Page 52 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“What is it?” he asked.

I held the passport out to him. “I think I know who Sister Sarah really is and why you couldn’t find her.”

THIRTEEN

Kieran took the passport from me. The name on the document was Sarah Williams and she wore a face full of makeup and had long blonde hair in the photo. The country of origin was England. So, I’d been right about her not being from Ireland.

I read the information to Kieran, and he typed it into his laptop. There were several beeps coming from the machine.

“Does she have a record?” I asked.

He nodded. “She was the driver in the armed robbery Carl was imprisoned for. But she testified against the others and got a suspended sentence. What I can’t figure out is why her prints didn’t come up on our initial search.”

“That all happened a long time ago. Maybe the fingerprint records haven’t been computerized yet.”

“Well, if she didn’t know about Carl being here, that could be why they were arguing,” Kieran said.

“But it’s too much of a coincidence that they both just showed up this weekend,” I said. “Neither you nor I believe in coincidences.”

“True.”

“So, do you think he forgave her, and they were working together? They did argue a lot, though.”

“It is possible. But we only have conjecture. There is no way to know. Did you ever overhear their conversations?”

I shook my head. “It was obvious they were arguing from their facial expressions and hand gestures, but it was all in whispers. Any time one of us came close to them, they stopped talking.

“Maybe the accountant, Maximillian knocked them off,” I said. “I’m just trying to think about the people who are trapped here. I mean, he’s very thin but he is the right height to stab up into the heart.”

He started typing quickly.

“Are you looking for others related to the heist?”

“I am. But the other two men involved are dead. And they don’t look like any of our guests.”

I frowned. “So, you were thinking maybe one of them faked his death and changed his name?”

“It happens more than you think with criminals trying to hide their past mistakes.”

“You know, in my books, the why of the situation is often the most important question that has to be answered. The motivation of a killer, that is.”

“I know what you mean by the why. I’m not an idiot. As you know, it’s the same inactualpolice work.” His eyebrow went up again.

“Yes. I didn’t mean to say it wasn’t. I’m just thinking out loud. If that’s okay?” The last bit came out with a bit of snark. I never meant to step on his toes. It was just the way my brain worked. I had to say things out loud.

“Okay,” he said.

“Why would two people who shouldn’t want anything to do with one another show up at a remote castle in Ireland for a long weekend?”

“They were planning a new heist,” he said. “With the other two in their group dead, they may have pulled in a third or fourth partner, who’s turned on them. But why? We’ve seen nothing in the castle, or the records, to say that a treasure exists.”

“You’re right. While there might be rumors of treasure within the walls of the castle, we haven’t seen proof of that. But people are weird and greedy. Maybe they know something we don’t. I think that tour is first thing tomorrow morning. The art history one. Maybe some of the art is original?”

“I’m assuming you’ll be going on that?”

“I will. But what is bothering me is even if Sarah killed Carl, then who killed her? We still have a third party who wanted them dead. And are they still on the grounds?”

“We’ve had the bridge blocked since we came across the river,” he said. “There is no way anyone could have left the premises after the murders. The killer has to still be here. And don’t forget, someone knocked Gordon out with a bottle of whiskey last night.”

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