Page 71 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“What’s happening in there?” He pointed toward my head.

“Well, we said it before, but it’s making sense. Before the guests arrived, there was someone here who had found outabout the treasure, whatever it is the priest and nun came looking for in the castle. If you ask me, it’s a priceless piece of art. Otherwise, why would they have been looking through those logs?”

“We’ve been through them over and over,” Kieran said. “What we see there doesn’t add up with what has been covered by insurance.”

“Which makes Maximillian look more guilty of a financial crime, but why would he kill the priest and nun? Is it possible whoever is doing this knows about the accountant’s duplicity? I mean, if there is a real treasure, or if the artwork is worth more than everyone thinks, then that could be motive to kill as well. Like maybe they were working with the accountant or another insider.”

“What about the diamond necklace?” he asked.

“The theft of that piece of jewelry ties the killer to Sarah at least. Sometimes diamonds have codes imbedded into them so if they are stolen they can be returned to the rightful owners. If it was stolen, it might lead us to the thief. But that is just one small part of this.

“You need to make the O’Sullivans give us access to wherever they store the things that aren’t out in the castle. Every house has a storeroom or an attic. Or they may use an outbuilding. Perhaps whatever it is the killer is looking for may be in there.”

“Us?”

“Yes. Please, Kieran. The storm will be over in the morning, and you’re going to lose all your suspects. We need those warrants, and I need to see the storage room.”

“We’ll see,” he said. “Is that all you discovered during your snooping?”

I grimaced.

“What did you do?”

“I was sort of accidentally in the Airendales room when they came back in,” I said.

My sister gasped. “Did they catch you?”

I cleared my throat. “No. I hid under the bed.”

Lizzie laughed out loud. Even Kieran smiled.

“You’re lucky they didn’t see you,” he said.

“I know. I wasn’t super proud of myself. But I overheard them arguing about her little problem. I think he was giving her some tough love. He was very unhappy with her. But they didn’t say a word about the murders. Everything was focused on her kleptomania. She was in tears, and he was fed up. He said he was tired of paying for her therapy, and that she never gets better.”

Kieran spoke over his SAT phone to Sheila. “I need warrants.”

“Already done, boss. We have them for the castle and the grounds. I called when the internet was working earlier.”

“She’s always thinking ahead.”

“She is a wonder.” I said. “It’s a big place,” I said. “I don’t suppose you need some help?”

He snorted. “Better to keep you by my side rather than let you run around alone.”

“I like the way you think,” I joked.

He shook his head.

“Where do we search first?”

“Well, thanks to you we know that the Airendales and the accountant have something to hide. Maybe they killed to protect themselves if the victims were on to them. I’ll have the team search those rooms first. We’ll focus on whatever storage the O’Sullivans have.”

There was a loud boom of thunder. Lizzie and I jumped, and Mr. Poe barked.

Kieran didn’t even flinch.

“I thought when we moved away from Texas, we wouldn’t have to deal with thunderstorms anymore,” Lizzie said. “It’s just as loud and even wilder here so close to the sea.”

---