Page 83 of Death at Inishmore Castle

“What is it?” I asked.

“He should be in there. I don’t know where he could have gone.”

I followed Kieran down to the nurses’ station.

“What happened to the gentleman in 103?” he asked.

The nurse shook her head. “He disappeared sometime in the night. Didn’t bother to check himself out. He just vanished.”

Kieran frowned.

“That’s weird, right?” I said, nervously.

“Maybe,” he said. “If he was up to no good, he may not have wanted to stick around. I’ll circulate his picture. We’ll find him.”

“Do you think we need to worry?”

Kieran shook his head. “No. If he wanted to confront you, he most likely already would have. He could just be a fan who is curious about you.”

For most authors that might help the ego, but I was annoyed. “Maybe so. I still think my sister and I should be careful.”

“That’s always a good idea.”

When I arrived home, Lizzie called for me from the kitchen. “Late lunch is ready,” she said. Mr. Poe barked. I headed to the back of the house. The kitchen smelled of cottage pie, which was one of my favorites.

“I want to eat the air,” I said.

She smiled. “It’s one of the recipes Nora gave me. Where did Kieran take you?”

I wanted to protect her, and I didn’t want her to worry about a possible stalker.

“He wanted to see if I could identify someone at the hospital, but the patient had already checked out.”

She turned and then cocked her head. “Why would you know who it was?”

“He was a John Doe,” I said truthfully. “Kieran will be circulating his picture around town. He seemed confused when they brought him in. As in, he didn’t know his name.”

“Poor man,” she said compassionately. That was my sister.

“Yeah, just keep an eye out,” I said. I showed her the picture that Kieran had texted me.

“Hmmm. I think I’ve seen him around the bookstore, but we’ve been so busy, I could be mistaking him for someone else. I’ll keep an eye out, though.

“Oh, I have something funny to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“I went out to the garden with Mr. Poe a little while ago. He sat in front of the fairy garden and grunted several times, like he was trying to talk to the flowers there. Or,” she said laughing, “it could have been the fairies.”

I laughed with her. “He’s a very smart dog, maybe he speaks fairy. Do you, Mr. Poe?”

He cocked his head and yapped.

We giggled.

I loved our little family, and our friends. Shamrock Cove was home and always would be.

But the idea that some strange man had been watching us—well, I’d be keeping a close eye on my sister. I’d never allow anyone to hurt her or Mr. Poe. Maybe it was time for me to do a bit of investigating into this strange man.

“Mercy?”

I lifted my head. “What?”

“Are you sure nothing is wrong? You have a weird look on your face.”

“Everything is fine.” And it would be. We had an idyllic life in Shamrock Cove and I would never allow a stranger to ruin it.

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