Page 23 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“We’ll be researching what we were given thoroughly.”

I loved doing that kind of research, and it made me wish that the internet was better here. Not that those records would be online, though some would. Especially documents on Ancestry.com where tracking one’s heritage could be followed with a step-by-step process. Lizzie and I had been working to track ours since we’d found out about our grandfather and dad.

Other than they were Irish, and some information about the court where our grandfather had lived all of his life, there hadn’t been much to find out. According to Lolly, our neighbor, that was because of a great fire in the hall of records in Shamrock Cove hundreds of years ago. But we still searched.

“So, what happens now? Should we head home?”

He shook his head. “I’ve asked that everyone stay put for the next forty-eight hours. That gives us a chance to go through the evidence, and means we aren’t losing any suspects.”

“Did anyone argue about that?”

He laughed. “No. That would make them suspicious, though. I’m not certain whoever did this would be dumb enough to call attention to themselves in that regard. That, and another stormis coming in. The only way across the water is by boat. And right now, it’s on the other side of the river.”

“What makes you think the killer is smart?”

“The position of the letter opener was up and to the right, straight into the major artery.”

“So, a professional hit?”

He shrugged. “Or someone who looked it up on the internet. You know how it is these days.”

If I ever came up with what I thought was an original murder, I could usually find a how-to on the internet. Nothing was new under the sun. “You make a valid point. Maybe it’s smarter to look at the why. The papers seem fishy. I mean, why bring something like that unless he was going to confront the owners?”

“It’s a valid question and one that hasn’t been answered. Like I said, they have solid proof the place is theirs.”

“I wonder if it’s tied to the curse somehow.” I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms.

“Don’t tell me you believe in curses.”

I snorted. “Of course not. But Mrs. O’Sullivan brought it up when all of this happened. Evidently, things have never been easy for the family. They are plagued with tragedies.

“Most people would call that life,” I went on. “As we know, it’s full of ups and downs. But I think maybe it adds to the drama of owning a castle if you say the inhabitants are cursed in some way.”

“Except, the murder didn’t happen to one of them,” Kieran reminded me.

“True. But something tells me we’ve only scratched the surface with the O’Sullivans.” I yawned. “I don’t know about you, but I could really use a cup of coffee.”

“On that, we can agree. You’ve missed breakfast but we’ve set up in one of the rooms in the front of the house. Mrs. O’Sullivanhas provided a never-ending pot of coffee, tea service, and many different types of muffins.”

“Show me the way.”

After two cups of coffee, I felt a bit braver. I glanced over at Kieran, who was going through something on his phone.

“Did Sheila send any information yet? And have you talked to Sister Sarah?”

“No to the question about Sheila. And the nun hadn’t come down during our first round of questioning. She’s the last one we need to talk to. Right now, I’m going through the crime scene photos, so I can write my initial report.”

“Can I look at them when you’re done? We were in the dark most of the time last night. I might have missed something.”

He sighed.

I held up a hand. “I know what you’re going to say, but you can’t keep me out of it.”

“Oh, trust me, I can.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, but wouldn’t it be better if we worked together? You know I can sometimes help with insight from an outsider’s point of view. Do we have to play this game every time a case comes up? You have no problem asking for my help when we’re talking about your work at the pub.”

“That’s different,” he said without looking up from his phone.

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