Shamrock Shenanigans (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 19) Read Online Free PDF Page A

marry you because you limp?”
    “’Tis true. Men around here are looking for women who can bear their children and help work their farm.”
    I frowned. I was about to make a comment about life in the twenty-first century but decided to let it go. I really wasn’t familiar with the Irish culture, so what did I know about what men would find as desirable traits in the women they courted?
    “Are you an only child?” I wondered.
    “Am now. I had a brother, Danny. He was a soldier. He died fighting for what he believed in a few years back.”
    “I’m so sorry. I know it’s hard to lose someone you love.”
    “Yes, ma’am. It is. More than you can imagine.”
    I decided to change the subject before we were both in tears. What I really wanted to know about was the other employees in the castle.
    “So if you’ve worked at the castle since you were young you must know Lord Dunphy fairly well?”
    “Yes, ma’am. He is like family. Almost like a father since my own papa passed.”
    “And the other employees: have they all been here for a long time as well?”
    Liza smiled as Charlie licked her cheek. “Bonnie, the cook, took over when my mom passed about three years ago. She brought Byron, the server, with her when she came. He only works when there are guests to tend to. Liam, the stable hand, has only just started. In fact, this is his first week on the job. The old stable hand had been here for over thirty years before he retired. I miss him quite a lot.”
    “Stable hand? I thought Liam was a butler or something.”
    “No, ma’am. Liam tends to the horses. He has a room out in the stable.”
    “I guess I just assumed he was one of the indoor staff because I saw him upstairs last night.”
    Liza frowned. “The man who tends the stable rarely comes into the castle when there are guests. He even eats in his room in the stable. I don’t know why Liam was here last evening.”
    “So he would have been out in the stable the entire time we were having dinner and meeting in the parlor for drinks?” I verified.
    “Yes, ma’am. That is where he should have been. The horses tend to get skittish when there is a storm such as this. Liam would have been on hand to calm them.”
    Which meant he could easily have killed Brent. If he was never in the castle, then he wouldn’t have had to be indoors and then go out, risking being seen.
    “I really should go,” Liza announced. “Thank you for letting me pet your Charlie.”
    “The pleasure was all his. Stop by any time to say hi if you’d like.”
    “Thank you, ma’am. I’d like that very much.”
    I spent a few minutes cleaning up the room after Liza left. I piled all the dirty towels in one corner, wiped out the tub, and straightened the rugs that had been placed on the stone floor. By the time Zak returned Charlie was clean and sweet-smelling and the room had been returned to order.
    “Did you know that Liam was the stable hand and not the butler?” I informed Zak.
    “No. I assumed he worked in the house because we found him there last evening. Do you think the fact that we were mistaken is significant?”
    “I spoke to Liza, the maid, when she brought the towels. Thank you for sending her up, by the way. Anyway, she said Liam has a room in the stable and he rarely comes inside when guests are here. It seems he even eats in his room. Which makes me wonder why he was not only inside the castle last night but upstairs where the guest rooms are located.”
    “Good question.”
    “Liam is also the person Lord Dunphy sent out to the cottage to check on the body this morning. If he’s the killer, he either could have lied about it being gone or he could have moved it when he was supposed to be checking on it. I have no idea whether Liam has a motive to kill Brent, but he seemed to have both the opportunity to kill the man and to move the body without drawing suspicion based on his movements.”
    “Okay, so what do you suggest? It would be suspicious if we