Page 17 of Castle

Devin wasn’t answering his phone so the only way I could get hold of him was if I summoned a maid and asked her to deliver the message, or I could go into the house and look for Devin myself but that meant I needed to leave the area of crime.

If I left the barn, the killer could come back to tamper with the evidence.

As if on cue, I heard the sound of hooves moving towards us. I turned to see Devin riding a handsome brown horse in our direction, and he looked everything like a knight in shining armor, or a prince living in a castle, one that you read in books about.

Although his man right here was not imagination but a reality.

When he approached us, the horse came to a halt smoothly and Devin smiled at me, unaware of the horrors inside the barn. “Good Evening, Miss. Davis. You look lovely today.” He flirted good-naturedly.

Castle stared at his brother with a scowl on his face. And if I knew better, I’d think he was acting jealous, but that was stupid of me to think like that. How could Castle be jealous? He didn’t understand things like attraction or anything related to those matters.

Devin sensed there was something off because he asked, “Is everything alright? I saw Chandler running inside the house, being very loud and on his best disobedient behavior.”

“You should check the barn,” I suggested.

He dismounted the horse with finesse and handed the reins over to a young man that I hadn’t even noticed before.

“Take Tobias back to the stables, Ollie,” Devin ordered the man.

“Yessir,” Ollie slurred in a heavy accent. He didn’t look older than twenty, and was tall and lanky. He had a friendly face, and he was someone you would call cute, with his dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

He glanced at Castle with those lazy-droopy eyes that made you think he had permanent sleepy eyes.

“How are you doing, Mr. Montgomery, sir?” when Castle didn’t respond, he looked at me and honestly, I didn’t like how his lecherous gaze moved from bottom and slowly leveled to my face.

Everything about this man was off.

“New staff, right? Lilly, was it?”

“Millie, short for Millicent.” I corrected him.

“Right. Nice to meet you, Millie. I’m Oliver. Ollie for most. It’s funny how our names match, right? Millie and Ollie. I workin the stables; call me if you need anything. Like anything at all.” He emphasized the last part, and I knew exactly what he meant.

But I pretended not to.

“Sure.”

“Oliver!” Devin yelled from inside the barn. “Call Winston and Butch. Get rid of what’s inside.”

I stood there staring, appalled at what he’d just said.

Get rid of what’s inside?

He’d spoken about the body like it was a rotten slab of meat.

Ollie walked towards the entrance of the barn and clicked his tongue, “What a shame to see Barbara go. The bitch had it coming, though. Gonna miss those meat pies. Have to ask Susan if she remembers the recipe.”

I was further dumbfounded by the stable boy’s words. He’d reacted like Barbara wasn’t hanging from the barn ceiling, staring at the onlooker with haunted eyes.

“But we need to call the police. This is not a suicide.” I said.

Both Devin and Oliver looked at each other and then at me. Oliver had a lopsided grin on his face, like he was mocking me.

“Let’s go inside and talk, Millie.”

“But Devin…”

“See you in my office in ten minutes.”

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