Old Promises

by Samantha Price

  “That would mean Mrs. Carter would be letting the real murderer go free. I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t make sense.” Ettie shook her head. “She’s guilty. There’s no other option because we know Myra didn’t do it.”

  “Hmm. What if she knows the person and doesn't want them to get into trouble?”

  Ettie's eyebrows rose, nearly touching the edge of her prayer kapp. “To protect her son, Byron?”

  “Quite possibly,” Elsa-May said.

  “That all fits in. Either she is the guilty one, or she’s protecting her son.”

  “Great, I'll tell Kelly we've solved his case for him, shall I?” Elsa-May said sarcastically. She smiled to make it clear that she was teasing.

  Ettie giggled. “Not before cake.”

  “Quite right. Cake always comes first because we have to eat. And then what do you say about paying a little visit to Mrs. Carter?”

  “What?” Ettie hoped Elsa-May wasn’t serious.

  “We can’t sit back and do nothing. We have to try something. Or do you want Sparkle to rot in jail for a crime—”

  “Okay. I’ll do it,” Ettie agreed. “As soon as we finish this, we’ll find her address from the telephone book in the library or from their computer.”

  “Good.” Elsa-May pushed the door of the café open. They stood in front of the glass cake-display cabinet for a while before they placed their order. Elsa-May conceded and decided to go along with Ettie’s idea of only having one slice of cake and sharing it. Elsa-May's final choice, with Ettie's full approval, was an orange poppy seed cake with thick cream-cheese frosting, and they ordered hot tea for two.

  They chose a table by the window.

  Ettie retied the strings of her kapp so they wouldn’t dangle in the tea when it came. “I’m a bit worried about talking with Mrs. Carter. What should we say?”

  “I don’t know. Something will come to us at the time. Anyway, she might not be home.”

  When their order came, Elsa-May took a knife and cut the cake directly down the center. She took a slice for herself and put Ettie's on a separate plate.

  “You haven't taken the biggest half, have you?”

  Elsa-May pressed her lips together and swapped slices.

  “I'm only joking.” Ettie was surprised her sister was in such a serious mood.

  “It's hard to know with you sometimes.” Elsa-May stuck her fork into the cake. “So, back to Mrs. Carter. What do we say?”

  “You got the idea to go there, so it’s only fair that you come up with what to say.” Ettie sipped her tea.

  “I would just go knock on her door.” Elsa-May asked.

  “And then?”

  “We should start the conversation by saying we’re collecting for charity.”

  Ettie didn’t want to tell a lie. “And would that be true?”

  “If she gives us any money I'm sure we can find a charitable cause to pass it along to.”

  “You're right, like the volunteer firefighters.”

  “Exactly,” Elsa-May pushed a large portion of cake into her mouth.

  Ettie put both elbows on the table. “And then how do we go from asking Mrs. Carter for a donation to asking her if she killed her husband?”

  While she chewed, Elsa-May stared at Ettie. After she swallowed, she answered, “I don't know.”

  Ettie sighed. “Then there's no point seeing her, is there?”

  “Jah there is. We'll have to think of something. She might even ask us into the house while she goes to fetch her money.”

  “You’re having delusions if you think Mrs. Carter is going to invite us into her home. A couple of old ladies she doesn’t even know. Old age is finally—”

  “We have to do something—try something.”

  Ettie sighed. “I just would like more to go on. It would be nice if we knew someone who knew her.”

  “Well, we don’t! We either go there and knock on her door or sit here on our backsides and do nothing. We might find a clue if we go to the house, that’s all I’m saying.” Elsa-May pushed the last mouthful of cake into her mouth.

  “Okay.”

  Elsa-May set her beady blue eyes onto her sister. “Okay?”

  “We’ll say we’re there for donations.” Ettie gave a huge sigh. Elsa-May was right. As much as she hated the idea of turning up on Tiffany Carter’s doorstep, they had to do something.

  Chapter 4

  Later that afternoon, Ettie and Elsa-May were standing outside Mrs. Carter’s house after finding the address by using one of the public library computers.

  “I hope she’s wasting time. I mean, I hope we’re not wasting our time.”

  “We’ll soon find out.” Elsa-May pushed Ettie forward.

  “Why do I have to go first? You’re the older schweschder.”

  “That’s right, and as the elder I’m telling you to go first.”

  Ettie adjusted her prayer kapp, smoothed down her apron and walked toward the door, dragging her feet. Her head swam thinking of things she could say. Then a thought occurred to her. If Mrs. Carter opened the door and she didn’t speak, Elsa-May would have to say something. Ettie reached the large wood panelled door and knocked twice, loud enough to be heard from the other end of the house.

  “That’s not loud enough, Ettie. You want her to hear it, don’t you? Knock like you mean it.” Elsa-May pushed her out of the way and knocked more loudly.

  “She’s not home.”

  The sisters jumped, and looked to their right from where the sudden voice had come. It was a hunched over lady of approximately seventy years, wearing a long gray cardigan and a striped multi-colored knitted hat. The hat reminded Ettie of Joseph's coat of many colors.

  “That’s a shame,” Elsa-May said as she stepped toward the lady. “Do you know when they’ll be back?”

  Ettie said, “We want to talk to Mr. Carter. Do you know when he’ll be home?”

  “He’s dead,” she said.

  “Really?” Ettie tried to look surprised and hoped this woman could tell them something. She looked like the kind of woman who meddled in her neighbors’ lives.

  “Oh dear,” Elsa-May said with her hand to her cheek.

  The woman nodded. “It’s true.”

  “That must’ve been sudden,” Ettie said.

  “Do you know Mrs. Carter?”

  “Only Mr. Carter,” Ettie said.

  The neighbor took another step toward them. “She killed him, she did.”

  “Who did?” Elsa-May asked.

  The old lady looked around carefully and then walked all the way to the fence. “Tiffany Carter killed him. It wasn’t a love match. I used to work for them until they got rid of me. Now I work here.” She tossed her head to one side toward the next-door house. “I’m a housekeeper. Have been for about fifty years.”

  “You used to work for the Carters?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Yep. Until she got rid of me. I heard her plotting to kill him around five years ago with someone called Harrison.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  “I did, and she told them I had dementia, and then later, she got rid of me.” She narrowed her eyes at them. “What did you want with Mr. Carter?”

  “We wondered if he would make a donation to the volunteer firefighters organization.”

  “Not likely, now that he’s dead. And she wouldn’t give you the smell of her supper.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. …”

  “Alice.”

  “Thank you, Alice,” Elsa-May said.

  “Have the police questioned you since Mr. Carter’s death, Alice?” Ettie asked.

  “Nope.”

  Ettie stepped forward and placed her hands on top of the four-foot-high fence. “Alice, the truth of the matter is that we really aren’t here asking for donations.”

  Her mouth tightened and she gave Elsa-May a quick glance before she looked back at Ettie. “You’re not?”

  “No, we’re not and we know Mr. Carter has died because the police think my
daughter had something to do with his death. Mrs. Carter told them things to make my daughter look guilty.”

  “Would you tell the police what you know?” Elsa-May asked. “It would really help my niece.”

  “Sure will. If you think they’ll listen. Only thing is, I don’t want my employers to think I’m a tattler.”

  “When do you finish work today?”

  “I live here and never go anywhere. I work all the time.”

  “Surely you get a break. What if my sister and I take you out tomorrow?”

  “Where?”

  “The police station and then we’ll take you to a delightful cake shop.”

  “The best cake shop,” Elsa-May added.

  “Mrs. Marlborough plays bridge Thursday afternoons and she doesn’t need me then.”

  “It’s Thursday tomorrow,” Elsa-May said.

  “Who should I speak with when I get there?”

  “Detective Kelly is handling the case.”

  Alice nodded. “Kelly. Okay. Tell him I’ll be there at two.”

  “Shall we collect you and take you in?”

  A smile softened her face. “If it’s not too much trouble, that would be splendid.”

  Ettie said, “It’s no trouble. We’ll see you tomorrow just before two.”

  “And leave enough room for cake,” Elsa-May said which made Alice’s face light up.

  Alice turned away and started sweeping the path and Ettie and Elsa-May left the Carters' property.

  “See, Ettie? I told you that things would be good if we went there.”

  “Jah, it was a good idea. Denke, Elsa-May. You’re so much braver than I.”

  “Now we have to make sure Kelly will be at the station at two.”

  “He will be if we tell him Alice is coming, and that she made a report about what she heard five years ago. I’m surprised he didn’t know that. He should’ve had a record of that complaint being made.”

  “He probably does, Ettie, but just didn’t mention it to us. He could have her on his list to interview for all we know. I hope he’s not going to be mad at us.”

  * * *

  When they found a public phone, they called for a taxi. While waiting for it they called Detective Kelly. Detective Kelly didn’t seem very impressed to hear something from a former housekeeper, but nevertheless, he agreed to talk with Alice the next day.

  Ettie hung up the phone. “That didn’t go very well.”

  “Don’t be troubled. Nothing ever goes well with him.”

  “Let’s collect a few things from the markets.”

  “Good idea. I feel like a boiled fruit cake,” Elsa-May said.

  “And we need green tea for Myra.”

  * * *

  They arrived home to see their front door open. They hurried through their garden gate and when they reached the stairs of their porch they smelled smoke.

  Chapter 5

  “Do you smell that?” Elsa-May asked Ettie.

  “I do.” Ettie stared at the open front door. There was definitely smoke coming from somewhere.

  The sisters hurried into the house, fearing it was on fire.

  What they saw was Myra holding something in her left hand, an object that was putting out smoke. She fanned the smoke everywhere around her with the other hand.

  When Ettie got closer, she saw Myra was waving a large mottled-gray feather to disperse the smoke. “What’s going on?” Ettie placed the shopping bags on the floor. “What’s all this smoke?”

  “I’m saging the house to clear the negative energy build-up. Your house probably needs more than a sage clearing because it’s got years of built up—”

  “We don’t want that smelly stuff in our house,” Elsa-May spat out.

  Myra frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s clearing the energy.”

  “We like the energy just how it is and you’re scaring Snowy.” Elsa-May pointed to her dog that was cowering in the corner with his tail between his legs.

  Myra shook her head. “Okay. It’s your choice. I’m just trying to make the place more comfortable for you, and for me while I’m here.”

  “Thanks for your thoughts,” Ettie said. “I’ll get the dinner on. Is reheated meatloaf okay?”

  “Sounds delicious, Mother.”

  Elsa-May talked to Myra in the living room while Ettie unpacked the shopping, reheated the meatloaf and prepared the accompanying vegetables. When everything was almost ready, Elsa-May and Myra came into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

  “Sparkle wants to know what we learned today, Ettie.”

  Ettie sat down with them while the vegetables finished cooking. “We came across a neighbor who used to work for the Carters. She believes that Mrs. Carter killed him, just like you do.”

  Myra folded her arms. “That’s nice to know. Does she have any kind of proof?”

  Ettie and Elsa-May glanced at one another. There was no proof, only the word of an old lady and they knew what Detective Kelly thought about old ladies.

  “No, but—”

  Myra narrowed her eyes. “It’s just her say-so then?”

  Elsa-May fixed a bright smile on her face. “That’s it, but it’s got to help. She’s seeing Kelly tomorrow at two.”

  “I appreciate you both trying to help. Truly I do, but I don’t see that what she’s going to say will make any difference at all.” Myra threw her hands in the air and lowered them back to the table.

  Elsa-May reached over and patted her hand. “Why don’t we wait and see?”

  Myra offered her aunt a weak smile and nodded. “I hope something comes of it, but luck’s just not on my side at the moment. I don’t have much faith.”

  “All you need is the faith the size of a mustard seed,” Elsa-May said.

  “Thanks, I know you’re trying to be helpful, but I just don’t connect with all that anymore.”

  “Maybe all this happened as a sign.”

  “A sign?”

  “A sign that maybe you should try putting your trust in Him once more.”

  Myra didn’t answer; instead she sat there nibbling nervously on a fingernail.

  The next day, Ettie and Elsa-May collected Alice in a taxi, and drove to the police station. Once the taxi stopped in front of the station, Alice leaped out of the car and headed up the steps of the station before them. Ettie settled-up with the driver and then the sisters followed her.

  Alice spoke to the officer at the desk and he pointed to the waiting area.

  The sisters walked across and sat either side of Alice.

  “Did you ask for Detective Kelly and say you had an appointment?”

  Alice nodded. “Yes. I’ve been giving things a lot of thought and I’m certain it was the son.”

  “What was?” Ettie asked.

  “The person who killed Ian was the son.”

  “Yesterday you said the wife,” Ettie whispered.

  “And someone called Harrison,” Elsa-May added.

  “That was before I remembered something about the son.”

  “Which one?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Did I tell you that Mr. Carter said he was leaving me a little something in his will? I’m excited to see what it is.”

  Right at that moment, Detective Kelly appeared and Alice was ushered into his office.

  “Which son?” Elsa-May stared at Ettie.

  “I don’t know. Why did she change her mind? Yesterday she said it was the wife.”

  Elsa-May made tsk tsk sounds. “This isn’t good. Now Kelly won’t believe her since she’s flip-flopped. We told him she thought it was the wife who killed him.”

  “Don’t panic yet. We’ll feed her cake and find out exactly what she said to Kelly.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May stayed in their chairs, staring at the corridor and waiting for Alice to come out.

  “We should’ve found out more about the sons,” Elsa-May said.

  “I know, but Alice should know a lot about both sons and both of the wives if she was the hous
ekeeper there for years. She strikes me as the kind of person who notices everything.”

  Half an hour later, Alice came out of the office by herself and walked back into the waiting area. Kelly didn’t even follow her to talk with them.

  “It’s all over,” Alice said.

  “What is?”

  “My interview. He said it’s all over and that I could go.”

  “Okay. Let’s go have coffee,” Elsa-May said, pushing herself to her feet

  Alice smiled. “That sounds like a good idea to me. Wait!”

  The sisters stared at Alice.

  “He wants to speak to both of you.” She sat down. “I’ll wait right here until you’re finished. I don’t want to miss out on the cake. I told him you were both waiting here and you’d brought me here in a taxi and he said to tell you he’s in his office.”

  Reluctantly, both sisters walked into Kelly’s office and saw him standing there with hands-on hips and his cheeks bright red. Ettie knew that wasn’t good. Every time he got angry, his face got beet red. They both cowered in the doorway.

  He pointed to the chairs on the other side of his desk. “SIT!”

  They wasted no time doing what they were told.

  He paced up and down for a few moments before he sat on the edge of his chair. “Why would you waste my time by bringing that old gossip in to talk to me?”

  Elsa-May said, “She’s not an old gossip. She worked for Ian Carter’s family for years. She watched Ian grow up. And then she worked for him.”

  Ettie added, “She said that Ian was going to leave her a little something in the will.”

  Kelly scoffed. “A little something is right.”

  “She has been left something?” Ettie asked.

  “I can’t tell you that, Mrs. Smith. What I can tell you is that what she told me was nothing like what you claimed yesterday that she told you.”

  Ettie looked away from the detective, disappointed that Alice had let them down by changing her story.

  “And then do you know what she told me?”