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"Two of the victims were known to your family," Amelia continued. "Helen Baxter, your distant cousin, and Dolores Mayweather."
Joseline let out a shrieking cry. Edward rushed to her side to comfort her, but she pushed him away and stood up from her desk. "What? That can't be right," she said, her voice shaking with disbelief. "I just saw Dolores last week, she was fine. And Helen not long before that. What an awful accident!"
"I'm sorry to say, but we believe both were murdered and then either left on the riverbank or swept there from somewhere else," Amelia revealed.
"No..." Joseline gasped.
Finn leaned forward, searching her expression. "Do you know if there was anyone who had a grudge against Dolores or Helen?"
Joseline shook her head frantically. "No, no, they were both lovely women. Why would anyone want to harm them?"
"We don't know," Finn said. "But due to their proximity to the castle..."
"What Finn is getting at is that we need to rule out those in the vicinity," Amelia said.
"You don't think that we would ever be involved in such a thing!?" Edward said, his voice raising.
"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Finn said, not wanting to commit either way. "But would you be willing to give us a list of your servants and everyone who lives here?"
“Joseline and I are the only two regular residents here,” Edward said. “Some other family members come and go from time to time, but I believe we two are the only ones who have been here during this nasty business.”
Finn wasn't sure about that. He had a feeling that Edward was answering like a politician, that he was telling the truth from one perspective, but from another, a falsehood could be revealed.
“Who are these other family members?” Finn pressed.
Edward waved his hand nonchalantly. “Uncles, Aunts, cousins, that sort of thing. But it's been very quiet of late. We tend to enjoy the peace.”
“And the servants?” Amelia asked.
"There are only three," Joseline said with a look towards Edward. "Edward thinks having a large number of servants is a waste of money."
"My sister disagrees, of course," Edward interjected. "But if we are to entertain, we will simply hire in an outside company. And there has been no real entertaining here for some time."
"I just can't believe it," Joseline said, almost to herself. "Both murdered...
"We're still investigating, Joseline," Finn said gently. "But there was a third unidentified victim. You wouldn't know of anyone else missing, would you? Someone who was either staying at the castle or who you were expecting?"
"No," Joseline said. "I haven't had any guests over for a couple of weeks. Not with all of this work going on."
"Work?" Finn asked. "On the castle?"
"A subsidence on the south side," Edward explained. "We've been having repairs done over that time. The workers aren't here today because of the flooding."
Finn nodded. "Would you mind if we spoke with them, just to cross-check their schedules and alibis?"
"Of course not," Joseline said, wiping away a tear. "I just want to know who could have done this to
Dolores and Helen."
Edward pulled out a business card and handed it to Finn. "That's the construction company. Ask for a man named Kilbraid. He's overseeing the work here."
"How many people have been on site?" Finn asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Edward said. "I'd say around 30 or so."
Finn looked at Amelia. That was a lot of potential suspects. If someone nearby had murdered the three victims, one of among those thirty could have been the killer.
Finn pocketed the card and nodded towards Amelia. It was time to go through the list and see if any of them had a criminal record.
