throughout history had been made in the name of sparing feelings or knowing better than a loved one.
What that meant for Nico and his family? She didn’t even want to hazard a guess.
She video-called Toni and Katherine as soon as she got home from work that day.
“What’s up?” Toni looked exhausted.
“Did something violent happen about the vines?” Katherine said. “I had a microvision yesterday, but then it disappeared so abruptly I wasn’t sure I should say anything.”
“What was the vision?”
“A face being covered by dirt. It looked quite dead. The face, not the dirt.”
“Shit.” Well, that definitely meant the blood wasn’t just from an accident. “Uh, yeah. Drew came by this morning. They found the truck that went to the winery, and when they got to the scene, there was a bunch of blood.”
“I’ll write down all the details I can remember about the vision,” Katherine said. “See if I can narrow down where the man might have been buried.”