Shamrock Shenanigans (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 19) by Kathi Daley Page B

before taking the painkiller. I spoke to the cook, who was cleaning up during the time Drew went for the milk, and she verified that Drew had come in for the milk, just as she said she did.”
    “So we can eliminate Drew from the suspect list.”
    “And Millie?” Zak asked.
    I looked at Zak. “Do you remember when we were seniors and a bunch of us had that crazy party at the beach?”
    “Sure I remember.”
    “Levi brought rum punch and I got so drunk.”
    Zak smiled. “Yeah, you did.”
    “Do you think the person who went skinny-dipping in the lake and wore her bikini bottoms as a hat was really me?”
    Zak laughed. “Of course it was you. It was just a you who wasn’t restrained by your inhibitions and decided to have some fun. Why do you ask?”
    “It was just something Millie said. Anyway, she didn’t do it, so we can eliminate her as well.”
    “So now we’re down to five. Maybe we can clear a couple of others at dinner. Piper and Susan should be there, as should Armand and Luke. I guess we’ll need to track Liam down another time if the others alibi out.”
     
    Dinner that evening had quite a different tone from the previous one. For one thing, it seemed as if everyone was keeping secrets from everyone else. Not that the whispered conversations and sly glances were unexpected. A man had been murdered, and as far as everyone but the actual killer knew, everyone on the premises was a suspect.
    As they were the night before, Bonnie the cook and Byron the server were on hand to make sure everyone had a wonderful meal. The food was excellent. I knew a light lunch had been served during the card game, but Zak and I had been outdoors snooping around rather than eating with the others, so we were starving.
    All the guests with the exception of Piper had shown up for the five-course meal. I found it interesting that Lord Dunphy was also absent from the table. Byron announced that Lord Dunphy was dealing with flooding in the workroom and Ms. Belmont was feeling under the weather and had chosen to have dinner sent up to her room, but I had my doubts on both counts. Based on the meaningful glances between the various guests, it seemed the others had their doubts as well.
    Liam wasn’t around, not that I expected to see him, and with Piper’s absence the only suspects from our list who were present were Susan, Armand, and Luke. I was trying to figure out how to separate one of the three for a private conversation when Susan got up from the table and ran for the stairs.
    “Oh, my,” Armand said. “I hope she’s okay.”
    “I’ll check on her,” I volunteered. I got up from my chair and headed toward the stairs. I wasn’t certain which room was hers, but one of the doors was cracked open, so I assumed that was the one she’d run into. I knocked, but there was no answer, so I slowly let myself in. I wasn’t certain I had the right room until I heard the sound of puking from the bathroom.
    Several minutes later Susan emerged, looking pale and fragile.
    “I knocked,” I explained, “but there was no answer. I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in; I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
    Susan sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think I have the flu. I started feeling ill immediately after dinner last night and came straight up to my room. I was sick all night, so I slept in this morning. When I finally woke up I was feeling better, so I came downstairs to join the card game. I didn’t want to risk eating anything until I knew for certain that whatever I had going on had passed, so I skipped lunch. I decided it must have run its course, but after eating the soup tonight I felt sick again.”
    So Susan hadn’t been dallying with Luke or meeting with Brent the previous evening; she’d been in her room puking her guts out. I supposed that gave her an alibi for Brent’s murder, but it didn’t really answer the question of where Luke had been, or who, if anyone, Brent had been meeting. I offered to go