Immortal in Death (In Death #3)(67)

Caution flickered in his eyes again. “I’m not sure I follow you.”

“With the code, which you state is in your possession, the outside security camera can be deactivated. That camera was deactivated for a period of approximately one hour after the murder. During that period, Mr. Redford, you state you were at your club. Alone. During that period, someone who knew the victim, who was in possession of her code, who was aware of the workings of her home and security, deactivated the system, entered the house, and it would seem, took something from the house.”

“I would have no reason to do any of those things. I was at my club, Lieutenant. I keyed in and out.”

“A member can key in and out without ever going in.” She watched his face harden. “You saw an ornate, possibly Chinese antique box, from which you state the victim took a substance and ingested it. You further state that she then locked the box away in the vanity of her bedroom. This box has not been found. Are you sure this box existed?”

There was ice now, but beneath it, just around the edges of it, she thought she caught something else. Not panic, not yet. But wariness, and worry.

“Are you certain the box you described existed, Mr. Redford?”

“I saw it.”

“And the key?”

“The key?” He reached for a pitcher of water. His hand was still steady, Eve noted, but that mind was working overtime. “She wore it on a chain, a gold chain, around her neck.”

“No chain or key was recovered on the body or at the scene.”

“Then it would follow that the murderer took it, wouldn’t it, Lieutenant?”

“Did she wear the key openly?”

“No, she — ” He stopped, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “Very good, Lieutenant. As far as I am aware, she wore it under her clothes. But, as I have stated, I am not the only one who was invited to see Pandora without clothing.”

“Why were you paying her?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Over the past eighteen months, you transferred over three hundred thousand dollars into the victim’s credit accounts. Why?”

His eyes went blank, but Eve saw, for the first time, fear behind them. “Certainly what I do with my money is my own business.”

“No, it’s not. Not when it’s murder. Was she blackmailing you?”

“That’s absurd.”

“Plays for me. She had something on you, something dangerous, embarrassing, something she enjoyed holding over you. She nibbled away, demanding little payments here and there, and some not so little. I imagine she was the type to flaunt that kind of power, to enjoy it. A man could get tired of that. A man could begin to realize there was only one way to end it. It wasn’t the money, really, was it, Mr. Redford? It was the power, the control, and that enjoyment she rubbed in your face.”

His breathing deepened raggedly, but his face remained still. “I would say that Pandora was not above blackmail, Lieutenant. But she had nothing on me, and I would not tolerate threats.”

“What would you do about them?”

“A man in my position can afford to ignore quite a bit. In my business, success is much more important than gossip.”

“Then why did you pay her? For sex?”

“That’s insulting.”

“No, I suppose a man in your position wouldn’t have to pay for sex. Still, it might add a certain twist to the excitement. Do you ever frequent the Down and Dirty Club on the East End?”

“I don’t frequent the East End, and I certainly don’t frequent a second-rate sex club.”

“But you know what it is. Were you ever there with Pandora?”

“No.”

“Alone?”

“I said I hadn’t been there.”

“Where were you on June tenth, at approximately two A.M.?”

“What is this?”

“Can you verify your whereabouts on that date and time?”

“I don’t know where I was. I don’t have to answer that.”

“Were your payments to Pandora business payments, gifts?”

“Yes, no.” He fisted his hands under the table. “I believe I’d like to consult with counsel now.”

“Sure. Your choice. We will break this interview to allow subject to exercise his right to consult counsel. Disengage.” She smiled. “You’d better tell them all you know. You’d better tell someone. And if you’re not in this alone, I’d advise you to start thinking seriously about rolling over.” She pushed back from the table. “There’s a public ‘link outside.”

“I have my own,” he said stiffly. “If you could show me to a room where I can make my call privately.”

“No problem. Come with me.”

Eve managed to avoid Whitney by transmitting an update and steering clear of her desk. She snagged Peabody and headed out.

“You shook Redford. You really shook him.”

“That was the idea.”

“It was the way you kept coming at him from different angles. Everything straight down the line at first, then pow. You tripped him up with the club.”

“He’ll get his balance back. I still have the payment he made to Fitzgerald to pitch at him, but he’ll be more prepared. This reprieve with his lawyers.”