It wasn’t at all a closed-door mystery, Rocky thought dryly.
There would have been plenty of ways for someone to slip in and surprise Collum Karney in the master’s chambers.
There were two doors that led to the hall. Easy enough.
Of course, the upstairs of the central tower chamber of the castle was now filled with guests.
He and Devin had the old master’s chambers.
Brendan slept in the “new” master’s chambers.
Seamus, Kelly, Michael, and Aidan all had rooms there.
But, other than Brendan, none of them had been in residence when Collum Karney had died.
He was certain that Kelly and Seamus hadn’t been there, at any rate. They’d still been in the United States.
He couldn’t, of course, be certain that Michael or Aidan hadn’t slipped up from Dublin, where they lived. It wasn’t much of a drive at all. One of them—or both—could have hopped in a car and easily driven up.
Yet, neither of the two had been in the house when Brendan had been shocked into a heart attack and coma that day. They’d been with Seamus and Kelly.
Had they rigged something that might have appeared to have been a monster of some kind, come for Brendan?
He’d been one of the first back into the great hall of the castle. He’d seen nothing.
His attention had been drawn to the man dying on the floor!
But, still, there had been no sign of rigging of any kind.
Yes, he’d left Michael and Aidan downstairs when he’d come up to the master’s chambers. But, he’d popped his head down often enough and the two hadn’t even been there; they’d been in the pub, he’d discovered, heading there himself in his attempt at exploration.
So what was the plan here? He wondered. Seriously? Kill every heir to Karney Castle? To what end?
The castle reverted to the Irish Republic when the family died out.
There was, of course, the possibility that Collum Karney had died from a simple heart attack.
But two simple heart attacks did not happen so closely—especially when one of the men who had suffered a heart attack had been found with medieval weapons nearly in his grasp.
At this point, he decided that they needed help from the Krewe. Not wanting the walls to have ears, he headed out beyond the walls of Karney to a point near the fire pit where they’d heard Gary’s stories the night before. Once there, he put a call through to Jackson Crow.
Adam Harrison—who sometimes seemed like a supernatural creature himself—ageless, dignified, and, sometimes, possessing amazing abilities to cross state, agency, and hopefully even international lines—was the founder of the Krewe of Hunters. Jackson Crow—an agent from the start and Adam’s first choice to run the units as a supervising special agent—was their practical leader.
He called Jackson and told him everything that had gone on in chronological order, taking the time to describe those around the castle to the best of his ability. Jackson listened in silence so long that Rocky hoped he hadn’t lost the connection.
But then Jackson spoke. “I can send Will Chan and Kat Sokolov,” he said. “And I’ll speak with Adam. God knows, he has some amazing abilities. He may be best friends with the president of the Irish Republic—if not, I’m sure he knows lawmakers and law enforcement over there somewhere!”
“We have no real authority here,” Rocky reminded him.
“Well, not so true since 9/11,” Jackson said. “We have agents who deal now with combined forces all over the world. Trust me—we’ll pull something off.”
Rocky did trust him. He apologized. “We’d handle this completely ourselves, of course. It’s a family matter, but…I can’t do an autopsy. And I think someone is creating a banshee with a sound system, and that’s Will’s expertise. So, thank you.”
“Hey, what’s a good special unit for?” Jackson asked him lightly. “And, really, Rocky, hell, do you two know how to enjoy a honeymoon or what?”
“Yeah, yeah, funny, thanks!” Rocky said. “Also, I’m going to shoot you an e-mail—can we have some personal information checked out on our key suspects?”
“You have key suspects?”
“At the least, I have key players. I’m trying to find out if there was a possibility that one of Tavish Karney’s nephews might have been in the area the night that Collum died. After Brendan, Seamus, and Kelly, those two are the next to inherit.”
“We’ll be on it,” Jackson promised.
Rocky thanked him again and said good-bye.
Hitting the “end” button on his phone, he looked up toward the castle. It was truly magnificent—rich in history, the accomplishments of man, the terror of time—a monument to resistance and persistence.