It was only when I was on the train that I realized I had failed to do what I had claimed as my reason for going to New York—find a way to transport Daniel back home. That would look suspicious. So when the train came into Newport, I made first for the harbor and inquired about passenger ships that sailed to New York. I found there was a regular service up and down the coast and I could book a cabin with ease. My conscience thus cleared, I threw caution to the winds and took a cab to Connemara.
There were still a bevy of reporters milling around the gate. I had to push my way past them. Policemen were still guarding the gate, but they recognized me and let me in. I noticed more police outside the main house. Had something else happened? My heart beat a little faster as I walked up to the front door of our cottage. What if Daniel had taken a turn for the worse and I wasn’t there? I started walking faster and had almost broken into a run by the time I pushed the front door open. It was dark in the hallway and it took time for my eyes to accustom myself to the light and to see the figure standing at the bottom of the stairs. He spun to face me and I saw that it was Sam.
Thirty-four
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
His eyes darted nervously. “She said I could,” he said.
“She?”
“The old lady. I smelled the baking and she said I could come back when it was out of the oven.” He glanced back into the kitchen. “When I get scared I like to eat.”
“What are you scared about?” I tried to sound casual.
“You know. All the things that have been happening. Uncle Brian and now this. I want to go back to New York but the policeman says we have to stay.”
Mrs. Sullivan’s head poked around the kitchen door. “Oh, Molly, you’re back. Just in time for tea. And this young man too. I can see he needs fattening up and I’ve just been baking all of Daniel’s favorites—my soda bread and buns and Barmbrack.”
“Daniel is all right, isn’t he?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. Making splendid progress now he’s had a chance to eat some proper food,” she said. “He was talking of coming downstairs and sitting outside for a while. I gather the family is taking tea on the lawn. Well, poor things, I expect they are really shaken up by the latest developments.”
“What’s happened?” I asked.
She leaned closer to me. “It turns out that the owner of the place, the one who was murdered, was keeping his insane granddaughter up in that tower, and all this time the rest of the family thought she was safely in an asylum.”
I was finding it hard to breathe. “How did they find out?” I asked.
“The man’s lawyer came to read the will and as I understand it, there was a large sum of money left for the care of this granddaughter, provided she was looked after properly in a family home. I don’t know the rest of the details but that’s what Martha told me.”
“It’s Kathleen,” Sam blurted out. “You know, the one who pushed her sister over the cliff. Nobody knew where she was. Uncle Jo sent a telegram to the asylum where they thought she was and they sent a telegram back saying she had been taken away years ago.”
“So how did they find her?” I could hardly make the words come out.
“They found Mrs. McCreedy,” he said. “One of the maids found her early this morning when she was cleaning. She was lying on the floor dead. She’d fallen from a trapdoor and broken her neck. So Terrence and Uncle Jo got a ladder and they went up and do you know what they found? Kathleen had been living up there all this time and we never knew. So of course then they reckoned that she’d pushed Mrs. McCreedy just like she did her sister.”
“And where is Kathleen now?” It was all I could do to remain calm and not go rushing over to her.
“She’s still up there and there are policemen guarding her until they can come and take her away,” he said. He had his arms wrapped around himself, shivering as if he was cold.
“And your friends are with her,” Daniel’s mother said. “The two women who were your bridesmaids. Apparently she can only communicate in a strange language and they are experts in such things.”
I gave a huge sigh of relief. Sid and Gus were with her. I was half-amused, half-impressed that they had conned their way to Kathleen, claiming to be experts. They’d make sure nothing terrible happened to her for the time being—until I could prove that she didn’t kill Mrs. McCreedy. I wanted to go to them right now but my husband came first. “I must go and see Daniel,” I said.
Mrs. Sullivan grabbed my arm. “He doesn’t know anything about this and he shouldn’t be told. No sense in upsetting him when he’s still so weak.”
I nodded agreement.
“And young Sam here better get started on his tea,” she added. “Tell Daniel I’ll be bringing a tray up to him in a few minutes.”
Sam brightened up instantly at the word tea. He was through the door of the kitchen and had grabbed a bun before I started up the stairs. Daniel was sitting propped up by pillows and his face lit up as I came in, making me feel a flush of warmth and gratitude.
“There you are,” he said. “I wondered where you had got to.”
“I was scouting out ways to have you transported back to New York safely,” I said. “You’re not up to traveling by train yet.”