Chapter Eight
Eve had Uma go over the movements and timing again, then asked her to send Tyler in.
He sat stiffly, and worry covered him like his dark suit.
“Tell me about your relationship with Henry Barrister.”
“He was my employer, and provided a very pleasant work atmosphere.”
When Eve said nothing, Tyler cleared his throat.
“I liked and respected him, and believe that was mutual. He enjoyed backgammon, and would invite me to play on occasion. In fact, he left me his set, his prized backgammon set, an Asian antique of jade and bone, along with the more usual one we often played on.”
“You must have had conversations.”
“We did, of course. On some of those occasions he would share his concerns and opinions with me.”
“What sort of concerns and opinions?”
“A wealthy man’s, Lieutenant. The market, politics, business. He might speak of whatever woman or women he had an interest in.”
“But never about the vault or its contents?”
“No, never. But…”
“But?”
“The current situation has caused me to think back, to try to, I suppose, reinterpret some of those conversations. He did admire the finer things, Lieutenant, and owned many. Art, of course, jewelry. He would say—I’ve thought about this in depth since this morning.
He would say a man’s possessions prove his worth.
What he can obtain and hold lift him above those who can only admire. ”
Tyler’s eyes clouded as he looked away. “I was very fond of him, Lieutenant, and it’s very distressing to realize not just what he’d done but that he measured his own worth by what he hid in that vault.
He’d built a business that spans the globe, he had two children, two lovely granddaughters.
He sat with presidents and kings, but he measured himself by what he’d taken from others. It breaks my heart.”
She ran him through the rest, including some nudges on his personal life. Then decided to take the cook in her own domain. The kitchen.
“We should be on our way in about five minutes. Ten at the most,” Morbelli told her.
“I’ve got one more interview. The story’s going to break within the hour.” Less, Eve thought. “Let whoever needs to know on your end know.”
She walked to the kitchen, where Roarke sat comfortably at the island as the cook took a tray of cookies out of an oven.
The smell convinced Eve that heaven was a bakery.
“Sit down right there,” Divine told her. “I’ll get you some coffee to go with these. The girls favor these, and I hope they’ll help a little.”
“Ms. Fortigue.”
“When someone’s given the name Divine, why wouldn’t she like to be called by it?”
She slid another baking tray in the oven.
“Last batch,” she said as she went to get the coffee.
“I like watching the crime shows—the real ones and the made-up ones. I think I know what you’re going to ask me.
You’ll want me to go over this horrible morning again to make sure it all lines up.
And you’ll wonder how I could’ve worked here all these years and not known Mr. Henry’s secret.
Who I might’ve told about it if I had known. ”
She put cookies on a plate, set it on the island. “You try one of these. You’ve had a long day, as we all have. I’m going to make beef bourguignon, as the family needs something hearty and filling. Is it all right if I start on that while we talk?”
“Yes, fine. Did Henry Barrister ever suggest you do more than cook for him?”
“Meaning warm his bed now and then? No, he didn’t, but then I was too old for his tastes when I came to work here. I was fond of Mr. Henry. He liked my cooking, and never failed to tell me. Whenever he had one of his fancy dinner parties, he always saw I had good help.”
She got out a big pot, poured some sort of oil in it.
“I was fond of him, but most of my time’s spent in the kitchen, or at the market, at the island here planning menus. He wasn’t one to sit where you are and have a chat.”
She got out bacon, began dicing it. “Mr. Nathan was, and so is Ms. Aileen, the girls. Now, I took Mr. Henry coffee or a snack or what have you into his office more than plenty of times. But he never said: ‘Look here, Divine,’ and opened up that wall.”
Because they were right there, Eve reached for a cookie. Took a bite.
Her entire system rolled over and begged for more.
“Oh, man.”
Divine shot out a smile before putting the bacon in the pot, giving it a stir. “It’s my magic power. It’s why I took this job after I lost my husband. Our kids were grown, and I didn’t want to live where we’d lived and face the loss every day. I made my home here.”
She took out a slab of meat, began to cube it with a knife that looked deadly.
“Mr. Barrister senior had begun to slow down. Maybe wasn’t as sharp as he had been.”
“That’s true.” Divine took the tray of cookies from the oven, set them aside, gave the pot another stir, then returned to her cubing. As if they were all dance steps in a well-choreographed routine.
“He’d forget things, get annoyed with himself for it.
He said to me once, not long before he passed, that old age was life’s biggest and coldest bitch.
I think that’s why, at his age, he was still chasing women, and liked them young.
He feared death, I believe, but feared losing his … abilities even more.”
She got out a slotted spoon, took the bacon out of the pot and onto a plate. Then, to Eve’s puzzlement, began to dry the cubed meat with a towel.
“He wasn’t a fool, Lieutenant, Mr. Roarke, not even at the end. He knew a woman your age, or younger yet, looked past his age to his money, and what he could give them. But he got what he wanted, and had plenty of money to spare.”
“It seems to me that what was in that vault would be even more incentive.”
Lips pursed, Divine paused, nodded at Eve. “That hadn’t crossed my mind. I must be tired. I can’t tell you if he did such a thing, but I can see how you’d wonder if he might have.”
“Do you know any of the women he entertained, let’s say, over the last year or two?”
“Young, beautiful.” Divine lifted her hands.
“I’ll say the parade slowed a bit in the last year or so, but it still marched.
I never paid much attention. He had to tell someone, didn’t he?
I know he didn’t tell his children. But he had to tell someone or how would this murdering thief know?
If I had to guess, I’d guess a woman. Women were his weakness. ”
When Eve and Roarke walked out of the kitchen, Uma waited.
“Lieutenant, sir, they’ve just finished in the office. Can you tell me when I can clean it?”
“It’s been processed, and if all items in the vault have been removed, it’s clear. I can give you the names of some cleaning services that handle crime scenes.”
“Thank you, but I worked for Mr. Barrister. I work for his widow, for the family. This is my home, and tending to it my job. I’ll do the cleaning.”
“Would they want you to?” Roarke asked gently.
“Right now, his family can’t be worried about this. They’ve already had plenty, and there will be more to come. And they’ve had enough strangers in the house.”
Eve remembered seeing her friend Crack cleaning up blood after a murder. His place, his job.
“I’m going to ask you to look up the process, to protect yourself and the family.”
“I will.”
“You may want to prepare the family that Mr. Barrister’s death, and at least some of the circumstances, has leaked to the media. I’ll address some of that when I leave, so they need to be prepared.”
Uma closed her eyes briefly. “Yes, thank you. We’ve expected this.”
“I’m going to advise you to screen any incoming communication, at least until the family has released a statement.”
“I’ll speak to Ms. Carville and Ms. Barrister.”
“If you or any of the household remember anything else, have questions, contact me or Detective Peabody. At any time. Thanks for your cooperation.”
“Of course. I’ll see you out.”
When they stepped outside, Eve hissed out a breath. “Nadine’s at the gate.”
“Ah, so that’s what you’re addressing.”
“I have to let Whitney know the storm’s coming. Give me a couple minutes.”
“Why don’t I walk down to the gate, keep Nadine occupied until you’re ready.”
“Yeah, do that. Only take the car through so we can leave from there. I’ll walk. It’ll give me a little more time.”
After rolling some of the tension out of her shoulders, she took out her ’link. It signaled a text, one from Lowenbaum telling her they’d arrived at the secure location.
A little more tension drained.
Whitney picked up quickly.
“Commander, Lieutenant Lowenbaum advises that they’ve arrived at the museum.”
“Yes, I have that information.”
“Commander, Nathan Barrister’s murder has leaked. Nadine Furst is at the gates of the Barrister House. She arrived when SWAT and security and the armored truck were here.”
He let out a long exhale. “Well, hell. Not unexpected. Kyung is working with the victim’s sister on a statement from the family, but we won’t be able to head this off.”
“No, sir. I traded her holding off for a one-on-one after the truck was secure. How do you want me to handle this?”
Once through the gates, Roarke pulled over, parked. He walked to where Nadine was getting ready for on-air reporting in a suit the color of port wine. He gave the woman holding the camera a quick smile.
“Just you and your camera then. How’s Jake?”
“Enjoying a quiet Saturday.”
“Ah, well.”
“So, you’re standing in for Peabody?”
“She put in a long night. The lieutenant sent her off.”
“Any chance you’ll go on record, on camera?”
“Not a one.” He said it cheerfully, gave her shoulder a light pat. “I know your patience here is appreciated.”
Nadine looked past him to where Eve started her walk to the gates. “That’s great, but in my line, patience isn’t its own reward.”
Eve opened the gates, strode through. They closed quietly behind her.
“That was a little longer than twenty.”
“Couldn’t be helped.”
“Full disclosure. We got roll of the truck and security leaving the residence.”