Chapter 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.
Abby turned to the couple who’d been silently standing by. “Thank you for your help and have a safe trip to the mainland.”
Sylvia eyed her. “And thank you for your trust in believing we would leave on our own without needing someone to babysit us.”
Abby didn’t take the bait and respond to Sylvia’s sarcasm but watched them walk the short plank to the gate and then stop at a card reader. They each swiped passes.
Passes? Duh! Why hadn’t Abby remembered seeing passengers use them on the ferry?
She didn’t have to take Sylvia and Ugo’s word for whether or not they’d spent the night on the island.
She just had to get eyes on the ferry logs.
Sure, if they’d taken a water taxi home, there wouldn’t be a record of their return trip to the mainland for that day, but the program would’ve recorded one back to the mansion the next time they worked.
If they’d stayed on the island, that trip wouldn’t be recorded.
These logs should be a piece of cake for Hayden to get, and if Ugo or Sylvia lied about staying the night, Abby would have facts to call them out on their lies.
Abby remained in place until the ferry departed with the couple aboard, then jogged up to the house to share her lightbulb moment with Burke. She burst through the door, planning to jog to the library, but Gabe remained in the foyer, his phone in his hand.
He looked up. “I didn’t think you were coming back.”
“Why would I leave?”
He shrugged. “Maybe the creep factor of this place. The belligerent employees. The detective you seem to have a thing for.”
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment. “Are you coming to the team update?”
“Okay, ignore your feelings for him, but they won’t go away.”
She bit her lip to keep from gaping at her teammate. Gabe never talked about feelings.
“I know,” he said. “I don’t talk about this stuff, but I figure you should recognize when you’re fighting a losing battle. You two have something between you. It’ll eventually overcome your resistance.”
“You mean like you and El?” El—Elaina—Lyons was the local detective working for Mina. Anytime the two of them were in the same room sparks flew and shields went up on both sides.
Gabe glanced sideways before meeting Abby’s eyes. “Exactly like that, which makes me an expert on the subject.”
“Wow! I can’t believe you actually admitted your feelings for El.”
“Figured it’d help convince you that you were losing the battle.”
“This is a battle I think I can win,” she said, but wasn’t at all certain she was right.
“Then go for it and see how it works out for you.” Gabe got up. “As always, should you give this information to anyone else, I will disavow any knowledge of our interaction.” He laughed and headed for the door, his laughter trailing behind him.
She chuckled at his Mission Impossible reference, but he was serious about her keeping this information to herself. She would never betray his confidence, and she hoped she hadn’t discouraged him from sharing personal information in the future.
She caught up to him just as he stepped into the dining room and followed him through the door. Burke stood at the far end of the table, his phone pressed to his ear.
“Of course,” he said. “You got it.” He swiped his finger up the screen and set his phone on the table.
She grabbed her iPad and sat near him. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Ryder wants to be sure I keep him updated. FYI, no other missing person’s investigations occurred when Estelle disappeared, so we can cross that off our list of items to follow up on.” He handed the journals to Gabe.
Gabe gave the stack of books a sour look. “Guess this means I’m still on babysitting duty.”
“Sorry,” Abby said. “But think of the potentially interesting reading you’re going to do.”
“Yeah, right. The most exciting thing I’ve read so far is about the ball Estelle hosted. She goes into crazy detail about what everyone’s wearing.” He rolled his eyes. “But hey, I get it. Someone has to do the job and why not me?”
“We appreciate it for sure.” Burke glanced at his watch. “We’re late for the three o’clock team update.”
Abby opened her iPad case. Telling him about the ferry computer passes would have to wait until after they met with her team.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we started late.” Gabe retrieved a laptop from his backpack.
She looked up at Burke. “Do you have a tablet or computer with you? If not, I’m glad to share my screen.”
“I could use my phone, but I’d like to look on with you if it’s all right.”
She tapped the chair next to her, ignoring Gabe’s raised brow and told-you-so look, to log into the session already in progress. Pictures of the remaining four members of their team popped up on the screen, and Gabe’s photo followed.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” Abby said. “I’d first like to introduce you to Detective Burke Ulrich.”
Burke leaned closer until her camera caught his face, and the screen displayed it next to hers.
Abby introduced everyone else and ended with Hayden. “He’s doing the deep background checks on Victor and Estelle Lemoine.”
Hayden stared into the camera, his gaze intense as usual. “I handle techie things for the team. Most often writing algorithms to find information not readily available to the average internet user.”
“Thanks for your help,” Burke said. “Did you locate anything we need to know about?”
Hayden confirmed the basic information Abby and Burke had already learned about the Lemoines.
“The most interesting thing I found relates to Estelle’s missing person investigation.
The detective in charge told me there were rumors she’d had an affair shortly after they moved to Oregon.
Orman couldn’t prove it, so you won’t find it in the files, but he heard it more than once. ”
Abby tamped down her excitement at the lead to focus more carefully. “Did he say who told him?”
“No. Not even when I pushed him.” Hayden’s gaze intensified. “He said if we investigate her disappearance, ask everyone we interview about the affair, and press anyone who mentions it for more details.”
“Did he seem willing to talk with us about the investigation?” Burke asked.
Hayden rubbed a hand over his face, dragging his fingers down slowly. “Not open at all. He wouldn’t discuss any other details and basically said to leave him alone. This investigation had already ruined his life once, and he didn’t want to go there again.”
“Any idea what he meant by that?” Abby asked.
“When Orman didn’t find Estelle, Victor threw his weight around with his wealthy friends and basically burned the detective’s reputation.
That ended any chance he had to advance in the department.
He quit right after that and left the investigation in his rearview.
He doesn’t want to bring it all back up, and I was lucky I got him to say anything at all. ”
“I don’t blame him.” Burke gripped the edge of the table. “Politics and policing have no business being bedfellows.”
“Amen to that.” Gabe’s rigid expression solidified his opinion. “But it’s often a bigger factor than anyone in law enforcement wants to admit.”
Abby didn’t want them to continue down this path and forget their mission. “Did you learn anything else?”
Hayden shook his head. “I still have algorithms running. They might pull something up on some obscure website, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.”
“Can you look into Sylvia Bass and Ugo Morell?” She told him about their jobs. “Ugo started working for Victor in France, and I need you to go back that far if possible. We definitely want their financial information. I’ll text their addresses to you.”
“No problem, but don’t count on me finding the old information. Very few files that old made it to the internet.”
“Just do your best.” Abby told them about the computerized ferry passes and how they might help determine if Ugo or Sylvia spent the night on the estate. “Can you also get recent logs for their pass numbers? I’d like to see their movements around the time we think the crown was stolen.”
“No sweat,” Hayden said. “Consider it done.”
“Also, get a list of anyone who took the ferry to the island in the last month. I doubt our thief would’ve been dumb enough to take public transport, but it’s possible.”
“Is that all, Your Majesty?” He grinned.
“Actually, no,” Abby said. “We need background on Victor’s son, Vidal, and Victor also has a daughter, Viviane, and three grandchildren. We’d like information on them as well. They’re named in Victor’s will. I’ll forward a copy of it.”
“Can you be sure to include a look into their finances too?” Burke asked. “We need to know if money motivated them to steal the crown.”
Abby waited for Hayden to comment on being overworked, but he simply nodded.
“Hey, thanks, man,” Burke said. “I know we’ve piled a lot on you, but we really appreciate your help.”
Hayden shrugged. “When you’re the only one who can find hidden information, you get used to it.”
“So one more thing then,” Abby said. “Sylvia’s daughter works at the bank where Victor rents his safety deposit box. It’s probably just a coincidence, but I’m wondering if there’s any way she could’ve accessed the box and discovered the information on the crown.”