Uncertain Stakes (A Luca Mystery Book 9) by Dan Petrosini

Author:Dan Petrosini [Petrosini, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-One

Driving to our next appointment, I had mixed feelings about the Preschool for the Arts. The concept of focusing on the creative side of things made sense. It was prekindergarten, after all, and from everything I read, if you encouraged a child to be creative, they’d handle academics better as they aged.

What I didn’t like was the exclusive feel. It was a bit too snobbish for me. And the school’s facilities were located in a Jewish center. Like my feelings about the Presbyterian preschool, I wanted it nondenominational. If there was a religion attached to it, I wanted it to be Catholic.

The other thing was its cost. It was expensive.

Following Mary Ann north on Route 41, my phone rang. It was Bilotti.

“Hey, Doc, how’s it going?”

“Good, can you talk for a minute?”

“Sure. Actually, I’m on my way to see another preschool for Jessie. Boy, are we in the wrong business.”

“It was nothing like that when we raised our kids. We sent them to a couple of camps and play groups before they went to kindergarten.”

“I’d like to do that, but at this point we need Mary Ann to work.”

“I understand. Good luck with it.”

“Thanks. What’s up?”

“We just received the toxicology report on Wade.”

“Anything on it?”

“Nothing besides a blood level alcohol of oh point eight.”

“She was drunk.”

“Legally, for the purposes of operating a motor vehicle, she was. However, that doesn’t mean she was unable to function.”

“Watching the footage of her at the end of the night, she didn’t appear to be out of it.”

“Other than that, there was nothing of note.”

“Her nutritional values were all okay?”

“Yes, nothing outside of the normal ranges. I’ll forward a copy of the report for the murder book.”

“Okay, Doc. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure, Frank. Oh, I’m going to send you an email for a hot little winery in Paso Robles. You’re going to love their wines. They’re California Rhone Rangers. Get on their mailing list. They’re about to do another release.”

“Expensive?”

“Fifty to sixty dollars a bottle, but worth every penny.”

“That’s steep, but I can swing a bottle or two.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“Thanks.”

What Bilotti told me did nothing for the case. When was I going to get a break? I thought about her blood alcohol levels. The casino was all too willing to give its customers free drinks. They disguised it as a perk, but the reality was, they knew that drinking impaired your ability to reason and led to risky behavior.

We didn’t know what her history with drinking was. Could she handle her booze, and that was why she didn’t appear to be bombed? Or was it possible she had a drink or two after leaving the casino?

If so, the question was, with who and where?

I made a left onto Ninety-Fourth Street and parked next to Mary Ann. This school’s name was fun and different. I said to Mary Ann, “I get a kick out of the school’s name.”

“It’s cute. I’m glad you like it.”

Before I set foot in Little People’s School, in Naples, it had two things going for it.

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