Crush - Alan Jacobson [104]
“Yes, just shocking,” Vail repeated as she reached for a breadstick and more cheese. Got news for you, Crystal. If you find that shocking, I wonder what you’ll think when you find out what really happened to her.
Dixon sighed. “It was tragic. But with Victoria . . . deceased . . . who’s taking her place as incoming president?”
“Well, it’s all spelled out in our bylaws. Victoria was our VP of Administration—she handled administrative matters the board had to deal with, took minutes, distributed proxies, liaised with the VP of Budget and Finance to ensure we had our statements each meeting, that sort of thing. The Admin VP was next in line for president on a three-year rotation. If the Admin VP isn’t able to carry out those duties, it falls to the Marketing VP. And that’s Alec Crawford.”
“Can we get a copy of your bylaws?”
“I’ll have them emailed over to you, if you’d like.”
“That’d be fine.” Dixon dug out a business card and handed it across the desk to Crystal. “And a list of all the names of the board members, too, with phone numbers and addresses.”
“We’ve got a phone tree I can send you.”
“And a copy of your board’s minutes for the past twelve months.”
Crystal tilted her head. “Now that might be a problem. Our minutes are not public record. There are proprietary secrets discussed at these meetings. And I’m not at liberty to release that information.”
“Well I’m at liberty to get it,” Dixon said. “I’ll have a subpoena issued if you think it’s necessary.”
Crystal leaned back in her chair. “I’m afraid it will be necessary.”
Vail had polished off half the tray. Only the fruit was left—and she was already feeling more lucid. “We’re not trying to be difficult. It’s just information we think may be useful.”
“Useful in what?” Crystal asked. “Is this about Victoria?”
“We’re not at liberty to say.” Vail winced. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be a wiseass.” At least, not right now. “But this is a sensitive investigation and we can’t say what it is that we’re investigating.” Sure sounds like bullshit doubletalk to me, but what the hell, sometimes witnesses buy it.
“Do I need my attorney? Or the board’s attorney?” Crystal asked.
Dixon crossed one leg over the other. “Not unless you or your board has done something wrong. And we have no indication of that, if that makes you feel more comfortable.”
“We’re having some difficulties with our investigation,” Vail added. “It’s got nothing to do with Wedded Bliss or the Georges Valley AVA—but we’re doing our due diligence in trying to cover all the bases.”
“You’re fishing,” Crystal said.
Dixon shrugged. “Kind of.”
“I’ll see what I can do about releasing the minutes to you. I have to contact the executive committee.”
“We appreciate it.” Dixon looked down at the file. “Meanwhile, can you tell us what the abbreviation ‘SMB’ might stand for?”
Crystal held out her hands. “In what context? Sounds like someone’s initials.”
Vail didn’t want to disclose they had Victoria’s notes, and she hoped Dixon was on the same page. “Let’s just say we came across it in our investigation. Something from January.”
Crystal nodded animatedly. “Ah, then that would be Superior Mobile Bottling.”
“Do you or any of the other bottlers who are members of your board use Superior?” Vail asked.
Crystal smiled. “Well, the way our AVA works is a little unusual. Our members pool their purchasing power. Wine making is a business like any other. Our goal is to make money while turning out a quality product. All businesses do well to carefully monitor their expenses. The more they pay out—”
“Thanks for the business lesson,” Dixon said. “But the point is—”
“The point is that the more we order of something, the better our prices. We use the AVA as a means of keeping our bottling expenses low. So we contract with Superior to do the bottling for all our member wineries. And as a result, we get rock bottom pricing.”
“You all use the same bottler?”
Crystal bobbed her head. “For the most part. There are a few who’ve had bottling facilities for years, so they