Celtic Christmas Read online

  Once Alyssa left with Adam’s mother, one of the men who I remembered being introduced as a groomsman but whose name I’d forgotten came over to chat with Adam and Jeffery, so I made my excuses and left to chat with Alyssa’s mother, Carolina. She’d come to the wedding alone, and I remembered that she had not been at all happy that her ex had come with his girlfriend, a woman half her age. She’d seemed equally unhappy that her ex’s daughter from another relationship was one of the bridesmaids, along with one of Alyssa’s friends. In a way, it had seemed odd to me that the woman was so angry and bitter since her marriage had broken up years ago, but some people were slow to forget and forgive.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said.

  She shrugged. “Not my loss.”

  Okay. I guess I wasn’t expecting that. It seemed that even if the bride’s mother wasn’t all that fond of the groom’s brother, she’d hide her feelings about the man given the situation.

  “Did you know Tyson well?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Not well. I met him for the first time at the engagement party this summer. He was drunk and belligerent the entire time. He brought a different girl than the one he brought this week, but that isn’t surprising since the girl he brought back then took off in a huff when she found him making out with Alyssa’s cousin, Tiffany.”

  “Was Tiffany here last evening?” I wondered.

  “No. After her behavior at the engagement party, Alyssa decided not to invite her to the wedding. Some felt that Adam should have refused to invite Tyson, but I guess he didn’t take that advice. Personally, I didn’t have a problem with Tyson. In fact, I kind of liked the guy. He certainly knew how to bring some life to the party. Roderick, his barely legal girlfriend, and his loser of a daughter definitely should not have been invited.”

  Okay. Time to move on. It was clear that Carolina still hung onto some pretty serious grudges, but it didn’t seem as if Tyson was one of those grudges, so it seemed unlikely she killed him.

  I was about to make my excuses when Adam’s father was escorted out of the room where they were doing the interviews. Adam greeted him, and then the two men walked upstairs. Carolina pushed her way to the front of the room and demanded to be interviewed next. The man doing the interviews invited her in, closing the door behind her. Just about that time, Alyssa came down the stairs after having escorted Adam’s mother up. She headed toward a pair of women who were chatting. I decided to try to join them to get an update on whether or not the couple planned to continue with the wedding.

  “Did you see where Adam went?” Alyssa asked me.

  “He escorted his father upstairs after his interview,” I answered. “Your mother is being interviewed now.”

  “That’s good. Mom has been making everyone nuts. Maybe once she is interviewed, she can find a way to entertain herself.”

  “What’s going to happen with the plans we had for the long weekend?” asked one of the women standing near us, who I seemed to remember had been introduced as Evette, the maid of honor.

  “Adam and I talked about it, and unless someone tells us otherwise, we intend to continue with all our plans,” Alyssa answered.

  My initial reaction was to think it odd that the bride and groom planned to continue with the wedding. A man had been murdered. Still, I guess they had been planning the event for almost a year, and a lot of people had flown in from not only other parts of Ireland but other parts of the world as well. Still, if it had been me in this situation, I’m not sure I’d simply continue with my plans as if nothing had happened.

  “Tonight is the rehearsal dinner, and only the wedding party will be attending,” Alyssa continued. “Adam and I both felt that the intimate nature of our dinner was a good thing so that Adam’s parents wouldn’t feel the need to make a public appearance.”

  I’d heard that in addition to Adam and Alyssa, the wedding party consisted of Adam’s best man, Jeffery, his groomsmen, Sean and Connor, Alyssa’s maid of honor, Evette, and her bridesmaids, Tessa and Hillary. If only the eight of them planned to attend the dinner, I had to assume that family members and guests of the wedding party would be having dinner at the castle.

  “Do you think we’ll be allowed to go into village by the time the dinner rolls around?” Evette asked.

  “I don’t see why we wouldn’t be allowed to continue with our plans,” Alyssa continued. “I’m sure the interviews and lockdown will be wrapped up by then.”

  “Lockdown?” I asked.

  Alyssa looked toward me. “I guess you hadn’t come down yet when Lord Dunphy announced that no one could leave the castle until the interviews had been completed. He estimated that we’d only be inconvenienced for today.”

  I guess that meant we’d need to put off our trip to the Christmas Market.

  “The wedding is Saturday, and everyone will check out Sunday, so if we can get through today, and Lord Dunphy is given the okay to have the Christmas Ball tomorrow, we should be okay,” Alyssa continued.

  “I know that Walter and Heidi and the castle staff live in the village, but who else here lives in the village?” I asked.

  “Sean and Connor do,” Alyssa answered.

  “As do Daniel and me,” Hillary volunteered.

  “I used to live in the village, but I live in Dublin now,” Evette added. “Still, I pretty much know everyone who lives in the village if you’re curious about anyone.” She smiled. “It’s true that our main export is gossip.”

  I chuckled. “Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

  Although Harry’s interview had lasted at least twenty minutes, Carolina came back through the door where the men doing the interviews had set up shop less than five minutes after going in.

  “I’d better go and check on Mom,” Alyssa said. “I hope you’re able to enjoy the rest of your day.”

  I said my goodbyes and headed toward the kitchen. The castle’s cook, a woman named Bonnie, was the only staff member still at the castle from my first visit four years ago. I hadn’t had the chance to say hello to her yesterday, so decided to do so now.

  “Ms. Donovan. I’m so glad to see you again,” she greeted me.

  “It’s Mrs. Donovan-Zimmerman now, but you can call me Zoe.”

  “Okay. Zoe, this is Maeve,” Bonnie introduced me to the woman I’d observed serving the previous evening.”

  “Happy to meet you.”

  “Likewise.” She smiled.

  “Zoe here is responsible for there even being a Dunphy Castle to work at,” Bonnie informed the serving girl.

  She looked at me. “You are the chosen one?”

  “I don’t know if I would put it quite like that,” I countered.

  “But you are the one whose arrival was prophesized.”

  “Prophesized?” I glanced at Bonnie for clarification.

  Bonnie set down her stirring spoon, crossed her arms over chest, and began to explain. “There is a long-held legend in these parts that has been passed down from generation to generation. The legend originated centuries ago, and states that one day, a stranger to our land would arrive from a distant shore to save the castle and the village from total destruction.”

  “Total destruction?”

  “I believe the legend refers to the financial destruction of Dunphy Castle. As you know, the Lord was on the verge of having to sell to developers, who would have made changes not only to the castle but also to our way of life in the village when you visited us the last time.”

  “Yes. I remember. And you think that since I found the gems that allowed Lord Dunphy to keep the castle, I am this chosen one?”

  Bonnie nodded. “The legend states that the stranger from a foreign land who would save the castle would be a direct descendant of Lady Catherine and Lord Carrick,” she explained. “From what I have been led to understand, you have found evidence that you are indeed that descendant.”

  “Well, sure. Along with a lot of other people. Lady Catherine and Lord Carrick had many children, and their ch
ildren had many children. Over the past several hundred years, their family tree has become extensive.”

  “That may be true, but you are from a distant land, and you are the one who found the jewels which allowed Lord Dunphy to save the castle,” Maeve pointed out.

  “Well, yes. I suppose I did find the jewels. With Lady Catherine’s help, of course. But, at the time, no one said anything about a prophecy.”

  “Perhaps not, but a prophecy does exist.”

  Okay, this was news to me. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or terrified that my role in the area had been predicted years before I was even born. “So, when exactly did this legend begin?”

  “I don’t have all the facts,” Bonnie admitted. “Lord Dunphy might know more about it. What I do know is that the prophecy originated centuries ago when the then-current Lord of the Castle brought a psychic to live there to help him make strategic decisions that would help him gain power and build his empire. Unfortunately, the psychic ended up predicting, not an expansion of assets, but a decline in both power and wealth for Dunphy Castle.”

  “I bet that didn’t go over well,” I said.

  “It did not,” Bonnie answered. “In fact, the Lord of the Castle had her beheaded, but not before she predicted that after years of decline, a chosen one would come and change the fate of the castle and the village.”

  “He killed her?” I screeched.

  Bonnie nodded. “In the history of Dunphy Castle, there have been kind Lords like the current Lord Dunphy, who actually cares about the village, and there have been cruel Lords, who cared only about power and wealth.

  I thought back to my first trip to Ireland. Now that I thought about it, I did remember Lord Dunphy talking to his ghost mother about his certainty that I was the one they’d been waiting for. I supposed there might have been a prophecy at play that no one had happened to mention at the time. Being labeled with such a grand title was making me uncomfortable, so I smiled and mumbled something about being happy to help, and then I changed the subject. “It smells wonderful in here. Is that roast?”

  “I’ve got a pot roast cooking for those guests who won’t be attending the rehearsal dinner. If you want my opinion, my pot roast with potatoes and baby carrots will be the superior meal when compared to the restaurant in the village the bride and groom have chosen for their dinner.”

  “I remember your pot roast,” I said. “And I remember that it was the best pot roast I’d ever eaten. I, for one, am happy to be one of the guests staying behind this evening.”

  “I’ve got a cobbler planned for dessert as well if the men conducting the interviews will allow me to go and pick up the fruit as I’d planned.”

  “So, you live in the village?” I asked Bonnie.

  “I actually live in the castle, but I’m originally from the village. I was born there, and my sister and her family still live there. We are a small village, but a close-knit group. The death of young Tyson will hit everyone hard. He was a scoundrel that is for certain, but he was also one of us.”

  “Any idea who would want to kill Tyson?” I asked.

  “My money is on Daniel,” Maeve said.

  “Daniel is here as a guest of Hillary,” I confirmed as I tried to picture the man in my mind. “Thick red hair, green eyes, and a heavy accent?”

  “That’s right. I don’t really understand why he was here at the dinner or why he is staying at the castle,” Maeve continued. “I mean, he lives in the village so he’s not an out of town guest in need of lodging, and he’s not a family member, nor is he part of the wedding party. There really is no reason for him to be here except for the fact that he probably didn’t trust Hillary with Tyson unless he was around to keep an eye on things, so he wormed his way into an invite.”

  “Tyson and Hillary had a thing going on?” I asked.

  “They did in the past. In fact, Tyson is the reason that Hillary dumped Daniel for a bit a while back,” Maeve informed me.

  “So, Hillary was with Daniel, but then Tyson came into the picture, so she broke things off with Daniel to be with Tyson, but then at some point, she got back with Daniel?”

  “That’s one way to put it,” Maeve answered.

  “What do you mean one way to put it?” I asked.

  “If you ask me, Tyson and Hillary didn’t actually break things off. For some reason, they wanted everyone to think they had broken up, but I am pretty sure they continued to see each other right under Daniel’s nose. I even saw the two of them in the arboretum last night.”

  Bonnie snickered. “And what were you doing in the arboretum?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but if you must know, I had arranged a go around with Larson.”

  “Go around?” I asked.

  “Date,” Bonnie supplied, but it seemed obvious that by date, she meant something more.

  “Larson is the stable hand,” I clarified.

  Bonnie nodded.

  I turned my attention back to Maeve. “So, what were Tyson and Hillary doing when you saw them in the arboretum?”

  “They were just talking,” Maeve answered. “But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have something more than talking on their minds. There is something about a wedding that tends to get one’s motor running.”

  I supposed that much was true. And it also seemed that if Daniel had come to the dinner last night in order to keep an eye on Hillary and she’d snuck off with Tyson anyway, that might very well give Daniel a motive for murder.

  “Does anyone know where Daniel was while Hillary and Tyson were in the arboretum?” I asked. “I seem to remember him sitting at the table next to that huge Christmas tree in the corner talking to Alyssa’s half-sister, Tessa, at one point.”

  “I stopped by the table to pick up the empty glasses and overheard them discussing Hillary, but I really didn’t pay a lot of attention to the context of the conversation,” Maeve said. “However, if Daniel was chatting with Tessa and Hillary was not with him, then the chances were they were talking while Hillary was with Tyson.”

  I supposed Hillary being with Tyson did give Daniel a motive. “So, other than Daniel, does anyone else stand out as being a suspect?”

  “I noticed Tyson flirting with the young woman the bride’s father brought as his date,” Bonnie said.

  Maeve snickered. “Can’t blame Tyson for that. The woman is a real looker, and the man she’s here with is old enough to be her father. I guess she must be after his money, but if she is sleeping with the old guy, you know she’s getting something on the side.”

  I supposed Maeve did make a good point, even if she had put things somewhat crudely. Roderick was a lot older than Victoria, so it did seem likely she was in it for the money and most likely had been open to a romance on the side. If she had been flirting with Tyson and Roderick had seen her, he might have confronted the younger man, and that confrontation might have ended in violence. Of course, I didn’t see how Roderick would have been able to move the body into the passageway of the old part of the castle or how he would have even known about the passageway. Given the location of the body, it seemed more likely the killer was either a member of the castle’s staff or a village resident who might have been inside the castle at some point. Of course, Alyssa did say her parents had lived in the village at one point. Maybe Roderick had been inside the building in the past and remembered how to get around.

  I was about to ask Bonnie about Tyson’s relationship with Buford when Zak walked in. He informed me that he’d spoken to Lord Dunphy and had confirmed that the castle was on lockdown until the interviews were completed. He also said that Jeffery and Evette were organizing a card tournament to keep everyone occupied and had asked if we wanted to play. Normally, I’m not a fan of cards, but a card tournament might be just the thing to get to know the other guests a little better, and my experience had shown me that the better I knew a person, the more likely I was able to determine their level of guilt.

  Of course, I did have Catherine to see
to, so I supposed I should check in with Alex before I agreed to anything.

  Chapter 3

  Alex was content to stay in the suite with Catherine and Charlie, but Nona wanted to enter the card tournament, so the three of us headed downstairs. When we arrived in the lobby, the man who was conducting the interviews met us and indicated that he would like to speak to me, so Zak and Nona went on ahead. I was actually surprised that he hadn’t wanted to speak to me sooner, given the fact that I was the one to find the body, but I supposed he’d wanted to get the interviews with those who’d known Tyson the best out of the way first.

  “State your full name for the record,” he started off.

  “Zoe Donovan-Zimmerman.”

  “And your reason for being here at the castle?”

  “I am here to attend the wedding of Adam Donovan to Alyssa Summerfield. Adam is my cousin. A distant cousin, but still a cousin. I met him in person for the first time last night, but we have exchanged emails and had a couple of telephone conversations before our arrival at the castle.”

  “You said that Mr. Donovan is a cousin, yet you only recently met him. How exactly are you related?” the man asked.

  “We share a great, great grandfather. I didn’t even know I had cousins in Ireland until I visited four years ago, found out about Lady Catherine Dunphy, and began tracing my ancestry. Lady Catherine and I are related, you know.”

  “Related? In what way are you related to a woman from England who married an Irish Lord back in the seventeenth century?”

  “It’s a long story, but basically I uncovered information that indicated that Catherine’s fifth child, a baby she told everyone had died at birth, was actually a girl who she gave to a couple in the village with the surname of Donovan. They gave the baby, who was named Amelia, their name and raised her as their own. Eventually, Amelia married a man named Timothy O’Donnell. They had five children, including a daughter named Aislinn. Aislinn married a man named Keegan Donovan, who was actually a cousin many times removed. Apparently, there are a lot of Donovans and O’Donnells in the area.”