Page 21 of Death at Inishmore Castle

Not that I’d commit murder. But I write mysteries and I’m always thinking about ways to get away with murder.

I shivered. It was very different when it was real. Anyone in the castle could have been the murderer.

But it could have been a stranger or one of the staff members.

I wonder if Kieran is still here? I had so many unanswered questions. Maybe they’d been able to pull some fingerprints to help solve the crime. Sister Sarah was still at the top of my list—except she was so petite.

Maybe she works out and has good upper-body strength. Though it was difficult to know under that habit and tunic.

When I turned the corner on the bottom floor my question about Kieran was answered. He was standing outside the study,speaking with someone I didn’t recognize. The man was dressed in coveralls and wore a gardening belt around his waist.

“No, sir,” the man said. I stood a few feet away, not wanting to interrupt but curious as to what he had to say. Kieran’s back was to me, so he hadn’t noticed me there.

“And did you see anyone earlier in the day who wasn’t a guest?”

The man shook his head. “We get an agenda with pictures of the guests so that we know who should be on the property during the weekends we’re open to the public.”

I wondered how that worked, and then I remembered having to scan in our IDs when we made the reservations. At the time, I’d thought it was a lot of security for a place in the middle of nowhere. But if the priest’s ID had been scanned, that had to have given Kieran some clue as to who he really was. Though it was probably fake. Otherwise the O’Sullivans would have known his real name wasn’t Brennen.

“And no one left after the storm started?” Kieran asked.

“The river fills up fast. I live in the cottage just off the main entrance. I don’t see everyone who comes and goes, but I can hear them. No one left the estate last night. Or if they did, they were swimming against those currents. You saw how fast it was going. That would have been dangerous.”

Still, it was possible with the loud thunder, he hadn’t heard them, but I shivered all the same. If no one had left, that meant the killer was still here.

“Did you have a question for him, Mercy?” Kieran asked without turning around.

How did he know I was there? And then I remembered he had once told me my perfume was distinctive. I wore Angel. It was old-school but smelled like sugar cookies to me, and I loved it. My mom had worn it as well, and it always reminded me ofher. It was a way of always keeping her close. Plus, who didn’t want to smell like cookies?

“I’m curious if you’d noticed any strangers in the days before our visit?” I asked. “This place is huge and there are more than a hundred acres of land. It would have been easy for someone to hide out. Maybe they were hiding in an outbuilding.”

I’d gone through several scenarios while I’d been in the shower. I think my mind was hoping the killer was long gone and not still with us on the estate.

“Aye, there are a few outbuildings spread out over the acreage,” the gardener said. “But the only way onto the estate is through the main gate. Everything is either walled off with nine feet of iron-spiked stone or faces the sea. And the cliffs are too treacherous to climb.”

I hadn’t realized we were still so close to the sea. Our new home, Shamrock Cove, was a coastal town, but since we’d gone fifteen minutes inland, I’d thought we’d left the sea behind.

I was wrong.

“Right. And you didn’t notice anyone coming or going before the rest of us arrived?”

The man shrugged. “I’m usually working around the property during the day, so it’s possible someone could have snuck in without being seen. And, yes, we do have outbuildings, but they’re checked daily. We store grain and feed for the animals in them, so we have to keep an eye out for wildlife or damp. They’re also secured.”

“Who has keys?”

He shrugged. “I do, Mr. Gordon and Mrs. Nora. Maybe, a couple of other people. But no one who works for the O’Sullivans would do anything to hurt them. They are the best and take good care of us.”

I liked that he was so loyal.

“I’m certain they do. And I’m sure Kieran asked you this, but did you happen to speak to the priest? Or did you see him speaking with anyone else?”

“No. But I keep my head down and do my work. It’s my job to stay out of the guests’ way and to be invisible. That said, I need to be gettin’ on with it, if you’re done with me,” he said to Kieran.

The detective glanced at me, and I nodded.

After he left, Kieran stared at me expectantly.

It was all I could do not to laugh.

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