Page 39 of Death at Inishmore Castle

I shook my head. “No. From the way the blood had congealed on Gordon’s head, and on the floor, I’d say he’d been lying there for at least a half-hour or more. He said he’d come to check out the distillery because he’d seen a light. When he found the door was open, he went in, but that’s the last thing he remembers.”

“I see,” Kieran said. “Nice, that you’ve already begun the investigation.” His sarcasm screamed loudly.

I ignored him. “Are they back at the castle?” I was surprised Lizzie hadn’t followed them back out here.

“Who?”

“My sister and Mr. Poe,” I said as if he were daft.

“Sorry, I was thinking. You didn’t see anyone else on your walk, you’re sure?”

“No, we were quite alone. So, where is my sister?”

“I asked her to stay and keep Mrs. O’Sullivan calm. She was quite frantic and wanted to come with us, but I needed to assess the situation.”

“Well, the situation is someone conked Gordon hard on the head. He lost a lot of blood and is probably lucky to still be alive.My guess is he needs to go to a hospital and get some stitches at the very least.”

“I don’t need a blasted hospital,” Gordon said from the floor. “I’m fine.”

Kieran sighed and then looked at his men.

“He has a concussion, and the gash is deep,” one of them said. “He needs stitches, but we can do that up at the house.”

“Shouldn’t he go to the hospital?” I asked.

“Safer for him to stay on this side of the river,” Kieran said. “It’s rising again, and isn’t safe for the boats. And the winds are too strong to get a helo here from Dublin.”

“I’ll not be getting on one of those death traps. You can sew me up good as new here. My wife will tell you, I’ve a head as hard as stone.”

I stifled a smile behind my hand.

A thought hit me hard. “Gordon, is there anyone who is on your staff who maybe would do something like this? Anyone who might be upset with you and Nora for some reason.”

“No,” he said sharply. “Most of our staff have been with us for years. They are as loyal as they come. They stayed even when we had to cut back on wages a bit. We’ve given them stock options in the company and hope to make that up to them. They are all as good as they come.”

Well, there went that train of thought.

Even though he protested about it, Gordon was loaded on a gurney and wheeled toward the house. They put a plastic rain cover over him. It was coming down hard now. Any sort of footprints would be washed away soon.

More of Kieran’s team showed up, I assumed to work on the forensics. After explaining to the wider team what Gordon had said to me, I made my way back to the house. Well, I was escorted by Sheila, his second in command. His last words to me were to not go anywhere alone.

My hands were covered in blood, and I’d left behind the scarf I’d put under Gordon’s head. It too had been soaked in blood, and I had no need of it any longer. It would probably be bagged as evidence anyway.

Inside the kitchen, my sister and Mr. Poe waited for me.

“Is he going to be okay? Nora was worried sick about him. They’ve taken him up to their rooms.”

“I don’t blame her,” I said. “But he was talking and seemed okay when he left. They’ll probably need to observe him overnight to keep an eye on the concussion. But I think he’ll be all right. He wasn’t slurring his words or anything.”

“Well, at least there is that.” Lizzie wrung her hands nervously. It was one of the many signs she exhibited that the stress was getting to her. “I really want to go home to our little cottage and forget we ever came here. For such a pretty place, it feels so dangerous.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said. But my mind was whirling with possibilities. And I only had one thing in mind. “Why don’t you go on to bed?”

I washed my bloodied hands in the sink until the water ran clear.

“Why aren’t you coming with me?”

“There’s something I want to do first.”

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