In Dublin's Fair City by Rhys Bowen

and... “
    “There don’t appear to be any fingerprints on the vase, sir,” the young policeman called back. “It appears to have been wiped clean.”
    “Ah, a thoughtful criminal then.” He nodded. “Right. Back to square one. So you came in and...”
    “And saw someone asleep in my bed. I thought it must have been Miss Sheehan herself, come back to her own cabin for the last night atsea, and I was rather annoyed that she hadn’t warned me. I went to wake her gently and that's when I found it was Rose.” “What made you think it was Miss Sheehan?”
    “They both had red hair and that's all I could see. The coverlet was pulled right up, you see. All nice and smooth. No sign of foul play.” “And what did you do then?”
    “Went for help, of course. Henry, the cabin steward came in, and then he went to fetch the first officer and the ship's doctor. That's all I can tell you.”
    He cocked his head on one side, staring at me. “So who knew you were going to be at this ball?”
    “Only Frederick, the day steward, and Henry. And Rose, of course.” “And the people working in the costume rental place?” “Well, yes, I suppose so.”
    “So it wouldn’t have been too hard to ascertain that you were out of the cabin last night.”
    “No, probably not. But what would the motive for entering this cabin have been if someone thought it was unoccupied?”
    “Robbery, of course. I expect Miss Sheehan was quite a rich woman. She probably had a nice little collection of jewels with her.”
    “If she had, I can assure you they weren’t left in this cabin for my use,” I said. “Or if they are here, they are very well hidden. She must have taken them with her, or put them in the ship's safe, or even given them to Rose for safekeeping.”
    “I’ll be taking a look at Rose's cabin in a moment,” the inspector said, “and my sergeant can check on whether Miss Sheehan left anything in the ship's safe. In either case, Rose would have known where the jewels were, correct? So the intruder comes in, tries to get the truth out of Rose, wants to frighten her by shoving her face into a pillow, and goes too far. Kills her accidentally, then covers up his crime and flees.”
    “You think it was as simple as that, do you?” I asked.
    “It usually is. Most crimes I’ve handled are bungled attempts of some sort or another.” He chewed on the end of his pencil. “You obviously have other thoughts on the matter.come on, now. Out with it.”
    “It struck me that the intended target was Miss Sheehan herself. Rose was dressed up in the other costume I had hired.”
    “Yes, that was strange, wasn’t it? Was she dressed that way when you left her? Was she hoping to sneak into the ball?”
    I shook my head. “No. I actually suggested she come to the ball with me, but she was horrified at the thought. I expect she probably put on the costume for a lark when nobody was looking. So my thought was that someone took the chance to be alone with Miss Sheehan and killed Rose by mistake.”
    “And why would someone want to kill Miss Sheehan, in your opinion?”
    “Unrequited love? She had plenty of admirers, some of whom bordered on the fanatic. Maybe she spurned one of them and it was too much for him. You know—if I can’t have her then nobody can.”
    “I see.” He cocked his head again, studying me. “These admirers you talk about—did she mention any of them by name?”
    “No, but she said she was growing tired of being pestered by them, and when I encountered a couple myself, I could see why.”
    An eyebrow raised, almost imperceptibly. “You said you were instructed to stay in your cabin throughout the voyage, did you not? So where did you encounter these admirers?”
    “I didn’t say I was told not to leave my cabin. I was advised keep to it for most of the journey by feigning sickness. But when I tried a turn about the deck, I saw instantly what Miss Sheehan had to go through. I was accosted almost immediately by