have been wondering if . . . somehow . . . she had something to do with the strange events of Friday night,” Joe said at last.
“Why in heavens do you think that?” Jane sounded defensive.
Joe cleared his throat. “A woman was seen running through the meadow toward the cottage. Right after that awful scream.”
“You saw this yourself?” Jane asked.
“Me?” Joe stammered. “No. I’m only telling you what I’ve been hearing.”
“Joe was out of town,” Mary said. She turned to her husband. “Isn’t that right, dear?”
“Yes,” Joe said. “I was gone from Thursday day to Saturday morning.” It sounded stilted, as if he’d rehearsed it, yet his wife gave a satisfying nod.
“What about you then?” Jane asked the farmer’s wife.
“What about me?” Mary’s tone was clipped.
“You must have seen me mother?”
Mary shook her head. “No. But Geraldine saw her.”
All eyes turned to Geraldine. She nodded. “Right after the scream. Running past the fairy ring toward the cottage.”
“Are you sure it was Ellen Delaney?” Siobhán asked.
“Who else could it have been?” Geraldine sounded outraged at the question.
“She was only asking if you were sure,” Jane persisted. “Answer the question.”
“I don’t know,” Geraldine admitted. “The figure was dressed in dark clothing. But she . . . or he . . . was running toward the cottage. No one else goes near the place if they don’t have to, especially at night.” She visibly shuddered. “The things I saw that night. The moon. The strange lights. That scream. That horrible, horrible scream.” She lowered her head. “Something was going on.”
“Every one of you will need to give your account of that evening to the guards,” Siobhán said. If Ellen Delaney had been seen running to the cottage, where had she been running from?
“Sounds like everyone is being overly dramatic,” Jane said. “Or they’re protecting a killer.”
“How convenient that you weren’t here to witness any of it,” Geraldine said.
Jane’s jaw clenched. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Geraldine edged closer, her staff pounding the ground. “Where were you?”
“I was at a conference in Dublin.” She pointed to Siobhán. “Ask her.”
Siobhán was floored. Not only did she have no proof that Jane had been in Dublin, she’d been the one begging for it. “The guards will get to the bottom of this,” Siobhán said. “Alibis will be collected from everyone. Here and now is not the time.”
In the distance, she could make out Aiden Cunningham huddled with Professor Kelly. From the pointing each one of them was doing, it seemed they were in a heated conversation. Siobhán didn’t realize she was staring until Aiden’s head whipped around as if he sensed her. He then turned and propelled himself away from the professor. How odd. What had they been talking about so intensely, and why had he reacted that way to her spotting them?
“I can’t bear to be around these people another second,” Jane said. “I’m so tired.”
So much for a nice day at the market. Siobhán touched Jane’s arm. “Why don’t we go and get that cup of tea?”
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