Page 51 of Lost Cause
“In all these years, you must’ve cleaned his room many times. Never been tempted to take a peek at it?”
“Why?” She lifted her chin. “I saw everything when Estelle wore the different pieces to social events. No need to look. Besides, you may think of me as a lowly housekeeper, but I do know how to respect my employer’s privacy. If Victor wanted to share them with me, he would have.”
With such force behind her words, Burke believed her. “Do you know if the detective who investigated Estelle’s disappearance asked to see the jewelry?”
She nodded. “Victor mentioned the police inventoried everything she’d left behind.”
Maybe the information was in the report he’d requested, and Ryder would get the staff to move quickly on finding it. “We know about the recent break-ins and vandalism on the island. Have you experienced anything here?”
“Thankfully, no, but I’m surprised. The house looks abandoned. Maybe we’ve escaped any problems because weconvinced Victor to put lights on timers in the office and library. They go on and off at night and make the place look occupied.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Burke said. “I don’t suppose you installed security cameras.”
“We wanted to, but Victor thought they would spy on him. Not true, but he doesn’t understand how it works.”
Burke finally got to the point. “So you don’t know of anything that’s been stolen here?”
Her expression went cold, and she sat forward, intertwining her hands and resting them on the table. “No. Nothing. If this is what your investigation is about, and if you think Ugo or I had anything to do with it, you’re wrong and wasting time. Now, if you’re not going to charge me with anything, I’m done talking to you.”
She stood and challenged him with a narrow gaze. “I have work to do, and I need to get to it.”
Burke got up. “As Deputy Day told you, there’ll be no work here until the forensics are processed and I’m satisfied we’ve recovered everything we need for our investigation.”
“But I… but what will Victor do if we’re not here to support him?”
“We’ll make sure he’s taken care of until we’re finished with the investigation. Maybe even find him other accommodations.”
“Hah. Shows what you know. There’s no way Victor will leave this house for any reason.”
Abby got to her feet. “Actually, he went to the bank with us today and did very well.”
Sylvia’s mouth fell open. “If he left this house for the first time after all these years, this must be far bigger than the theft of Estelle’s jewelry.”
If she only knew, but there was no way she’d hear about the crown from him.
“Please don’t try to come back here until we notify you it’s clear. A deputy will be on duty twenty-four/seven and will turn you away.” Burke picked up his notepad.
Sylvia crossed her arms. “I want to know where Victor is so I can make sure he’s okay.”
“Right now he’s taking a nap in his room, but I’m afraid it’s not possible to disclose any future plans.” Burke held out his pen and notepad to her. “Please write down your address and phone number so we can contact you. Stay in town. No sudden trips anywhere.”
She jerked the pen from his hand and wrote furiously. When she finished, she dropped the pad and pen and turned to leave. Burke picked up the notepad to make sure her writing was legible. It was. Barely.
She stormed out the door, and Burke looked at Abby. “I don’t know what to make of her. When she talks about Victor, she seems so sincere, but then her attitude about everything else is suspicious.”
Abby nodded. “She had full access to this place for over forty years. She would know it inside and out. While cleaning, she could very well have discovered the crown and kept the information to herself.”
“Yeah. Coupled with the possibility of having gotten the safe combination from Victor’s father, this currently puts her high up on my suspect list.”
Abby gave him a thumbs up. “Let’s catch up with my team to see what they’ve discovered, and I’ll ask Hayden to run background checks on both Sylvia and Ugo.”
“I was hoping you’d suggest that.” Burke looked out the door and watched Sylvia take furious strides toward Ugo. “There’s something not right about her. Hopefully, Hayden can tell us what it is, and if she is indeed our thief, we can arrest her.”
14
Abby wanted to call the team right away. First she escorted Sylvia and Ugo down to the dock to wait for the ferry. She didn’t trust either one of them to actually leave without an escort. Burke stayed in the dining room to call Sheriff Ryder and ask him to look up missing persons investigations occurring around Estelle’s disappearance. He also agreed to keep an eye on the journals to give Gabe a short break.
The ferry churned through the water, the motor rumbling as the vessel pulled up to the dock. The ferry staff jumped onto the dock and started tying ropes to large metal cleats.
