Marriage, Merlot & Murder (Wine & Dine Mysteries Book 4) by Gemma Halliday

Author:Gemma Halliday [Halliday, Gemma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: 2020-01-27T18:30:00+00:00

* * *

After David and Ava both left the winery—not together, I was happy to see—I locked up and realized I was famished. And just a little buzzed. All I'd ingested since noon was a slice of quiche and two glasses of wine.

I ducked into the kitchen and checked the fridge for inspiration. Luckily, it looked like Conchita had been shopping recently, and I had my choice of several ingredients. I did an eeny meeny minie mo, and since I'd already had a low carb, if rich and comforty, kind of food day, I decided to stick with the theme and make Roasted Eggplant Mozzarella with Homemade Basil Marinara Sauce.

As I assembled the ingredients for the sauce and set them sautéing and simmering in a large pot, my mind wandered over everything we'd learned that day and the myriad of people who might have wanted Freddie dead. While Edward Somersby had originally topped my list (and not just because he still owed me money), I had to admit the more I learned about Freddie, the more people who had line-jumped him in that list.

Bridget McAllister, for one. The fact that witnesses had seen her sneaking away with Freddie to the crime scene just before Freddie was found dead was a definite red flag. She'd been jealous enough of Juliet to drag her girlfriends to Wine Country and crash Freddie's wedding. And we only had her word that she'd left him alive on my terrace…and not grabbed a champagne bottle in a fit of if-I-can't-have-you-no-one-can passion.

Of course, I reasoned as I moved on to slice my eggplant, Bridget hadn't been the only one to crash the wedding. Justin Hall had been there too, presumably uninvited and coincidentally just hours after punching Freddie in the face. Possibly over a forged painting? I had to admit, I was dying to know if that PI had inadvertently uncovered a link between the philandering groom and the violent artist.

Then again, the PI brought me squarely back to Edward Somersby, who had not only lied about his alibi but had also gone so far as to pay someone to investigate Freddie. Meredith Somersby had said Edward told her that the PI hadn't found anything. But I knew Edward wasn't above lying—he'd also told me he was with her the entire morning of the ceremony, which we knew to be false. If the PI had uncovered one of Freddie's secrets—like possibly being involved in art forgery or sleeping with Bridget McAllister—it could well have been the thing to push the protective father right over the edge. And of all my suspects, it was most likely that Edward could have transferred some of the feathers from Juliet's gown to the crime scene. I knew for a fact that he and his wife had visited her in the bride's suite to see her in her dress.

"Anyone home?"

I jumped, almost slicing my thumb along with the eggplant on my cutting board, at the sound of a voice accompanied by a knock at the back door.

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