A sobering thought. I needed to get a sprinkler system installed in every building, and someone should teach Nolan how to shoot properly.
We all looked at him, and he shrank back into his seat. “I swear I haven’t gone around upsetting anyone. Not on purpose.”
“Okay, I do have one more question,” Ari said. “Your website says there’s an old gold mine on the property—what are the chances of there being any gold left?”
Huh.
That…that was a possibility I hadn’t even considered.
And neither had Nolan, judging by his surprised expression.
“The gold is gone. It has to be. The mine was abandoned a hundred years ago, and this whole place was a ghost town until folks realised the soil was good for growing grapes. I used to pan for gold in the stream with Grandpa when I was a kid, but we never found more than a few flakes. They’re in a box in the study.”
“I don’t know much about mining, but I imagine technology has improved in the past hundred years. Maybe someone thinks they can find more gold?”
“Antonella Cranston has a minor in geology,” I said. “When she lived in New York, she worked as a commodities trader. I assume that was how she met Everett.”
Nolan sighed. “Is there anyone around here you haven’t researched?”
“It’s literally listed on her résumé. That’s practically public information.”
“The Cranstons have only been as far as the tasting room. And when they offered to buy part of the land, they weren’t interested in the caves or the winery. The opposite, in fact—Everett said they hoped that with more investment, I’d be able to expand the winemaking operation.”
“Has anyone spent time in the mine lately?” Ari asked.
“Well, Marielle. There’s an underground tasting room, and she decorated it. There was another decorator before her, but Wanda wasn’t tall or slender, so I guess we can rule her out.”
“How tall? She could have dieted.”
“Five feet two, at a guess. Plus there was a team of contractors who made the mine structurally safe when I moved in—they installed extra roof supports, lighting, that kind of thing.”
“I’ll need the name of the company. Is it based close by?”
“In Elk Grove.” Nolan’s eyes widened as he remembered something. “You know who recommended them? Roy Leland. We were friendly when I first came here, before my wine started beating his for awards. I bought some of his old equipment.”
“The destemmer?” Ari guessed.
“Uh, yeah.”
Well, damn.
“And they also made an offer on the place.”
“Including the gold mine?”
“All of it. Property prices had crashed in those days, but even then, they were lowballing, so I turned them down. They haven’t mentioned it since.”
Ari added another asterisk beside Margaret’s name.
And I had a whole new bunch of stuff to snoop through.
CHAPTER 37
NOLAN
“You should get some sleep,” Nolan said to Alexa.
André, a snappily dressed Black man who wore silver shoes with his hair coloured to match, had shown up right after the meeting this morning and greeted Alexa with a, “Daaaaahling,” his arms thrown wide.
