Homicide and a Happy New Year by Ellie McDougan

Author:Ellie McDougan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery, Cozy Mysteries, Cozy Mysteries Cat, Cozy Mysteries Holiday, Cozy Mysteries Christmas, Cozy Mysteries ebooks
Publisher: Cherryville Titles
Published: 2022-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“And that one?” said the woman in activewear, her overpriced sunglasses propped on the top of her head. “How expensive is that one?”

She was one of the many tourists who were passing through the wine region on their way to the ski slopes, and she was pointing at a bottle of wine on the shelf behind Belle. Her companion stood next to her looking bored.

“It’s about two hundred dollars a bottle,” said Belle, who by now had learned a lot about the Buchen wines that had been such a mystery before, “It’s a good wine but that’s not why we charge so much for it. It has a very small production. There were only a few bottles of that particular vintage produced that year.”

“Okay,” said the woman, “that makes perfect sense. Now, what about the bottles on special offer? How much are those?”

“Well, I don’t think anything is on special offer—”

“Never mind. I’ll take twelve bottles of that first one then,” said the woman. “I need them for my friends back home. They will go nuts when they see this.”

It never ceased to amaze Belle how much money people were willing to pay for wine. Belle rang in the order, noting down how many cases of each variety the woman wanted. “We can ship it to you if you like,” said Belle, “but it might be expensive as the freight costs will—”

“That’s fine,” said the woman, waving her credit card. “I don’t mind paying.”

“I want to see where the billionaire died,” said her companion, strolling up to the counter. He had a camera on his chest that he had removed from the bag, ready for some action. “I heard that he drank some bad wine. Is that true?”

“Who told you that?” asked Belle, trying to keep her voice level.

“Oh, you know, here and there. It’s all over the news. Read about it.” He waved his phone at her as evidence before putting it back in his pocket. “They say he drank bad wine here.”

“Oh no, babe!” exclaimed the woman. “Don’t say that. I just bought twelve bottles of it. Is it bad?”

Mr. Buchen suddenly appeared, smiling at his guests. “Oh, I wouldn’t believe everything you hear on the news. An unfortunate medical emergency, but one I’m sure will not be repeated.” He smiled in a way that Belle noticed was not as warm as usual.

He’s hiding his nerves well.

“I don’t know,” said the woman in the activewear. “If there is something wrong with the wine, then there’s a chance that I might get sick, too. I have allergies, you know.”

Mr. Buchen laughed heartily at this remark and then, lifting the most expensive bottle of wine from the shelf, poured three glasses. “Cheers!” he said, lifting one to his lips and taking a drink. “And here’s to a happy new year.”

The woman and her companion waited for Mr. Buchen to drink the wine before picking up the glasses themselves. When the owner of the winery didn’t fall down dead, they drank too.

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