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The harvesters arrive early the following day and remain throughout the week. The Chardonnay must be harvested immediately, or they’ll be ruined by the overwatering. As it is, the Pinot and Riesling vines are lost. The vineyard will have to be cleared, drained, resodded and replanted for the following season. Were it not for the Riesling that’s already been harvested, the first growing season for the estate would be an entirely unmitigated disaster.

I don’t hear anything from Robert Cartwright, but I’m sure there’s a reckoning coming should Robert turn out to be innocent of this crime. For the time being, the police are watching him closely, and he’ll have to play nice during the investigation. I hope that Luann is right and Robert is responsible, if for no other reason than that it would put an end to that portion of the drama, at least.

As it is, the successful harvest of the Riesling and the partial success of the Chardonnay is a very thin silver lining. The Bellamy family is falling apart. Perhaps it’s already fallen apart.

The presence of the harvesters is a somewhat brighter silver lining. With their employees present, and the emergency harvest occupying most of their energy, Julian and Victoria don’t have time to fight with each other or with the children. Julian is also able to remain at the house rather than leaving as he feared he would have to, so Sean and I are not the only buffer between Victoria and her grandchildren.

However, things between me and the children have soured. They obey my instructions well enough, but they don’t talk to me at all. Luann looks at me with hurt and Nathan with anger. It’s clear that both of them feel that I betrayed Luann.

Sean has some more success. He carefully avoids mention of the drama and asks general questions about their interests. He receives curt, one-word answers in reply, but it’s far better than nothing and better than what I get. He truly is a godsend. The children need anything right now to take their mind off of things, and since they won’t allow me to help with that, Sean has stepped up.

And that leaves me alone, ashamed, and miserable. I've struggled with families in the past, but I've never failed so utterly. Even in New Orleans, when I nearly lost two children in the peak of Mardi Gras, I still managed to keep things together better than I have here. It's going to be a very long winter.

That thought comes to me as I eat a toasted cheese sandwich and drink a cup of Earl Grey tea for lunch. I chuckle bitterly and remark to myself, “I won’t be here through winter. The Bellamys will be glad to be rid of me just as soon as Julian can take his children somewhere else.”

“That might be for the best, Mary.”

Sean’s voice startles me. I sigh heavily and agree, “Yes, you’re right. It still hurts, though.”

“I know,” he says gently. “You’ve had a good run. In spite of all the odds, you’ve left each family you’ve worked for better than when you arrived. This might have just been a little beyond even you.”

I give him a morose look. “If you’re trying to comfort me, you’re doing a very poor job.”

He smiles sadly. “I know. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to make you feel better.”

“I had a very high opinion of you a moment ago,” I remark. “Please don’t force me to change it.”

He wisely keeps silent. I take a deep breath and offer him my perspective. It doesn’t really make me feel better, but it might inform his responses better.

“I understand that it’s not realistic of me to expect that I can fix every problem every family faces. What frustrates me is that I was left with no choice but to betray Luann’s confidence. What frustrates me even more is that I failed badly at investigating the sabotage taking place here.”

“I actually can say something about that which might help,” Sean says. “You were actually right to suspect Robert Cartwright’s involvement. You didn’t investigate the servants, but that was a procedural mistake which didn’t really matter in the end. Your instincts overcame that mistake and led you to the right answer anyway.”

“So you think it really was Robert Cartwright?”

“I don’t see who else it could be,” he replies. “I doubt it was Robert himself, but I could believe he paid someone. Not one of the household staff, though. They’re too loyal. I’ve gotten to know them a little over the past few days, and none of them would do anything to betray the Bellamys. I think I’ll take my investigation over to the employees.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re going to continue investigating? Now that the police are here?”

“Of course. I have more freedom to maneuver than the police do. They’ll be hamstrung by Robert’s legal team and prevented from investigating with any speed or efficiency. I don’t have to worry about that constraint.”

I nod. “That’s good. I think you can really help.”

I smile, but I feel a pang in my chest. It's selfish of me, and a little silly, but it hurts that I have to remove myself and let Sean handle the investigation. I think of this as "my" case, and knowing that I can't act on it anymore is painful.

But it is what it is. Perhaps now that there’s been some time, the children will be more receptive to my company. I finish my lunch and squeeze Sean’s hand. “I’ll check on the children.”

“I think you should. They’re mad at you, but they understand that they’re wrong to blame you. I think a good conversation between the three of you should help them mend a little.”

I smile a little more genuinely and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

Thus encouraged, I head upstairs to talk to the two of them. I won’t push for anything today. I’ll just see if I can take them outside for some fresh air. It’s a good place to start.

I go to Luann’s room first. Nathan is protective of his sister and won’t be willing to reconcile with me unless Luann is willing to mend our bridges.

The door is slightly ajar when I approach, and I hear Luann’s voice inside. I lift my hand to knock, but when I hear what she’s saying, I pause.

“What was I supposed to do, Kevin? I didn’t have a choice. People could have gotten hurt. I know it was an accident, but I didn’t think it was gonna be that bad. The police came here and everything. If someone had been outside… Kevin, did you hear me? The fucking police came! What should I have done?”

I lower my hand. Some instinct tells me that Luann might reveal something important about the case, something that could give everyone the answers we all need.

"Is your dad okay?" Luann asks. Apparently, she doesn't get the answer she was hoping for because I see through the crack of the door as she sits on the edge of the bed and wipes tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want anyone to get in trouble. I just didn't know what to do."

She sniffles and wipes more tears from her eyes. “What did you tell them?” She nods, then adds, “Okay. Yeah, that’s what I said too. I didn’t say anything more specific. If we want the police to believe it, we have to be vague.”

My eyes widen. The hunch I feel strengthens considerably and brings with it a new thought. Luann and Kevin are lying. Robert Cartwright isn’t responsible for the sabotage on the vineyard.

That might not be true. God knows I don’t want to believe it’s true. It’s possible that they’re concerned that the police won’t believe the truth, but her second comment, about being vague…

But I can’t believe that Luann could be behind this. I don’t know Kevin well, but Luann? Sabotaging her own grandmother’s vineyard? Jeopardizing her father’s business? It’s too much for me to accept.

That doesn’t mean it’s not the truth, though.

“Well, nothing’s going to happen to him, right? I mean, he has an alibi, doesn’t he? And he has a really good lawyer. He’ll be fine.”

Something Kevin says frightens Luann. She pales and jumps off of her bed. “No, Kevin, don’t do that! We’ll be in real trouble! Like jail trouble! Maybe, but do you want to take that risk? It’s not just my family who lives here. The servants are here, and the new tutor is a prissy goody-two-shoes. She would think she’s morally obligated to tell on us.”

I gasp. She’s all but admitted now that she and Kevin are responsible for the sabotage.

That gasp is a mistake. Her eyes whip toward the door, and a moment later, she says, “Oh, shit. Kevin, I gotta go.”

I nearly turn and flee, but that won’t change anything, and besides, I want to talk to Luann and see if my suspicions are correct. If they are, then I’ll have a very important decision to make.

Luann whips the door open and blanches when she sees me. Her lower lip trembles. “Mary? What do you want?”

I’m surprised to find my voice steady when I reply, “The truth, Luann. All of it. Now.”

She stares for a long moment without saying anything. When she does answer, her voice is calm, but her eyes are still wide with fright. “No. The truth about anything having to do with me or my family is none of your business. You’re not my aunt. You’re my tutor. You’re a servant . You don’t have a right to talk to me like this.”

I give her a stern look. "My dear, you're not going to insult or intimidate me into refraining from investigating an action that could have killed people."

“And you’re not going to intimidate me into telling you things that are none of your business,” she snaps back. Her anger has overridden her fear again. “You’re. A. Servant . Get over it. If you want to give me a pop quiz on my math homework, go right ahead. That’s as much a part of my life as you get to be. In fact, it’s Saturday now. You don’t get to talk to me at all until Monday. So goodbye.”

She slams the door in my face. I remain where I am for a moment, but I decide not to knock on her door again. She’s not going to give me an answer.

And once more, I’m at a loss. If I tell anyone what I overheard, she’ll deny it. The police are already investigating, and I’m sure that Julian and Victoria aren’t interested in any of my nosiness or speculations right now.

I can tell Sean. That’s what I’ll do. He can investigate them, and if he finds an answer, he can pass that along to the people who need to hear it. It hurts to once more remove myself from active participation in this mystery, but my ego isn’t important right now. I need to put a stop to the danger, and if turning control of this to someone else is the way to do that, so be it.