Page 62 of Death at Inishmore Castle

I could back that up, as I’d heard them in their room when I’d been snooping. However, I was not about to share that information with Kieran, yet. He wouldn’t be happy with me.

“Did someone scream?” Rob asked from the doorway. Scott, Lolly and Brenna were with him. Not long after, Nora came in.

“Is everyone all right?” Nora asked. She stormed over to where I stood with Kieran and Alex. Her eyes went wide when she saw the raccoon, and then she shook her head. “Who would do such a thing?”

“Someone trying to scare the wits out of my wife,” Alex said angrily. “Now, if you’re finished with us, Detective Inspector, I’d like to look after her.” He didn’t wait for an answer, taking Sally by the hands and pulling her up from the chair.

Lizzie stepped to the side out of the way.

“Come on, love,” he said.

“I want to go home,” Sally said.

Alex glanced over at Kieran, who shook his head.

“That’s not possible right now. But I’ve got you. Nothing else is going to happen.”

“I’ll be sending someone to take those prints shortly,” Kieran said.

Once they left, Kieran started peppering everyone with questions.

“Did any of you see someone enter or leave this room?”

“No,” Lolly said. “Our group was in the library. They have some historical documents on display. We weren’t anywhere near here.”

“Did any of you see someone roaming the halls who maybe didn’t seem to fit in with the staff?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Anyone who wasn’t wearing one of the gray uniforms.”

Again, everyone shook their heads.

“Is it true about the flooding?” I asked.

“Yes,” Sheila said as she closed up her kit. “We barely made it back over in the boat. Even with that, it isn’t safe right now. It’s like a running rapid with all the rocks. It’s a wonder the bridge is still standing given how fast the water is rushing over it.”

“So, we’re trapped with a killer and someone who puts dead animals in a cloche. Yay,” Lizzie said. It was the first time someone had said killer out loud, but thankfully, it was just our crew and Nora.

Gallows humor was how we dealt with uneasiness. She’d picked up Mr. Poe and held him tight to her.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Nora said. She sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. “I don’t understand why this is happening. We’ve never had any trouble here at Inishmore. My husband and I have lived here for thirty years. He took over when his father died. I mean, we say there is a family curse, and maybe it’s not some folktale. I’m beginning to believe it is true.

“Until this weekend, we’d never had any sort of crime, let alone the violent things that have been happening. Who is doing this to us? And why are they so against us doing whatever it takes to protect the estate?”

I sat down next to her. “I’m sure Kieran has asked this more than once, but is there anyone you know of on the staff, or from the outside world, who doesn’t agree with what you are doing?”

“No,” she said. “And I’m being honest. We have tenants, but they all understand how important this new business venture is, if we are to become sustainable. It’s taken years of preparation to get the estate ready for visitors, and they understand how much we need the money to keep going. Many of them have donated hours of labor without charging us.

“I cannot imagine anyone that knows us doing something like this. What are we going to do? Word is going to get out, and we’ll be done before we really begin.”

I patted her hands, which were in fists on the table. “It’ll be okay. When Kieran finds out who is doing this, he’ll make it clear in the press that it was an outside party trying to harm your business. Right, Kieran?”

“I can’t…”

“Speak on an ongoing investigation,” the rest of our crowd finished his sentence. Then we all smiled.

“But you really need to think about your staff,” I said. “From what I’ve seen so far, the person who is doing this has a great knowledge of the inner workings of the estate. They can come and go easily.”

---