Eve cut her off, then stepped to the doorway. “Morbelli, I need an estimate. How much longer before you’re packed, loaded, and on the way?”
“This isn’t a process that can be rushed, Lieutenant.”
“Not asking you to rush, asking for an estimate. Certain elements have leaked. I need to stall.”
Morbelli’s hard eyes narrowed to sharp shards of steel. “This is a very efficient team. Another twenty minutes.”
“All right.” Eve started back to the sitting room, took Nadine off hold. “I’m going to ask you for a solid.”
“All right.”
“Hold off until the armored vehicle heads out. About twenty minutes. Do that, and I’ll give you a one-on-one when I’m done here or can break.”
“All right. Did you get any sleep?”
“Couple hours.”
Uma walked in with a small tray holding a fancy cup and saucer. “Gotta go. Have a seat, Ms. Acker.”
“It’s Uma.” She set down the tray, sat, folded her hands. “How can I help?”
“You stated at least since Henry Barrister’s death, you cleaned the office.”
“That’s correct.”
“And you never happened upon the panel over the vault?”
“No. I want to say, if I had, and had seen the vault, I wouldn’t have been surprised. This is an old and important house, it was a museum in part of its history. I don’t think I’d have been surprised. Though I would have assumed he knew, I would have told Mr. Barrister—Mr. Nathan.”
“And your coworkers?”
“Yes, I believe I would have mentioned it. It would’ve been so interesting.”
“And finding it interesting, you might have mentioned it to a friend, a relative.”
“Absolutely not. Lieutenant, you can’t keep a trusted position for more than two decades if you tend toward gossip. I understand whoever broke in, whoever did this horrible thing had to know about the vault and what was in it. They didn’t just stumble onto it, that’s implausible. But I didn’t know about it, and if I had, that knowledge wouldn’t have gone outside this house.”
“In your statement early this morning, you indicated that Henry Barrister had approached you regarding a personal relationship with him.”
“You mean sexual relationship, and yes, he did broach the subject when I began working at Barrister House. I demurred; he accepted that. It never came up again.”
“How did you demur?”
She sighed first, then let out a half laugh. “All right. I’m not sure how it matters after all these years. I gave him three reasons, all carrying— as I told him—about the same weight. First, I wanted to keep my job, and felt such a relationship could compromise my position. Second, he was old enough to be my grandfather. Third, when I considered an intimate relationship, I preferred women.”
Uma lifted her shoulders. “He took it very well, and we had a very pleasant, professional, and friendly relationship until his death.”
“Okay then. You would’ve worked here through a couple of ex-wives, some romantic partners.”
“Mr. Barrister was between wives when he hired me.”
“Which ones?”
The faintest hint of a smile touched Uma’s mouth. “His third and fourth. Since this is a police investigation, I will say, yes, he had some romantic partners before he married again. I believe the fourth marriage lasted about five years. Possibly six—I’m not sure.”
“Not important.”
“Mr. Barrister, the senior, certainly enjoyed a number of other intimate relationships after his final divorce. He also traveled extensively and, I believe, enjoyed brief relationships while doing so.”
