Page 85 of Enduring Caine
Leo’s jaw ticked again. It seemed to be even more difficult for him to be nice to me than vice versa. “He’s been busy preparing for our guest this afternoon.”
“Shouldn’t Henri be busy in the kitchen?”
“He’s getting something at the market.”
That wasn’t right. “Didn’t you ban all travel to and from the estate?”
Leo frowned, not that different from the look he’d been providing me with since he joined Antonio and me in the wine cellar. “The only exception is for special guests with…” He waved his hand toward Antonio. “Special surprises.”
Antonio’s head tilted. “Do you know what it is? Samantha and I have been here all week waiting for this big occasion. And no clue why.”
A hint of a smile ghosted over Leo’s lips. What was that about? “We should continue looking around. If this was Johann’s last known location, perhaps he was on an errand for Henri.”
If I mentioned how calm Henri had been when we found Johann, would that focus too much suspicion on him?
How far would Leo go with a suspect? I had to get more information first.
Thunder rumbled outside and the lights flickered.
Antonio asked, “Were the lights out in the entire estate earlier? Before you arrived in the wine cellar with us?”
Leo shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“The lights were out in the wine cellar,” I said. “I found the lever for the door, it opened, the cupboard fell, then the lights came on before you got there.”
“I turned them on with the switch.” Leo folded his arms, emphasizing the breadth of his chest and shoulders. He probably thought we’d had them out to fool around—although Antonio did suggest that, so maybe those suspicions were valid.
“Neither of us turned them off,” I said.
“Did you hear any movement before the cupboard fell?” asked Leo.
It was hard to tell. The tasting room had been mostly silent just before the door ground open. “All I could hear was thunder. It’s possible the sound of the door opening masked some—you think someone was in the hallway behind the secret door? Snuck in and shoved the cupboard over as a distraction?”
“You said it yourself,” said Leo with a frown. “The door is right next to where Johann was found. What if someone who knows about the door used it to sneak up on him or to sneak out after?”
Antonio ran a hand through his hair. He was frustrated, no doubt thinking the same thing I was—that if Leo’s theory were true and Antonio weren’t with me, whoever it was might not have settled for a distraction. “But how did they get the lights off? How did they get into the wine cellar or into the hidden staircase without being caught on camera?”
“There’s a switch for the lights on the other side of the door.” Leonardo’s gaze rose to the ceiling, to one of the cameras. “We should review the footage again. Maybe there’s something before or after Johann, or perhaps when you two were in the cellar?”
Vincenzo appeared outside the kitchen’s door, far enough away and at an angle to ensure I was the only one who could see him. He beckoned me to join him, but I gave a subtle shake of my head. Leonardo and Antonio continued speaking to each other, their words lost, while I focused on my silent conversation with Vin. He used his eyes and a sharp flick of his head to ask again.
Antonio’s arm shot into the air. His temper was flaring this time, and I’d missed why. “Have you not listened to anything Giovanni said? Don’t you care how much she’s helping?”
“Helping what?” Leo unfolded one arm to wave Antonio’s comments away. “All I see is a woman snooping around in business that’s none of her own.”
“Here!” Antonio pushed his hand into his pocket and withdrew something, thrusting it at Leonardo. “She found this.”
“When?” Leo snapped, studying it.
Shit! It was the scrap of paper with the note. I glanced at Antonio, my irritation with Leo and this conversation hopefully masking my irritation with my boyfriend for handing it over without discussing it with me. “This morning.”
Leo’s eyes bored into me. “Where?”
“Next to where Johann was,” I said.
Vincenzo appeared in my line of sight again, waving with a hand.
“Not possible,” Leonardo said slowly, tucking it into his pocket. “We went over every inch of that room last night and laid down a fresh layer of sand.”