“The whole family will be receiving counseling for some time. It’s nice to finally have a cold case resolved, and see a family reunited. They’re one of the lucky ones.”
“I’m so happy for them,” Ettie said.
“Well, I’ve got a ton of paperwork to do. I appreciate how the two of you stayed out of my way on this one.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Ettie asked. “It had nothing to do with our community.”
“That’s true,” Detective Kelly said. “I’ve appreciated your help in the past. The Amish have a way of keeping to themselves.”
Elsa-May and Ettie exchanged glances.
“We won’t hold you up,” Elsa-May said.
As they walked out of the station, Ettie said to Elsa-May, “You know what?”
“What?”
“I should’ve brought the orange cake for Detective Kelly.”
“Why?”
“To eat, of course,” Ettie said.
“Weren’t you trying to get him to eat better just a few months ago?”
“He could’ve shared it with the officers. I’m sure they don’t get many treats and they work so hard.”
“Enough with the dratted cake, Ettie. Stop talking about it.”
“Why are you being so irritable? Do you think you might be a diabetic?” Ettie remembered reading somewhere that irritable people might have trouble with their blood sugar levels going up and down.
Elsa-May shook her head. “Let’s just get a taxi.”
“Weren’t we going to the markets?”
“Nee, let’s just eat what we’ve got at home and go to the markets tomorrow.”
“Are you tired, Elsa-May?”
“Mm. A little.”
That was another sign of diabetes, but Ettie was not brave enough to say any more on that topic. “We should go home past Ava’s place and tell her the news.”
“Jah. She’ll be anxious to hear it.”
While Elsa-May dozed off in her chair, Ettie was putting together some leftovers for dinner. Snowy barked and pawed at the door. Ettie walked out of the kitchen to see what the fuss was all about.
“Someone might be here,” Elsa-May said pushing herself up to answer the door.
Ettie waited to see if someone was coming while she wiped her hands on a tea towel. It was retired Detective Crowley who was walking to the door.
“I can't sneak up on you anymore with that dog around,” he joked.
Elsa-May laughed. “Come inside.”
He walked inside and said hello to Ettie. “Have you ladies heard anything?” he asked as he sat down in the living room.
“We hadn’t heard from you or anyone else, so we went to the police station this afternoon. We've not long since gotten back home,” Ettie said.
Elsa-May continued, “He told us that the baby is Langley. Well… he’s not a baby any longer; he’s a four year old boy.”
“Yes, that’s wonderful news. Most botched kidnapping cases have dreadful ends.”
“You mentioned that,” Elsa-May said. “Perhaps you’d like a slice of orange cake?”
“I’d love some,” he said.
Ettie pushed herself up from the couch. “I’ll get you a slice and make you a nice cup of hot tea.” Ettie returned minutes later with a tray of tea and cake. “I’d already had the pot boiled. I must’ve known you were coming.”
“Now tell me something,” Elsa-May said as she leaned forward.
“You’re not going to ask him anything about Myra again, are you?” Ettie asked as she poured the tea.
“No, I wasn’t. I found out everything I wanted to know about that the other day.”
“Good.”
“How was that woman able to hide a baby for so long without anyone finding out?”
“She could’ve kept to herself and maybe she kept on the move,” Crowley said. “It was a stroke of luck that you found the connection between the Flowers, Nerida and Kel. I think the people on the case back then might have been distracted by thinking that the first man they arrested—the one they caught collecting the money—knew more than he did. Kel Flower was questioned, but nothing came of it.”
“Probably because he wasn't suspected of anything until another case later on, after Langley was taken,” Elsa-May said accepting a cup of tea from Ettie.
“That’s why the cold case unit has success sometimes. It’s often after the crime that things come out in the open—often many years afterward.”
“Thank you for helping us, Ronald, you said you would and you did. If it weren’t for you, Langley might never have been found.”
Crowley laughed. “I don’t know about that. The cold case unit and Kelly would’ve put the pieces together.”
“The thing is, that if Genevieve Cohen had never had another child and left it on our doorstep, and then a man came to take him, there might not have been an investigation with the cold case unit and…”
“And Langley wouldn’t have found his way back to his parents. Is that what you were going to say, Ettie?”
“Yes, exactly. You see, it was all meant to be. It’s all happened for a reason.”
Crowley laughed. “I know what you mean, Ettie. I’ve solved many cases by synchronistic events and coincidences. I believe someone is watching over us.” He picked up a slice of cake.
“Like you baking the orange cake today, Ettie, and now our friend is here to eat it? The orange cake was meant to be.” Elsa-May gave a low chuckle.
Ettie frowned at Elsa-May, knowing she was poking fun at her, but she tried not to show it in front of their guest.
“I haven’t had orange cake for years and it’s my favorite. Only this morning, I was thinking about my late mother and how she used to make an orange cake every Saturday. Did I ever tell you my mother used to make them when I was a child?”
The sisters shook their heads. They knew nothing of his childhood.
He continued, “This orange cake is a sign that things happen for a reason. I know you were joking when you said that to Ettie, Elsa-May, but you don’t know how right you were.”
Ettie smiled and looked at her older sister and couldn’t help feeling a little pleased that Crowley had put her in her place. Elsa-May frowned at her, then tilted her chin and looked away.
“Oh, and I guess I’ll need my cell phone back now too,” Crowley said. “Unless you ladies would like to hold onto it for a little longer?”
Elsa-May exchanged a grin with Ettie, and Ettie had to suppress a laugh knowing that Elsa-May had the same thought as she. What would Jeremiah have to say about that?
“Thank you for the loan of it, but we’ll be sure to give it back to you before you leave,” Elsa-May said smiling sweetly.
* * *
He took a little child whom he placed among them.
Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Mark 9: 36, 37
* * *
Thank you for your interest in Amish Baby Mystery. I do hope you enjoyed it. To stay up to date with my new releases and special offers, add your email at my website in the newsletter section.
https://samanthapriceauthor.com/
Blessings,
Samantha Price
The next book in the series is:
Amish Mystery: Betrayed
An Amish woman is attacked.
She's left for dead.
The community remains closed-lipped. Detective Kelly turns to Ettie Smith to ask questions within her secretive community.
When an arrest is made, Ettie is convinced the person is innocent, but will the detective believe it?
Kelly finally concedes, but with Paula hovering between life and death the pressure is on the detective to find the perpetrator.
Can Ettie untangle the web of Paula's complicated life, and solve the crime before another innocent person is attacked and possibl
y .... killed?
Amish Mystery: Betrayed
ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES
Book 1 Secrets Come Home
Book 2 Amish Murder
Book 3 Murder in the Amish Bakery
Book 4 Amish Murder Too Close
Book 5 Amish Quilt Shop Mystery
Book 6 Amish Baby Mystery
Book 7 Betrayed
Book 8: Amish False Witness
Book 9: Amish Barn Murders
Book 10 Amish Christmas Mystery
Book 11 Who Killed Uncle Alfie?
Book 12 Lost: Amish Mystery
Book 13 Amish Cover-Up
Book 14 Amish Crossword Murder
Book 15 Old Promises
Book 16 Amish Mystery at Rose Cottage
Book 17 Amish Mystery: Plain Secrets
Book 18 Amish Mystery: Fear Thy Neighbor
Book 19 Amish Winter Murder Mystery
Book 20 Amish Scarecrow Murders
Book 21 Threadly Secret
About Samantha Price
USA Today Bestselling author, Samantha Price, wrote stories from a young age, but it wasn't until later in life that she took up writing full time. Formally an artist, she exchanged her paintbrush for the computer and, many best-selling book series later, has never looked back.
Samantha is happiest on her computer lost in the world of her characters. She is best known for the Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries series and the Expectant Amish Widows series.
www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com
Samantha loves to hear from her readers. Connect with her at:
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