“How long will that take?”
“They said between twelve and thirty-six hours,” he said grimly.
“I hope they get here sooner rather than later,” she said.
“Yeah, we all do. Plus, the Wi-Fi is still pretty spotty. Messages and calls seem to be coming in, but it’s been hard to log on to anything.”
“Better than nothing.” She took a sip of her coffee. With the police now trying to get to them, her spirits felt a little lighter. There was light at the end of the tunnel. They just had to outlast the killer long enough for the police to arrive. “Any other updates?”
“The cops contacted Berta’s family.” He sighed. “Naturally, her family is frantic.”
“Oh, shit. Of course they must be worried.” She chewed her lower lip. “With some of the services returning, I don’t know if I even want to tell my mother what’s happening. I don’t want to scare her.”
“I can’t tell my parents,” he said.
“Don’t want to scare them?”
“They’ve already lost one child. My brother,” he said softly. “They won’t survive if something happens to their remaining son.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. She blinked them away, surprised at how much she felt for him. “I didn’t know.”
He gazed at the fire, his eyes seeming to look beyond the flames. It was as if he was in a completely different place now. Far away from the terror of the castle, drowning in his own anguish and suffering. “It was a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Jane didn’t know the exact circumstances of his grief, but she was going to be there for him.
“Best to focus on the present,” he said, though he squeezed back.
“Having a goal helps you,” she said, recalling what he had said the day before.
“That’s right.” He looked back at her, giving her a sad smile that made her heart hurt. Jane had been so sure he was this high-powered lawyer without any problems or cares. But she had been wrong. The hidden grief he carried must have been unbearable at times. “Any suggestions?”
“We still haven’t found any contact details for Heidi’s family,” she said. “They deserve to know what happened to her.”
He nodded. “You’re right. The problem is, there didn’t seem to be much of anything in Otto’s study when we checked.”
“Think we could check her room next?”
“That’s a good idea,” he said, his expression turning thoughtful. “We can eat breakfast and then get started on that.”
After taking a quick shower and eating a breakfast of warm porridge, she followed Gabriel to talk to the manservant about searching Heidi’s room.
“I shall accompany you to her room. I thank you for doing it, seeing as how it would have been very painful for Agnes to do a search. Perhaps some of the others would like to join us?” The manservant gave Timothy a pointed look.
“Not bloody likely. I’m not gallivanting around this castle for some maid again,” Timothy muttered from his seat. “Besides, I’m trying to get the Wi-Fi going.”
The manservant cleared his throat. “Very well. Agnes and our groundskeeper, Sven, will stay behind to watch over you.”
“A female and an old man? What are they going to do, throw pillows at the killer? Don’t make me laugh.” Timothy picked up a dagger from the table by his side. “Don’t you worry, old chap. Now that I’ve got a weapon of my own I’m ready for this nutter.”
Jane didn’t bother to point out that Timothy was likely older than the groundskeeper. It would just have started another round of pointless arguing.
The manservant led them down to the servants’ quarters, letting them into Heidi’s bedroom. Once they were inside the manservant began to patrol the hall outside, holding the rifle tightly in his hands.
Though the room was smaller than the ones on the upper floors it was well furnished, with a TV, sofa, bookshelf, and dresser.
Gabriel moved over to the nightstand by the bed and picked up the stack of papers on top. “I can search through this pile first. We should also look for her cell phone.”
“Right. Otto had been looking for it before…” Before he had also been killed. Had that been why he was murdered? Because he had searched for documentation about Heidi? Jane shuddered, and decided to focus on their task.
She headed over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. There she found clothes, socks, and underwear. Guilt ate away at her. It felt wrong to go through a dead woman’s belongings like this, even if it was for a good reason. “Why do you think Heidi was killed?” she asked softly.
“I’ve tried to come up with theories,” Gabriel replied. “It has to be connected to the castle inheritance. That’s the simplest explanation.”
“Why go after Heidi, though?” she asked. “I’m the only person here who stands to inherit.”
“Not necessarily.”
She frowned and looked over at him. “What do you mean?”
“We both got translated copies of von Westen’s will.” Gabriel paused to pull a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. “Look at the relevant section of the will again.”
She took the paper from him and unfolded it. “Okay. Well, it says that the nearest legitimately born blood relative without a criminal record will inherit the castle.”
“What does the fine print say after that?”
Her frown deepened as she kept on reading. “It says, that if no blood relative fits this criteria, anyone designated as next of kin would be next in line inherit. Which means—”
“Which means that since Timothy was von Westen’s brother-in-law, he could be designated as next of kin. But only if you and my client are out of the picture, Jane.”
“Okay. That looks bad for Timothy,” she conceded. “But the killer went after Heidi. If getting the castle is the motive, then I’d be the number one target. Nobody has come after me.”
“Not yet.”
His words frightened her and Jane sucked in a breath. The storm was dying down. That meant the police would get to the
