Page 18 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“I can’t believe you made it, Kieran,” Rob said. “How did you know?”

The detective inspector nodded toward me. “Mercy called. It wasn’t easy to get here. Now, tell me everything,” he said to me.

I explained in detail what I hadn’t been able to tell him on the phone. “Since we found him, someone has been guarding the room so the killer couldn’t come back.”

“I don’t suppose you thought about what would happen if the killer did come back and found you here?”

I shivered. I tended to be single-minded and not really worried about myself when murder was involved. I had no idea what I would have done if the killer had returned, other than protecting my sister with my life.

It just hit me that I’d put us both in danger by staying with the body.

“No,” I said. “Not really. I thought we were doing a good thing so that no one messed with any evidence.”

He sighed. He knew me well enough that it wasn’t worth arguing about me doing things that might have put mine and my sister’s lives in danger. I didn’t do it on purpose. I was just trying to do the right thing.

“When was the last time either of you saw him alive?”

“We were down at the distillery doing a tasting,” I said.

“Don’t forget about him fighting with the nun,” Lizzie said. “They seemed to be having a rather emotional conversation. And Mercy thinks they aren’t really clergy.”

“Oh? And when was that? When you saw them fighting?” he asked.

“When we were coming back from the tasting,” she said. “Neither of them seemed to be particularly nice. We tried to speak to Sister Sarah at dinner, but she wasn’t happy about it. Mercy is right. There is something strange about her. Every time we asked a personal question, she changed the subject.”

I couldn’t stifle my smile.

Kieran shook his head. “That is interesting, but she may prefer not to talk about herself. It doesn’t make her guilty of murder.”

My sister shrugged. “Never said she did it. Only that Mercy thinks she’s up to something hinky.”

“Hinky?” Kieran asked as he looked at me.

“I know you like evidence, but my gut says something weird was going on between them.”

“Right. And when you first walked in to the study, what did you see?”

I took him through the events. “According to Gordon, he’d been interested in the history of the estate. That’s why he was in here. When we arrived, he was just sitting in the chair with the letter opener in his chest,” I said. “Since it was probably on the desk, I’d say it was a crime of opportunity.”

Kieran opened his mouth, but I held up a hand.

“I know. We need evidence. We didn’t touch anything, including the furniture in case you need to check for fibers or DNA, but I did search the bookshelves. Nothing seemed out of place.”

“Right, Detective Mercy,” he joked. “Go get some rest. This is going to take a while. And in future, please leave the interrogations to me.”

“We will,” Lizzie said as she hooked her arm in mine.

“How did you get across the river?” I asked.

“I walked on water,” he grumbled.

Lizzie giggled.

“Emergency boats,” Sheila said next to him.

That made more sense. Though it was unusual for Kieran to make any sort of joke, and I couldn’t help but smile.

The team paused to put on coverup suits and gloves. Then they went into the study.

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