Page 46 of Lost Cause
He nodded. “I don’t know where the time has gone, but yes, I’ve been in his employ for fifty-six years and three months to be exact.”
In a stance she thought Burke meant to keep things light, he leaned against the sideboard, crossing his legs at the ankle. “You must have loved the job if you left Paris to come to Oregon.”
“I enjoyed helping shape Victor’s future. It was almost as if I’d come from money, too, and was living my life through him. Kind of heady for a young man. But I hadn’t of course. What I did have was the premium salary his father paid me until he died several years after I moved here.” A small grin crossed his face. “Victor has been even more generous, both with me and Sylvia.” The grin evaporated. “If you expect me to say something negative about him, you’ve come to the wrong person.”
“My only expectation is for you to tell the truth.” A flicker of steel cut through Burke’s casual expression. “Tell us about Estelle. What kind of person was she?”
“A wonderful wife and mother. The staff liked working for her. She was social and always having parties. Just the opposite of Victor. He’s always been an introvert.”
“What do you think happened to her?” Abby asked.
“I’ve wondered about that from the day she disappeared.” His eyebrows drew together. “Like I said, she was well-liked, so I don’t think anyone would want to hurt her. And she loved running this mansion, hosting parties. Living in Oregon in general. So I can’t see her disappearing on her own. Which I guess leaves some stranger abducting her.” He shuddered.
Abby thought it was time to move on before he fell apart. “Do you own a gun or does Victor?”
“A gun?” Eyes wide, Ugo stared at her. “Why would you ask that?”
“We just need you to answer the question,” Burke said, his tone giving the guy no doubt he had to answer.
“Not me. I know Victor has an antique gun collection. He inherited it from his father, and it’s in a locked cabinet in hisbedroom. I’ve never seen him take them out. Besides, he would never shoot anyone, if that’s what you’re asking me.”
“Do you have a key to that cabinet?” Abby asked. “Would you know if a gun was missing?”
“I don’t have a key, and I’ve never seen the guns, so I wouldn’t know if they were all there.”
“You’ve been with the family long enough to have worked with Dominique,” Abby said. “Do you know how to contact her?”
“I don’t, but Sylvia might. The last and only address I had was the one I used to ship paintings to her parents’ house outside of Paris.”
“So shedidreceive the two paintings from the hallway?” Abby asked.
“I don’t know if she received them, just that I sent them. Another example of Victor’s generosity.”
“I understand you like the job and the money, but why continue working at your age? Why not retire?”
“And fill my days with what?” He shifted his gaze between them. “When you find a calling in life, there’s no reason to retire from it unless you can no longer perform the duties.”
“I don’t mean to cast aspersions on the job you’re doing as the estate manager,” Abby said. “But the property seems to be in great disrepair.”
“Not for lack of trying.” Ugo sighed. “I’ve wanted to get Victor to see the state of things and fix them. He’s in savings mode. Or so he claims. And he’s the one who fired Juan López, the gardener, in a fit of anger. After that, I couldn’t take care of it all, nor would Victor or Sylvia, so everything grew out of control.”
“Do you know why he was angry at Juan?” Burke asked.
“My guess is he simply values his privacy and doesn’t want repairmen around the property. I think he let the gardener go because of that, not finances. He has plenty of money and will never run out of it in his lifetime. Juan was hired by Estelleand lived in a caregiver’s house on the property. After she disappeared, Victor not only lost interest in the garden, but he didn’t want someone else living here.”
Abby didn’t understand it, but then she didn’t have the phobias Victor seemed to have. “Victor mentioned you broke the basement window, and he thought it’d been fixed.”
“I hit it with a ladder when I climbed up to stop a shutter from completely falling off the building. The window is on backorder. I told him that, but at our age we often forget things.”
She had no reason not to believe him. “Have you noticed anything unusual around here lately? Like people on the property who shouldn’t be. Things gone missing or even being moved in the house that didn’t make sense.”
“No. No. If I’d seen anyone other than our usual delivery service personnel, Victor would know about it. Why do you ask?”
“What about the cells in the basement?” Burke asked, thankfully changing the subject, so she didn’t have to sidestep what was going on. “Have you been down there lately?”
A flash of surprise lit in his eyes. “No one goes down there. Why would we? It’s a very depressing place that serves as a reminder of an equally depressing time in Oregon history. Imagine living without any real law enforcement and homeowners had to take the law into their own hands.”
Abby couldn’t even begin to imagine living among such lawlessness. Not when she liked things neat and tidy and according to plan. “Are you aware of any secret passages in the mansion?”
