Page 64 of Death at Inishmore Castle

I may have smirked. And yes, I should have told him about the secret passageway off our room. But I gave myself the excuse that there were too many ears in the room at the moment. I would tell him later.

“And we need to keep our eyes open,” I said. “If you see anyone who looks like they aren’t a part of the household staff, don’t confront them. But do go tell Kieran. Whoever is doing all of this is dangerous.”

“That’s great advice,” Kieran said. “I’d appreciate it if all of you would take it.” He looked even more pointedly at me.

“Why the raccoon, though?” Nora asked. “That is pure maliciousness, and it feels directed at Gordon and me.”

Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that.

Kieran and I stared at one another. There was only one reason why someone would do that.

“A diversion,” I whispered.

SIXTEEN

I followed Kieran to the incident room. He went to unlock the door, but it was already hanging slightly ajar. He glanced back at me.

“What?”

“I left it locked. That means someone was in here and unlocked the door.”

“Does that mean they had a key? It would have to be the O’Sullivans or the staff, right?”

“Possibly,” he said. “They leave the keys hanging in the mudroom, so it isn’t like someone else couldn’t have picked them up.”

“Oh,” I said. “Maybe they left some fingerprints behind when they messed with the door,” I said.

He nodded. “Sheila, I need forensics,” he said over his walkie-talkie.

“Does it look like they took anything or rifled through something?”

“Let me look around,” he said.

“Right.” I glanced around the room. “The only box that is open is the one that had Sarah’s things in it. Check to see if the diamond necklace and passport are still there.”

He put on his gloves and rifled through the box. “The passport is here, but the necklace is gone. Are you sure you put it back?”

“Yes, of course I did. You saw me do it.” I’d spent enough time with him to understand that he wasn’t implying I took it. Only that I might have put it back in the wrong box. As much as he liked to give me a hard time, we trusted one another.

“What if they also hit up the study? If you give me the keys, I can go check. Or now might be a good time to check the passages in the walls. The killer might still be here.”

“No. You aren’t going anywhere alone. We’ll go together.”

“I’m here, sir,” one of his men said, appearing in the doorway.

“Dust for fingerprints everywhere,” Kieran said. “And check the items in the boxes against the chain of evidence log. I want to make sure nothing else was taken.”

“On it, sir.”

“And guard the door when you have finished.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come on,” he said to me. I had to half jog to keep up with his long strides down the hallway. When we reached the study, he pulled out a ring of keys. Once we were inside, we stood in the middle of the room.

“Do you see anything out of sorts?”

I turned in a circle. Everything appeared the same. Except for the shelf directly in front of us. I started to reach for a book that had been put in upside down.

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