Page 27 of Lost Cause
Victor’s shoulders relaxed a notch. “Then go ahead. I’ll do what I have to do to locate the artifact.”
“You can stop calling it an artifact in this room,” Burke said. “We all know it’s a crown.”
“But I thought—” Victor shot an irritated look at Gabe, then back at Abby. “I thought you weren’t going to share this information with others.”
“Remember, I said I would share with my team, and Gabe’s a team member.”
“Fine. But I better not find out you’ve told other people. Like that forensic tech out there. She doesn’t need to know what’s missing.”
“Actually, she does. Having as much information as possible allows her to do her very best. Except for my team, I haven’t told anyone else, and everyone knows to keep it quiet.”
“Ditto for me,” Burke said. “The sheriff’s in the know, but he’ll be discreet.”
Abby told him about the dealer Nolan had located. “I’d like your permission to share a picture of the crown with this dealer.”
“No. No! Absolutely not! He’s just the kind of person who would spread the information like wildfire.”
“But I?—”
“I said no. Now leave it alone.” That patronizing expression she was getting tired of seeing was back as he folded his arms.
Pushing further right now would be a mistake. She could lose him as a client, and she couldn’t let that happen. “Last night we discovered the fireplace grate in your office was warm to the touch. A fire had burned there shortly before we arrived in the room.”
His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t build a fire in there yesterday. In fact, I haven’t lit one since Sylvia cleaned it last. Tuesday is her regular cleaning day.”
Based on the state of the place, Abby had no idea what the woman cleaned, but she wasn’t about to ask and further irritate him.
“There’s no question someone set a fire in there.” Burke’s tone had grown a bit more forceful. “And the ash residue seems to be from paper, not wood.”
Victor lifted his chin. “What exactly are you saying?”
Burke sat forward. “Perhaps you remembered documents you didn’t want anyone to see and decided to burn them while we were checking the door locks.”
“Preposterous!” Victor slammed his hands on the arms of his chair. “I don’t have anything to hide. As you said, I’m the victim. Why would I hide something?”
“Let me speak candidly,” Burke said. “We both get the feeling you aren’t telling us everything you know about the missing crown.”
He glanced between her and Burke, then lifted his chin. “I don’t know why you would think that. Like I said, I have nothing to hide.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about the hidden compartment in the floor in front of your fireplace?” Burke asked.
Victor’s eyes widened. “Compartment? What are you talking about?”
His sincere expression led Abby to believe him, but she continued to watch him for any deception. “A hidden hole in the floor by the fireplace. If you didn’t know about it, who could’ve installed it?”
He shrugged. “Any of my relatives who owned the house before me. Their families.”
“What about your housekeeper or estate manager?” Gabe asked.
Victor tapped his chin with a gnarled finger. “I suppose it could’ve been possible when I used to leave home, but since I’ve been a homebody? No. No. The noise would’ve alerted me. Besides, what reason might they have to install such a thing?”
“A question we’ll ask when we interview them.” Burke glanced at his phone for a long moment, then looked at Victor again. “One of the doors we were checking took us down to your basement. The one with prison cells.”
Victor’s lips pursed. “I was as shocked by them as you are, but they were installed when the house was built. Rumor has it my great-grandfather kept indentured servants down there, but I’ve never found anything to confirm such a rumor. Regardless, I know they weren’t used by my grandfather or father, and of course I don’t use them. I haven’t gone down there since the day I moved in and my father took me on a tour.”
Burke arched an eyebrow. “Then why did we find a 1992 penny and a Tylenol packet there?”
Victor tilted his head. “Now that’s a most interesting question. Like I said, I’ve only been down there once, and that was back in the eighties.”
