In Dublin's Fair City (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #6)

Then, of course, I was reminded that life wasn’t as simple as I was making it out to be. I wondered how the police were getting on with solving Rose's murder. Had their search turned up any suspects? And more to the point, had Miss Sheehan telegraphed from New York to give some explanation for her strange behavior? I wondered if she felt guilty about what had happened to her servant. Maybe servants were as expendable to her as young lady detectives. Had she really tricked me into traveling in her place because she knew her life would be in danger? In which case, why not report her suspicions to the police? Why not hire a bodyguard to look after her? The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

I turned away from the river and set off again at a brisk pace. I located the police station and handed in the note for Inspector Harris. The young policeman at the counter eyed me with obvious interest, asked me if I was new in town and where I might be staying. I was gratified to notice his expression change when I told him the Victoria Hotel.

After that I made my way back to the hotel in time for afternoon tea, which I ate among the potted palms to the sound of an orchestra composed entirely of elderly men. It was most civilized, to be sure. I was interrupted in the middle of a chocolate eclair to be told that my luggage had now arrived and had been taken up to my room. I went up to see, opened the door, and stopped short: my train case was on a side table and the entire floor was taken up with five huge trunks. Miss Sheehan, it seemed, did not believe in traveling light.

How on earth was I going to deal with that amount of luggage? I sincerely hoped she would arrange to have it collected right away, or I’d be forever clambering over a mountaineering course to reach my bed. I tried to drag one of the trunks into a corner, but it was too heavy for me to move alone. Two of them were locked and I possessed no keys. One was open. I rummaged through it but it contained only clothes. I supposed that those beaded capes and velvet evening dresses must weigh a ton. I stared at them, puzzled. If she had really not planned to travel in the first place, why pack what must have been a good portion of her clothing? Which brought me back to my first theory: she had spotted someone on board who represented danger to her and had decided to remove herself from harm's way.

I decided to go back to the police station and see if there was any news yet.coming down the steps of the hotel, I bumped into Inspector Harris, on his way to see me.

“I was coming to see you, Inspector,” I said. “Is there any news?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that I can tell you at the moment.”

“So that medical inspection didn’t turn up any suspects? No red hairs on garments or crumpled stewards’ uniforms stuffed into luggage?”

He shook his head with a smile. “I’m afraid not. We saw how nicely our man cleaned up after himself in your cabin. And no fingerprints. He's a careful, tidy sort of chap, by the look of it, and we’ll have a devil of a time catching him. But we’re not about to give up yet.” He glanced up at the imposing portico of the hotel. “I take it Mr. Burke is financing this fancy establishment,” he said.

“I do have traveling expenses,” I agreed, “although I can’t see how I pay for my hotels really has anything to do with you.”

I really hadn’t meant to be so rude, but I was tired and edgy and just a little scared too.

“Oh, but it could be of great interest to me,” he said. “A young girl obviously not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, no clear male protector. She has to come up with the money for a top-notch hotel somehow. And various suggestions come to mind.” He looked at me, cocking his head on one side in that strange gesture. “Now, if you were in league with that jewel thief, for example . . . or in league with the person who killed Rose, or had quietly done away with Miss Sheehan.... Shall I go on?”

“You can go on as long as you like,” I said. “I’m none of the above. I’ve told you who I am and what I am doing in Ireland. I’ve told you the truth about changing places with Miss Sheehan. If you don’t believe me, then you’ll just have to wait until Miss Sheehan verifies that switching cabins with her was entirely her idea.”

The ghost of a smile twitched on his lips. “We’ve just heard from Miss Sheehan,” he said.

“And?” I felt my heart flutter alarmingly. He's come to arrest me, was the thought that flashed through my mind.

“And she backs up your story. So sorry she had to disembark at the last minute. Even more sorry to hear about Rose. She’d like to come over for Rose's funeral, but unexpectedly has rehearsals starting for a new play.” He glanced up at me. “Convenient, don’t you think?”

“She didn’t venture any suggestions as to who had been threatening her or might have wanted to kill Rose?”

“If she had, she has kept them to herself so far. We’re asking the New York police for assistance.”

I felt a powerful emotion shoot through me: the New York police! On another occasion it might well have been my own Daniel Sullivan who could have been put in charge of the case. I almost opened my mouth to tell him I knew Captain Sullivan, and then, of course, I remembered that he was Captain Sullivan no longer but plain Mr. Sullivan, still under suspicion. What a lot of loose ends there seemed to be in my life at the moment.