Page 79 of A Vineyard for Two

‘Oh, has something happened?’

‘You tell me.’

He watched for a reaction, but she was giving nothing away. Her eyebrow raised, and she folded her arms in front of her. ‘What are you insinuating, Brookes?’

‘You came by Mathers Vineyard this morning.’

‘I drove past. Is that a crime?’

At least she wasn’t going to lie about that. ‘What do you know about Harper’s battery being pulled and her tires being slashed? Come to think of it, the night my tires were slashed, you were at the tavern, too.’

‘Get off my property, Brookes.’

‘So you don’t deny it?’

‘I don’t have to deny anything. I’ve no idea what you are talking about.’ She pushed the door to close it, but he put his hand out to keep it open.

‘You’re lying.’

There was something about her expression. She may not have been responsible for the damage directly, but she knew something.

‘Piss off, Brookes. I have better things to do with my time than worry about little miss perfect Harper. Now move before I call the police.’

He took a step back, still glaring at her. Had he been too harsh? Should he have first made polite conversation? It didn’t matter now because she was slamming the door in his face.

Brookes retreated to his car and drove the few kilometres to the police station. It was unlikely that Lisa would call the cops on him, but he wanted them to look into her. She’d been hanging around a lot lately and he thought it was just her interest in him, but now it seemed there was something else going on. Five minutes later, he pulled up at the station, hoping that either Constable Graves or Sergeant Norris was on duty. He was in luck, because just as he walked into the station, Constable Graves appeared behind the front counter.

He looked up. ‘How can I help you?’

‘Constable Graves,’ Brookes said.

‘It’s a bit early for an update, isn’t it?’

‘I might have one for you.’

‘Have you been doing a bit of your own sleuthing?’ he said, raising an eyebrow.

‘It could be nothing, and I hoped it was, but my gut is telling me different, and my gut is usually right. I think you need to look into Lisa. She did a drive-by by the Mathers Vineyard this morning. Sped off when she noticed me approaching. And she was at the tavern when my tyres got slashed.’

‘Being in the same place doesn’t make you a criminal, Brookes. You know that, as well as anybody.’

He swallowed back the words that were on his chest. Brookes didn’t need a reminder. He’d been a witness to a murder in town. Wrong place, wrong time. He’d been questioned, but eventually cleared. It had been traumatising at the time.

‘I went to confront her today, and she was hiding something.’

Constable Graves shook his head. ‘Brookes, you’re not a police officer.’

‘I just went up to ask a couple of friendly questions.’

‘And how did that end for you?’

‘She slammed the door in my face.’

‘Can you blame her? I’m sorry, but without any evidence, we don’t have any reason to question her. It’s Lisa, for crying out loud. What reason would she have to hurt, Ms McGregor?’

He couldn’t think of a valid one, but he’d noticed the jealousy in her tone as soon as Harper had come back into town. She’d been trying to get his attention for years, and maybe he’d paid her some occasionally. Lisa wasn’t in his future; he’d made that clear to her. His heart was with Harper, but she had never really accepted that. But was she capable of sabotaging Harper’s car? Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn’t realistic. If she wanted her out of town, why destroy her car? He was clutching at straws and looking like a fool while he was doing it.

‘We caught the two teenagers. They owed up to slashing tyres at the tavern,’ Constable Graves said. ‘We were going to give you a call later today.’