Chapter 12
Abby held out her newly acquired shield and introduced herself and Burke to the couple. They didn’t reply with names, so Abby took a stab at their identity. “Sylvia Bass and Ugo Morell, we need you to come with us to answer a few questions.”
Ugo backed up, but Sylvia pointed her chin at them. “Tell us now before we agree to anything. Is Victor hurt?”
“He’s fine,” Abby said.
Sylvia studied Abby, her gaze wary. “You wouldn’t be lying just to get me up there and grill me for answers?”
“I’m not lying, and I don’t plan to grill you for anything.” Abby smiled, hoping to disarm the older woman’s suspicions. “So let’s do this the easy way and head up to the mansion without any fuss.”
Sylvia continued to stare at Abby, deep brown eyes tight and distrustful. Thankfully, Abby had been able to flash a shield at them, or they might not have taken her authority seriously.
Sylvia shifted the canvas grocery bags in her hands. “Badge or no badge, you can’t arrest us. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Following her lead, Ugo raised his goatee-covered chin. “We don’t even know why the police are here.”
Burke eased closer, his presence intimidating. “We’ll be glad to explain all of it inside.”
“Come on, people.” A chunky dock hand left the gate controls and stormed over to them. “Make up your mind. You coming or going? Captain’s getting mad. He has a timetable to keep, and I need to cast off.”
“They’ll be staying on the island.” Burke moved behind them as if he intended to herd them like cattle up the stairway.
Neither of them budged an inch.
Abby rarely lost her patience, but she was coming close with this couple. “You can answer our questions now or we’ll stay on the ferry and escort you to an interrogation room in town for questioning.”
Sylvia gritted her teeth. “Fine. We’ll accompany you, but under protest.”
“Noted,” Abby said. “Can I help carry your bags?”
She huffed and started ahead, her steps urgent now as if she wanted to get this over with. Ugo trailed her, but his feet shuffled over the wooden planks, and he fell behind. Both of them seemed beyond retirement age and still working. Why? One of the questions Abby intended to pose.
Perhaps they were hoping when Victor passed away they would receive something in his will. She knew such hopes wouldn’t come true. Victor hadn’t left a single thing to them. She wasn’t really surprised. Not with his aristocratic air, where he thought domestics were beneath him.
At the crime scene tape, they stopped to record their names on the duty officer’s entry log, then started upward toward the mansion. Sylvia continued to move quickly, her groceries swinging at each tread. But Ugo, latching on to the handrail, climbed with extreme effort.
Abby glanced back at Burke and signaled her plan to stop Sylvia from entering the mansion ahead of them. She rushed up the steps and brushed past her. Opening the door, she blocked the older woman. “Do any of your groceries require refrigeration?”
Sylvia shook her head. “Victor gets those items delivered from the grocery store. I go to the local farmers’ market and bring him fresh fruit and vegetables along with my home-baked bread.”
“That’s a very kind thing to do.”
“We’re family.” Her tone had softened, and a fondness for Victor lingered on her face. “We take care of each other.”
Would that make her unwilling to answer questions that may put Victor in a bad light? They would have to tread carefully when questioning her.
“Since you don’t need to access the kitchen, I’d like you to take a seat in the hallway while we talk to Ugo.”
“I don’t have time to waste sitting around. I have work to do.”
“I’m sorry. The entire mansion has been designated as a crime scene, and there will be no work here until we release the scene.”
Sylvia’s expression turned hard and rigid, but she nodded her understanding.
Abby moved back to let her enter, and she stormed inside.
The men reached the top of the steps, Ugo was huffing and puffing.
Abby gave him a smile. “Have a seat next to Sylvia for a moment.”
He cocked his head, but didn’t argue, probably because he was too tired from climbing the steep stairway and needed to sit down.
He looked at Sylvia. “Why are you just sitting here instead of putting the produce away?”
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Abby and Burke. “Ask them.”
“We can’t have the crime scene disturbed until all evidence is recovered,” Burke said.
Ugo shook his head. “I do not know the crime you speak of, but I do not like this.”
“I’ll tell Sam they’re here.” Burke headed to the library.
Abby faced the couple on the bench. “We’ll be collecting fingerprints from around the house. Our forensic tech will scan your prints so we know which recovered prints belong to you.”
“And if we don’t want our fingerprints taken?” Sylvia asked.
“I’m afraid it’s not optional, and we can get a warrant for them, but then we’ll have to take you to the station and take them there.”
“Just let them do it, Sylvia,” Ugo grumbled.
“Fine,” she said, but the deep sigh she let out proved she still wasn’t happy about it.
Holding her portable scanner, Sam returned with Burke and knelt in front of Ugo. She gave him a big smile. “This will be painless and won’t take long. I promise.”
He held out his hand, and when it came to Sylvia’s turn, she did as well.
Sam stood. “Thank you both for cooperating.”
“Not like we had a choice,” Sylvia muttered under her breath.
Ignoring the comment, Sam mouthed “good luck” to Abby on her way back to the library.
Abby turned to Burke. “I’ll wait here with Sylvia if you’ll send Gabe out to sit with her.”
Burke gestured for Ugo to follow him to the dining room. “After you.”
Gabe soon strode through the foyer looking all ‘let’s do this’ as usual. If he approached Sylvia this way, they would soon be feuding.
“Stay put, Sylvia.” She met Gabe where they could talk out of the woman’s hearing. Still, Abby lowered her voice for good measure. “You need to tread lightly with this one. No sarcasm. No humor. She’s feisty and distrustful. I don’t want her all wound up by the time we question her.”
He winced. “So, back to watching paint dry then.”
“I really appreciate you taking on these menial tasks.”
“Hey, we gotta do our part to keep the business going, right?” He squeezed her arm. “Now go charm the pants off Ugo. Or maybe make sure he keeps his pants on, but you know what I mean.”
She rolled her eyes, something she did frequently around this guy, but her heart was filled with love for her teammate. For all of her teammates.
In the dining room, she found Ugo seated on the side of the table facing the fireplace. Burke poured a glass of water from a crystal pitcher and placed it in front of the older man.
“So tell us how long you’ve worked for Victor.” Burke talked as he would to a friend, keeping things light to not spook the jittery guy more.
Ugo wrapped trembling hands around the water glass.
“Victor was just turning twenty-one. His father, Valentino Lemoine, was disappointed in the way his son presented himself to the world, so he hired me to improve his grooming habits. I made sure he was dressed impeccably every time he went out in public. I was only a few years older, so we had a unique employee/employer relationship.”
Abby slipped into a chair across from Ugo. “So you worked for him for over fifty years, then?”
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 his bedroom. 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.”