Bottle 6: A Cryptic Message

The group huddled around the broken champagne bottle on the coffee table in silence, their gazes fixed on the label Lori held. It was pasted on top of another label.

“Is this... normal?” Traci asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

“No,” Sara said, her tone firm. “Champagne labels don’t just have nothing written on them. This does not appear to be from a winery.”

“What does it mean?” Nina asked. She glanced uneasily around the room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

Lori shook her head. “I don’t know. But if someone switched the label or bottle, this wasn’t an accident. Jamie was murdered.”

Abby leaned forward, taking the cork from Lori’s hand to examine it. “Jamie would’ve noticed if the champagne wasn’t authentic. He was too meticulous for that. And what is 2001? Maybe that is a winery he loves?”

Eve scoffed. “He was meticulous about wine, for sure. Jesse did not pick this. Did one of y’all pick this?”

“Enough with the distractions theory,” Traci snapped.

Abby rubbed her temples, trying to think. “Let’s start again with what we know. Traci said the crate was already here when we arrived, right?”

“Yes,” Traci confirmed. “But I assumed Jamie had ordered them in advance. He’s done that before.”

“But this time, he didn’t mention it; not a peep.” Lori pointed out. “And we all agree that he wasn’t acting like himself.”

“Acting off doesn’t mean he didn’t order the bottles,” Eve argued.

“No, but it means we can’t rule anything out, including foul play” Abby said, her voice steady. “We need to look for clues. There must be something else.”

The group fanned out, searching through the kitchen and living room for anything that could explain the bottle’s origin. Nina rummaged through the recycling bin, while Traci rifled through the cabinets. Abby checked the delivery box the bottles had come in, hoping for a receipt or shipping label.

“I’ve got something,” Sara called out. She held up Jamie’s phone, the screen glowing faintly in the dim light. “You checked his messages Abby, but I checked his email history. Jamie placed an online order two weeks ago, but it wasn’t just for champagne. It was for red wine. An entire case of wine; 12 bottles in total.”

“What?” Lori frowned. “A case of wine? then why do we only see one champagne bottle here?”

“No idea,” Sara replied. “But Jamie didn’t order this 2001 bottle; someone else must have. These bottles are all high-end, name brand and quite pricey, Look!”

“Wow! $300 for this bottle?” Eve said, “Oh, and here is the La Cuvee cork one that we found on the floor in the kitchen.”

Sara continued, “Yeah, certainly nothing listed here says 2001, that’s for sure.”

Nina pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the bottom of the delivery box. “There’s something else written here,” she said, squinting at the smudged handwriting. She read aloud: “‘Enjoy the retreat. Hope they love their night of terror.’”

“That’s creepy,” Traci said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Who signed it?” Abby asked.

“No one,” Nina replied.

“That’s not helpful,” Eve muttered. “Why would someone send an anonymous note with a bottle of champagne?”

“To mess with him?” Traci said. “To throw him off? Maybe someone wanted him to be nervous.”

“Or maybe it’s connected to the other messages he got before we arrived,” Lori said.

Abby froze. “Messages? What other messages?”

Lori hesitated. “I didn’t want to say anything before, but I saw Jamie’s phone before we left the office. He had a text from someone with a blocked number. It said, ‘You know what you need to do, right?’”

“Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?” Traci demanded. “Why can no one tell the truth here?”

“Hmmmm” as Eve side-eyed Traci.

“Listen! One more comment and I will be committing a murder tonight.” Traci shot back a similar glare.

“I didn’t think it mattered!” Lori said. “I thought it was just work stuff; like a message from the hospital because no one knows that one of us isn’t there this weekend.”

“Yeah, that was so nice of Yuri to cover us but, yes, Lori, it all matters. This changes everything,” Abby said firmly. “The person who sent the text must be connected to the champagne.”

Sara frowned. “But why would someone go to all this trouble? Jamie didn’t have enemies—at least not that I knew of.”

“Maybe not enemies,” Traci said softly, “but he had secrets.”

As the group tried to process this new revelation, Jamie’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. “A signal!” Nina screamed. She grabbed it, her face paling as she read the screen.

“What is it?” Abby asked.

Nina turned the phone around so they could see. The message was simple but chilling:

“The job is done. I hope you are pleased.”

The room fell silent, the weight of the warning settling over them like a dark cloud.

Before anyone could react, the power suddenly went out, plunging the house into darkness. A loud thud echoed from somewhere upstairs, followed by the sound of shattering glass.

“Everyone stays together,” Abby whispered, her voice tight with fear. “We’re not alone.”

To be continued July 31st, 2025.