Shamrock Shenanigans (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 19) (5 page)

“So she has a lot to gain by Brent’s death.”

“She does, if she can figure out what’s going on. At this point she’s as lost and confused as the rest of us. She also has an alibi. She told me that she left the cocktail reception after dinner last night because she had a headache and wanted to take some aspirin. She said she went to the kitchen for a glass of milk to coat her stomach before taking the painkiller. I spoke to the cook, who was cleaning up during the time Drew went for the milk, and she verified that Drew had come in for the milk, just as she said she did.”

“So we can eliminate Drew from the suspect list.”

“And Millie?” Zak asked.

I looked at Zak. “Do you remember when we were seniors and a bunch of us had that crazy party at the beach?”

“Sure I remember.”

“Levi brought rum punch and I got
so
drunk.”

Zak smiled. “Yeah, you did.”

“Do you think the person who went skinny-dipping in the lake and wore her bikini bottoms as a hat was really me?”

Zak laughed. “Of course it was you. It was just a you who wasn’t restrained by your inhibitions and decided to have some fun. Why do you ask?”

“It was just something Millie said. Anyway, she didn’t do it, so we can eliminate her as well.”

“So now we’re down to five. Maybe we can clear a couple of others at dinner. Piper and Susan should be there, as should Armand and Luke. I guess we’ll need to track Liam down another time if the others alibi out.”

Dinner that evening had quite a different tone from the previous one. For one thing, it seemed as if everyone was keeping secrets from everyone else. Not that the whispered conversations and sly glances were unexpected. A man had been murdered, and as far as everyone but the actual killer knew, everyone on the premises was a suspect.

As they were the night before, Bonnie the cook and Byron the server were on hand to make sure everyone had a wonderful meal. The food was excellent. I knew a light lunch had been served during the card game, but Zak and I had been outdoors snooping around rather than eating with the others, so we were starving.

All the guests with the exception of Piper had shown up for the five-course meal. I found it interesting that Lord Dunphy was also absent from the table. Byron announced that Lord Dunphy was dealing with flooding in the workroom and Ms. Belmont was feeling under the weather and had chosen to have dinner sent up to her room, but I had my doubts on both counts. Based on the meaningful glances between the various guests, it seemed the others had their doubts as well.

Liam wasn’t around, not that I expected to see him, and with Piper’s absence the only suspects from our list who were present were Susan, Armand, and Luke. I was trying to figure out how to separate one of the three for a private conversation when Susan got up from the table and ran for the stairs.

“Oh, my,” Armand said. “I hope she’s okay.”

“I’ll check on her,” I volunteered. I got up from my chair and headed toward the stairs. I wasn’t certain which room was hers, but one of the doors was cracked open, so I assumed that was the one she’d run into. I knocked, but there was no answer, so I slowly let myself in. I wasn’t certain I had the right room until I heard the sound of puking from the bathroom.

Several minutes later Susan emerged, looking pale and fragile.

“I knocked,” I explained, “but there was no answer. I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in; I wanted to be sure you were okay.”

Susan sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think I have the flu. I started feeling ill immediately after dinner last night and came straight up to my room. I was sick all night, so I slept in this morning. When I finally woke up I was feeling better, so I came downstairs to join the card game. I didn’t want to risk eating anything until I knew for certain that whatever I had going on had passed, so I skipped lunch. I decided it must have run its course, but after eating the soup tonight I felt sick again.”

So Susan hadn’t been dallying with Luke or meeting with Brent the previous evening; she’d been in her room puking her guts out. I supposed that gave her an alibi for Brent’s murder, but it didn’t really answer the question of where Luke had been, or who, if anyone, Brent had been meeting. I offered to go to the kitchen for soda crackers and tea, just as Susan ran for the bathroom once again.

Susan had seemed fine during the card game. Not flulike at all. Could she have been given something to make her sick both the previous evening and then again tonight? It seemed likely, but I had no idea why. And because she was the only one to get sick either the cook or the server had to be in on it. Once I delivered the crackers and tea, I intended to find out who it was.

After I delivered the tea and crackers to Susan I returned to the kitchen. The main course had been served while I was away and the cook was putting the finishing touches on the dessert. Byron, the server, was nowhere in sight.

“I’m afraid you missed your meal while you were tending to Ms. Langtree,” the cook observed. “Would you like me to make you a plate?”

I couldn’t help but remember Susan’s pale face and sunken eyes. “Maybe I’ll just have a piece of fruit,” I said as I took an apple from the bowl that was sitting on the counter.

“The poor dear. She must have a nasty flu to make her so ill.”

I hadn’t actually mentioned how ill Susan was when I’d come down for the tea and crackers, only that Susan was feeling under the weather and needed something to sooth her stomach. This of course made me suspicious of the cook right off the bat.

“I’m pretty sure, based on her symptoms, that Ms. Langtree has food poisoning.”

I watched a look of shock and denial cross the cook’s face. “Impossible. I use only the freshest ingredients.”

“Is it possible someone could have slipped something into her food after it was prepared?” I asked.

The cook frowned.

“Specifically her soup?” I added.

“I don’t see how. The only people with access to the food prior to serving it was myself and Byron, and I’ve known Byron a long time. He would never intentionally make someone sick.”

“Where is Byron now?” I asked.

“Liam came to fetch him. Lord Dunphy needed help in the workroom.”

“Has Liam been in the kitchen at other times this evening?” I asked.

“He’s been in and out a time or two,” the cook admitted.

“And how long have you known Liam?”

“Only a week. He’s new to the castle.”

I looked around the room. I didn’t see a back door, but I hadn’t seen Liam come in to fetch Byron, although I had been upstairs with Susan. I asked the cook about another entrance and she said there was a back hallway that led from the kitchen to the workroom stairs, which didn’t pass through the dining room. I grabbed a dinner roll and headed toward the workroom. I was more convinced than ever that Liam was the killer; now I just needed to prove it.

When I arrived at the workroom it was completely empty. And it wasn’t just empty; it was dry. There was no way it had been flooded recently. Someone, or maybe everyone, was lying. I just didn’t understand why.

I leaned up onto my elbow and looked at the clock on the table next to the bed. It said it was 2:10 a.m., much too late for anyone to be up and about, but I was certain I’d heard footsteps in the hallway. Zak was sleeping next to me and Charlie was snoring at the foot of the bed as I grabbed my robe and slipped into the narrow corridor. It was dark, but I could just make out a form ahead of me. I wasn’t sure who—or what—I was following, but my instincts told me to remain quiet and hang back as I slipped past the closed doors on both sides of the passage.

When the faint figure got to the end of the hallway, it moved down the stairs, across the main entry, through the dining room, and toward the kitchen. At some point I lost sight of the figure I was following, but when I arrived at the kitchen door, I noticed a sliver of light at the bottom of the door, indicating that a light was on inside.

I slowly opened the door to see Lord Dunphy sitting at the counter eating a sandwich.

“Ms. Zimmerman,” his lordship greeted me. “I see Mother was successful in fetching you.”

Mother? As in the woman who had been dead for ten years?

“I was really hoping to avoid this, but I’m afraid we need to chat,” Lord Dunphy continued. “Please pull up a stool and have a seat.”

I did as the man told me. He seemed to be in a somber mood, and the dark circles under his eyes seemed more prominent than they had been the previous evening. I had a million questions for him, which I intended to ask before I went back upstairs, but he said he wanted to speak to me so I decided to let him begin the conversation.

“When I arose this past morning I was informed by Byron that you and your husband had found Brent Silverwood dead on the stoop of the groundskeeper’s cottage.” Lord Dunphy spoke in an emotionless voice, as if he were simply reading directions of one sort or another. “Needless to say, I was horrified by the news. We have never had a murder at Dunphy Castle in my lifetime, although they were quite common in years past.”

“It was pretty shocking for Zak and me to find the body as well,” I assured his lordship.

“I can imagine. Still, there seems to be cause on my part for concern as to the validity of the event. I had Mother fetch you so that we can discuss this murder you claim has occurred.”

“Claim?”

“So far we have not found any evidence that a body ever existed. There is no sign of a struggle outside the cottage where the man was reported to have been shot, and there is no evidence within the interior of the cottage to suggest that a body was ever inside. I have spent the entire day searching every nook and cranny in the castle, as well as every inch of the island. No body has been found. The only conclusion I can come to is that there never was one to find.”

“You think we’re making the whole thing up?”

“The evidence would suggest that to be the case. Liam is certain the whole thing is a ruse and Byron refuses to choose sides, but the fact that you found a body that has since disappeared is somewhat hard to swallow.”

“If we were making the whole thing up where is Brent? You said you searched the place and didn’t find a body, but did you find Brent alive?”

“No,” Lord Dunphy admitted, “we did not. His belongings are still in his room and it doesn’t appear that he ever slept there.”

I got up off my stool and began to pace, which is something I often do when I’m agitated. “I’ll admit the fact that the body is missing is odd, but I can assure you that the very dead body of Brent Silverwood was found by Zak and me last evening. We moved the body inside the cottage so it wouldn’t be swept away and came to inform you. We ran into Byron and Liam in the hallway. They informed us that you were unavailable. We explained what had occurred and they assured us that he would fill you in on the situation.”

Lord Dunphy frowned. “You say you ran into Liam in the house?”

“Yes. He was in the hallway on the second floor, talking to Byron.”

Lord Dunphy didn’t respond, but I could tell by the furrowing of his brows that he was thinking things through.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that they didn’t inform you of Brent’s death until this morning?” I asked. “It seems like the murder of a guest would be cause to interrupt you, even if you had gone up to your room for the evening.”

“Yes, I see your point.”

“And it was Liam you sent to check on the body. Isn’t it possible that he’s the killer and he moved the body to cover up the crime?” I added.

“Why would Liam want to kill Mr. Silverwood?”

“I don’t know. What do you know about Liam?”

Lord Dunphy sat back on the stool. “Not a lot. My stable hand retired recently and Liam applied for the job. He seemed to know a lot about horses and he was willing to work for a lot less than most. He hasn’t worked here all that long—in fact only a week—but I’ve had no cause to regret hiring him. He is excellent with the livestock and he seems to be a hard worker. He was born and raised right here in Ireland. I really don’t see what motive he would have had to kill a visitor from the United States.”

“I don’t know either, but at this point he seems the most likely suspect. There are, however, others to consider. How well exactly did you know Brent?”

“I just met him the night of the dinner.”

I frowned. “So how did he come to be here?”

“His agent, a nice chap named Dugan Westerly, called to ask if one of his clients could come to the castle to do research for an upcoming role. I thought it would be good publicity, so I arranged for him to be here the same weekend as Ms. Belmont’s guests.”

“Ms. Belmont’s guests?” I knew Zak and I had been invited by Piper, and Millie had as well, but I’d just assumed the others had been invited by Lord Dunphy himself.

“Yes, the murder mystery weekend was her idea.”

I returned to my stool and sat back down. “Okay, let’s back up a bit. You said the weekend was Piper’s idea. How did the whole thing come about?”

Lord Dunphy got up and went over to the refrigerator. He took out a covered dish and offered me a slice of pie, which I accepted. I hadn’t eaten much dinner and I was starving.

“Ms. Belmont and her husband have visited Dunphy Castle on several occasions. In fact, I believe it is the only place they stay when they are in the area. During their last visit I mentioned to them that I wasn’t certain if I would be able to hang on to the castle because, thanks to mismanagement on my father’s part, my financial situation had become quite desperate. Ms. Belmont suggested the idea of offering murder mystery weekends to high-end clients. I was a bit skeptical at first, but Ms. Belmont insisted it was a brilliant idea. She told me that she would make all the arrangements for a trial run, which was scheduled for this weekend.”

“So she was responsible for inviting everyone who’s here this weekend?”

“Yes, except for Mr. Silverwood, of course, and Miss Baltimore. I called in a favor from an old friend and arranged to have the event covered by the press. At the time I thought it would be a good way to launch the weekends, should this one work out.”

I felt like the fact that Piper was responsible for inviting all the guests somehow changed everything. I just wasn’t certain how.

“Do you know why she chose each particular guest?” I asked as I took a bite of the pie, which was quite delicious.

“I know what she told me. She thought the weekend would be a lot more fun if all the contestants had a background in solving mysteries. She told me, for example, that you were an amateur sleuth who she’d met while vacationing this past summer. She said you actually had solved a murder while on your honeymoon.”

“Yes, that much is true.”

“Apparently Professor Waller works with Mr. Belmont in some capacity. She explained that Mr. Waller finds and retrieves lost artifacts, so I assume he must have Charles fence them.”

“
Fence
them?”

“Yes, I believe Mr. Belmont deals in the acquisition and sale of valuable objects.”

I knew Charles and Piper traveled extensively; I guess I must never have gotten around to asking what they actually did for a living.

“And Jessica?”

“Ms. Belmont informed me that she is a huge fan of her books. She told me that she has read them all multiple times and had always wanted to meet the woman who managed to weave such complex tales time after time. I suppose she found this weekend to be the opportunity she’d been looking for.”

I knew Millie was Piper’s psychic, which just left Sam. Dunphy admitted he wasn’t certain how Sam and Piper were acquainted, but he was on her original list so he went with it.

I had a lot of new information; now I just needed to process it. I still felt like Liam was the best candidate for the killer, but I’ve found in my past experiences that the killer rarely turns out to be my original suspect. It was best to keep an open mind as I continued my investigation. I asked his lordship where Piper had been all day and he claimed not to know. I couldn’t tell if he was lying, but I didn’t suppose it really mattered.

I was thrilled to find the sun shining through our bedroom window when I awoke the next morning, but I was less than thrilled to find both Charlie and Zak gone. I hated waking up alone. I hadn’t meant to sleep so late, but between my late-night chat with Lord Dunphy and the tossing and turning I’d done trying to process everything after I’d returned to the room, it had been the early hours of the morning before I’d finally gotten back to sleep.

I sat up and looked around the room. It appeared Zak had straightened up. I was about to toss back the covers to get up when Zak and Charlie returned to the room.

“Good, you’re awake.” Zak kissed me on the lips and handed me a cup of coffee. He had a plate with a muffin in his other hand. “Charlie and I have already eaten, so I brought something up for you. It looks like we’re going to have a few hours of sunshine before the next wave of the storm rolls in, so I thought you might want to go for a walk.”

“I’d love to go for a walk.” I smiled as I sipped my coffee. “I wonder if we can get down to the beach.”

“I actually spoke to the cook about that when I was fetching your muffin. She explained that the trail that runs directly from the castle to the beach is steep and will be impassable, but she gave me directions to access the beach through the boathouse at the other end of the island. It really isn’t that much farther than the stable.”

“Sounds like fun.” I picked off a piece of the poppy seed muffin and put it into my mouth. “I bet a lot of cool stuff washed up during the storm. Who knows what we’ll find.”

“I’ll bring a bag to put things in.” Zak sat down on the edge of the bed. “Now that you’ve had your coffee and been fed, do you want to tell me where you went last night?”

“Sorry. I didn’t know you even realized I was gone.”

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t do any sleuthing alone.”

“I wasn’t sleuthing. Exactly. I heard a noise in the hall. I peeked out and saw a figure, which I followed. She led me to the kitchen, where I found Lord Dunphy having a sandwich. I stopped to chat with him for a few minutes.”

I shared my conversation with his lordship while I finished my coffee and muffin. Zak agreed with my assessment that it might be important that it was actually Piper who was responsible for the guest list. I asked him if he’d seen her downstairs, and he hadn’t. He’d had breakfast with Armand, who’d shared some more about his travels. Zak confirmed that Armand had been alone in his room after leaving dinner on the night of the murder, which didn’t leave him with an alibi, although he also shared that the more he got to know the professor, the more certain he was that he wasn’t the killer we were looking for. Zak had a pretty good gut instinct I’d learned to trust. If we eliminated Armand based on that instinct and Susan because she had been in her room tossing her cookies when the murder occurred, that just left Liam, Piper, and Luke. At this point my money was still on Liam.

After I got dressed, Zak, Charlie, and I headed downstairs and out the side entrance. It was a cold morning, probably no warmer than forty degrees, but the sun felt wonderful on my face. Based on Charlie’s quick trot, it was clear he was happy the sun had decided to poke its head out for a few hours as well.

The sea in the distance looked calm today. Waves gently lapped toward the shore, causing a pleasant backdrop for the sound of the birds that had come out to feed on the fish that had washed up during the storm. The air smelled fresh after the cleansing rain, although I had a feeling once the sun hit the dead fish scattered on the beach, the scent in the air was going to be something else entirely.

Charlie raced back and forth in front of us as Zak and I walked hand in hand down the narrow path the cook had instructed him to take.

“Did you happen to notice if anyone other than Piper was missing from breakfast?” I asked conversationally. I’d pretty much narrowed down the suspect list to three, yet I still felt it prudent to keep an eye on the comings and goings of the others.

“I didn’t see either Susan or Luke. Armand mentioned that Luke had gone out for a walk because of the break in the storm, and I assumed Susan was still sick.”

“About that: She said she first became ill after finishing dinner the first night and was sick all night. She felt better the next morning and actually thought she’d recovered until she ate the soup last evening. Do you think someone could be adding something to her food to make her sick?”