That’s not a coincidence.”
“No,” I agreed. “Shifts the investigation. Maybe he really was onto something with Katrina Dent.”
“My thoughts, too,” Zac said. “How the hell does an old suicide case of a Hollywood starlet fit into this?”
“We’ve got another body,” a uniform said from the door.
Julia moved, and we followed her. Zac caught my eye. Apartment ten was Emily Duncan’s apartment, Frank’s friend.
Her apartment was across the hall from his, so it had some fire damage, definitely would have gotten smoke. Her body was face down in the living room. It looked like the smoke got to her.
As soon as Julia looked up at us, we knew. “Her neck was broken.”
Shit. There was no longer any question that the deaths now were related to Katrina Dent.
There was one person on our list who had known Katrina. We needed to talk to him. Looking at Zac, I knew he was thinking what I was. “We need to pay Milton Teller a visit.”
Later that afternoon, we were pulling into the Chadds Ford police station. It was a courtesy, since we weren’t on our turf. Captain Jamison was waiting for us.
“How was the drive?” he asked.
“Long,” Zac said.
That earned a chuckle from the captain, but then he sobered. “You’ve got three bodies.”
“Yeah, and, somehow, one of Milton’s former client’s death is related.”
Captain Jamison didn’t hide his interest, and on purely an investigative standpoint, the case was fascinating. “I’m curious how this plays out.”
“We’ll keep you posted,” Zac offered.
“Did some recon. Milton is at his winery.” Jamison handed Zac a post-it. “That’s the address. If he’s not there, call me. We’ll find him,” Jamison offered. “He’s a good guy. Decent. A little scattered, but he makes a hell of a Cabernet, well, at least according to my wife.”
The drive to the vineyard was beautiful, lots of open land and stone farmhouses. The entrance to the vineyard was understated, two stone columns and Teller Vineyard over it in metal. The driveway was long and then opened to grapevines, for as far as the eye could see. There was a huge stone house to the right and a large building for the winery to the left. We parked and climbed from the car.
Zac looked around. “Nice place.”
He wasn’t wrong. Two golden retrievers greeted us when we entered the winery. I’d never been to a winery before. There was a long bar and some tables, the tasting center, based on the woman who was pouring wine into little cups and talking to a few guests. Her attention turned to us, when the guests started sampling the pale, wheat colored wine she’d just poured.
“Can I help you?”
“We’re looking for Milton Teller,” Zac said.
“Is he expecting you?” she asked.
We flashed our badges. “It won’t take long.”
Her eyes went wide before she glanced at the guests. My guess, she didn’t want to bring any more attention to us when she disappeared in the back, returning a few minutes later. “This is Eddie. He’ll take you to Milton.”
We nodded then followed Eddie. I was fascinated. I liked wine but never saw how it was made. There were large stainless-steel canisters, rows of them, and tucked off to the side were stone rooms filled with barrels. We found Milton there, sampling wine right from a barrel. He glanced over at us. He knew who we were by the look in his eyes. He had just lost an employee. It wasn’t a leap that he’d be getting a visit.
“I’m Detective Ashton, and this is my partner, Detective Donahue. We have some questions.”
He handed his glass to Eddie. “Let’s walk,” he offered.
We stepped outside; the dogs joined us, as we strolled through the vines. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. Honestly, I was processing the news of Samantha’s death. I’ve…” He looked down and took a deep breath. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten news like that. Have you found her killer?”
“Not yet.”
“When will you release her body?”
“Not sure, but her parents are in the city.”
“Poor Tom and Grace. No parent should ever have to get such news. Anything I can do, please let me know.”
“Thank you. What can you tell us about Katrina Dent?” Zac asked.
Surprise moved over his expression. “Why do you want to know about Katrina?”
“We have reason to believe the cases are somehow linked,” I offered.
He looked how we felt. Incredulous. “Seems unlikely. Katrina died so long ago.”
“What do you remember about her death?” Zac asked.
“It was the first and only time I had a client die.”