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

Medical details were given. The ship's doctor's statement was read.

The coroner was a wizened little man with a receding hairline and beaky nose. In his black robes he looked like a perched raven. “And why isn’t the medical man present to give testimony?” he demanded and was told that the ship had not been detained in port as the shipping company would have suffered considerable hardship by deviating from their scheduled Atlantic crossings. “Should the matter come to trial,” Inspector Harris said, with a glance at me, “the shipping company has expressed itself willing to put any of its officers at our disposal.”

An autopsy report was given by a local doctor. He confirmed the ship's doctor's original findings. The large amount of carbon dioxide in the blood suggested that the girl had died by suffocation. The bruise marks around her neck were not severe enough to have resulted in strangulation. There was no damage to the windpipe. Therefore it was surmised that the girl's face had been pressed into the pillow with a good deal of force.

I was called to the stand. I was asked to describe how I found the body. I was asked why I was occupying a cabin booked in the name of Miss Sheehan. I gave my explanation. As I was speaking, I heard a slight commotion at the back of the courtroom and I looked up to see the door closing behind the hastily retreating silhouette of a tall man. A reporter, no doubt on his way to dig up juicy dirt about Miss Sheehan. Now my name would be in the papers as well, which was the last thing I wanted.

I expected to be cross-questioned by the coroner, but he merely stared at me with those hawklike eyes and said, “It is not the business of this court to delve into why you were posing as another woman. Should a murder trial later come from the results of this inquest, I should imagine such facts may well be relevant.” He glanced across at the jury, who were still staring at me in fascination. I was released from the stand. The statements of various stewards and ships officers were read. I expected that Inspector Harris would say something about our suspicions and mention the various young men who had tried to make contact with Oona, not to mention the one who posed as a steward, but nothing more was said. The coroner summed up, and the jury brought in a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown.

We were dismissed and came out into a bright breezy morning. I only stood for a second or two, breathing in the fresh air before I was aware of an approaching clamor. I looked up to see a throng of young men with notepads and cameras heading toward me.

“Miss Murphy? A word or two if you please.”

“Miss Murphy—is it true you were asked to impersonate OonaSheehan? Can you tell us why? Can you tell us where Miss Sheehan is now? What are your own thoughts on who killed her maid?”

I put my hand up to my face as a camera was pointed at me. I turned to flee, but they came after me like a pack of wolves.

“My paper will pay for an exclusive, Miss Murphy. Where are you staying?”

I saw a passing cab, waved to the driver, made a sudden dash across the street, and climbed up with the wolf pack on my heels. As we took off at a lively trot, I found I was shaking. I had hoped to come to Ireland unnoticed, do my work, and then go back to New York. But now it seemed every paper in the land would be broadcasting the fact that I was here. I was no longer safe. The most sensible thing to do would be to book a passage on the next ship home, but I was now part of a murder inquiry and wouldn’t be allowed to leave. Failing that, the most obvious course of action would be to start using an alias.

I made it back to the hotel, half expecting to hear the clatter of hooves on our tail. But the hotel still stood quiet and serene. I should make my escape before those reporters discovered where I was staying. I asked the cabby to wait and ran upstairs to pack up my things. I paid my bill with one ear listening for approaching feet then I was off again in the cab, with relief and excitement flowing through me. I’d be out of Cork before they knew it!

“The train station, as fast as you can,” I shouted to the cabby.