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“But yes! A delightful woman. So dignified and acerbic. She had no tolerance for Richard. Of course, she was hardly his type and he took no pains to disguise that. Yes, this is fascinating. So many ghosts of the past moving like shadows on the stage. And Richard in the center, where he liked it best.
“I no longer follow theater, but if I’d known, I might have bought a ticket. Yes, I might very well have paid to see that final performance.”
“You’ve had no contact with any of these people in the last twenty-four years?”
“But for Kenneth, no, as I’ve already said. I realize Kenneth told you that he hadn’t seen or spoken to me over the years, didn’t know where I was. The lie was not for himself, but for me. And now that you’ve told me all who are involved, it comes even more clear why he did so. He would have worried that these ghosts would haunt me. I assure you, and will assure him, they don’t.”
“Did he tell you that Richard Draco and Carly Landsdowne had been lovers?”
The cup jerked to a halt before it reached her lips. With her eyes on Eve’s, she lowered it slowly to the table. “What are you saying?”
“That your former lover and the child you made together were intimate. They had a sexual affair that ended shortly before his death.”
“Mother of God.” Anja squeezed her eyes shut. “Is this the payment for a small sin committed so many years ago? You’ve disturbed me, Lieutenant.” She opened her eyes again, and they were hard, glinting. “If that was your purpose, you’ve succeeded. Surely neither of them knew.”
She rose, prowled the room. “She’s young. Attractive?” she asked with a glance back at Eve.
“Yes. Very attractive.”
“He would find her hard to resist. Would see no reason to resist. And he has always been able to lure women into bed.”
“She might have lured him, knowing.”
“What woman chooses to sleep with her own father?” Anja shot back. Her hands fisted, her body trembled once as she spun around. “Why would she have known? The files were sealed.”
“Seals crack,” Eve said mildly. “Any and all of the parties involved can request the file. Perhaps she was curious about who made her.”
“I would have been informed if a request was made and granted. It is the law.”
“Laws are broken. That’s why I have a job. Draco might have opened the file himself.”
At this, Anja merely laughed, a cold and brittle sound. “For what purpose? He had no interest whatsoever at the time. It’s unlikely he remembered a child existed after all these years.”
“There was a resemblance, Ms. Carvell. She has his coloring, the shape of his eyes, his jaw.”
“So.” She drew a breath, nodded, ordered herself to sit again. “He might have looked at her and seen himself. Might have,” she murmured, toying with her button again. “Might have. Then taken her to his bed for some narcissistic thrill. I can’t say. I can’t
tell you. Richard has become as much of a stranger to me as the young woman you speak of. I don’t know them.”
“Kenneth Stiles did.”
Eve watched the realization and the horror bloom on Anja’s face. Color rushed into her cheeks and just as quickly drained away again. “No. Whatever he knew or suspected, he wouldn’t have turned to murder. I tell you, the violence of twenty-four years ago was an impulse, a rage of the moment. You said that the affair had ended. Before Richard was killed. Kenneth wouldn’t have harbored violence. He couldn’t have maintained it.”
“Maybe not. Maybe not without help. Where were you on the night of March twenty-fifth?”
“Ah. I see. I see,” she repeated softly, and folded her hands. “I would have been at home. And quite alone.”
“You saw no one, spoke to no one, during that evening?”
“Not that I recall. I have no proof that comes to mind that I was where I say I was.”
“Your family, Ms. Carvell?”
“I have no one. I can only swear to you that I did not travel from Montreal to New York and conspire to cause Richard Draco’s death.” She rose. “Lieutenant, I believe at this point, I would like to consult an attorney. I have nothing more to say on any of these matters until I have done so.”
“That’s your right. Thank you for your cooperation. Record off, Peabody.”
“Would you be so kind as to tell me which hospital is caring for Kenneth? I’d like to contact them and inquire about his condition.”
