When Irish Eyes Are Haunting: A Krewe of Hunters Novella by Heather Graham Page A

He’d been a police officer in Dublin with dozens of commendations before coming home to Karney to take on the role of sheriff.
    Dr. Kirkland had once had a run-in with the law; charges had been dropped. He’d been soliciting a prostitute. That didn’t make him a killer. But, it was interesting.
    There were no police records of any kind on the others.
    But, there was an interesting notation.
    Aidan Karney had made a charge in the village—at the local pharmacy.
    He had done so on the day before Collum Karney had died.
     
    * * * *
     
    Devin jumped up with a cry of delight when she saw the tiny blonde visitor enter Brendan Karney’s hospital room.
    In doing so, she woke Seamus and Kelly, who had been dozing in other chairs.
    “Kat!” she said.
    “Hey! A trip to Ireland, a bit unexpectedly,” Kat said, greeting Devin with a hug. Devin quickly turned to introduce her to Brendan and Kelly.
    “She’s another of your team?” Seamus asked, perplexed, most probably because Kat didn’t look ferocious in the least.
    “Trust me, she’s hell at a shooting range,” Devin said, laughing. “And she can fathom any secret from the dead,” she added.
    Kat nodded, looking at Seamus. “Sir, we need your signature. We’ve set the wheels in motion. I can perform an autopsy tomorrow, with your permission.”
    “Tomorrow? Oh, no. Nothing happens like that on St. Patrick’s Day!” Seamus said.
    “It does when the right people are involved,” Kat said softly. “And I think, with the information we’ve been given, that it’s imperative we have your brother out of the ground as quickly as possible.”
    Seamus looked at his daughter and nodded.
    “Anything you need,” he told her.
    “For now,” Kat said, “I’m here to spell you, Devin. Will is with Rocky at the castle. They’re expecting you back.”
    “Great,” Devin said. She looked at her Uncle Seamus and Kelly. “Do either of you want to come with me?” she asked.
    Kelly shook her head, looking at her father.
    “We’d like to see him gain consciousness,” Kelly said.
    “Of course.” Devin smiled and glanced toward Kat. “You’ll be safe,” she promised.
    “Trust me—deadly things come in small packages,” Kat promised them.
    “Of course. We’ll be fine—we’d have been fine on our own,” Seamus said sternly, looking at his daughter.
    “There’s nothing like safety in numbers,” Devin said cheerfully. “All right then—I’ll be in touch!”
    She left the hospital and headed back toward the castle.
    As she came upon the church, she paused again. She wasn’t sure why; she didn’t intend to linger.
    She felt the urge to go back to the Karney family vault.
    She parked and headed into the graveyard. A bit of a distance from the vault, she paused.
    It was like many such a vault in old Irish cemeteries and graveyards where the rocky terrain led to hillocks and cliffs and caverns. It was built right into the side of a rock-covered rise.
    She stared at it a moment, but couldn’t put her finger on the reason why the placement seemed so curious.
    With a shrug, she moved toward it.
    She saw that Father Flannery had apparently seen to it that the gate was now locked. But, holding the lock, she saw that it hadn’t snapped. She twisted it to the open angle and walked in.
    She felt nothing; saw no shadows. But she moved inward.
    As she went deeper into the vault, marble slabs no longer covered the shelves that held the dead. A few wooden covers, Victorian era, perhaps, were decaying. Further back, there were shrouded mummies.
    She stopped when she reached them; there was no light back there.
    For a moment, despite the smell of the earth and decay, she paused, listening—trying to feel for any presence.
    But there was nothing and she turned back.
    Before she stepped back out of the vault, she paused. Someone was walking across the graveyard, head down, footsteps hurried.
    It wasn’t Father Flannery.
    She ducked back inside, still watching.
    It was