Chapter 13
Burke took a frustrated breath and blew it out after Sylvia’s latest response. He and Abby had fired questions at the woman for fifteen minutes, bringing up the same topics they’d asked Ugo, but she was even more difficult. Giving short, one-word answers if possible.
She’d been argumentative from the moment she’d arrived on the island, but now she barely cooperated. Not only was he certain Victor was hiding something, but Ugo and Sylvia seemed like they were as well. Perhaps the same “something,” and they were trying to protect their boss or each other.
“Look.” Sylvia crossed her arms. “If you’re trying to get me to say something negative about Victor, I’m just not going to do it.
He’s been very good to me over the years, and he’s a wonderful man.
Like family. Whatever you’re doing here, and whatever you think he might be involved in, I can assure you, he wouldn’t break the law. ”
“Let me clarify,” Burke said, trying to keep the irritation out of his tone. “If we find he’s done something illegal, and I’m not saying he has, and you’re willing to lie for him, you’ll go to prison for obstructing justice.”
Her arms dropped, and her face paled. “I’m not lying to you, so there should be no problem.”
Brave words, but she was skating on thin ice with Burke. “Tell us about your family.”
She arched a brow. “I’m not sure what they have to do with whatever is going on here.”
“Background helps fill in missing pieces. So humor me and tell us a little bit about them.”
She took a long breath. “I’ve been married for thirty-eight years and have one child. A daughter. She’s twenty-seven and still lives in Seaview Hollow. She’s a loan officer at the local bank.”
Bank? Was it a coincidence that she worked where Victor banked? She wouldn’t have access to his safety deposit box without his key. But could Sylvia have taken his key so her daughter could open it, then returned the key to Victor?
“How long has she worked there?” He made sure to sound interested but not suspicious.
“Let’s see.” Sylvia cocked her head. “She was hired right out of college. She was twenty-two when she graduated, so five years. She started as a teller and worked her way up to a loan officer. Now she’s in training to become the assistant manager. We’re very proud of her.”
“You should be,” Abby said. “Sounds like she’s determined to get ahead.”
“Takes after me, I guess.” Sylvia laughed.
So Sylvia saw herself as a go-getter. As a person who wanted to get ahead. Could such a plan involve stealing a crown? Certainly money from the sale would put her ahead in life.
“I suppose with a family, you’ve never spent the night here,” Burke said.
Her shoulders tensed. She was bothered by the question, but why?
She met Burke’s gaze head on. “Back in the day my husband and I lived here, but then we had our daughter and bought our own house. Since then, I’ve had no reason to stay overnight.”
He forced a smile to encourage her to talk. “I didn’t think you would have, but I’m sure in all these years your workday ran late and you missed the last ferry.”
“Yeah.” She visibly relaxed. “Happened to me and Ugo both, but Victor arranged water taxis to take us to the mainland.”
“When’s the last time it happened?” Abby asked.
Sylvia’s eyes tightened. “I don’t keep track of things like that, but I guess it was on Victor’s birthday in September. He asked me and Ugo to have dinner with him.”
“It’s kind of you to join him,” Abby said.
“Like I told you, he’s family to us. We’d help him any way we could.”
“What about Estelle?” Abby asked. “Tell us about her.”
Sadness washed over her. “She was an excellent employer. Didn’t treat the help like we were lower class. Asked us to do things instead of commanding it. And she had a great sense of humor, so we laughed a lot on the job.”
The same story Ugo gave. Not helpful at all, but Sylvia appeared to be telling the truth.
At least Burke bought into her story, and he was the king of suspicion. “We were surprised to find locked cells in the basement.”
Sylvia jerked back but quickly relaxed. “I thought that was odd too, but it made sense after Victor explained how law and order barely existed when this house was built.”
“Do you know if the cells were ever used?”
“He never mentioned it, and I never cared enough to ask. It’s super creepy down there. Why would I want to know more about it?”
“I agree it’s creepy,” Abby said. “But I’d want to know everything possible about a house I spent so many years working in.”
“Guess that’s the difference between you and me.” Sylvia leaned back and crossed her arms.
End of discussion, from her point of view anyway.
“What about firearms?” Burke asked. “Do you know if Victor owns any guns or do you carry one to work with you?”
Sylvia’s mouth dropped open. “Me? A gun? No. I’m deathly afraid of them. Victor inherited an antique collection, but I’ve never seen him even open the cabinet to look at them, much less use one.”
“So you wouldn’t have brought oil here to lubricate a gun?” Burke asked.
She shook her head, but didn’t speak as if she thought his questions were ridiculous.
Wouldn’t stop him. “Do you have a key to the gun cabinet?”
“No. I’ve never even seen the guns.” Her adamant tone seemed to confirm she was telling the truth.
Abby picked up her phone from the table and displayed the recovered locket. “Do you recognize this?”
She let out a slow breath and studied the screen, as if she was thankful the discussion had moved on, but why? What was she withholding?
She looked up. “The locket belonged to Estelle.”
“Belonged, as in the past tense and Estelle is no longer alive?” Abby asked.
Sylvia cocked her head. “We don’t know anything for sure, but even if no one else will say it, Victor’s the only one who believes she’s still alive.”
“What do you think happened to her?” Abby quickly asked.
Sylvia shrugged. “My guess is someone took her. Obviously not for ransom because there was never a demand for money, but perhaps for something else. She was a beautiful woman. Could’ve been reason enough for some guy to abduct her.”
“So you don’t think she left here on her own accord?”
Sylvia shook her head. “She was happy here. Loved her new life in Oregon. In France, she was just one of many wealthy women. Here, she was exotic and stood out. Made her the queen of the social scene. Plus, she loved Victor. So I just don’t see it happening.”
“Say she did leave on her own,” Burke said. “Do you think her former maid might have something to do with Estelle’s disappearance?”
“Dominique?” Sylvia’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think it’s likely. Especially after Victor had her investigated and they couldn’t locate her.”
“She could’ve gone into hiding with Estelle.”
“Nah. I don’t buy it. One thing I know about Estelle is she liked the finer things in life.
That takes money. If she left on her own accord, she would’ve found a way to take some of Victor’s money, but he said nothing was missing.
So, she would’ve had to get involved with a rich guy who was willing to lavish his money on her. ”
“Like a male suitor, you mean?”
Sylvia nodded. “But if she was secretly seeing someone who went away with her, no one else in the area was reported missing.”
Could be the man waited to leave and not draw attention to himself. In case Sylvia was incorrect, Burke would check other missing persons investigations.
“Back to the locket,” he said. “Do you know if she was wearing it the day she disappeared?”
“Not for certain, but she wore it every day, so it would’ve been odd if she didn’t have it on.”
“Have you seen the jewelry she left behind?”
“I didn’t have a reason to and wouldn’t have asked Victor to look at it anyway. The pain of losing Estelle has always been too raw for him, and I wouldn’t knowingly inflict more.”
This woman came across as strong and combative, but she really did have a soft spot in her heart for Victor. She really could be covering something up for him.
“What about a safe on the property?” he asked. “Does Victor keep these jewels in a secure area?”
“No. No safe. Well, if you don’t count the one in the library hallway. That ancient relic has been there forever.”
“But he doesn’t use it?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know why?”
“I’ve never asked him, but shortly after we moved here, I barged in on his father opening it. He told me it’d been installed when the house was built. He said the combination had been shared so many times over the years that nothing would be secure in it.”
Interesting. “Victor told us a far different story. He said his father warned him to keep the combination a secret, implying not many people knew about it.”
She shrugged. “All I can tell you is what his father told me. But I should also mention his dad was pretty dramatic and was suffering with dementia by then.”
Was she right? Was it a matter of an elderly man’s dementia? Or had the combination been shared multiple times in the past? One of them could be lying, he supposed. A question worth asking Victor again.
“Did you learn the combination?” he asked.
“No, he didn’t come right out and share it with me. Just said others knew it.”
“And you didn’t look over his shoulder? I mean, if I was there, I’d have a hard time not looking.”
“Why would I?” She eyed him. “Oh I get it, you think I stole something from there. He said they never kept anything valuable in it, so what good would it do me to know the combination?”
“Then you didn’t open it and put journals inside?” Abby pressed for more.
“Journals? Estelle was the only person who kept journals here, but no, I never put anything in that safe or took anything out of it. Do her journals give you any idea of what happened to her?”
No way Burke would answer that question. “So if the jewelry isn’t kept in a safe, do you know where it is?”
“Finally something I know the answer to. It’s in the bottom drawer of a large chest of drawers in Victor’s room.”
“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 we convinced 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.”