Bianca moved the pillow to one side and picked up the glass with both hands, taking a long, deep drink.

“I don’t know how this is going to end,” she said, resting the glass on her lap, “but Scott didn’t do it. He didn’t kill Prescott. I know him. He just didn’t.”

“Do you have any idea who did?” I asked. “It had to be someone who knew their way around Hawthorne and was able to slip away from the party and find Prescott in his wine cellar.”

“Plenty of people know their way around Hawthorne,” she said. “It’s also possible someone came in through the door on that lower level so it might not have been a guest who was at the party. I was in the orangerie that morning to pick a couple of oranges off the trees we have out there. You ate them with your feijoada. The door was already unlocked, so I left it that way.”

“Who would use that entrance?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Anyone who wanted to be discreet or didn’t want to be seen. The staff. Victoria. She still sneaks a cigarette every now and then, though she promised Clay she was going to quit. She slips out and smokes there. You can smell it. And my sister-in-law. She was in and out on Saturday, too.”

Frankie frowned. “Your sister-in-law? You mean Alex?”

“No, not her. Celia. Celia Avery. Tommy’s wife … widow. She’s still very much part of the family after all these years. After Tommy was killed, Prescott named her CEO of the Miranda Foundation. She’s also on the board of directors of Avery Communications. Prescott thought of her as another daughter after they lost Miranda.”

Frankie’s face cleared. “I forgot about Celia.”

Bianca arched an eyebrow. “She’s organizing the Miranda Foundation gala in two weeks so she stops by all the time to talk to Prescott. The Goose Creek Inn is catering the dinner. I’ve seen Celia and your cousin, Lucie, together a couple of times in the orangerie making plans.”

“Was Celia at the party on Saturday?” I asked.

“Briefly,” Bianca said. “Prescott told her she was expected at the board meeting on Sunday. I overheard them arguing. There was a rumor he was planning to replace her as CEO of the Miranda Foundation. She must have found out. She sounded really angry, so she left, slamming doors. I heard her car speeding down the driveway right after that.”

“So she’s another person who was upset with Prescott,” Frankie said. “Wouldn’t that make her a suspect as well?”

Bianca nodded. “Although she’s not the only one who argued with him just before the party. He and Clay had words. Prescott objected to him wanting to marry Victoria. Told him she was only after his money.” She paused and added, “Which she is.”

“You don’t like her, either?” I said. “Obviously.”