Page 37 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“Yes. You know I can protect myself. Be careful. Run straight for the castle.”

“Okay.” She took off.

After taking Gordon’s pulse again, and checking for any broken bones, I rolled him over into the recovery position.

“Gordon? It’s Mercy. I’m one of the guests here. Can you hear me?”

His breathing seemed fine, but he wasn’t waking up.

I took my scarf from around my neck and put it under his head. There was a nasty gash on the side of his head. As if someone had hit him when he walked into the building. The blood had already started to coagulate.

At least, there is that. The blood stopping meant healing may have already begun.

I used my flashlight to see if I could find the lights in the distillery. It took a minute, but I found them. And even with them aglow, there were still a thousand places for someone to hide among the casks and the huge machines Gordon used to distill the whiskey.

I prayed whoever had done this to him was long gone.

I knelt beside him, and held his hand, checking for a pulse every few minutes while I waited.

“Gordon, I don’t know if you can hear me, but help is coming. Everything will be all right.”

His eyes blinked open and he winced.

“What happened?” His voice was hoarse.

“You have a bump on your head,” I said. “Do you remember anything?”

He reached up to touch his head, but I pulled his hand away.

“It’s a pretty serious injury, don’t touch. You need medical attention and possibly stitches.”

He tried to sit up, but I put a hand on his shoulder. “Help is coming. You need to stay still until they can take a look. It’s a big bump. And we need to make sure you’re not hurt anywhere else.”

“I’m fine,” he said. But he was extremely pale.

“Do you remember walking in here?”

“I was doing a last check of all the outhouses and the barn. I thought I saw a light in here. And the door was unlocked. I remembered locking it when I went up for tea earlier. I don’t remember anything after that.”

He tried to sit up again, but his face pulled tight. It was obvious he was in pain.

“Please, until Kieran’s men arrive, stay still. We don’t want to cause more damage.”

“Do you think someone did this to me? Or did I fall?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. “From the angle and the way that I found you, I don’t think you fell,” I said honestly.

“Someone did this to me? Do you think it’s the same person who killed the priest and the nun?”

“You heard about the nun?”

“Yes, several of our workers saw the police down at the pond. I understand the big boss wants to keep things quiet, but rumors are going to spread soon if we don’t tell everyone the truth.”

“You’re probably right,” I said. “But since none of them can go home at the moment because of the river, I think Kieran is trying to keep things contained. It’s possible the killer is the one who hit you.”

It wasn’t until his eyes widened that I realized I had said that out loud. Oops. Kieran would be angry with me.

I shrugged. “Or, you know, a thief trying to steal some of your delicious whiskey.”

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