Celtic Christmas Page 2

  And then there was Adam’s brother, Tyson. Adam had mentioned that he still lived in the village, which made sense since he seemed to know Lizbeth, the chambermaid, who had stayed to help serve the food, Maeve, the second server, and the bartender, a man named Buford. Tyson had come to the party with a woman named Heidi, who looked to me to be of Scandinavian descent, yet someone had mentioned that she, like Tyson, lived in the village.

  There were a handful of others from the village who looked to be around the same age as the bride and groom, so I assumed they were friends or members of the wedding party. There were a lot of names and faces to put together, and I seriously wondered how I’d keep it all straight, although perhaps keeping everyone straight wouldn’t be necessary since Zak and I were only going to be here for five days.

  By the time we returned to our room, Alex was asleep on the sofa, and Charlie seemed antsy. Zak agreed to walk Alex back to her room, and then stay with Catherine while I took Charlie out for a quick bathroom break. Luckily, it had stopped raining, and Charlie seemed motivated to do his business and get back inside, so hopefully, I wouldn’t need to be out long.

  It was just after midnight, which meant that it would be late afternoon back in Ashton Falls. I’d meant to call my parents and let them know we’d arrived safely once the plane had touched down, but there had been a lot of activity involved in getting everyone settled in the limo and all the luggage transferred from the plane, and I’d forgotten. I decided that now was as good a time as any to check in, at least briefly.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m just calling to let you know that we made it to Ireland safe and sound.”

  “I’m glad you called. I figured you must have landed hours ago.”

  “We did,” I answered. “I meant to call, but things were pretty hectic, and I forgot. I wish you and Mom and Harper could have come. I met a handful of Donovans tonight. I think you would like most of them.”

  “Most of them?”

  “Well,” I hesitated. “There were a few loose cannons in the group. Adam, the man who is getting married, is super nice, as are his parents, Harry and Gwen. Harry’s father is named Luke, just like Grandpa. I found it interesting that Adam and I both have grandfathers named Luke Donovan.”

  “That is interesting. Was he charming like our Luke Donovan?”

  “I didn’t meet him. Luke lives in the village at the foot of the castle and isn’t staying at the castle, so he didn’t attend the dinner, but I understand he will be here on Saturday for the wedding and reception. I guess I’ll meet him then. I did meet Adam’s brother, Tyson. It seems he is a bit of a black sheep. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t really get along with the rest of the family, and the rest of the family only seems to tolerate him. He lives in the village, but apparently, he’s staying in the castle with the wedding party and out of town guests.”

  “It’s too bad that Adam and his brother aren’t close.”

  “Yeah. I sense a story there. No one I spoke to really explained why Tyson seems to be estranged from the rest of the Donovans, but we’ll be here until Sunday, so I’m sure I’ll get the rest of the story at some point.”

  “Be sure to fill me in.”

  “I will. How’s Mom doing?”

  “Better.”

  The reason my parents hadn’t been able to come to Ireland with us was because my mother had come down with a bad case of pneumonia that had landed her in the hospital for almost a week. Everyone had been really worried about her, but eventually, she began to feel better, and she’d been released eight days before we left to make the journey overseas. Still, even though she was home now, there was no way she was up to a trip like that.

  “I hope she’s feeling well enough to enjoy the holiday,” I voiced my concern.

  “She tires easily, so we’ve been taking it easy, but she seems to be doing better with each day that passes. Harper’s Christmas Pageant is on Saturday, so we are hoping she’ll feel up to attending that. I know she really wants to. Harper is excited that she was able to accept a part in the pageant after our trip was canceled.”

  “I’m sorry that I’m going to miss it. It’s been so much fun having a little sister who participates in such things. Please take a video.”

  “She just has a small part, but we’ll film it.”

  Charlie came running over to where I was standing. “It looks like Charlie is ready to go in. I’m exhausted, so I guess I’ll ring off for now. Kiss Mom and Harper for me. I’ll bring lots of photos to share at the family dinner Zak and I are planning to cook for everyone on Christmas Eve.”

  “Do that. I’m really curious about our Donovan heritage now that I know there are relatives to meet and get to know.”

  When I returned to the castle, I decided to head in through a side door, which had been left unlocked, and was closer to our suite than wandering in through the main living area of the first floor would have been. When I came to the end of the first hallway, I hesitated. There was a passage to the left, as well as one to the right. I suspected the hallway to the right led to the main part of the castle where the library, kitchen, and dining area were located, so I took the hallway to the left, figuring it would lead to the stairs to the rooms on the second floor. When I reached the end of the hallway, I found a door. I turned the handle and opened it to find that the door actually led to the old part of the castle that had not been occupied for generations. I was preparing to turn back, closing the door behind me, when Charlie squeezed through the opening and took off down the dark and dusty passage.

  “Charlie, get back here,” I called.

  He paused and waited, but did not come to me.

  “This is the wrong hallway. Now come on back.”

  Again, he didn’t move, which was both odd and alarming, since he was normally a very well behaved dog. In fact, in the past, the only times he hadn’t minded was when he had something to show me. Usually a body. It was late, and I was tired, and I really, really didn’t want to find a long-forgotten skeleton at this late hour, but Charlie seemed quite determined to show me something, so I pulled out my phone, which had a flashlight app, and started forward.

  I’d explored the old and crumbling half of the castle when I’d been here before, and I knew it would be easy to get lost in the labyrinth of hallways, but I supposed I could trust Charlie to know instinctively where to go. At least I hoped his canine instincts would keep us safe. I was pretty sure this was the same hallway I’d explored the last time I was here while following the ghost of Lady Catherine to the room where she’d left items for me to find. Unlike the occupied part of the castle, the corridor I entered had no power and no heat. The flashlight on my phone only penetrated the darkness so far before the glow it provided was swallowed up in the void.

  “Charlie,” I called. “Maybe we should do this tomorrow.”

  He waited but still didn’t come to me, so I continued to follow him. When we came to a fork, he took the right-hand passage. I remembered the hallway would lead to stairs that would take us downward toward the dungeons. I slowly walked along the stairway as the echo of waves crashing onto the shore echoed up through the passage. The passage was narrow and made of stone, and there were no windows or exit points. I had to fight a feeling of claustrophobia as I made my way deeper and deeper into the inky darkness. After Charlie and I had traveled three or four stories downward, we came to a door at the bottom of the stairs. I knew exactly where I was. Just as I knew it would, the door opened into a windowless room. I stepped into the center of the room and looked around. This circular room was made of stone, with no windows or other exits.

  “I remember you. Do you remember me?” I said into the void.

  Charlie sat down at my feet and looked up at me. I supposed he thought I’d been talking to him, but I’d actually been talking to Catherine. I listened for an answer and was sure I heard voices, but they seemed to fade as soon as they sounded.

  For a moment, I stood in the empty room, which should have felt hollow, barren, devo
id of life and energy, but somehow didn’t. I could almost imagine the echo of music and laughter and memories of years gone by. I slowly walked forward until I reached the much smaller room that had been filled with childhood treasures the last time I’d been here. The room was empty now. I supposed Lord Dunphy might have moved the items that had been contained within.

  I called to Charlie and turned to retrace my steps back toward the doorway that would lead me to the part of the castle currently in use. I’d just reentered the dark and cold hallway when I heard a noise. Charlie heard it as well since he began to growl deep in his throat. It sounded like it was coming from the hallway that had veered off in the direction away from the small room I’d followed Catherine to four years ago. I paused and listened, and then walked toward the sound.

  “Hello,” I said as I walked along the dark, windowless passage. “Is anyone here?”

  I supposed the noise I’d heard might have come from one of the resident ghosts. When Zak and I had visited the first time, we’d learned that the castle claimed five very active ghosts. Catherine, who I most wanted to connect with, but suspected had moved on; Megan Dunphy, who had been married to Lord Aiden Dunphy in the eighteen hundreds, but had fallen to her death less than a month after moving to the castle; Birte Dunphy who’d been married to the Lord in the mid-seventeen hundreds, and was rumored to run things even to this day; Rowena Dunphy, the current Lord Dunphy’s mother, who passed away ten years ago; and Finnian Newton, Rowena’s brother, who passed away six years ago.

  “Hello,” I called again. I paused to really listen, but the noise I’d heard seemed to have passed even though Charlie had continued to growl.

  I knew that Zak was waiting for me and would become worried if I didn’t return to our suite soon, so I was about to turn around and head back down the hallway when Charlie darted down the hallway in the other direction. I called him repeatedly. When he didn’t come back to me, I decided to follow.

  When I got to the end of the hallway, I noticed something on the floor. It was a large lump, but at first, I couldn’t tell what it was. I continued slowly forward until the image became clearer. I shone the light on my phone toward the object and gasped when I realized that the item on the floor wasn’t an object as I had suspected, but a body. The body of Tyson Donovan, to be exact.

  Chapter 2

  Thursday, December 19

  After I checked to make sure that Tyson was dead, I picked Charlie up and headed back to the suite where Zac was waiting. After I filled him in on the events leading up to Charlie and I stumbling upon Tyson’s body in the uninhabited part of the castle, he offered to inform Lord Dunphy of the murder while I waited with Catherine. I was exhausted by this point, so I gratefully agreed with his plan. Once he left, I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I would have just changed into my nightgown and robe, but I wasn’t sure if the cops were going to show up tonight and want to interview me, so I settled on the sweats.

  The fire was still burning, and the colorful lights on the tree added an element of festivity to the room. Any other time, I would have enjoyed sitting on the comfy sofa and looking at the fire, but tonight, the fact that we’d been up for what amounted to two days, left me exhausted. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but within minutes of tucking a pillow under my head and pulling the throw up over my body, I fell into a deep slumber. When I awoke the next morning, Zak had already showered and brought up a pot of coffee and a plate of muffins.

  “What time is it?” I asked as I slowly sat up.

  “A little after eight.”

  “Did Lord Dunphy call the police?”

  “He did, but they didn’t show up until just a little while ago. I guess the rain we had last night temporarily closed the bridge between the castle and the village, but is has reopened now.”

  “So, if the bridge was closed last evening, then someone who is staying in the castle must have killed Tyson.”

  Zak nodded. “It looks that way. The police are interviewing guests and staff now.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Tyson lived in the village, and he seemed to know most, if not all, of the staff who lives in the village.” I accepted the cup of coffee Zak handed me. “Is Catherine awake?”

  “Not yet. The poor thing must have been exhausted. I was going to let her sleep until she wakes naturally.”

  “Maybe that will give me time to have my coffee and jump in the shower.”

  “Take your time. If she wakes up, I’ll get her.” Zak sat down across from me.

  “Do you know anything at all?” I poured a dollop of cream into my coffee.

  “When we spoke last night, you mentioned that the door was unlocked between the part of the castle that’s being used and the part that has fallen into decay. I mentioned this to Lord Dunphy when I ran into him this morning, and he said that it hadn’t appeared that the lock was damaged. We both agreed that most likely meant that the person who dumped Tyson’s body where you found it, either had access to a key or they were skilled enough to pick the lock without damaging it.”

  “It’s an old lock,” I pointed out. “I have a feeling it would have been easy to pick.”

  “Probably, but that’s for the police to figure out. I know you found the body and will naturally feel it is your duty to solve this man’s murder but remember that we are guests here. Unless we’re asked to contribute in some way, I think it would be smart to stay out of it.”

  I took a long sip of the hot coffee and swallowed slowly. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to call attention to us with Catherine and Alex on the premises. In fact, I plan to finish my coffee, grab a shower, and then head into the village to check out the Christmas Market. Alex and Nona have both mentioned that they want to go. Do you want to come along?”

  “I do.” Zak turned his head toward the bedroom, where Catherine could be heard babbling to herself. “Go ahead and grab your shower. I’ll get Catherine.”

  By the time I emerged from the shower, Zak had Catherine up, fed, and dressed, and Alex and Nona had joined us in our sitting room. After I helped myself to a second cup of coffee, the four of us decided that Zak and I would go downstairs and try to determine the status of whatever was going on with the police while Alex and Nona waited with Catherine. If they wanted to speak to us, we’d ask to be interviewed sooner rather than later, and then once we were released to go, we would all go into the village for lunch and an afternoon at the Christmas Market.

  I decided to dress warmly yet casually in a pair of new jeans, brown knee-high boots, and a bright red sweater. Zak had dressed Catherine in green denims and a red sweater with a Santa on the front, and Alex had on new jeans and a dark green silk blouse she planned to layer with a leather jacket when the time came to go into the village.

  When Zak and I arrived on the main floor, we found that the local law enforcement had set up in one of the offices off to the side of the entry and were interviewing everyone one at a time. So far, Lord Dunphy had been interviewed as had Adam and Alyssa. Adam’s father, Harry, was currently speaking to the police while Adam and his best friend and best man, Jeffery Jones, were comforting his mother, Gwen.

  “I guess getting out of here quickly might not be as easy as we hoped,” I whispered to Zak.

  “Yeah. There were a lot of people in the castle last night, and most of them knew Tyson in one way or another.” He looked around the room. “I’m going to look for Lord Dunphy and see if I can get an update as to what to expect in terms of a timeline.’

  “I guess I’ll go and offer my condolences to Adam. The two brothers didn’t seem close when I saw them last night, but they were brothers.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  I watched Zak head toward the rear of the first floor, where Lord Dunphy had a workroom and an office, and the staff could usually be found in a small seating area when not cleaning or serving a meal. The kitchen, as well as the laundry and staff quarters, were at the back of the first floor o
f the castle as well.

  “I’m so very sorry,” I said to Adam.

  He got up from where he was sitting and hugged me. “Thank you. Tyson was the wild sort who tended to make enemies. I hate to admit it, but I’m not all that surprised that he came to a violent end, but I am surprised he was killed by someone attending the dinner last night.”

  “It seemed as if he knew a lot of people at the gathering.”

  Adam nodded. “He lived in the village, so in addition to the family and wedding guests, he knew the castle staff as well.” He looked at his mother, who was standing completely still and seemingly oblivious to our conversation. “Why don’t you go and lay down. If the man doing the interviews wants to speak to you, I’ll come and get you.”

  “Okay. Maybe I will,” she agreed.

  I felt so bad for the woman. She appeared to be struggling to maintain the calm she apparently hoped to present to the world, and I couldn’t help but recognize the blank stare that usually accompanied a state of shock.

  Adam looked around. He locked eyes with Alyssa and waved her over. He then asked her to walk his mother to her room. He didn’t want to leave his current location outside the room where the interviews were being conducted in the event his father emerged from his interview and needed him. It appeared that Adam was a loving and attentive son. I was happy to see that. Tyson, on the other hand, had spent most of his time at the bar the previous evening. Zak and I had arrived late, so I hadn’t been there the entire time, but I hadn’t seen him speak to his mother, father, brother, or uncle once during the event. It seemed as if Tyson had aligned himself with Alyssa’s half-sister, Tessa, in her effort to shut out her father, Roderick, and his much younger girlfriend, Victoria, although he spent most of the evening with Buford, the bartender, and one of the serving staff named Lizbeth.