‘Are you reading me my rights, Lieutenant?’
‘If you request I do so, I’ll oblige. You are not charged, but you are entitled to counsel when being questioned in a formal interview. Do you wish counsel?’
‘Not at this time.’ He flicked a speck of lint from his sleeve. Gold winked at his wrist in the form of a cuff bracelet. ‘I’m more than willing to cooperate with this investigation, as I’ve proven by coming here today.’
‘I’d like to replay your previous statement so that you have the opportunity to add, delete, or change any portions thereof.’ She slipped the labeled disc into the slot. With mild impatience in his eyes, Redford listened.
‘Do you wish to stand by that statement, as given?’
‘Yes, it’s as accurate as I can remember.’
‘Very well.’ Eve replaced the disc and folded her hands. ‘You and the victim were sexual partners.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘This was not an exclusive arrangement.’
‘Not at all. Neither of us wished it to be.’
‘Did you on the night of the murder engage with the victim in the use of illegals?’
‘No.’
‘Did you, at any other time, engage with the victim in the use of illegals?’
He smiled. When he angled his head, she caught more gold, threaded through the sleek queue twisting to his shoulder blades. ‘No. I didn’t share Pandora’s affection for substances.’
‘Did you have the victim’s security code for her town house in New York?’
‘Her security code.’ His brow furrowed. ‘I might have it. Probably.’ For the first time he appeared uneasy. Eve could all but see his mind weighing his answer and the consequences. ‘I imagine she gave it to me at one time or another to simplify matters when I visited her.’ Composed again, he took out his notebook, keyed in data. ‘Yes, I have it here.’
‘Did you use her code to gain access to her home on the night of her murder?’
‘A domestic let me in. There wasn’t any need for it.’
‘No, there wouldn’t have been. Before her murder. Are you aware that her security code also engages and disengages her video system?’
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.’