Page 50 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“Well, he seems sketchy. I mean, you heard him at breakfast. Why would he bring up the idea of murder in front of everyone?Shouldn’t he try to help the O’Sullivans save their business? It was almost like he was trying to scare people off.”

“Less people around, easier for him to do his treasure hunting,” Kieran said.

“Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that. Do they know their accountant has a history that put him in jail for property and financial fraud?”

Kieran cocked his head.

Oh. Darn. That was something I’d learned by being sneaky. I’d forgotten.

“And how do you know that?”

I cleared my throat. “I, uh…” I held up my phone. “The internet hasn’t been down the whole time.”

His eyes did that thing where they narrowed suspiciously.

“Anyway. If he’s treasure hunting, that makes sense. He told the person he was talking to that he needed to get into the study. That’s where the priest spent most of his time. They have to be searching for something. Maybe they were all working together, and he knocked them off.”

“We have no evidence to prove that thought.” He was always so sensible when it came to the need for evidence. “I’m going to share something with you, but only because I think you know part of the truth.”

I frowned. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Father Brennen, a.k.a. Carl Doyle, was no priest. For the last fifteen years, he’s been in jail for armed robbery.”

“Why was he pretending to be a priest?”

“My guess is news of the treasure, or he and his gang were going to rob the place, and it seemed like a good idea to scope it out in disguise. The problem is, from the papers I’ve seen, most of the art and antiquities were deemed fakes.”

“I was thinking earlier if any of the art had been real, why wouldn’t the O’Sullivans just sell a couple of pieces to cover theircosts? And if there is treasure hiding somewhere, wouldn’t they be the first to look for it? That is probably just some rumor.”

“I agree with you.”

“What about Sister Sarah?”

“She doesn’t exist,” he said. “She’s a phantom. Her fingerprints don’t come up on any of our databases. We’re pretty sure she was not a real nun. Sheila is digging into that one to see what we can find. But her initial search of orders—a worldwide search, mind you—came up with nothing. It’s like she’s a ghost.”

“Do you think she and the priest were looking for the treasure together?”

He shrugged. “And someone killed them both?”

“True. It could have been the accountant since he, too, is looking for it.”

“Maybe. I will be questioning him but it’s a bit of a reach from white-collar crimes to murder. It would help if we had some idea what they’d all been looking for.”

“I need to get into that study,” I said.

His eyebrow went up. “Why is that?”

“I feel like the answers are there. Maybe in one of the historical diaries they keep. Have forensics finished in there?”

“They have.”

“Can I have the key to do some research?”

“I’ll come with you,” he said. “But first, you may want to look at box number twelve.”

“Why is that?”

“It contains the books that were on the desk when Carl was murdered.”

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