Page 54 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“This would make a great movie,” I whispered. I told him what I’d found so far.

Kieran grunted. “She sounds interesting.”

“She is. She was the one who kept the estate going and dealt with those who farmed and lived on the land. From all accounts, she was quite the businesswoman. Even more surprising was that her husband permitted it.”

During her time, that simply wasn’t allowed. She must have been quite a strong presence.

I took pictures of some of the entries with my phone, the ones where she mentioned her purchases. I wanted to compare them with the inventory list that the O’Sullivans had given Kieran.

Maybe, if the two victims had been after one of the pricier items in the house, we could narrow down why they were here to steal it.

Something niggled at my brain, though. How would they have found out about it? This was an inside job. Someone who lived or worked on the property had to be a part of this.

“Kieran?”

“Yes?” He didn’t bother looking up from his computer.

“Do you have someone in mind who might be doing all of this?”

He paused his typing and glanced up at me. “You know I don’t make assumptions. As of right now, anyone who doesn’t live on the court is a suspect. The pathologist should have a time of death soon. That will help us as well.”

“Well, I can narrow it down to a two-hour time span, if that helps. He was on the tour with us for the tasting. Then we all went back to the house, and we found him almost exactly two hours later.”

“Right, and during that time, all the suspects say they were either getting ready or were already in the lounge for cocktails.”

“But we know there are secret passages all over the house. Anyone could have gone through the walls and back to their rooms without anyone seeing them. Do we think Sarah killed him?”

“Do I want to know how you are aware there are passages all over the house?”

“No. What about Sarah?”

“I told you, I’m not making any assumptions. But she was one of the first to arrive at the cocktails, according to Mrs. O’Sullivan. She fell down the stairs and made quite the scene. What are you thinking?”

“That she was so tiny under those heavy robes. They made her look like she weighed a good thirty pounds more than she did. When I pulled her out of that pond…” I shivered. “She was bony, and I was just wondering if she had the strength to impale Carl with that letter opener. I mean, how sharp was that thing?

“And if they were working together, why kill him?”

“Well, from what I’ve learned so far, she was drowned in that pond. The water there is the same as what was found in her lungs and there are some contusions on her neck that showed someone tried to strangle her and she’d then been held down.”

“Ugh. That is an awful way to die. I mean, getting stabbed with a letter opener isn’t much better. It’s the force that I’m wondering about. I mean, your M.E. will know better, but I feel like the killer has to be quite strong. First to get that letter opener up and into the ribs to Carl’s heart. And then to hold Sarah down like that. The water wasn’t that deep.”

I blew out a breath. It felt like I was missing something. There was something in the back of my brain that I’d either seen or heard, but it just wasn’t coming to the forefront.

That happened when I was writing sometimes. I didn’t call it writer’s block when I stalled out a bit anymore. After all these years, I understood it was part of my process for my subconscious to work things out before I could put them on the page. The best thing for me to do was to focus on something else.

“You make a good point. So, our suspect is most likely male.”

“And strong,” I added.

“That narrows it down a bit.”

“The accountant is quite thin and willowy.”

“Size doesn’t always matter when it comes to murder. When someone is upset about something, they can have unnatural strength. I wouldn’t count him out just yet,” he said. “Sheila just sent over some files. You were right about his past. And he has current troubles as well, dealing with a partner who has absconded with some of the firm’s money. The O’Sullivans weren’t victims of that crime, but I’m sure he is also here as a way to reassure them.”

“Funny way to handle that by bringing up everything that is going wrong. And searching for treasure. Are you sure he didn’t kill his partner and take the money for himself? If not, he’s such a negative person I can’t imagine why they keep him on. Do you think we should warn them?”

“Not yet. I’ll keep an eye on him. From what you just said, he’s still looking for the treasure, right?”

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