Shamrock Shenanigans (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 19) (6 page)

“I suppose it’s possible, but why would anyone do that?”

“I have no idea. And the logistics of something like that would be tricky unless it was either the cook or Byron doing the adding. The way she described her illness didn’t seem typical of the flu.”

“There are all kinds of flu,” Zak reminded me.

“True. Still, my Zodar is telling me that there’s something off about this whole thing. I just haven’t figured out what yet.”

Zak and I continued to discuss the various aspects of the investigation until we came to the wooden staircase that led down to the boathouse. We carefully made our way down and then let ourselves in through the side door, which the cook had assured Zak would be unlocked.

“There’s no boat,” I observed.

“The cook said Lord Dunphy doesn’t own one. In fact, the boathouse has been nothing more than an access to the beach for over twenty years.”

“I’m surprised the waves haven’t destroyed it. They sounded pretty big the past couple of days.”

“When we were at the top of the stairs I noticed that this part of the beach is protected by a reef. I imagine that’s why the boathouse was built here in the first place.”

I supposed that made sense. It really was a pretty cool old building, even if it was falling into a state of disrepair. Zak and I walked along the wooden decking, which, unlike the rest of the structure, looked to be brand new, as we made our way toward the door at the front, which would lead out onto the beach. The view was breathtaking. The tiny waves that rolled in from the open sea didn’t at all resemble the giant waves I’d heard breaking in the background for the past two days. Charlie was in heaven, running up and down the beach, chasing the birds. It was nice to get outside for some fresh air and sunshine after days of rain.

We decided to walk down the beach back toward the castle, which could be seen high up on the bluff. It was beautiful here, but I had to admit the isolation of the castle when the bridge was out and the residents and staff were unable to get into town would get tiresome after a while. One of the things I love most about my own hometown was that you could enjoy the feeling of isolation yet still be close to town and neighbors.

“It looks like we aren’t the only ones to decide to take advantage of the nice day,” I commented as I noticed two people farther down the beach at the foot of the castle.

“It looks like Luke,” Zak said.

“And Susan,” I added. “I knew the two of them were making eyes at each other. If Susan hadn’t been sick that first night, I bet they would have hooked up then, as I predicted.”

“Should we turn around to give them some privacy?” Zak wondered.

“I can’t see them any longer. It looks like they must have gone on around the bend. Let’s go ahead and walk down to the bend, then turn around.”

Zak and I continued to walk down the beach with Charlie, chatting about the magic of the scenery. It really was the best time we’d had since we’d been in the Emerald Isle. Blue skies, a calm sea, and plenty of sunshine: What more could you ask for?

“I wonder if we’ll get cell service now that the storm has passed.”

“You need to make a call?” Zak asked me.

“I just wanted to check on the kids. And Ellie. And the new math teacher we hired. I know it’s only been a few days since we checked in, but now that I’m outdoors in the fresh air and not stuck in the castle, I find that I’m starting to wonder how everyone is doing back in Ashton Falls.”

“Yeah,” Zak agreed. “I’ve had the same thoughts. I left my phone back in the room, though.”

“Me too. Maybe we can try making the calls when we get back. I guess we should turn around. It looks like we’re about to run out of beach.” I frowned. “I assumed the beach continued on around the bend, but it just ends where the cliffs begin.”

“Looks like.”

“So where are Luke and Susan? When we saw them they were about where we’re standing now, but I don’t see them anymore and they didn’t come back down the beach, so where did they go?”

Zak looked around. “Good question. Maybe they headed up the trail that leads directly to the castle.”

I looked up at the trail. It was steep and muddy. There was no way anyone was getting up or down that trail until it dried out a bit. The beach ended beneath the spot where the castle was located up on the bluff. If you continued on around the corner the sea came all the way up to the cliff face. There was no way Luke and Susan had continued on in that direction. That only left one option.”

“There must be another way into the castle. Maybe a cave or a passage that leads down to the beach.”

“If that were true why wouldn’t the cook have told me about it?” Zak asked.

“Maybe she didn’t know about it. Perhaps there’s a hidden staircase. I bet there’s an opening behind those shrubs.”

I walked toward the dense shrubbery that grew at the base of the bluff. It took quite a bit of searching, but eventually I found a small opening that looked like the entrance to a cave. There was an iron gate across the entrance, although it was open, but it was dark and we didn’t have a flashlight. Still, I could see enough from the entrance to realize that I’d found the dungeons. I assumed the cells hadn’t been used in recent times, but it did make sense that a castle as large as this one would have been built to include a place to hold those who fell out of favor with the current lord.

“I bet if you continue on you come to a doorway leading into the old part of the castle,” I postulated. The castle as it existed today was divided into the section that had been modernized and the one that had been closed off. From the outside it looked like the building could have housed over a hundred people at one time, but the majority of the structure wasn’t used, left to weather the elements over the years. I would estimate that only about a quarter of the available space was utilized in modern times. “It’d be fun to look around some more. Maybe we can come back with a flashlight.”

“I have one in my suitcase. Let’s head back now. It looks like the next wave of bad weather is about to make its way onshore and I don’t want to get caught in it.”

Zak, Charlie, and I turned around and headed back down the beach. I hoped we’d find cell service had been restored when we got to our room. As interesting as this trip had been so far, thoughts of home were never far from my mind.

Maybe we could bring the kids to Ireland one day. Alex might only be eleven, but she seemed to be fascinated by anything having to do with history, and Scooter would think the suit of armor standing in the hallway near our room was awesome. The kids had been living with us for less than a year, but already I thought of them as family. Pi, the eldest of the three minors in our care, had recently turned seventeen and was looking ahead to college. Technically he was only a high school junior, but he was way ahead of his peers academically, so Zak was looking into the possibility of having him begin college as early as the following fall. I’d miss him, but I could see he was more than ready for that step.

“I wonder how Ellie is doing with Brady,” I said aloud.

Brady Matthews was the new math teacher we’d hired for Zimmerman Academy, the private school we run, when our previous teacher, Will Danner, had left us after the New Year. Brady hadn’t been able to make the move until this past week, so my best friend, Ellie Davis, had agreed to pick him and his three children up at the airport and get him settled into the house Zak and I had rented for him.

“I’m sure they’re getting along fine. Brady is a good guy and my guess is that Ellie is having a wonderful time helping him get settled.”

“You didn’t hire him as a hookup for Ellie, did you?”

Ellie recently had broken up with her boyfriend and my other best friend, Levi Denton, and had been feeling a little lost since Levi had entered into another relationship almost immediately.

“Of course not,” Zak denied. “I offered Brady the job because he was the most qualified of the candidates I interviewed. It did occur to me, however, that Brady was exactly what Ellie has been looking for.”

Zak wasn’t wrong. Brady was intelligent, kind, and easygoing. He was a widower with three young children, a daughter named Holly, who was four, and twin boys, Hudson and Haden, who were just eighteen months. It was hard to know how people would relate with each other when they actually met, but on paper, Brady was perfect for Ellie.

Upon returning to the castle, we found cell service was still out, which was frustrating, but Zak thought now that the weather had cleared a bit, he might be able to get satellite service on his laptop. It looked like the clearing trend was temporary, so I left him to that while I cleaned Charlie up.

I’d noticed Piper sitting in the lounge when we arrived, so when Charlie was once again fluffy and sweet smelling, we headed back down to have a chat with her. If she was the one responsible for inviting all the murder mystery contestants, maybe she could provide me with the additional details I needed to try to make sense of everything that was going on.

I found Piper sitting by the fire reading a book when I entered the room. She smiled and motioned for me to have a seat on the sofa across from her.

“I missed you at dinner last night,” I began.

“I’m afraid I’ve been a bit off my food since I’ve been here. I thought it might be the flu, but it seems to come and go.”

Sounded like Susan’s symptoms exactly. I had to wonder if there was a flu going around or something in the food.

“I take it you’ve been out investigating the murder,” Piper continued.

“Actually, Zak and I just took Charlie for a walk, although I do admit to being curious as to what’s really going on.”

“Yes.” Piper frowned. “I’m afraid having a real murder on the first night of a murder mystery weekend is not going to produce the results I’d hoped for.”

“And what results are those?”

Piper leaned in, as if sharing a secret. “Between you and me, Lord Dunphy is broke. From what I understand, his current state of affairs is not his fault but rather mismanagement by his father, despite his mother’s assistance. He happened to mention his situation to Poppy and me the last time we were here and I realized the man was sitting on a gold mine.”

“A gold mine?”

“Not literally, dear. As far as I know there is no gold in these parts. The gold mine I refer to has more to do with the potential experience the castle has to offer its guests. Dunphy Castle has been operating as a lodging facility for quite some time, but his lordship really hasn’t done anything to establish the castle as a unique destination. One of the reasons I so enjoy coming here is because of the possibility of running into one of the resident ghosts. The murder mystery theme seemed to fit with the haunted castle idea, so I proposed offering murder mystery weekends at five times the rate currently being charged for a room.”

“And you think people will pay that?” I asked.

“I think they will if we do a good enough job of building the hype and creating a scarcity of reservations. Everyone loves a ghost.”

I supposed that much was true. Zak and I had been invited here, but I would have paid quite a lot to experience a murder mystery weekend in a real haunted castle.

“So you invited people you knew?”

“Exactly. I figured we’d invite people with experience in solving one type of mystery or another to compete for bragging rights because his lordship can’t afford a cash prize. I suggested to Fergus that we have the media cover the event. I thought a news story would create interest in the weekends. I hoped things would go well enough that he’d get reservations right off the bat.”

“I know why you invited Zak and me, but can you share why you invited the others?”

Piper looked around the room as if to satisfy herself that we were truly alone. The entire exercise seemed ridiculous, given the fact that I hadn’t asked for her country’s secrets but simply inquired about the guest list. I’ll admit that having a real murder occur in a haunted castle during a storm had provided just the right atmosphere for us all to feel as if we were characters in one of the mysteries I knew Piper was fond of.

Piper lowered her voice before she began. “Jessica Fielding is my favorite mystery writer. Not only are her stories complex and well thought out but she is such an interesting person. It seems that she stumbled across the answer to a decades’ old cold case several years ago while doing research for one of her novels. After she was able to prove her conclusions to local law enforcement, and the killer was apprehended after almost getting away with a perfect murder, she became intrigued by the process. She has investigated and tried to solve several other crimes in her spare time. I’m not sure her current endeavors have met with the same success she realized the first time, but she has made progress in several different cases. Her approach to the whole thing captured my imagination. I’ve always wanted to meet her and saw this as an opportunity. I know she isn’t a real detective, but she has had some luck with her cold cases, so I thought she could give professionals such as yourself a run for their money.”

“I’m not a professional.”

“You might not get paid for what you do, but I consider you a professional all the same.”

I smiled. She was laying it on pretty thick, but I didn’t mind. My ego could use a boost right about then.

“And the others?” I asked.

“Armand is a friend of Poppy’s. In fact, Poppy suggested I invite him.”

“Lord Dunphy told me Charles sells the artifacts Armand finds.”

“Some of them. Certainly there are those that end up in museums. But if Armand finds a rare object that doesn’t possess any specific historical value, Poppy helps him out.”

“So Charles is an antiquities dealer?”

“You could say he’s a matchmaker of sorts.”

“A matchmaker?”

“If someone has an expensive piece of art or a rare artifact to sell, Poppy matches them up with a buyer. Poppy and Armand have worked together several times and have become friends.”

“Do you know why Charles suggested Armand for this specific weekend when he himself isn’t here?” I asked.

Piper frowned. “Charles knows Armand well enough to realize that he would enjoy such an opportunity and suggested that I offer him an invite. I’m sure the opportunity to stay in the castle was welcome. It certainly holds a lot of history within its walls. In fact, Armand has been holed up in the library almost since we’ve been here. I popped my head in to say hello when I came down today, but he was so interested in the books and documents he had spread all over the table near the fireplace that he didn’t even hear me.”

“Do you know what he’s looking for?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t. You can ask him if you can get his attention.”

Doing just that was going to be my next stop.

“And Millie is your psychic,” I verified.

“Yes, dear.”

“And Sam?”

Piper furrowed her brow. “Sam was referred to me by Armand, who I believe got his name from Luke. I’m not sure how the men know each other, but Armand knew I wanted a fifth and he gave me Sam’s contact information.”

“Luke and Susan are both here as guests, but they seem to be spending time together. Do you happen to know if they knew each other prior to this event?”

“Not that I know of. Still, Susan works for Sam, who was invited after Luke provided his name to Armand, who passed it on to Charles, so it stands to reason that Luke and Sam know each other. I suppose that can lead to an inference that Luke and Susan know each other.”

Made sense.

“And you had never met either Brent or Drew before this weekend?”

“No. Fergus told me Brent’s agent called to ask that he be included and, as I indicated, Drew was invited as a result of Fergus calling in a favor so that we would have media coverage. It really is a shame the way everything turned out. I think we would have had a wonderful weekend if not for the fact that we had a real murder.” Piper frowned. “Do you know if they ever found the body?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“It does seem odd that the body simply disappeared. I asked Fergus about it and he is as stumped as I am. This is a large castle, though, so I’m sure there are many good hiding places should someone desire to hide something.”

“It occurred to me that the killer might have dumped the body in the ocean.”

Piper shook her head. “The same thing occurred to me, but Fergus said the way the tides work around the island, anything that is swept out to sea on one part of the beach turns up on another.”

“Zak and I were just down on the beach and we didn’t see anything, although we didn’t walk all the way around the island. Did you know that there are dungeons beneath the castle?”

“Indeed I did. They haven’t been used in a century, but they’ve been left undisturbed, so I imagine there is quite a bit of history that could be learned from within these walls. You should have Fergus tell you some of the tales that have been passed down. They are really quite fascinating.”

I was sure they were both fascinating and horrifying. I couldn’t imagine the living conditions the dungeons suggested. I was sure there were people who were simply left there to die.

“Do you know if there’s a passage that leads to the dungeons from inside the castle?” I asked.

Piper frowned. “Not that I am aware of. When Fergus showed them to me it was from the entrance on the beach. Still, it would make sense that there would be a way to access the area from inside the castle. Perhaps you should ask him that as well.”

I decided to start my inquiries with Armand because I knew he was in the library and I had no idea where Lord Dunphy might be. As Piper had indicated, Armand was sitting at a table that was completely covered with books and yellowed documents. He didn’t so much as look up when Charlie and I entered. The library was a large room with a high ceiling. Almost every wall was lined with bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling. There had to be tens of thousands of books in the room. Many appeared to be old, although there were clearly modern titles along one wall as well.

It was a cheery room with a large fireplace, overstuffed sofas, hardwood tables and chairs, and a large woven rug covering the middle of the floor. There were large portraits on either side of the fireplace, which I assumed were paintings of previous lords of the castle. In that moment I felt like I truly had stepped back in time. It was really an awe-inspiring feeling to know that people had stood in this very room centuries before I’d even been born.

“What a great room,” I said to Armand as I sat down across the table from him.

He looked up. I could tell by the surprise in his eyes that he hadn’t realized I was in the room until I had spoken. Talk about being focused on your work.

“Ms. Zimmerman, how are you?”

“Zoe, please. And I’m fine. It looks like you’ve found a project to occupy your mind while we wait for the bridge to reopen.”

“Indeed I have. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the number of old books and documents contained in the castle. If I had known the treasure I would find, I would have visited earlier. Much earlier.”

“Are you researching anything specific?” I asked as Charlie settled in front of the fire.

“Not really. I started out reading an old journal, which left me with some questions. I then sought out specific books and documents in an effort to answer those questions. One question led to another, and at this point I’m simply taking in as much history as I can. It’s been a wonderful experience. I’m a historian and I’ve spent a lot of time in dusty old libraries, but I must say I’ve loved each and every one of them. Each book, each document, every library, and every old building has a unique story to tell. I’m hoping Lord Dunphy will allow me to stay on after the bridge opens. I find the deeper I delve into the history of the Dunphy family, the more fascinated I become. Did you know that the castle was home to monks at one point?”

“No, I really don’t know anything about the castle. Did you find anything about Catherine and Carrick in those documents?”

“Got caught up in the romance of it all, did you?”

“I did,” I admitted. “Most of what I’ve learned about the prior residents of the castle has been pretty negative, but Carrick and Catherine’s story left me wanting to know them better. Things must have been so hard back then. I can’t imagine having one baby let alone twelve in such primitive conditions.”

“I imagine three hundred years from now people will look back and consider the way we live to be primitive. It’s a relative term.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“In answer to your question, however, I did find something about them.” Armand got up from the table and walked over to a bookshelf that held stacks of documents and other old paperwork.

“This is a journal written by Felicia Dunphy. Felicia was the eldest daughter of Brian Dunphy, the youngest son of the lord who ruled the castle in the late nineteenth century. It appears Felicia was educated and quite bright. She spent quite a bit of time going through both old documents and oral histories in an attempt to put together a summary of sorts for each person in her lineage. Of course the task was one that would take more than a single lifetime to complete, but the information she does provide is fascinating. I only thumbed through the journal, but I remember there was information on Carrick and Catherine. It is a very old and fragile document and I don’t think it would be wise to remove it from the library, but if you would like to stay here to read it won’t bother me.”