Page 6 of Death at Inishmore Castle

Obviously, they didn’t want to be bothered.

I shut the door, but Mr. Poe pawed it again and gave a sharp bark.

“What’s wrong?” Lizzie asked. “That’s his something is wrong bark.”

“We both know that could mean a squirrel invading the garden,” I said. It was true. The small furry dude took protecting his kingdom seriously.

“Come on, Mr. Poe. We need to find the others.”

But he wouldn’t budge. He just sat at the door and whined, then barked.

My sister and I stared at one another. She shook her head. “It can’t be,” she whispered. “Did you see anyone?”

I had. And the last time Mr. Poe had acted like this there had been a dead body on the other side of the door.

A chill slithered down my spine. Had the person on the other side of the door been hurt, or worse?

Not again. I had a habit of finding myself in a world of trouble without really trying.

“What’s going on, and why are we whispering?” Scott asked.

“We think something bad might have happened,” Lizzie said.

Their eyes went big. “I can go in first,” Rob said.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s probably nothing.” In my head, I prayed it was mice that Mr. Poe had heard. Unfortunately, my Spidey senses said otherwise. Our brilliant dog wouldn’t have bothered if he didn’t think something was wrong.

I took a deep breath and opened the door again. I searched for a light switch but couldn’t find one, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and used the flashlight app.

After a few steps in, I stopped. I blinked, not believing what was before me.

“What is it?” Lizzie whispered. She was hanging back at the door.

Rob and Scott gasped as they saw what I had.

“It’s the priest,” I said. “And he’s very dead.”

TWO

While I was certain the priest was dead, I still checked his pulse. He didn’t have one, and his body was cool to the touch. There was a pool of blood on the desk, most likely from the letter opener sticking out of his heart. His eyes were wide, as if he’d been surprised.

“What are you doing?” Lizzie asked from the doorway.

Rob and Scott had followed me in and stared down at the body in shock.

“Is there anything we can do?” Rob asked.

“We shouldn’t touch anything,” I said. “I’m certain he didn’t stab himself, so the police will need to do forensics. Don’t come any further into the room. We don’t want to contaminate the scene.”

That said, I fumbled around quickly to see if his cassock had pockets. It did. I pulled a tissue from my sweater and used it to slide out his wallet. Since Mr. Poe and I kept finding dead bodies, I really needed to start keeping a pair of crime scene gloves in my pocket.

“Why do you get to touch things?” Scott asked.

“And ew, you’re touching a dead guy,” Rob said.

“I’m being careful,” I said. I flipped open the wallet. “Something about him bugged me from the get-go. I know priests are human and can be stern and unfriendly, but he seemed to go out of his way to be that way. I don’t know what his wallet might tell us, but it’s a start.”

I should have immediately called the detective inspector, Kieran, who just happened to be Lolly’s grandson. But once he arrived, I would no longer have access to the crime scene. I wish I had more control of my curiosity, but alas, I do not.

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